ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the evolution and composition of the Saudi aristocracy and whether it has changed in recent decades, under the impact of rapid modernisation and the rise of new elites. The unification of the Saudi kingdom by Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud in the first decades of the century consolidated the power and authority of a new Saudi ruling class — the aristocracy. Together with the royal house and the ulama they are considered to be a component of the ruling class. Their position within this class, however, is inferior to that of the ulama and depends as much on the relative importance of each amir in the Saudi tribal structure. The ulama, nevertheless, remain a component of the Saudi ruling class, although a junior one, and the Sauds’ loyal partners; both the Sauds and the ulama, each for their own reasons, have a vested interest in the preservation of their historical alliance.
