Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia

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عبدالعزيز آل سعود `Abd al-`Azīz Āl Sa`ūd

House of Saud
`Abd al-`Azīz ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki ibn Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Saud Al Sa`ud
Offspring
Turki King Saud King Faisal Mohammed King Khaled Nasr Saad King Fahd Mansur King Abdullah Bandar Musa'id Mishaal Sultan Abdul Mohsin Abd al-Rahman Mutaib Talal Badr Nawaf Nayef Turki Fawwaz Abdulilah Salman Ahmed Mamdouh Abdul Majeed Sattam Muqran

`Abd al-`Azīz Āl Sa`ūd (?, 1880 - November 9, 1953) (Arabic: عبدالعزيز آل سعود) was the first monarch of Saudi Arabia. He is also known by several abbreviated forms of this name, including simply Ibn Sa`ūd.^[1] He was born in Riyadh into the House of Sa'ūd (commonly transliterated Saud), which had historically maintained dominion over the interior highlands of Arabia known as the Najd. Ibn Saud died in Taif.

1 Loss and reclamation of power
2 Oil and the rule of Ibn Saud
3 Foreign wars
4 Family and succession
5 References
6 Notes

[edit] Loss and reclamation of power

Abdul Aziz was born in Riyadh, Arabia in 1876. In 1890, at the age of fourteen, Saud followed his family into exile in Kuwait following the conquest of the family's lands by the Rashidi. He spent the remainder of his childhood in Kuwait. Abd al-Rahman had a stipend from the Turkish government of 60 Turkish pounds a month and Abdul Aziz went on several profitable raids in Nejd as he grew to adulthood. He attended the daily majlis of the emir of Kuwait, Mubarak al Sabah, from whom he learned much about the world. However, the family's home in Riyadh was of the simplest and cramped by five sons and at least one daughter.

In the Spring of 1901 Ibn Saud and some relatives, including a half-brother Mohammed,and several cousins, set out on a raiding expedition targeting for the most part tribes associated with the Rashidis. As booty was abundant, with many camels stolen, the raiding party grew to around 200 as tribesmen loyal to the Sauds joined the party. In the Fall, with Ramadan approaching, the group, reduced in number by defections, holed up in the Jabrin Oasis. It may have been only then that Ibn Sa'ud decided to attack Riyadh and regain his family's heritage. On the night of January 15–16,1902, together with a party of some sixty, including seven relatives and some slaves, he recaptured Riyadh with only twenty; the rest were guarding the camels in an isolated oasis. They had been told to escape if the venture failed. The Rashidi governor of the city, Ajlan, was killed as he fled the attack by Ibn Sa'ud in front of the fort gate. Ibn Sa'ūd was considered a "magnetic" leader, and following the capture of Riyadh many former supporters of the House of Saud once again rallied to its support

In the two years following his dramatic seizure of Riyadh, Ibn Sa'ūd recaptured almost half of Nejd from the Rashidis. In 1904, however, Ibn Rashid appealed to the Ottoman Empire for assistance in defeating the House of Sa'ūd. The Ottomans sent troops to Arabia, setting Ibn Sa'ūd on the defensive. The armies of the House of Saud suffered a major defeat on June 15, 1904, but his forces soon regrouped and returned to the offensive as the Turkish troops left the country due to supply problems.

Ibn Sa'ūd finally consolidated control over the Nejd in 1912 with the help of an organized and well-trained army. In that year he founded the Ikhwan, a militant religious organisation which was to assist in his later conquests. More broadly, he revived his dynasty's traditional alliance with Wahhabism. During World War I the British government attempted to cultivate favor with Ibn Sa'ūd via their Political Agent Captain William Shakespear, but this was not seriously continued after Shakespear's unexpectedly early death at the Battle of Jarrab. Instead the British transferred support to Ibn Sa'ūd's rival Sherif Hussein ibn Ali, leader of Hejaz, with whom the Sa'ūds were almost constantly at war. Despite this, the British entered into a treaty in December 1915 which made the lands of the House of Sa'ūd a British protectorate. In exchange, Ibn Sa'ūd pledged to again make war against Ibn Rashid, who was an ally of the Ottomans.

Ibn Sa'ūd did not, however, immediately make war against Ibn Rashid, despite a steady supply of weapons and cash (£5,000 Sterling per month) from the British. He argued with the British that the payment he received was insufficient to adequately wage war against an enemy as powerful as Ibn Rashid. In 1920, however, Ibn Sa'ūd finally marched again against the Rashidis, extinguishing their dominion in 1922. The defeat of the Rashidis doubled the territory of the Ibn Sa'ūd, and he was able to negotiate a new treaty with the British at Uqair in 1922, abolishing the 1915 protection agreement in return for Ibn Saud's agreement not to attempt to expand his state's borders into British protectorates on the Gulf Coast. British subsidies continued until 1924.

In 1925 the Sa'ūds captured the holy city of Mecca from Sherif Hussein ibn Ali ending 700 years of Hashemite tutelage of the Islamic holy places. On 10 January 1926 Ibn Saud was proclaimed King of the Hejaz in the Great Mosque atMecca.

In 1927, following the defeat of Husayn, the British government recognized the power of the Saud family, led by Ibn Saud, over much of what is today Saudi Arabia. The Treaty of Jedda was signed on May 20. At this point he changed his title from Sultan of Nejd to King of Nejd. Initially the two parts of his dominians (Nejd in the east and Hejaz in the west) were administered separately.

From 1927 to 1932 Ibn Saud continued to consolidate power throughout the Arabian Peninsula. In March 1929 he defeated elements of the Ikhwan, which had disobeyed his orders to cease raiding and had invaded Iraq against his wishes, at the Battle of Sbilla. In 1932, having conquered most of the Peninsula, Saud renamed the area from the lands of Nejd and Hejaz to Saudi Arabia. He then proclaimed himself King of Saudi Arabia.

[edit] Oil and the rule of Ibn Saud

Ibn Saud converses with American President Franklin Roosevelt (right) onboard a Navy ship after the Yalta Conference

Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938, and Ibn Saud through his advisor St. John Philby granted substantial authority over Saudi oil fields to American oil companies. In the early days of the oil boom most oil revenues received by the government of Saudi Arabia were immediately directed to the coffers of the royal family. As the income from oil grew, however, Ibn Saud began to spend some revenues on improving the lives of his subjects.

Saud forced many nomadic tribes to settle down and abandon "petty wars" and vendettas. He also began to fight crime in Saudi Arabia, particularly crime against pilgrims visiting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Farouk of Egypt with Ibn Saud during his visit to Egypt.

[edit] Foreign wars

Ibn Saud positioned Saudi Arabia as neutral in World War II, but was generally considered to favor the Allies.^[2]

In 1948 Saud participated in the Arab-Israeli war. The contribution of Saudi Arabia was generally considered token.^[3]

[edit] Family and succession

The number of children that Ibn Saud fathered are unknown, and estimates range from about 50 to over 1000. They include: (names of Kings in bold)

Succession to Saudi Arabia's throne has been a process that has, to a large extent, excluded all but the senior members of the Al Saud. Male progeny, with tenure in senior government positions, whose mothers were Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud's wives and from prominent peninsula based families and tribes, and who have shown both the willingness and ability to build the necessary consensus from other wings in the family are, in theory, the most eligible candidates.

By Wadhba bint Muhammad al-Hazzam
1. Turki (1900-1919)
2. Saud (January 12, 1902 - February 23, 1969); reigned 1953-1964
By Tarfah bint Abdullah al-Shaikh Abdul-Wahab
1. Khaled (born 1903, died in infancy)
2. Faisal (April 1904 - March 25, 1975); reigned 1964-1975
3. Anud (born 1917)
By Jauhara bint Musa'd Al Saud
1. Muhammad (1910-1985)
2. Khaled (1913 - June 13, 1982); reigned 1975-1982
3. Jauhara
By Bazza (the first wife named Bazza)
1. Nasser (born 1919-1984)
By Jauhara bint Sa'ad al-Sudairi
1. Saad (1920 - 1993)
2. Musa'id (born 1923)
3. Abdul Mohsin (1925-1985)
By Hassa bint Ahmad al-Sudairi
1. Sa'ad (born 1914, died 1919) (Ibn Saud married Hassa al-Sudairi twice. Fahd and his younger full siblings were the children of his second marriage to her. These are known as the "Sudairi Seven")
2. Fahd (1921 - August 1, 2005); reigned 1982-2005
3. Sultan (born 1926); current crown prince
4. Abd al-Rahman(born 1931)
5. Naif (born 1933)
6. Turki (born 1934)
7. Salman (born 1936)
8. Ahmed (born 1940)
By Shahida
1. Mansur (1922 - May 2, 1951)
2. Mishaal (born 1926)
3. Qumasha (born 1927)
4. Mutaib (born 1931)
By Fahda bint Asi al-Shuraim
1. Abdullah (born August 1923); current king, since 2005
2. Nuf
3. Sita
By Bazza (the second wife named Bazza)
1. Bandar (born 1923)
2. Fawwaz (born 1934)
By Haya bint Sa'ad al-Sudairy (1913 - April 18, 2003)
1. Moosa (born 1923)
2. Bilal (born 1924)
3. Aamir (born 1925)
4. Zakir (born 1926)
5. Abdullah (born 1927)
6. Shaifullah (born 1928)
7. Imanullah (born 1929)
8. Nura (died 1930)
9. Saifullah (born 1931)
10. Feroz (born 1932)
11. Badr (born 1933)
12. Hassa
13. Hafiz (born 1934)
14. Abdalillah (born 1935)
15. Abdul Majeed (born 1940)
16. Mashael
By Munaiyir
1. Talal (born 1931)
2. Badr (1931-1932)
3. Mishari (1932 - May 23, 2000)
4. Nawwaf (born 1933)
By Mudhi
1. Majed (October 19, 1938 - April 12, 2003)
2. Sattam (born January 21, 1941)
By Nouf bint al-Shalan
1. Thamir (1937 - June 27, 1959)
2. Mamduh (born 1940)
3. Danish (born 1941)
4. Mashhur (born 1942)
By Saida al-Yamaniyah
1. Iftikar (born 1931)
2. Saimullah (born 1932)
3. Saifullah (born 1933)
4. Zenobia (born 1934)
5. Mumtaz (born 1935)
6. Mariyamm (born 1936)
7. Aslam (born 1937)
8. Billal (born 1938)
9. Gouri (born 1939)
10. Inayat (born 1940)
11. Hidhlul (born 1941)
By Baraka al-Yamaniyah
1. Muqran (born September 15, 1945)
By Futayma
1. Hamad (born 1947)
By ??
1. Fahd (1905-1919)
2. Sara (1916 - June 2000)
3. Shaikha (born 1922)
4. Akbar (born 1923)
5. Asif (born 1924)
6. Shamina (born 1925)
7. Talat Aziz (born 1926)
8. Mahmud (born 1927)
9. Shakeel (born 1928)
10. Riyaz (born 1929)
11. Talal (1930-1931)
12. Abdalsalam (1941)
13. Jiluwi (1942-1944)

All of these carry the surname "bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud" for men and "bint Abdul Aziz Al Saud" for women. Ibn Saud is the father of all the Kings of Saudi Arabia that have succeeded him. King Saud succeeded his father as regent of Saudi Arabia in 1953, three months after being appointed Prime Minister by his father. In 1964 King Saud was deposed by the Saudi Council of Ministers and succeeded by King Faisal, another of Ibn Saud's sons. Faisal was followed by three further sons, Khalid, Fahd and Abdullah. According to the Saudi Basic Law of 1992, the King of Saudi Arabia must be a son or grandson of Ibn Saud.

[edit] References

DeGaury, Gerald.
DeNovo, John A. American Interests and Policies in the Middle East 1900-1939 University of Minnesota Press, 1963.
Eddy, William A. FDR Meets Ibn Saud. New York: American Friends of the Middle East, Inc., 1954.
Iqbal, Dr. Sheikh Mohammad. Emergence of Saudi Arabia (A Political Study of King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud 1901-1953). Srinagar, Kashmir: Saudiyah Publishers, 1977.
Long, David. Saudi Arabia Sage Publications, 1976.
Aaron David Miller; Search for Security: Saudi Arabian Oil and American Foreign Policy, 1939-1949 University of North Carolina Press. 1980.
Philby, H. St. J. B. Saudi Arabia 1955.
Rentz, George. "Wahhabism and Saudi Arabia". in Derek Hopwood, ed., The Arabian Peninsula: Society and Politics 1972.
Rihani, Ameen. Ibn Sa'oud of Arabia. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1928.
Sanger, Richard H. The Arabian Peninsula Cornell University Press, 1954.
Benjamin Shwadran, The Middle East, Oil and the Great Powers, 3rd ed. (1973)
Troeller, Gary. The Birth of Saudi Arabia:Britain and the Rise of the House of Sa'ud. London: Frank Cass, 1976.
Twitchell, Karl S. Saudi Arabia Princeton University Press, 1958.
Van der D. Meulen; The Wells of Ibn Saud. London: John Murray, 1957.

Wasim-ul-Haq

[edit] Notes

^ "ibn Saud" or "bin Saud", meaning 'son of Saud', was a sort of title borne by previous heads of the House of Saud, similar to a Scottish clan chief's title of "the MacGregor" or "the MacDougall". When used without comment it refers solely to `Abd al-`Azīz. (See Robert Lacey, The Kingdom (NY, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981), p. 15)
^ A Country Study: Saudi Arabia. Library of Congress Call Number DS204 .S3115 1993. Chapter 5. World War II and Its Aftermath
^ A Country Study: Saudi Arabia. Library of Congress Call Number DS204 .S3115 1993. Chapter 5. World War II and Its Aftermath

House of Saud Born: 1880 Died: 1953
Preceded by Ali bin Hussein	King of Hejaz 1926-1932	Succeeded by himself as King of Saudi Arabia
Preceded by himself as King of Hejaz and sultan of Najd	King of Saudi Arabia 1932-1953	Succeeded by Saud bin Abdul-Aziz
Preceded by Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud	Head of the House of Saud 1901-1953	Succeeded by Saud bin Abdul-Aziz