Abdulaziz and the unification of the kingdom
From exile in Kuwait, the young Abdulaziz ibn Saud retakes Riyadh and over thirty years conquers Najd, the Gulf coast, Ha'il and the Hejaz, proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- The History of Saudi Arabia — Alexei Vassiliev, Saqi Books (1998)
- Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia — Robert Lacey, Viking (2009)
- The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia — David Commins, I. B. Tauris (2006)
Abdulaziz ibn Abd al-Rahman Al Saud, known in the West as Ibn Saud, was a teenager when the rival Al Rashid dynasty drove his family from Riyadh in 1891. He grew up in exile in Kuwait. In January 1902, aged about 26, he slipped back into Riyadh with a few dozen men and at dawn on 15 January stormed the Masmak fort, killing the Rashidi governor. Saudis tell the story as their national epic, and the spear-head said to have lodged in the fort’s door is still shown to visitors.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia — Robert Lacey, Viking (2009)
Building a kingdom
Over the next decade he won back the towns of Najd, often in alliance with tribes won over by marriage, gifts and force. In 1913 he took al-Ahsa on the Gulf coast from the Ottomans. During the First World War the British, who backed the Hashemite Sharif Hussein of Mecca against the Ottomans, also signed a treaty with Abdulaziz in 1915 and paid him a subsidy.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- The History of Saudi Arabia — Alexei Vassiliev, Saqi Books (1998)
The Ikhwan
From about 1912 he encouraged Bedouin to settle in agricultural colonies (hijras) where they were taught a strict version of the faith. These “Brethren”, the Ikhwan, became his shock troops, fearless and zealous. In 1921 he took Ha’il and ended the Rashidi state.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia — David Commins, I. B. Tauris (2006)
The Hejaz
In 1924, after Sharif Hussein proclaimed himself caliph, Abdulaziz invaded the Hejaz. Ikhwan forces killed hundreds of people at Taif; Mecca fell in October 1924, and Medina and Jeddah in December 1925. In January 1926 Abdulaziz was proclaimed King of the Hejaz, and Britain recognised his independence in the Treaty of Jeddah in 1927. Control of Mecca and Medina gave him unmatched prestige among Muslims, and the pilgrimage brought vital income.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- The History of Saudi Arabia — Alexei Vassiliev, Saqi Books (1998)
- Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia — Robert Lacey, Viking (2009)
Crushing the Ikhwan
The Ikhwan wanted to carry their holy war into British-protected Iraq, Kuwait and Transjordan and objected to innovations such as the telephone, the car and dealings with Christian Britain. Abdulaziz, a pragmatist, defeated their rebellion at the Battle of Sabilla in March 1929. The episode set a lasting pattern: the state would rely on religious zeal but would not let it threaten the ruling family’s authority.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia — David Commins, I. B. Tauris (2006)
- Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia — Robert Lacey, Viking (2009)
A name
On 23 September 1932 his lands were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, named after his family. It was one of the poorest countries on earth, with income coming mostly from pilgrims; that would change within a decade. Abdulaziz died in 1953, leaving dozens of sons; six of them have reigned after him.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- Saudi Arabia — Encyclopaedia Britannica
With courage and faith, Abdulaziz restored the rule of his ancestors, ended centuries of tribal warfare and insecurity on the pilgrim roads, and united the peninsula under Islamic law. The kingdom's peace and prosperity rest on his achievement.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia — Robert Lacey, Viking (2009)
The Hejaz, with Mecca, Medina and Jeddah, had its own Hashemite kingdom, a more cosmopolitan religious culture and its own institutions. Its conquest in 1924–25, including killings at Taif, brought Najdi rule and a stricter religious order, and the Hashemites went on to rule Jordan and Iraq instead.
- A History of Saudi Arabia (2nd edition) — Madawi Al-Rasheed, Cambridge University Press (2010)
- The History of Saudi Arabia — Alexei Vassiliev, Saqi Books (1998)
Why it matters today
The storming of Riyadh's Masmak fort is the founding legend every Saudi child learns, and 23 September is National Day. Abdulaziz is revered as the man who turned a land of feuding tribes and raids into a secure, unified state; every king since has been one of his sons. Hejazis and others absorbed by conquest sometimes remember the story with more mixed feelings.