Sa'ud dynasty

Rulers of Saudi Arabia. In the 18th century Muhammad ibn Sa'ud (d. 1765), chief of an Arabian village that had never fallen under control of the Ottoman Empire, rose to power together with the Wahhabi religious movement. He and his son 'Abd al-'Aziz I (r. 1765–1803) conquered much of Arabia; Sa'ud I (r. 1803–14) conquered the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the early years of his rule. The Ottoman sultan induced the viceroy of Egypt to crush the Sa'udis and Wahhabis, which was accomplished by 1818. A second Sa'udi state was formed in 1824 by Muhammad ibn Sa'ud's grandson Turki (r. 1823–34), who made Riyadh his capital. When Turki's son Faysal (r. 1834–38; 1843–65) died, succession disputes led to civil war. Power did not return to Sa'udi hands until 1902, when Ibn Sa'ud recaptured Riyadh. He established the kingdom of Saudi Arabia by royal decree in 1932. A number of his sons later ruled the country, including Abdullah (b. c. 1923), who assumed the throne in 2005.