Sixth King and the cautious 'reformer' of Saudi Kingdom dies!

It’s been almost a century since Saud Arabia is being ruled by Al Saud under modern monarch system. Al Saud (the Saudi royal family) were a minor tribal rulers in Najid in 18^th century.  Later after winning a series of wars of conquest Al Saud’s leader Abdulaziz established the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia. King Abdulaziz bin Al Saud started his military and political campaign in 1902 and in between 1902-1932 he unified various, tribes, sheikhdoms, emirates and kingdoms in to one big kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Abdul Aziz bin Saud kept the throne for two decades till he died in 1953.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under this new regime was not considered successful until vast Oil reserves were discovered in 1938 and its development made Saudi Arabia emerged as a powerful oil-rich country in the world map.  Ibn-Saud had 37 sons and seven of them are the subsequent Kings of Saudi Arabia.

After the founder’s death his son King Saud succeeded to the throne but due to his lavish spending of money he faced a serious opposition by the royal family and his half brother King Faisal. King Saud was the only king who was deposed by the house of Sauds and King Faisal was made the King of the Saudi Kingdom. King Faisal emerged as one of the most successful kings of Arabia he brought new reforms for the development of the country and for women too. King Faisal was the only King of the royal family who got assassinated, he was killed by his nephew in 1975.

King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz became the fourth monarch of the kingdom after King Faisal’s assassination.  Saudi Arabia witnessed huge developments under his reign due to increasing oil revenues and other events. King Khalid kept the power till his death in 1982 after which King Fahd assumed the great powers. King Fahd ruled the country for more than two decades (1982-2005). He was the eldest member of the Sudairi Seven (one of the seven sons of Ibn Saud with his wife Hassa bint Ahmed Al Sudhairi) after whom King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz came to power.

The sixth king of the kingdom Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz was the 13^th son of King Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The sixth king who kept the power for almost a decade died today on 23^rd January at the age of 90. King Abdullah emerged as a cautious reformer in the modern monarch system of Arabia. King Abdulllah’s regime focused on the development of infrastructure and education plans on a larger scale. He also played an active role in international affairs. He took some great steps for women rights in Saudi Arabia. He was the one who gave right to the Saudi women to cast their vote even after the strong opposition of conservative members of the family. He also allowed the Saudi women to take part in sports, under his tenure Saudi girls participated in Olympics. The man who took the throne in 2005 died on Friday due to acute pneumonia and lung disease. His half brother and full brother of King Fahd, King Salman bin Abdulaziz  has assumed the powers as the seventh King of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of two sacred Mosques, and the head of the House of Sauds.

King Abdullah was a true friend of Pakistan as he bonded well with all the political parties that came in power in Pakistan during his tenure. He had always shown keen interest in solving Pakistan’s domestic and international issues. Dauntless Pakistan has lost a true friend after his demise.