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A photo of Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Saud of Saudi Arabia

Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 to 2 November 1964. Prior to his ascension, he served as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 11 May 1933 to 9 November 1953. He was the second son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and the first of Abdulaziz’s six sons who were kings. 

Prince Saud was born on 15 January 1902 in Kuwait City. The second son of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, he was born in the home of his grandfather Abdul Rahman bin Faisal. They lived in Sikkat Inazza district of the city where the family was staying after their exile from Riyadh. When his father conquered Riyadh in 1902, Saud followed him with his mother and brothers.

From the age of five, he studied Sharia and the Quran under Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Mufaireej. He also learned archery and horse-riding amongst other things under the supervision of his father, as well as tribal lineages, how to conduct peace agreements, and the art of wars, politics, diplomacy, and administration in the traditional Arabian ways.

Here are the top 10 interesting facts about Saud.

1. Saud was the second son of King Abdulaziz

The death of Saud’s elder brother, Prince Turki, in 1919 poised Saud to become his father’s successor. 

Prince Saud’s full siblings were Prince Turki, Prince Khalid, Prince Abdullah, and Princess Mounira. Of them, Khalid and Abdullah died young. Their mother was Abdulaziz’s second wife, Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair, who was from the Bani Khalid tribe.

2. Saud led a delegation to Qatar at the age of thirteen

King Abdulaziz with Prince Faisal and Prince Saud in the Early 1950s –

Saud accompanied his father on his many expeditions and, participated in several campaigns during the unification of the Arabian Peninsula. 

His first political mission was at the age of thirteen, leading a delegation to Qatar. The first battle he fought was at Jarrab in 1915, followed by one at Yatab in the same year, then Trubah in 1919.

3. Saud served as a commander in Abdulaziz’s conquests

The conquests led to the founding of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. He was the viceroy of Nejd from 1926 to 1932, and he also represented his father in neighboring countries.

Saud played a role in the financial reforms of Saudi Arabia, preparing the first state budget in 1948 and establishing the Saudi Central Bank in 1952. Saud also oversaw the country’s infrastructural development.

4. Saud was appointed Crown Prince in 1933

Saud bin Abdulaziz in 1938 –

Upon his appointment as crown prince, Abdulaziz told his son that he should be devoted to spreading Islam, take good care of his subjects, and pay attention to the advice of religious scholars. Saud then promised his father that he would listen to his advice.

The crown prince of Saudi Arabia is the second most important position in Saudi Arabia, second to the King, and is his designated successor. 

5. Saud also founded King Saud University in Riyadh

King Saud declared in 1960 that schools would be established to educate girls in religious matters, including Quran, creed, and fiqh as well as in other sciences which were acceptable in Islamic tradition such as house management, and raising and disciplining children.

6. Saud ascended to the throne upon his father’s death in 1953

A military official taking to King Saud of Saudi Arabia –

Saul reorganized the government and established the convention that the king of Saudi Arabia presides over the Council of Ministers. 

Saud sought to maintain friendly relations with the United States, whilst also supporting other Arab countries in their conflicts against Israel. Under his reign, Saudi Arabia joined the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961. 

7. Saud announced that his sole purpose was to unify Muslims all over the world

Saud intended that Muslims be like one strong body. King Saud played a role of utmost importance on the regional, Arab, Islamic, and international political stages.

He started his worldwide tours after finishing touring his country’s regions. He visited Arab and friendly countries for strategic and political purposes. He also toured Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, and Pakistan.

8. Saul broke off relations with Britain and France in support of Egypt

President John F. Kennedy visits Saud bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia by Cecil W. Stoughton –

When Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt on 29 October 1956 as a result of the nationalization of the canal, King Saud declared a general mobilization and ordered the opening of enlistment offices.

As a means of exerting pressure on the British and French governments, he used a weapon never used before, when he blocked oil exports, banning all British and French tankers and other tankers carrying Saudi oil to these two countries.

9. Saud supported the Algerian revolution against France

 King Saud kept granting donations to Algeria and kept defending it until it established its independence in 1962.

He supported  Algeria diplomatically and financially. King Saud made a statement inviting people to donate money for the revolution; the donations amounted to $1,200,000. The government donated one million dollars of that amount in 1956, and the rest of the donations were granted yearly.

10. Saud was in a  power struggle with his half-brother, Crown Prince Faisal

Immediately after Abdulaziz’s death, a fierce struggle erupted between his two eldest surviving sons, Saud and Faisal. In 1958, Saud was forced to delegate most of his executive powers to Faisal. Saud and Faisal fought an internal battle over the definition of political responsibilities and the division of government functions.

Saud’s inability to counter the Saudi national debt brought him into a power struggle with his half-brother, Crown Prince Faisal, culminating in the forced abdication of Saud and the proclamation of Faisal as king. 

Saud went into exile and made an attempt, supported by some of his sons, to take back the throne, but this was unsuccessful.