al saud

English - English

Definition of al saud in English English dictionary: or l Sad ("Sad family") Rulers of present-day Saudi Arabia. In the 18th century Muammad ibn Sad (d. 1765), chief of an Arabian village that had never fallen under control of the Ottoman Empire, rose to power together with the Wahhb religious movement. He and his son Abd al-Azz I (r. 1764-1803) conquered much of Arabia; Sad I (r. 1803-14) conquered Medina in 1804 and Mecca in 1806. The Ottoman sultan induced the viceroy of Egypt to crush the Sads and Wahhbs, which was accomplished by 1818. A second Sad state was formed in 1824 by Muammad ibn Sad's grandson Turk (r. 1823-34), who made Riyadh his capital. When Turk's son Fayal (r. 1843-65) died, succession disputes led to civil war. Power did not return to Sad hands until 1902, when Ibn Sad recaptured Riyadh. He established the kingdom of Saudi Arabia by royal decree in 1932. One of his sons, Fahd (b. 1923), became the country's ruler in 1982

al saud