ABSTRACT
Ibn Sa‘ud died on 9th October 1953. He himself who had started with nothing, left to his heirs a great state and an enormous personal income. His father had had no land he could call his own and he himself had first relied on the generosity of others to supply his daily wants. At Ibn Sa‘ud’s death the territory over which he ruled was greater than had ever before been seen by the House of the Sa‘uds and the riches were such as had never even been dreamt of in the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. Following the example of Arabia’s greatest son, the Prophet of Islam, Ibn Sa‘ud had used a force that was both religious and political. Ibn Sa‘ud was the first Arab ruler to send his sons to Europe and later to America to strengthen relations with the governing powers there and to prepare the way for the introduction of European and American help into his country.
