As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was declared in 1932, Ibn Saʿud endeavoured to consolidate a royal lineage to provide continuity at the level of leadership. The consolidation of a Saʿudi royal lineage was achieved as a result of two parallel processes. First, Ibn Saʿud marginalised members of his own generation (his brothers and nephews). Second, he consolidated his own line of descent (his sons), which eventually developed into a distinct royal group. This chapter investigates processes of control and explores the mechanisms underlying loyalty to the state in the pre-oil period. It then moves on to introduce an important landmark event in the history of Saudi Arabia in the twentieth century, namely the oil concession of 1933, which resulted in the discovery of oil in commercial quantities.

MARGINALISING SAʿUDI COLLATERAL BRANCHES

The strategy of marginalisation involved the containment of potential claims to the throne from within the Al Saʿud group. Immediately after the capture of Riyadh, Ibn Saʿud endeavoured to resolve the threat of his own paternal uncles and their descendants.

During the period of early expansion in Arabia, Ibn Saʿud faced the challenge of the so-called ʿAraʾif, his paternal cousins, under the leadership of ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Saʿud ibn Faysal ibn Turki (al-Dakhil 1982: 103–4; Rihani 1928: 182).