Saud of Saudi Arabia

Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود; 15 January 1902 – 23 February 1969) was King of Saudi Arabia from 9 November 1953 until his abdication on 2 November 1964.

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.

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.

From the age of five, Prince Saud 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, and how to conduct peace agreements, and the art of wars, politics, diplomacy, and administration in the traditional Arabian ways.

His formal tutors were his father's advisors, Abdullah Al Damluji and Hafiz Wahba.

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.

The death of Saud's elder brother, Prince Turki, in 1919 poised Saud to become his father's successor; King Abdulaziz appointed him as the crown prince of Saudi Arabia in 1933.

In 1925, he stopped the Almahmal crisis in Mecca.

During his tenure as viceroy of Najd Prince Saud criticized his father due to the limitations on the Ikhwan through the newspaper Umm Al Qura.

He was the viceroy of Nejd from 1926 to 1932, and he also represented his father in neighboring countries.

However, he later fought to stop the Ikhwan revolt at the battle of Sabilla in 1929.

Saud served as a commander in Abdulaziz's conquests that led to the establishment of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

Prior to his accession, Saud was the country's crown prince from 11 May 1933 to 9 November 1953.

He was the second son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia.

Saud was the second son of King Abdulaziz and Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair.

On 11 May 1933, Saud was appointed Crown Prince which was announced in Umm Al Qura newspaper.

His uncle Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman did not pledge his allegiance to Saud as crown prince and before the gathering he left Riyadh for Mecca.

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 father's advice.

The following year, King Abdulaziz sent two military expeditions; one of them was led by Crown Prince Saud, who regained Najran and advanced secretly through the rugged mountains in the northwest part of Yemen.

Following the end of the war with Yemen, Abdulaziz decided to encourage Saud to travel abroad.

Accompanied by his father's adviser Fuad Hamza and physician Dr. Medhat Sheikh el-Ard and some others, he visited: Transjordan, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt and Europe where he represented his father at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.

He 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.

During his reign, he served as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 1953 to 1954 and from 1960 to 1962.

Upon his father's death in 1953, Saud ascended the throne and reorganized the government.

He founded 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.

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

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

He died in Athens, Greece, in 1969.