Ibn Saud (15 January 1875-9 November 1953) was King of Nejd from 1902 to 1932 and King of Saudi Arabia from 23 September 1932 to 9 Novembe 1953, preceding Saud of Saudi Arabia. He was the man who united the Arabian Peninsula under Nejd and the House of Saud, and the new country would be known as "Saudi Arabia" after the ruling dynasty. Ibn Saud had 45 sons with several wives, and his large family would go on to be billionaires due to profits from the sale of oil.
Biography[]
Ibn Saud was born on 15 January 1875 in Riyadh, Nejd, the son of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, the last ruler of Nejd. At the age of 15, Ibn Saud lost his home to the Rashidis when they seized Riyadh, and in 1901 he led a raiding expedition into Nejd. On 15 January 1902, he recaptured Riyadh, forming the Third Saudi State and beginning the Unification of Saudi Arabia. In the following years, Ibn Saud and bands of warriors proceeded to seize much of the peninsula from other tribes and the Kingdom of Hejaz, and on 23 September 1932 he declared that he was the King of "Saudi Arabia". In 1927, he established a shura council, and he structured Saudi Arabia as a theocracy, adhering to sharia law with strict rules and even worse punishments. During World War II, he was a neutral ruler, but the discovery of oil led to him allying with the United States on 14 February 1945 after meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Saudi-US alliance would be maintained for the rest of the century and beyond. Ibn Saud wanted to fight communism, as did the USA, but he supported Palestine and the Arab League against Israel in the First Arab-Israeli War in 1948, sending 3,000 troops as a symbol of his involvement in the war. In 1951, Aramco was founded as an oil company with both Saudi and US involvement, and Saudi Arabia became a booming center of oil production shortly before Ibn Saud's death in 1953. He had at least 45 sons and many wives, with Islam permitting polygamy, and the House of Saud would go on to rule Arabia for several more years.