Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1748–1814)

Saud was born in Diriyah in 1748. He was the eldest son of Abdulaziz bin Muhammad. Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab, religious leader of the state, asked people to express their allegiance to him as heir apparent.{{cite book|author1=Cole M. Bunzel|title=Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement|year=2023|page=209 In April 1802 Saud led an army with 12,000 Wahhabis and attacked Karbala destroying the tomb of Imam Hussain bin Ali, a grandson of Muhammad.{{cite thesis|author=Abdul Wahap Saleh Babeair|title=Ottoman Penetration of the Eastern Region of the Arabian Peninsula, 1814-1841|location=Indiana University|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303386071|degree=PhD|year=1985 ==Reign==

The reign of Saud bin Abdulaziz began in 1803. Upon his accession to the throne he held the titles of both Emir and Imam like his father. Following the capture of Mecca he sent a letter to Ottoman Sultan Selim III, inviting him to follow the Wahhabi theology. Such religious transformations did not sit well with other Muslims, and many other Muslims found his actions to be extreme, and were stunned that the holy cities had been taken so easily. The Ottoman Empire did not want to relent control over the cities to local tribesmen. The Ottomans could not retake the cities on their own though as the bulk of their forces were tied up in Europe. Muhammad Ali, the viceroy of Egypt, was assigned to recapture the Arabian territories in 1809. One of his sons, commanding the Egyptian troops, succeeded in re-conquering Hijaz in 1813. ==Personal life and death==

Saud had a very different personality than his father, who was a deeply religious figure.{{cite thesis|author=Nawaf bin Ayyaf Almogren|title=Diriyah Narrated by Its Built Environment: The Story of the First Saudi State (1744-1818)|location=MIT|year=2020 Saud's other sons included Mishari, Turki, Nasser and Saad.{{cite thesis|author=Zamil Muhammad Al Rashid|title=A Study of Su'udi Relations with Eastern Arabia and 'Uman (1800-1971)|location=McGill University|url=https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/5138jj559|year=1980 ==References==