Abdul Aziz ibn Saud

Abdul Aziz ibn Saud (1880?-1953), king of Saudi Arabia (1932-1953). A grandson of Faisal, sultan of Najd in central Arabia, Ibn Saud was leader of the Wahhabis, a fundamentalist Muslim sect. In the early 1900s Ibn Saud regained control of Najd, which had been lost by his father.

During World War I, the British supported his chief rival, Husein ibn Ali, the political and religious leader of Arabia's Al Ḩijāz (the Hejaz) region, when Husein proclaimed himself king of all the Arab countries. The proclamation provoked Ibn Saud into invading Al Ḩijāz in 1919. Husein was forced to abdicate in 1924; his son and successor, Ali ibn Husein, was deposed in 1925. The following year Ibn Saud was proclaimed king of Al Ḩijāz, and in 1927 he changed his title to King of Al Ḩijāz and of Najd and Its Dependencies. In 1932 he renamed his lands the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By 1936 he concluded a series of treaties with the neighboring Arab countries. The treaties led to the formation in 1945 of the Arab League, of which Ibn Saud was a founder. By leasing oil concessions in Saudi Arabia to British and American businessmen, the king became one of the richest men in the world. He was succeeded by his son Saud.