Riyadh And The House Of Saud

Stories of royalty are always popular. When we think of a kingdom, the first country that comes to mind is Saudi Arabia.

In 1744, an alliance between Muhammad Ibn Wahhab and Muhammad Ibn Saud led to what became known as the First Saudi State, in the Arabian Peninsula. But it was defeated and ended by the Pasha Dynasty that was ruling Egypt. The First Saudi State is also known as the Emirate of Diriyah.

There was a Second Saudi State, also known as the Emirate of Nejd, after the Pashas had broken free of Ottoman control, but this state was ended by conflict with a rival tribe, who were allied with the Ottomans.

But a leader of the House of Saud, Abdulaziz who is sometimes known as Ibn Saud, brought back the state once more, by unifying two small states, and this time gained control of most of the Arabian Peninsula. This state is today known as Saudi Arabia.

The capital of Saudi Arabia today is Riyadh. In the late Nineteenth Century, Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) spent time in exile, in nearby Persian Gulf countries, because the Rashidis, the rival tribe who had brought the Second Saudi State to an end, had conquered Riyadh. The reconquest of Riyadh, in 1902, by Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) is considered as a great event in Saudi history. A militia was formed of bedouin, known as the Ikhwan, which eventually became the Saudi National Guard.

Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) was thus the founder and first king of the country that became known as Saudi Arabia. He had 45 sons, by multiple wives, and reigned until his death in 1953.

Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) was succeeded as king by his son, Saud. Saud reigned as king from 1953-64, but had a great rivalry with his brother, Faisal, and was finally forced to abdicate the throne due to wasteful spending.

The key to understanding Saudi royalty is that the succession of Saud as king, following his father's death in 1953, is the only time that a father-to-son succession has taken place. From the abdication of King Saud, in 1964, to the time of this writing, every succession following the death of a Saudi king, there has been no more abdications, has been brother-to-brother. Every king since the death of Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud), in 1953, has been one of his sons. The third generation of Saudi royalty, the grandsons, have not yet succeeded to the throne.

Faisal took over from his brother, Saud, upon Saud's forced abdication in 1964, and reigned until his murder by his nephew in 1975. The coronation of Faisal ended the father-to-son succession, and was the first brother-to-brother succession. King Faisal was fiscally responsible, and balanced the kingdom's finances.

He was the one who initiated the Arab Oil Embargo against several countries, including the U.S., Canada and, Britain, who had supported Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Egypt named a suburb of Cairo for the day it began, October 6 City. I remember going to 8th grade in the dark because the clocks had been changed in an effort to save energy.

One place where King Faisal was very popular was Pakistan. Besides a highway and an air force base, Pakistan renamed a major city as Faisalabad, in his honor, as it remains named today.

King Faisal was murdered by his nephew, Faisal bin Musaid, in 1975. Conspiracy theories ran wild. The nephew had attended college in the U.S., and had just returned to Saudi Arabia, but had also visited Communist East Germany. Did the U.S. put him up to it in revenge for the oil embargo, or was it a Communist plot to destabilize the kingdom? The nephew had been engaged to the daughter of King Saud, who Faisal had forced to abdicate, could it have been in revenge for that?

Khalid, a half-brother of Faisal, all were sons of Abdulaziz but with different mothers among his many wives, succeeded him. King Khalid ruled until his death in 1982. He brought much development to Saudi Arabia, and made it an important player on the international scene. He was the king when militants seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Khalid initially hoped for good relations with Iran after it's revolution. The Saudi rulers were Sunni Moslems, and the Iranians Shiites, but they seemed to have quite a bit in common. But the good relations didn't last long.

(Note-My theory of the reason for the poor relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran goes back to the French Revolution, which opened the modern political era. The Saudi leaders are kings, while the Iranian leaders are the ones who had overthrown the king. This put them on opposite sides of the French Revolution).

King Fahd was the half-brother who succeeded Khalid, and was king during the First Gulf War (Desert Storm). He was popular internationally but his invitation of foreign non-Moslem armies onto Saudi soil outraged many, and set in motion the founding of Al Qaeda. Ironically, at the time of the seizure of the Grand Mosque by militants, in 1979, the mosque was being renovated by a Saudi construction conglomerate, known as the Bin Laden Group. The son of the founder of the conglomerate was named Osama bin Laden.

King Fahd had a stroke in 1995, but continued as king until his death ten years later. During his days as a prince, long before he became king, he had been the Saudi representative who attended Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation.

King Abdullah was a half-brother of Fahd, and succeeded him as king upon his death in 2005. Abdullah had probably been the real power in the country during the ten years between Fahd's debilitating stroke and his death. King Abdullah reigned until his death in 2015. He had to deal with declining oil prices squeezing the kingdom's finances.

After the death of Abdullah in 2015, his half-brother Salman succeeded to the throne. King Salman is the present king. Remember that all of these kings, since the death of Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) in 1953, have been his sons. Abdulaziz was the founder of Saudi Arabia, and all of the kings since have been second-generation royalty. But King Salman has elevated his son, Prince Salman, to a very important role and, at the time of this writing, it appears certain that he would be the first third-generation, grandson of Abdulaziz, king.

One thing that is often heard of in dealing with Saudi royalty is the name "Sudairi" or "The Sudairi Seven". Sudairi is the name of one of the wives of the founder of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz (or Ibn Saud). She had seven sons who have been especially powerful in running the kingdom. Two of these sons have been kings, Fahd and the present King Salman. Most of the many Saudi princes and princesses are in business, or other preoccupations, and have little interest in being involved in governing the country. My calculation is that about one in every four hundred Saudis is a prince or princess.

That is the story of Saudi Arabia in words. Now, lets have a look at the same story in pictures.

The following scenes begin in the Masmak Fortress. This is what Abdulaziz (known in the west as Ibn Saud) reconquered from the rival Rashidis, in 1902.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@24.6310657,46.713512,3a,75y,117.05h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMaheOMZVa7GgMgsGT9M-uTrw9IDb-RotAll98!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMaheOMZVa7GgMgsGT9M-uTrw9IDb-RotAll98%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-1.3010265-ya74.33167-ro-2.02662-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

The following scenes are of the Murabba Palace, built in 1936 and where Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) reigned from, until his death in 1953. The surrounding area is known as the King Abdulaziz Historical Center.

https://www.google.com/maps/@24.6465265,46.7092511,3a,75y,116.01h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOc_40VTS-RXKGCtfrznqwHwscY4f2pD_4BI5U!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOc_40VTS-RXKGCtfrznqwHwscY4f2pD_4BI5U%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya134.23174-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

King Saud was the first son of Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) to reign after his death. He was the king who was forced to abdicate, by his successor Faisal, due to extravagant spending. But yet he did found the famous King Saud University, in Riyadh. This vast university is like a city unto itself.

https://www.google.com/maps/@24.7195617,46.6191667,3a,75y,259h,76t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM62hUpZNLNPFy9rikCPYrGyjg-PFo9mZeokrJW!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM62hUpZNLNPFy9rikCPYrGyjg-PFo9mZeokrJW%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.999992-ya259.5-ro0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830

The following scenes of modern Riyadh begin in the Royal Mall.

https://www.google.com/maps/@24.723695,46.6647867,3a,75y,93.93h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNJvoNdcbEnLG9JZCm2tQyh7mBiQnXVw_ADwI0-!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNJvoNdcbEnLG9JZCm2tQyh7mBiQnXVw_ADwI0-%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya94.32468-ro-0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Finally the second major city of Saudi Arabia is Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast. Jeddah is a very old city that, in common with the other very old cities in this area, has been through the long parade of conquerors, empires and, caliphates that have come through in the course of time. The following scenes are around the old part of Jeddah. Notice how the older buildings have their own unique architecture.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.4851776,39.1846344,3a,75y,103.4h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM6hA32qgE_X5zr_u8kosTzbVMdBiZyt04VgqFQ!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM6hA32qgE_X5zr_u8kosTzbVMdBiZyt04VgqFQ%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya126.363-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352