Biography l Saudi Royal family l Documentaries

Biography l Saudi Royal family l Documentaries

The history of the Saudi Royal Family, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia traces its roots back to the earliest civilizations of the Arabian Peninsula. Over the centuries, the peninsula has played an important role in history as an ancient trade center and as the birthplace of Islam, one of the world’s major monotheistic religions.

Since King Abdulaziz Al-Saud established the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, its transformation has been astonishing.

In a few short decades, the Kingdom has turned itself from a desert nation to a modern, sophisticated state and a major player on the international stage.

Early History of the Arabian Peninsular

Early evidence of human beings living in the Arabian Peninsula dates back 15,000 to 20,000 years. Groups of hunter-gatherers lived a nomadic existence on the land, surviving off wild animals and plants.

Around 15,000 years ago, the European ice cap melted (during the last Ice Age), and the climate in the peninsula became arid. The peninsular was once populated with vibrant grasslands and an array of wildlife, this then dried up into mostly scrub-land and deserts, and animal life vanished from the region almost entirely. The complex network of river systems also dried up, leaving dry river beds (wadis) that are commonly found today.

This extreme and rather rapid change in the climate exerted a great pressure on the humans living their, and eventually they moved into the valleys and oases which were the last verdant areas on the peninsular. Survive as hunter-gatherers had grown impossible, so they had to develop another means.This resulted in agricultural development, the first in Mesopotamia, which then spread to the Nile River Valley, and eventually right across the Middle East region.

Agriculture society encouraged other inventions and advancements, including pottery, which allowed farmers to store their harvests, and the domestication of animals, including goats, cattle, sheep, horses and camels. These developments gave rise to intensive farming techniques and larger scale human settlements became more permanent, this lead to the foundation of civilization – language and writing, political and social systems, architecture and art.

Ancient Caravans and Trade Route

Strategically located between the two great centres of civilization at the time, the Nile River Valley and Mesopotamia, the Arabian Peninsula was the crossroads of the ancient world. Trade was of critical importance to the area’s sustained development; caravan routes made life possible in the now arid climate that had left the peninsular without much of its natural bounty.

The people of the peninsula developed a complex network of trade routes to transport agricultural goods highly sought after in Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley and the Mediterranean Basin. These items included almonds from Taif, dates from the many oases, and aromatics such as frankincense and myrrh from the Tihama plain.

Spices were also important trade items. They were shipped across the Arabian Sea from India and then transported by caravan.

The huge caravans travelled from what is now Oman and Yemen, along the great trade routes running through Saudi Arabia’s Asir Province and then through Makkah and Madinah, eventually arriving at the urban centres of the north and west.

The people of the Arabian Peninsula remained largely untouched by the political turmoil in Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley and the eastern Mediterranean. Their goods and services were in great demand regardless of which power was dominant at the moment – Babylon, Egypt, Persia, Greece or Rome. In addition, the peninsula’s great expanse of desert formed a natural barrier that protected it from invasion by powerful neighbours.

The Founding of Islam and Growth of the Islamic Empire

Around the year 610, Muhammad, a native of the thriving commercial centre of Makkah, received a message from God (in Arabic, Allah) through the Angel Gabriel. As more revelations bid him to proclaim the oneness of God universally, the Prophet Muhammad’s following grew.

In 622, learning of an assassination plot against him, the Prophet led his followers to the town of Yathrib, which was later named Madinat Al-Nabi (City of the Prophet) and now known simply as Madinah. This was the Hijrah, or migration, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

Within the next few years, several battles took place between the followers of the Prophet Muhammad and the pagans of Makkah. By 628, when Madinah was entirely in the hands of the Muslims, the Prophet had unified the tribes so successfully that he and his followers reentered Makkah without bloodshed.

Less than 100 years after the birth of Islam, the Islamic Empire extended from Spain to parts of India and China. Although the political centres of power had moved out of the Arabian Peninsula, trade flourished in the area.

Also, a large number of pilgrims began regularly visiting the peninsula, with some settling in the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. These pilgrims facilitated the exchange of ideas and cultures between the people of the peninsula and other civilizations of the Arab and Muslim worlds.

The emergence of Arabic as the language of international learning was another major factor in the cultural development of the Arabian Peninsula. The Muslim world became a center for learning and scientific advances during what is known as the “Golden Age.” Muslim scholars made major contributions in many fields, including medicine, biology, philosophy, astronomy, arts and literature. Many of the ideas and methods pioneered by Muslim scholars became the foundation of modern sciences.

The Islamic Empire thrived well into the 17th century, when it broke up into smaller Muslim kingdoms. The Arabian Peninsula gradually entered a period of relative isolation, although Makkah and Madinah remained the spiritual heart of the Islamic world and continued to attract pilgrims from many countries.

The First Saudi State

In the early 18th century, a Muslim scholar and reformer named Shaikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab began advocating a return to the original form of Islam. Abdul Wahhab was initially persecuted by local religious scholars and leaders who viewed his teachings as a threat to their power bases. He sought protection in the town of Diriyah, which was ruled by Muhammad bin Saud.

Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab and Muhammad bin Saud formed an agreement to dedicate themselves to restoring the pure teachings of Islam to the Muslim community. In that spirit, bin Saud established the First Saudi State, which prospered under the spiritual guidance of bin Abdul Wahhab, known simply as the Shaikh.

By 1788, the Saudi State ruled over the entire central plateau known as the Najd. By the early 19th century, its rule extended to most of the Arabian Peninsula, including Makkah and Madinah.

The popularity and success of the Al-Saud rulers aroused the suspicion of the Ottoman Empire, the dominant power in the Middle East and North Africa at the time. In 1818, the Ottomans dispatched a large expeditionary force armed with modern artillery to the western region of Arabia. The Ottoman army besieged Diriyah, which by now had grown into one of the largest cities in the peninsula. Ottoman forces leveled the city with field guns and made it permanently uninhabitable by ruining the wells and uprooting date palms.

The Second Saudi State

By 1824, the Al-Saud family had regained political control of central Arabia. The Saudi ruler Turki bin Abdullah Al-Saud transferred his capital to Riyadh, some 20 miles south of Diriyah, and established the Second Saudi State. During his 11-year rule, Turki succeeded in retaking most of the lands lost to the Ottomans. As he expanded his rule, he took steps to ensure that his people enjoyed rights, and he saw to their well-being.

Under Turki and his son, Faisal, the Second Saudi State enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity, and trade and agriculture flourished. The calm was shattered in 1865 by a renewed Ottoman campaign to extend its Middle Eastern empire into the Arabian Peninsula. Ottoman armies captured parts of the Saudi State, which was ruled at the time by Faisal’s son, Abdulrahman. With the support of the Ottomans, the Al-Rashid family of Hail made a concerted effort to overthrow the Saudi State.

Faced with a much larger and better equipped army, Abdulrahman bin Faisal Al-Saud was forced to abandon his struggle in 1891. He sought refuge with the Bedouin tribes in the vast sand desert of eastern Arabia known as the Rub’ Al-Khali, or ‘Empty Quarter.’ From there, Abdulrahman and his family traveled to Kuwait, where they stayed until 1902. With him was his young son Abdulaziz, who was already making his mark as a natural leader and a fierce warrior for the cause of Islam.

The Modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The young Abdulaziz was determined to regain his patrimony from the Al-Rashid family, which had taken over Riyadh and established a governor and garrison there. In 1902, Abdulaziz, – accompanied by only 40 followers – staged a daring night march into Riyadh to retake the city garrison, known as the Masmak Fortress. This legendary event marks the beginning of the formation of the modern Saudi state.

After establishing Riyadh as his headquarters, Abdulaziz captured all of the Hijaz, including Makkah and Madinah, in 1924 to 1925. In the process, he united warring tribes into one nation.

On September 23, 1932, the country was named the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an Islamic state with Arabic as its national language and the Holy Qur’an as its constitution.

King Abdulaziz (1932-1953)

The legendary King Abdulaziz was a remarkable leader of imagination and vision who set Saudi Arabia on the road to modernization. During his rule, King Abdulaziz started building the country’s infrastructure. He established roads and basic communications systems, introduced modern technology, and improved education, health care and agriculture.

Although King Abdulaziz never traveled beyond the Arab world, he was a highly sophisticated statesman. Foreign leaders and diplomats who met with him came away impressed by his integrity and honesty. He was famous for dispensing with diplomatic niceties in favor of frank and candid discussion. He was just as well known for keeping his promises, whether given to a simple Bedouin or to a world leader. These qualities enhanced his stature as a reliable and responsible leader dedicated to peace and justice.

King Saud (1953-1964)

Abdulaziz’ eldest son Saud acceded to the throne upon his father’s death in 1953. He continued King Abdulaziz’s legacy, creating the Council of Ministers and establishing the Ministries of Health, Education and Commerce. One of King Saud’s greatest successes was the development of education – under his rule many schools were established in the Kingdom, including its first institute of higher education, King Saud University, in 1957.

King Saud also made his mark globally. In 1957, he became the first Saudi monarch to visit the United States. In 1962 he sponsored an international Islamic conference that would become the Muslim World League, headquartered in Makkah.

King Faisal (1964-1975)

King Faisal bin Abdulaziz was a visionary innovator with a great respect for tradition. He initiated the first of a series of economic and social development plans that would transform Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure, especially industry, and set the Kingdom on a path of rapid growth. He also established the first public schools for girls.

In foreign policy, King Faisal showed a firm commitment to the Islamic world. He was a central force behind the establishment in Jeddah in 1971 of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a group of 57 Islamic countries that promotes Islamic unity and cooperation.

Throughout the turbulent period of the 1960s and 1970s, which included two Arab-Israeli wars and the oil crisis of 1973, King Faisal was a voice for moderation, peace and stability.

King Khalid (1975-1982)

Khalid bin Abdulaziz succeeded King Faisal in 1975. King Khalid also emphasized development, and his reign was marked by an almost explosive growth in the country’s physical infrastructure. It was a period of enormous wealth and prosperity for Saudi Arabia.

On the international stage, King Khalid was a prime mover in forming the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1981, an organization that promotes economic and security cooperation among its six member countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

King Fahd (1982-2005)

Under King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, who adopted the title Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Saudi Arabia continued its tremendous socioeconomic development and emerged as a leading political and economic force.

King Fahd was central to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to diversify its economy and promote private enterprise and investment. He restructured the Saudi government and approved the first nationwide municipal elections, which took place in 2005.

One of King Fahd’s greatest accomplishments in Saudi Arabia was a series of projects to expand the Kingdom’s facilities to accommodate the millions of pilgrims who come to the country each year. These projects involved major expansions of Islam’s two holiest sites, the Holy Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, as well as airports and ports.

In the international arena, King Fahd worked actively to resolve regional and global crises. These crises included the Arab-Palestinian conflict, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the Lebanese civil war in addition to conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Somalia and Kashmir.

As Crown Prince in 1981, he proposed an eight-point plan to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and give the Palestinians an independent state. The plan was considered one of the first attempts to find a just and lasting settlement that took into consideration the needs of both the Arabs and Israel. It was unanimously adopted by the Arab League at a summit in Fez, Morocco in 1982.

King Fahd also dedicated years of diplomacy to resolving the civil war in Lebanon. He hosted a meeting of Lebanese members of parliament in Taif, Saudi Arabia in 1989. The meeting resulted in a national reconciliation accord signed in Taif that ended the fighting and opened the way for reconstruction with help from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

Perhaps the greatest international crisis of King Fahd’s rule occurred when Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The King played a key role in putting together the international coalition that drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

King Fahd was also concerned with humanitarian issues. Under his rule, Saudi Arabia provided emergency humanitarian assistance to numerous countries, including Somalia, Bosnia and Afghanistan, as well as countries suffering from natural disasters, such as earthquakes (Turkey in 1999, Iran in 2003) and the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia in December 2004.

King Abdullah (2005 – 2015)

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz acceded to the throne after the death of King Fahd on August 1, 2005.

King Abdullah was born in Riyadh in 1924, and received his early education at the royal court. Influenced by his father King Abdulaziz, he developed a profound respect for religion, history and Arab heritage. His years spent living in the desert with Bedouin tribes taught him their values of honor, simplicity, generosity and bravery, and instilled in him the desire to assist in the development of his people.

As Crown Prince, he traveled widely in the Kingdom and inaugurated a number of projects throughout the country. In 2005 he closely monitored the election process for the country’s municipal councils.

The Prince’s first official visit to the United States was in 1976 when he met with President Gerald Ford. Since then, he has made a number of visits to the United States, including his most recent on April 25, 2005 to President George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.

His international diplomacy reflects Saudi Arabia’s leadership role in defense of Arab and Islamic issues and for the achievement of world peace, stability and security. Peace in the Middle East and the plight of the Palestinians are of particular concern to King Abdullah. His proposal for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, presented at the Beirut Arab Summit in 2002, has been adopted by the League of Arab States and is known as the Arab Peace Initiative.

King Abdullah has been unwavering in his condemnation of terrorism. At the International Counterterrorism Conference in Riyadh in February, 2005, he called for greater international cooperation to fight this global problem.

King Salman was born in Riyadh on Dec. 31, 1935, and received his education at the Prince’s School in Riyadh. He served as Deputy Governor of Riyadh from March 1954 to April 1955, and Governor of Riyadh from April 1955 to December 1960 and again from February 1963 to Nov. 5, 2011, when he was appointed Minister of Defense.

Since 1956, King Salman has chaired various humanitarian and service committees that provide relief from natural and man-made disasters. For his humanitarian services, he has been awarded many medals and decorations, including awards from Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Morocco, Palestine, the Philippines, Senegal, the United Nations, Yemen, and the King Abdulaziz Medal – First Class.

He is a recipient of several honorary degrees and academic awards, including an honorary doctorate from the Islamic University of Madinah, the Prince Salman academic award, and the Kant Medal by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in appreciation of his contributions to the field of science.

During official visits to the United States in April 2012, King Salman met with President Barack Obama and a number of U.S. officials.