History of Saudi Arabia

The history of the peoples, states, and events in the territory of present-day Saudi Arabia, from ancient times to the modern kingdom.

Nabataean Kingdom: An ancient Arab kingdom centered at Petra that controlled caravan routes across northwestern Arabia. Its settlements and routes reached the territory that is now northwestern Saudi Arabia.
First Saudi State: An eighteenth-century polity centered at Diriyah that expanded across much of the Arabian Peninsula. Its rise began the sequence of Saudi states that produced the modern kingdom.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab: An eighteenth-century religious scholar whose teachings founded the movement known as Wahhabism. His alliance with Muhammad bin Saud shaped the ideological basis of the First Saudi State.
Oil in Saudi Arabia: Petroleum resources discovered in Saudi Arabia that became the foundation of its export economy and state revenues. Oil wealth accelerated urbanization, public spending, and the kingdom’s international influence.
Ottoman Empire: A transcontinental empire that ruled parts of the Middle East from the fourteenth century until its dissolution after World War I. Ottoman authority over parts of Arabia framed the revolts and rival claims that preceded Saudi expansion.
Lihyan: An ancient kingdom based at Dedan, near modern AlUla in northwestern Arabia. Its capital made AlUla an early center of state power in the region.
Diriyah: An oasis settlement near Riyadh that became the capital of the First Saudi State. Its political and religious alliance provided the first state’s center of power.
Abdulaziz Ibn Saud: The founder and first king of modern Saudi Arabia, who ruled from 1932 until 1953. His campaigns and diplomacy established the kingdom and secured its early international position.
Saudi Aramco: A Saudi state-owned energy company that developed from the oil concession granted to an American company in 1933. Its growth traces the shift from foreign-led extraction to Saudi control of oil production.
Sharifate of Mecca: A Hashemite-led polity governing Mecca and parts of the Hejaz under Ottoman suzerainty and later British influence. Its rule in the Hejaz offered a rival center of authority before Ibn Saud’s conquest.

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History of OmanCompared with: Saudi Arabia’s dynastic and religious foundations differ from Oman’s Ibadi imamate heritage.