History of Saudi Arabia

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• published: 08 Nov 2014
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The history of Saudi Arabia, as a state, began with its foundation in 1933 by Abdulaziz Al Saud, although the human history of the region that is now Saudi Arabia extends as far as 20,000 years ago. The region has twice in world history had a global impact. The first was in the 7th century when it became the cradle of Islam. The second was from the mid-20th century when the discovery of vast oil deposits propelled it into a key economic and geo-political role. At other times, the region existed in relative obscurity and isolation, although from the 7th century the cities of Mecca and Medina had the highest spiritual significance for the Muslim world, Mecca being the destination for the Hajj annual pilgrimage. For much of its history most of the region has been controlled by a patchwork of tribal rulers. The Al Saud (the Saudi royal family) were originally minor tribal rulers in Najd in central Arabia. From the mid-18th century, imbued with the religious zeal of the Wahabbi Islamic movement, they became aggressively expansionist. Over the following 150 years, the extent of the Al Saud territory fluctuated. However, between 1902 and 1927, the Al Saud leader, Abdulaziz, carried out a series of wars of conquest which resulted in his creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. This video is targeted to blind users. Attribution: Article text available under CC-BY-SA Creative Commons image source in video