Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud

1876 - He was born at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

1890 - At the age of fourteen, Saud followed his family into exile in Kuwait following the conquest of the

               family's lands by the Rashidi.

        - He spent the remainder of his childhood in Kuwait.

1901 - He and some relatives, including a half-brother Mohammed and several cousins, set out on a

             raiding expedition mostly targeting

          tribes associated with the Rashidis.

1902 - On the 15th and 16th of January, together with a party of some sixty, including seven relatives

              and some slaves, he recaptured Riyadh with only twenty.


1904 -  Ibn Rashid appealed to the Ottoman Empire for assistance in defeating the House of Sa'kd.

         - The armies of the House of Saud suffered a major defeat on 15th of June

1912 - He finally consolidated control over the Nejd, with the help of an organized and well-trained army.

        - He founded the Ikhwan, a militant religious organisation which was to assist in his later conquests.

1920 - He argued with the British that the payment he received was insufficient to adequately wage war

            against an enemy as powerful as Ibn Rashed.

1922 - Ibn Sa'kd finally marched again against the Rashidis, extinguishing their dominion.

        - He was able to negotiate a new treaty with the British at Uqair.

1924 - British subsidies continued.

1925 - He captured the holy city of Mecca from Sherif Hussein Ibn Ali ending 700 years of Hashemite tutelage

             of the Islamic holy places.

1926 -  On the 10th of January, he was proclaimed King of the Hejas in the Great Mosque at Mecca.

1927 -   Following the defeat of Husayn, the British government recognized the power of the Saud family, led

              by Ibn Saud, over much of what is today Saudi Arabia.

        - The Treaty of Jedda was signed on the 20th of may.

1929 - He defeated elements of the Ikhwan, which had disobeyed his orders to cease raiding and had invaded

             Iraq against his wishes.

1932 - He renamed the area from the lands of Nejd and Hejas to Saudi Arabia, then proclaimed himself King

              of Saudi Arabia.

1953 - He died on the 9th of november.