Abdul Aziz ibn Saud

Saudi Arabia

Abdul Aziz ibn Saud

• 1876 (81?)-1953• Started conquest of

Arabian peninsula in 1902

• Proclaimed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932

• One of the “world’s greatest nation-builders”

The Arabian Peninsula

http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/arabworld/xnejd.html

British interests in the Persian Gulf; empire by treaty

• Gulf piracy in the Persian Gulf British shipping unsafe the Persian Gulf turned into a “British lake” (Rogan, 175) in the early 1800s

• The shaykhdoms (later emirates) along the Gulf coast made treaties with the British; no attacks on British shipping in return for access to British ports in the Gulf and Indian Ocean

• The shaykhdoms became more or less British protectorates in the late 1800s

• The oil made the Persian Gulf even more significant for the British

New Arab state in the Gulf

• Ibn Saud had conquered Riyadh in 1902; expanded towards the Gulf

• 1913; the Hasa region conquered dominant new power in the Gulf

• 1915; the British concluded a treaty with Ibn Saud – recognition of his leadership in return for “allegiance” to the British

• The British armed and supplied Ibn Saud’s forces hoping he would fight the Ottomans

The western expansion

• Ibn Saud used British arms to conquer the territories west of Riyadh; the Hijaz

• Conflict between Sharif Husayn, another British ally, and Ibn Saud – they both aspired to rule the entire Arabian Peninsula

• The Arab Revolt weakened Husayn’s position in the Hijaz progress for Ibn Saud 1916-1918

Armed conflict• June 1918; first armed conflict between the Hashemites and Ibn

Saud’s troops (at Khurma); the Hashemites decimated• Under British pressure, Ibn Saud suggested a truce; Hijaz would

stay Hashemite, borders/territories to be mutually accepted• Sharif Husayn rejected the offer and sent troops against Ibn

Saud who repelled them easily• May 1919; Amir Abdullah ordered by his father to lead attack

on the Wahhabi forces (Turaba) Disaster for the Hashemites • The British demanded that the Wahhabi forces withdraw from

conquered oasis towns – Ibn Saud complied

Downfall of the Hashemites

• The British tried, with the help of T.E. Lawrence, to make agreement with Sharif Husayn rejected; Sharif Husayn insisted that the British wartime promises be fulfilled

He forfeited British protection against Ibn Saud• Sharif Husayn increasingly unpopular– In the Hijaz due to his shortcomings as a ruler– Seen as a traitor in the Arab territories– Denounced by Muslims worldwide when he claimed title of

Caliph in 1924 Troublesome ally for the British

September 1924; the Ikhwan attacked Taif (near Mecca)The notables of the Hijaz forced Sharif Husayn to

abdicate; his son Ali declared as kingIbn Saud continued his advance nevertheless; Mecca conquered by mid-October, 1924Jidda and Medina under siege by January 1925King Ali surrendered his kingdom in December 1925

The British claimed neutrality in the conflict

The new state

• Ibn Saud declared “sultan of Najd and king of the Hijaz”

• New treaty with the British, the Treaty of Jiddah (1927); full independence and sovereignty recognized– The British did not believe there was oil in Saudi

Arabia…• Ibn Saud further expanded his state and

renamed it Saudi Arabia in 1932

Key to success• Wahhabism and Ikhwan; puritanical reformist doctrine

and military prowess• Ibn Saud able to combine position as secular, victorious

tribal leader with his role as religious leader of the Wahhabi order; a “warrior” and a “preacher”

• Strategy: – Tribes conquered– Tribes forced to settle; equipped with agricultural supplies and

arms– Religious indoctrination; Wahhabism gave them a sense of

communal loyalty beyond the tribes

One of a kind? – A legitimate Arab ruler

• Kingdom won through his own efforts legitimacy

• Rule founded on indigenous traditions of Wahhabi Islam and tribal politics

• Legal system based on the shari`ah

Personal qualities

• Tall and imposing; a “warrior king”• Astute and brave• Fair and judicious ruler• Pious, dignified and accessible• Ruled as a first among equals rather than as

absolute monarch• Respected existing customs• Preferred persuasion to coercion

Policies

• Basic administration and infrastructure developed

• Ibn Saud’s own family a “true ruling house”• Oil not discovered until 1938; Saudi Arabia an

impoverished kingdom in the interwar period• Cooperated with the Allies during WWII