View source for Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud

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'''Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud''' ruled [[Saudi Arabia]] from 1905 to 1975.  He unified the country beginning in 1902 and then named it after himself.  He was the first Monarch of Saudi Arabia and was also known as [[Ibn Sa'ud]].  

Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud was born in Rijadh into the House of Saud, which had historically maintained dominion over interior highlands of Arabia known as Najd.  Saud followed his family in exile in Kuwait following the conquest of the family's lands by the Rashidi.  The Rashidi were a historic house of the Arabian Peninsula, the most formidable enemies of the House of Saud.  

Al Aziz spent the remainder of his childhood in Kuwait.  Abd al-Rahman had a stipend from the Turkish government of 60 Turkish pounds a month and Abdul Aziz went on several profitable raids in Najd as he grew into adulthood.  He attended the daily Majlis of the Emir of Kuwait, Mubarak al Sabah, from who he learned much about the world.  However the families home in Rijadh was of the simplest and cramped by 5 sons and at least one daughter.

His family supported the Wahhabi movement.  It is an Islamic movement named after Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab.  In 1924 the ibn Saud of Saudia Arabia who was influenced by the teachings of abdul Wahhab conquered Mecca and Medina, the Muslim holy cities.

[[Category:Heads of state]]
[[Category:History]]
 From the Encycolpedia of Eastern History: Biographies.