622 Muhammad of Mecca preaches oneness of Allah, migrates to Medina, and
Founds Islam.
1517 Ottoman Empire takes control of Arabia.
C. 1750 Saudi state is established in central Arabia.
1902 King Abdul Aziz al-Saud captures Riyadh from Rashid family; continues to fight
For land over next twenty years.
1904 Ibn Saud (Abd al-Aziz II) recovers all original Saudi territory in central Arabia.
1913 Saudis bring al-Asha under their control.
1915 Ibn Saud signs treaty with British placing Saudi foreign relations under British
Control.
1919 Independent king Hussein Ibn Ali, sharif of Mecca, attacks Saudis; warfare
Breaks out; Hussein is defeated and the kingdom of Ibn Saud is annexed.
1921 Ibn Saud rids Arabia of Rashids.
1923 Ibn Saud consolidates kingdom by occupying districts west and north of Ha'il.
1925 Ibn Saud takes control of Jiddah.
1930's Oil is discovered in the kingdom.
1932 (Sept. 22) Parts of realm are amalgamated into Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
1934 Saudi Arabia wins disputed lands in brief war with Yemen.
1945 Saudi Arabia becomes founding member of Arab League.
1953 Council of Ministers is established; Ibn Saud dies and is succeeded by his son
Saud ibn Abdul Aziz.
1960 Saudi Arabia helps found Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC).
1964 Saud ibn Abdul Aziz is deposed and replaced by King Faisal.
1973 Saudi Arabia joins boycott against Western nations, helping to promote huge rise
In oil prices.
Half-brother, Crown Prince Khalid. Prince Fahd was designated crown prince. Under Khalid the country saw rapid modernization and a revolution of its educational system. Following the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement on March 26, 1979, Saudi Arabia joined most of the other Arab nations in severing diplomatic relations with Egypt.
The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 and the following Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1990 caused the Saudi govern-
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1998
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2002
King Faisal is assassinated; he is succeeded by King Khalid.
(Mar. 26) After Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement is signed, Saudi Arabia joins other Arab nations in severing relations with Egypt.
Saudi Arabia becomes seat of Gulf Cooperation Council.
King Khalid dies; Crown Prince Fahd ascends to throne.
(Aug. 2) When Iraq invades Kuwait, ruler of Kuwait takes refuge in Saudi Arabia; King Fahd requests U. S. troops for defense.
(Jan.) Saudis play active role in U. S. air strikes against Iraq in Persian Gulf War. King is granted exclusive power to name crown prince; he announces creation of advisory body to provide forum for public debate.
(July 19) Saudi warships bombard Yemen-held Duwaima Island, which Saudi Arabia claims.
(June) Foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Yemen sign treaty on their borders based on their 1934 agreement.
(Sept. 11) Islamic militants hijack planes in the United States and use them to destroy the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D. C. Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers are Saudi Arabians.
(Aug. 15) More than six hundred family members of people killed in the September 11 attacks on the United States file suit against the Saudi Arabian company run by Osama bin Laden's family, three Saudi princes, and the government of Sudan, maintaining that these sources provided the terrorists with funds.
(Sept. 15) Foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal announces that Saudi Arabia will support an attack on Iraq if the attack is a result of a resolution by the U. N. Security Council.
(Sept. 25) Saudi interior minister Prince Nayef, brother of King Fahd and halfbrother to Crown Prince Abdullah, accuses the United States of being hostile toward Muslims and of using different standards for judging Iraq and Israel. On the same day, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak meets with Crown Prince Abdullah to discuss how to prevent a U. S. attack on Iraq.
World History
