Ibn Saud: King by Conquest

<p>Riyadh: January 16th, 1902. A 23 year-old prince leads a handful of men to reclaim his father's kingdom from the oppressive reign of the Al Rashid and their overseer, Ajlan. Hours later Ajlan is dead and Ibn Saud, flushed with victory, struts the battlements of the Mismak fortress shouting to the people in the street below, "Who is on my side? Who? Your own prince is with you again!" So begins this masterful biography of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud: visionary, warrior, and founding father. A man who imposed his will on the Arabian peninsula to transform Saudi Arabia into a global power. Ibn Saud's life story reads like an adventure novel, but it is absolutely true. Now exclusively available through CreateSpace, the Amazon subsidiary that serves you worldwide.</p>

Ibn Saud: King By Conquest

History

Sander, Nestor

Middle East

Selwa Press

<p>The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was created by the man whose life is recounted in this book. His sons still rule it nearly a century after the day in mid-January 1902, when triumphant in a bloody battle against odds, Abdul Aziz ibn Abdur Rahman ibn Faisal as Saud, just twenty-five years old, stood on the battlements of the capital city, Riyadh, and proclaimed to all, ‘Your own amir is with you again!’ For the next thirty years, Ibn Saud’s superior intelligence, strong body, great courage, deep comprehension of the strengths and weaknesses of his people, and indisputable charisma were all used in full measure to regain most of his ancestors’ holdings and to unite them into a kingdom, formally declared so on 27 September 1932.The ebbs and flows of the struggle to reach that goal are a saga of ingenious ploys that together with acts of force freed him from the threat of three strong adversaries and a large number of weaker ones. At the end, through the shrewd use of religious fervor, Ibn Saud had an army of unprecedented valor and strength of purpose. In 1929–30 a part of that army turned against him and was dispersed only after a period of uncertainty, but stability had been achieved when on 9 May 1933 a contract obtained by the Standard Oil Company of California granted rights to explore for and develop the resources of oil in the eastern half of the nation.The revenues from oil after the first valid discovery in mid-1938 were, during the king’s lifetime, used mainly to satisfy his wants and those of his family, for Ibn Saud made all decisions. More often than not the exchequer was empty but the government functioned.The final section of the book discusses Ibn Saud himself: his aspect, his qualities of mind, mannerisms, and interests. He was a man of his time with a greater-than-average sex drive. He had 48 legitimate sons, 22 declared wives, and later in life, several concubines. Some marriages were made only to firm up alliances, but all were consummated.</p>

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