Ibn Sa'ud

Ibn Sa'ud

 in full 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Faysal Al Sa'ud

Ibn Sa'ud

(credit: Camera Press)

(born c. 1880, Riyadh, Arabian Peninsula—died Nov. 9, 1953, Al-Ta'if, Saud.Ar.) Founder of modern-day Saudi Arabia. Though the Sa'ud dynasty had ruled much of Arabia from 1780 to 1880, in Ibn Sa'ud's infancy the family was forced out by its rivals, the Rashids. At age 21 Ibn Sa'ud led a daring raid against the Rashids and recaptured the family capital, Riyadh. He was driven out two years later but reconstituted his forces and fought on, using puritanical Wahhabi Islam to rally nomadic tribesmen to his cause, thereby forming the Ikhwan. In 1920–22 he defeated the Rashids and doubled his own territory. In 1924 he conquered the Hejaz (see Husayn ibn 'Ali). In 1932 he formally created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which he ruled as an absolute monarch. He signed his first oil deal in 1933 but remained virtually penniless until the 1950s, when oil revenues began pouring in. His sons succeeded him.