Origins and early history The earliest recorded ancestor of the Al Saud was
Mani' ibn Rabiah Al-Muraydi, who settled in
Diriyah in 1446–1447 with his clan, the Mrudah. The Mrudah are believed to be descended from the
Banu Hanifa branch of the larger
Rabi'ah tribal confederation Mani's clan had been on a sojourn in east Arabia, near
Al-Qatif, from an unknown point in time. Ibn Dir handed Mani two estates, called al-Mulaybeed and Ghusayba. Mani and his family settled and renamed the region Al Diriyah after their benefactor Ibn Dir. The Mrudah became rulers of Al Diriyah, which prospered along the banks of
Wadi Hanifa and became an important Najdi settlement. As the clan grew larger, power struggles ensued, with one branch leaving for nearby
Dhruma, while another branch (the "Al Watban") left for the town of
az-Zubayr in southern
Iraq. The Al Muqrin became the ruling family among the Mrudah in Diriyah. The name of the clan comes from Sheikh
Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin, who died in 1725.
Emirate of Diriyah during the reign of
Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the years 1810-1814, including vassalized territories The First Saudi State was founded in 1727. This period was marked by conquest of neighboring areas and by religious zeal. At its height, the First Saudi State included most of the territory of modern-day
Saudi Arabia, and raids by Al Saud's allies and followers reached into
Yemen,
Oman,
Syria, and
Iraq. Islamic scholars, particularly
Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and his descendants, are believed to have played a significant role in Saudi rule during this period. The Saudis and their allies referred to themselves during this period as the
Muwahhidun or
Ahl al-Tawhid ("the monotheists"). Later they were referred to as the
Wahhabis, a particularly strict, puritanical
Islamic sect, named for its founder. Leadership of Al Saud during the time of their first state passed from father to son without incident. The first imam, Muhammad bin Saud, was succeeded by his eldest son,
Abdulaziz in 1765. In 1802, Abdulaziz's forces led 10,000 Wahhabi soldiers in an attack on the
Shi'ite holy city of
Karbala, in what is now southern Iraq and where
Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of
Muhammad is buried. They plundered the city, demolishing the massive golden dome above Hussein's tomb and loaded hundreds of camels with weapons, jewelry, coins and other valuable goods. Abdulaziz was killed in 1803 by an assassin, believed by some to have been a Shi'ite seeking revenge over the sacking of Karbala the year before. Abdul-Aziz was in turn succeeded by his son,
Saud, under whose rule the Saudi state reached its greatest extent. By the time Saud died in 1814, his son and successor
Abdullah bin Saud had to contend with an Ottoman-Egyptian invasion in the
Wahhabi war seeking to retake lost Ottoman Empire territory. The mainly Egyptian force succeeded in defeating Abdullah's forces, taking over the then-Saudi capital of
Diriyyah in 1818. Abdullah was taken prisoner and was soon beheaded by the Ottomans in Constantinople, putting an end to the First Saudi State. The Egyptians sent many members of the Al Saud clan and other members of the local nobility as prisoners to
Egypt and
Constantinople, and razed the Saudi capital of Diriyyah.
Emirate of Nejd A few years after the fall of
Diriyah in 1818, the Saudis were able to re-establish their authority in Najd, establishing the Emirate of Nejd, commonly known as the Second Saudi State, with its capital in Riyadh. Compared to the First Saudi State, the second Saudi period was marked by less territorial expansion (it never reconquered the
Hijaz or
'Asir, for example) and less religious zeal, although the Saudi leaders continued to go by the title of
imam and still employed
Salafi religious scholars. The second state was also marked by severe internal conflicts within the Saudi family, eventually leading to the dynasty's downfall. In all but one instance, succession occurred by assassination or civil war, the exception being the passage of authority from
Faisal ibn Turki to his son
Abdullah ibn Faisal ibn Turki.
Present form in February 1945 offers condolences on death of Saudi King Abdullah,
Riyadh, 27 January 2015. with Britain's King
Charles III at
Buckingham Palace in London After his defeat at Mulayda, Abdul Rahman bin Faisal went with his family into exile in the deserts of eastern
Arabia among the
Al Murra bedouin. Soon afterward, however, he found refuge in
Kuwait as a guest of the Kuwaiti
emir,
Mubarak Al Sabah. In 1902, Abdul Rahman's son, Abdulaziz, took on the task of restoring Saudi rule in Riyadh. Supported by a few dozen followers and accompanied by some of his brothers and relatives, Abdulaziz was able to capture Riyadh's
Masmak fort and kill the governor appointed there by
Muhammad bin Abdullah Al Rashid. Abdulaziz, reported to have been barely 20 at the time, was immediately proclaimed ruler in Riyadh. As the new leader of the House of Saud, Abdulaziz became commonly known from that time onward as "Ibn Saud" in Western sources, though he is still called "Abdulaziz" in the Arab world. Ibn Saud spent the next three decades trying to re-establish his family's rule over central Arabia, starting with his native Najd. His chief rivals were the Al Rashid clan in Ha'il, the
Sharifs of Mecca in the
Hijaz, and the
Ottoman Turks in
al Hasa. Abdulaziz also had to contend with the descendants of his late uncle
Saud ibn Faisal (later known as the "Saud Al Kabir" branch of the family),
pretenders to the throne. Though for a time acknowledging the sovereignty of the
Ottoman Sultans and even taking the title of
pasha, Ibn Saud allied himself to the British, in opposition to the Ottoman-backed Al Rashidis. From 1915 to 1927, Abdulaziz's dominions were a
protectorate of the
British Empire, pursuant to the 1915
Treaty of Darin. Ibn Saud won final victory over the Al Rashidis in 1921, making him the ruler of most of central Arabia. He consolidated his dominions as the
Sultanate of Nejd. He then turned his attention to the Hijaz, finally conquering it in 1926, just months before the British protectorate ended. For the next five and a half years, he administered the two parts of his dual realm, the
Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, as separate units. By 1932, Ibn Saud had disposed of all his main rivals and consolidated his rule over much of the
Arabian Peninsula. He united his dominions into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that year. His father, Abdul Rahman, retained the honorary title of "imam". In 1937, near
Dammam, American surveyors discovered what later proved to be Saudi Arabia's vast
oil reserves. Before the discovery of oil, many family members were destitute. Ibn Saud sired dozens of children by his many wives. He had at most four wives at a time, divorcing many times. He made sure to marry into many of the noble clans and tribes within his territory, including the chiefs of the
Bani Khalid,
Ajman, and
Shammar tribes, as well as the
Al ash-Sheikh (descendants of
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab). He also arranged for his sons and relatives to enter into similar marriages. He appointed his eldest surviving son,
Saud as
heir apparent, to be succeeded by the next eldest son,
Faisal. The Al Saudi family became known as the "royal family", and each member, male and female, was accorded the title
amir ("prince") or
amira ("princess"), respectively. Ibn Saud died in 1953, after having cemented an alliance with the United States in 1945. He is still celebrated officially as the "Founder", and only his direct descendants may take on the title of "his or her Royal Highness". The date of his recapture of Riyadh in 1902 was chosen to mark Saudi Arabia's centennial in 1999 (according to the Islamic
lunar calendar). Upon Ibn Saud's death, his son Saud assumed the throne without incident, but his lavish spending led to a power struggle with his brother, Crown Prince Faisal. In 1964, the royal family forced Saud to abdicate in favor of Faisal, aided by an edict from the country's
grand mufti. During this period, some of Ibn Saud's younger sons, led by
Talal ibn Abdul Aziz, defected to Egypt, calling themselves the "
Free Princes" and calling for liberalization and reform, but were later induced to return by Faisal. They were fully pardoned but were also barred from any future positions in government. Faisal was assassinated in 1975 by a nephew,
Faisal bin Musaid, who was promptly executed. Another brother,
Khalid, assumed the throne. The next prince in line had actually been
Prince Muhammad, but he had relinquished his claim to the throne in favor of Khalid, his only full brother. Khalid died of a heart attack in 1982, and was succeeded by
Fahd, the eldest of the powerful "
Sudairi Seven", so-called because they were all sons of Ibn Saud by his wife
Hassa Al Sudairi. Fahd did away with the previous royal title of "his Majesty" and replaced it with the honorific "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques", in reference to the two Islamic holy sites in
Mecca and
Medina, in 1986. A stroke in 1995 left Fahd largely incapacitated. His half-brother, Crown Prince
Abdullah, gradually took over most of the king's responsibilities until Fahd's death in August 2005. Abdullah was proclaimed king on the day of Fahd's death and promptly appointed his younger brother,
Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the minister of defense and Fahd's "Second Deputy Prime Minister", as the new heir apparent. On 27 March 2009, Abdullah appointed
Prince Nayef Interior Minister as his "second deputy prime minister" and Crown Prince on 27 October. Sultan died in October 2011 while Nayef died in
Geneva, Switzerland on 15 June 2012. On 23 January 2015, Abdullah died after a prolonged illness, and his half-brother, Crown Prince Salman, was declared the new king. Many princes and government officials were arrested in 2017 in an alleged
anti corruption campaign by the king and crown prince. Then-United States President
Donald Trump expressed support for the arrests. ==Political power==