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Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud (Arabic: عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن بن فيصل بن ترکي بن عبدالله بن محمد بن سعود; 15 January 1876 [note 3] – 9 November 1953), known in the Western world mononymously as Ibn Saud (Arabic: ابن سعود; Ibn Suʿūd), [note 4] was an Arab political and religious leader who founded Saudi Arabia – the third Saudi state – and reigned as its first king from ...
- Overview
- The young leader
- Role of religion in Ibn Saud’s policy
- Foundation of Saudi Arabia
Ibn Saud, (born c. 1880, Riyadh, Arabia—died November 9, 1953, Al-Ṭāʾif, Saudi Arabia), tribal and Muslim religious leader who formed the modern state of Saudi Arabia and initiated the exploitation of its oil.
The Sauds ruled much of Arabia from 1780 to 1880, but, while Ibn Saud was still an infant, his family, driven out by their rivals, the Rashīds, became penniless exiles in Kuwait. In 1901 Ibn Saud, then 21, set out from Kuwait with 40 camel men in a bold attempt to regain his family’s lands.
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Reaching their old family capital, Riyadh, the little group slipped into the town by night (January 1902). The Rashīdī governor slept in the castle but came out every morning after dawn. Ibn Saud lay hidden until the governor emerged. Then, rushing forward with his men, he killed him and seized the castle. This exploit roused the former supporters of his dynasty. They rallied to so magnetic a leader, and in two years of raids and skirmishes Ibn Saud reconquered half of central Arabia.
Ibn Saud decided, in the years before World War I, to revive his dynasty’s support for Wahhābism, an extremist Muslim puritan revival. Ibn Saud was in fact a devoted puritan Muslim. To him the Qurʾān was literally the word of God, and his life was regulated by it. Yet he was also aware that religious fanaticism could serve his ambition, and he deliberately fostered it, founding a militantly religious tribal organization known as the Ikhwān (Brethren). This fanatical brotherhood encouraged his followers to fight and to massacre their Arab rivals, and it helped him to bring many nomadic tribesmen under more immediate control.
He was able to persuade the religious leaders to declare it a religious duty of all Wahhābīs to abandon nomadism and to build houses at the desert wells. Thus settled, they could more easily be levied into his army. But the scheme was unrealistic: nomads who sold their flocks were often unable to cultivate and were reduced to penury. The destitution of the more fanatical tribes, however, made them more eager to raid, and Ibn Saud was not slow to suggest that they plunder the subjects of Ibn Rashīd.
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During World War I Ibn Saud entered into a treaty with the British (December 1915), accepting protectorate status and agreeing to make war against Ibn Rashīd, who was being supported by the Turks. But, despite British arms and a subsidy of £5,000 a month from the British government (which continued until 1924), he was inactive until 1920, arguing that his subsidy was insufficient. During 1920–22, however, he marched against Ibn Rashīd and extinguished Rashīdī rule, doubling his own territory but without significantly increasing his meagre revenue.
Ibn Saud now ruled central Arabia except for the Hejaz region along the Red Sea. This was the territory of Sharīf Ḥusayn of Mecca, who had become king of the Hejaz during the war and who declared himself caliph (head of the Muslim community) in 1924. Sharīf Ḥusayn’s son ʿAbd Allāh had become ruler of Transjordan in 1921, and another son, Fayṣal, king of Iraq. Ibn Saud, fearing encirclement by this rival dynasty, decided to invade the Hejaz. He was then at the height of his powers; his strong personality and extraordinary charm had won the devotion of all his subjects. A skillful politician, he worked closely with the religious leaders, who always supported him. Relying on the Ikhwān to eliminate his Arab rivals, he sent them to raid his neighbours, then cabled the British, whose imperial interests were involved, that the raid was against his orders. In 1924 the Ikhwān took Mecca, and the Hejaz was added to his dominions.
This battle opened a new era: thereafter Ibn Saud’s task was government, not conquest. In 1932 he formally unified his domains into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An absolute monarch, he had no regular civil service or professional administrators. All decisions were made by him or by those he personally delegated for a particular task. There was little money, and he himself was not interested in finance. In May 1933 Ibn Saud signed his first agreement with an American oil company. Not until March 1938 did the company strike oil, and work virtually ceased during World War II, so that Ibn Saud was again nearly penniless.
Saudi Arabia took no part in the war, but toward its end the exploitation of oil was resumed. By 1950 Ibn Saud had received a total of about $200,000. Three years later, he was getting some $2,500,000 a week. The effect was disastrous on the country and on Ibn Saud. He had no idea of what to do with all the money, and he watched helplessly the triumph of everything he hated. His austere religious views were offended. The secluded, penurious, hard, but idealistic life of Arabia was vanishing. Such vast sums of money drew half the swindlers in the Middle East to this puritan religious sanctum. Ibn Saud was unable to cope with financial adventurers. His last years were marked by severe physical and emotional deterioration. He died at Al-Ṭāʾif in 1953.
- John Bagot Glubb
Ibn Saud (King Abdulaziz Al Saud) was born on 15 January 1876 in Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh. He was the son of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, the last ruler of the Second Saudi State. He was brought up under the stringent care of his father and a group of contemporary scholars were assembled to teach him the fundamentals of Islam.
Childhood & Early Life. Abdulaziz al-Saud was born on 15 January 1876 in Riyadh, Emirate of Nejd, as the son of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal and Sarah Al Sudairi. His father was the last ruler of the Second Saudi State. His family, the House of Saud, had been a major power in central Arabia for over a century.
49 min read. King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Bin Faisal Bin Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud (1877 - 1953) was the founder and unifier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and its first king. He was titled the Sultan, Ibn Saud, and Mu'azi (comforter), and was known as Abu Turki. He was the son of the last Imam of the Second Saudi State, Imam ...
The House of Al Saud (Arabic: آل سُعُود, romanized:ʾĀl SuʿūdIPA: [ʔaːl sʊʕuːd]) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling faction of the family is ...
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King Abdul Aziz Al Saud went on to unify the scattered parts and splintered tribes of the Arabian peninsula. He annexed Al Qasseem in 1904 (1322 H), Al Ahsa in 1913 (1331 H), Asir in 1916 (1334 H) and Hayel in 1921 (1340 H). He conquered Taif, and entered Makkah in 1924 (1343 H). When Jeddah was taken in 1925 (1344 H), the entire Hijaz Region ...
