ABSTRACT
Saudi history has been much discussed in Western sources owing to Saudi territorial expansion and the outstanding oil wealth accumulated in more recent decades. There is little dispute over the historical facts although it is unfortunate that there has been almost no interpretative scholarship regarding the political identity of the Al Saud or their relationship with Central Arabian populations and with other Arab leaders. It is often assumed that the Al Saud originated from the badu of Najd, but the truth is quite different. The earliest traceable ancestors of the Al Saud are known to have immigrated to Najd from al-Qatif in al-Ahsa during the fifteenth century. The first settlement associated with them, Diriya, was located in Wadi Hanifa, fifteen kilometres north of al-Riyad, an urban area already well established. Although the Al Saud proudly claim to be related to the great Anaza tribal confederation of northern Arabia, their primary interests lay with those of urban populations from the moment of their arrival in Najd and even prior to their departure from al-Ahsa. The first goal of the Al Saud, ever since the eighteenth century, was the union of urban areas under a single political authority. It was only in the twentieth century that they were able to initiate a deliberate policy aimed at the eventual settlement of the badu who were an indispensable element in any scheme of political expansion and consolidation in Arabia.
