History of Saudi Arabia Timeline

The history of Saudi Arabia as a nation state began with the emergence of the Al Saud dynasty in central Arabia in 1727 and the subsequent establishment of the Emirate of Diriyah, also known as the First Saudi State.

Image source: Emirate of Diriyah

In 1744, Muhammad ibn Saud, the tribal ruler of Ad-Dir'iyyah near Riyadh, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabi movement. This alliance provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion and remains the basis of Saudi dynastic rule today.

Image source: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab

The First Saudi State briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia through conquests made between 1806 and 1815, including Medina (captured in April 1804) and Mecca (captured in 1806).

Ali sent his sons Tusun Pasha and Ibrahim Pasha, who were eventually successful in routing the Saudi forces in 1818 and destroyed the power of the Al Saud. The Egyptians continued to occupy the Hejaz until 1840.

Image source: Ottoman–Wahhabi war

The Al Saud returned to power in 1824, but their area of control was mainly restricted to the Saudi heartland of the Najd region, known as the Second Saudi State. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud and the Al Rashid fought for control of the interior.

Image source: Third Saudi state

By 1891, the Al Saud were conclusively defeated by the Al Rashid, who drove the Saudis into exile in Kuwait, ending the Second Saudi State.

Image source: Emirate of Jabal Shammar

In 1902, Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud returned from exile in Kuwait to resume the conflict with the Al Rashid and seized Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family—the first of a series of conquests that would lead to the creation of modern Saudi Arabia.

Image source: Second Saudi–Rashidi War

By 1906, Abdulaziz had driven the Al Rashid out of Najd, and the Ottomans recognized him as their client in Najd.

Abdulaziz's next major acquisition was Al-Hasa, which he took from the Ottomans in 1913, bringing him control of the Persian Gulf coast and what would become Saudi Arabia's vast oil reserves.

In 1916, with British and French support, the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, led a pan-Arab revolt against the Ottomans aiming to create a unified Arab state. Abdulaziz avoided involvement, having acknowledged Ottoman suzerainty in 1914. The revolt tied down thousands of Ottoman troops, contributing to their defeat in World War I in 1918.

Image source: Arab Revolt

In 1920, the Ikhwan's attention turned to the southwest, when they seized Asir, the region between the Hejaz and Yemen.

Image source: Ikhwan

At a conference in Riyadh in July 1924, complaints were stated against the Hejaz, principally that pilgrimage from Najd was prevented. The Ikhwan completed their conquest of the Hejaz by the end of 1925.

On 10 January 1926, Abdulaziz declared himself King of the Hejaz, and on 27 January 1927, he took the title King of Najd, his previous title having been Sultan. From 1902 until his death, he ruled a series of successive states culminating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Image source: Ibn Saud

By the Treaty of Jeddah, signed on 20 May 1927, the United Kingdom recognized the independence of Abdul-Aziz's realm, then known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd.

Image source: Treaty of Jeddah (1927)

The Ikhwan revolted against Abdulaziz's rule but were defeated in the Battle of Sabilla in 1929, and the Ikhwan leadership were massacred.

In 1932, the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Najd were united as the 'Kingdom of Saudi Arabia' by Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, also known as Ibn Saud in Western countries.

Image source: Saudi Arabia

The country's southern boundary with Yemen was partially defined by the 1934 Treaty of Ta'if, which ended a brief border war between the two states.

Image source: Saudi–Yemeni war (1934)

Although Abdulaziz had military and political success, the country struggled economically until commercial volumes of oil were discovered on 3 March 1938 in the Al-Hasa region, along the Persian Gulf coast, followed by several other finds in the Eastern Province.

Image source: Energy in Saudi Arabia

In February 1945, Abdulaziz met with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard a warship in the Great Bitter Lake, forging a lasting partnership between the two nations.

Oil development began in 1946, after being delayed due to World War II. By 1949, oil production was in full swing, transforming the kingdom's economy.

Abdulaziz, the founding father of Saudi Arabia, died in 1953, upon which his son King Saud succeeded to the throne.

Image source: Saud of Saudi Arabia

When civil war broke out in 1962 between Yemeni royalists and republicans, Egyptian forces entered Yemen to support the republicans, while Saudi Arabia backed the royalists. Between 1962 and 1970, the monarchy faced one of the gravest threats to its survival from Yemen. Tensions subsided only after Egypt withdrew its troops in 1967.

Image source: North Yemen Civil War

As a consequence of internal power struggles, King Saud was deposed in favor of his brother Faisal in 1964.

Image source: Faisal of Saudi Arabia

Saudi forces did not participate in the Six-Day War of June 1967, but the government later provided annual subsidies to Egypt, Jordan, and Syria to support their economies.

Image source: Six-Day War

During the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Saudi Arabia participated in the Arab oil boycott of the United States and other Western allies of Israel. The subsequent rise in oil prices dramatically increased the country's political significance and wealth.

Image source: 1973 oil crisis

Faisal was assassinated in 1975 by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid. Until his murder, Faisal had presided over a period of growth and modernization fueled by oil wealth. He was succeeded by his half-brother King Khalid, during whose reign development continued at an extremely rapid rate and close ties with the US resumed.

In 1979, Islamist extremists temporarily seized control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the first major sign of dissent during Khalid's reign. Along with the Iranian Revolution, this event had a long-term influence on Saudi foreign and domestic policy. Anti-government riots also occurred in the region in 1979 and 1980.

Image source: Grand Mosque seizure

King Khalid died in June 1982 and was succeeded by his brother King Fahd, who became king that year.

Image source: Fahd of Saudi Arabia

Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia joined the anti-Iraq coalition, allying itself with the United States and others. Saudi and coalition forces repelled Iraqi forces when they breached the Kuwaiti-Saudi border in 1991, though internal tensions increased as a result of the alliance.

Image source: Gulf War

In 1995, Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke and his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, assumed day-to-day responsibility for the government.

In 2003, Saudi Arabia refused to support the US and its allies in the invasion of Iraq. That same year, terrorist activity within the country increased dramatically, with the Riyadh compound bombings and other attacks prompting the government to take more stringent action against terrorism.

Image source: 2003 invasion of Iraq

Abdullah, already regent, officially ascended to the throne upon the death of King Fahd in 2005. In December 2005, following twelve years of talks, the World Trade Organization gave the green light to Saudi Arabia's membership.

Image source: Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

As the Arab Spring unrest and protests began to spread across the Arab world in early 2011, King Abdullah announced an increase in welfare spending to placate potential dissent.

King Abdullah died in 2015 and his half-brother Salman became king at the age of 79.

Image source: Salman of Saudi Arabia

The An Nasim site in the Hail region was first discovered in 2015 using remote sensing and palaeohydrological modelling. In May 2021, archaeologists announced it could be the oldest human habitation site in northern Saudi Arabia, dating back 350,000 years.

Image source: History of Saudi Arabia

Mohammed bin Salman has led Saudi Vision 2030, a plan to diversify the country's economy and move Saudi Arabia away from a dependence on oil revenues, while also overseeing a number of legal and social reforms.

Image source: Saudi Vision 2030

Saudi women were given the right to drive in 2017, a landmark legal and social reform under King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had been named crown prince that year.

Image source: Women's rights in Saudi Arabia

In 2018, Saudi women were allowed to open their own businesses without the permission of a male guardian and to maintain custody of their children following a divorce, part of a series of legal and social reforms.

On 9 June 2020, the discovery of a 35-metre-long triangular megalithic monument in Dumat al-Jandal, dated back to the seventh millennium BC and presumably dedicated to ritual practices, was published in the journal Antiquity.

Image source: Dumat al-Jandal