Sudairi Seven

Origins and composition

In the early twentieth century, King Abdulaziz rapidly expanded his power base in Nejd to establish the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, and became its first king. As part of this process of expansion, he married women from powerful Nejdi and other Arab families to cement his control over all parts of his new domain. It is believed he married as many as 22 women as a result. One of these marriages was to Hussa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, a member of the powerful Al Sudairi clan to which King Abdulaziz's mother, Sara bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, belonged.

The number of children that King Abdulaziz fathered in total, with all his wives, is unknown. One source indicates that he had 37 sons. and as a consequence, were able to wield a degree of coordinated influence and power. King Abdulaziz and Hassa bint Ahmed married twice;{{cite book|author=Mark Weston|date=2008|title=Prophets and Princes: Saudi Arabia from Muhammad to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EEEFsVYLko4C|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|page=129

The Seven

Image:Fahd bin Abdul Aziz.jpg| Fahd (1921–2005)

Image:Prince Sultan.jpg| Sultan (1925–2011)

Image:Emblem of Saudi Arabia.svg| Abdul Rahman (1931–2017)

Image:Nayef bin AbdulAziz.jpg|Nayef (1934–2012)

Image:Emblem of Saudi Arabia.svg|Turki II (1934–2016)

Image:Salman bin Abdull aziz December 9, 2013.jpg|Salman (born 1935)

Image:Emblem of Saudi Arabia.svg|Ahmed (born 1942)

Their sisters

• Princess Luluwah (1928–2008) was married to Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah bin Saud Al Saud
• Princess Latifa (died September 2024)
• Princess Al Jawhara (died 2023) was married to Prince Khalid bin Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud
• Princess Jawahir (died June 2015)

Rise to power

The influence of the Sudairi Seven, which can be termed as asabiyya (group spirit) following the Khaldûnian terminology, grew constantly after the accession of its leader, Prince Fahd, to crown prince in 1975 and then king in 1982. They represented one out of five of King Abdulaziz’s sons. However, they gained influence and power not solely because of their number.{{cite journal|author=Amir Taheri|title=Saudi Arabia: Change Begins within the Family|journal=The Journal of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy|year=2012|volume=34|issue=3|pages=138–143

The Sudairi Seven's rise to power can be traced back to the accession of King Faisal and his earlier struggle with King Saud. Although not a Sudairi himself, Faisal, in his struggle to overthrow Saud, relied heavily upon the seven Sudairi brothers. One of the earliest significant roles played by the Sudairi Seven was in March 1962 when they collaborated with Crown Prince Faisal.{{cite journal|author=Rosie Bsheer|title=A Counter-Revolutionary State: Popular Movements and the Making of Saudi Arabia

In 1975, following the death of King Faisal and the accession of King Khalid, Prince Fahd became Crown Prince and Prince Nayef succeeded him at the ministry of interior. King Khalid reduced Sudairi Seven's power concerning succession in 1977 when he was in London for treatment. Following their unsuccessful attempt to overthrow King Khalid and to install Prince Sultan as crown prince instead of Prince Abdullah, King Khalid asked Crown Prince Fahd and Prince Abdullah to fully obey the existing succession plan without any change.{{cite journal|author=Staci Strobl|title=Policing in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia: understanding the role of sectarian history and politics|journal=Policing and Society|year=2016|volume=26|issue=5|page=553|s2cid=145290774

The Sudairis consolidated their hold over these fiefs by appointing their brothers and sons to their own ministries and other key positions. Prince Sultan appointed one of his younger Sudairi brothers – Prince Abdul Rahman – and one of his own sons – Prince Khalid – as his deputies. Another of Prince Sultan’s sons, Prince Bandar, served for two decades as Saudi ambassador in Washington and then head of the Saudi National Security Council. His other son Prince Khalid, the co-commander with U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf in the Gulf War (1991), became vice defence minister. Prince Nayef also appointed one of his sons – Muhammad – as his deputy at the ministry of the interior.

The Sudairis’ rise to power and hold over government brought continuity to the system. It also prompted other princes to align quietly against them. The main opposition to the Sudairis came from Prince Abdullah prior to his accession to the throne. He cultivated allies among his other brothers and with King Faisal’s sons. Upon Prince Abdullah's accession to the throne, he created a new family council, the Allegiance Commission, to determine the future succession. The Sudairis filled a fifth of the council’s seats which is seen as a dilution of Sudairi power since their overall control over the state is perceived as proportionately greater than this.

Reign of King Abdullah (2005–2015)

Mai Yamani argues that the Sudairi brothers, previously known as the Sudairi Seven, since King Fahd’s death in August 2005 reduced to al-Thaluth (‘the trio’), referring only to Prince Sultan, Prince Nayef and Prince Salman. Prince Sultan became the leader of the group after King Fahd's demise.{{cite news|author=William Safire|title=The Split in the Saudi Royal Family

On 28 October 2011, Prince Nayef became the Crown Prince after the death of Prince Sultan, and his other full brother Prince Salman, who had been a long-term Riyadh governor, was appointed the minister of defence. However, the eldest surviving member of the Sudairi brothers, Prince Abdul Rahman, was replaced by Prince Sultan's son Prince Khalid as deputy minister of defence.{{cite journal|author1=Nathaniel Kern

Prince Abdul Rahman was reported to argue that he should have been promoted instead of Prince Salman. On the other hand, the youngest of the Sudairi brothers, Ahmed, who had been Prince Nayef's deputy at the ministry of interior since 1975, was reported to complain about that Prince Nayef was actively promoting the interest of his own son, Prince Mohammed. Lastly, another Sudairi Prince Turki, who returned to Riyadh in early 2011 after a long and at least partly voluntary exile in Cairo, was said to agitate for a more senior position.{{cite web|author=Ian Bremmer

On 16 June 2012, Crown Prince Nayef died in Geneva. His posts were filled by his younger full-brothers. Prince Salman was named as the Crown Prince and deputy prime minister, and Prince Ahmed as the minister of interior on 18 June 2012.{{cite news|author=Neil MacFarquhar

Reign of King Salman (2015–present)

King Salman immediately began to consolidate power on behalf of the clan. His son Mohammad bin Salman became both minister of defense and secretary general of the Court, combining two of the most powerful offices in the government, and Mohammed bin Nayef bypassed hundreds of senior princes to become the first of the third generation to be officially placed in the line of succession.

On 28 April 2015, Mohammed bin Nayef was named crown prince, replacing Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, the younger half-brother of the Sudairi Seven. Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud was named as deputy crown prince by his father, thus effectively putting the future of the throne in the Sudairi Seven clan's firm grip.

On 21 June 2017 Mohammad bin Salman was made crown prince, and Mohammed bin Nayef was removed from his posts and stripped of his titles.{{cite web|title=Mohammad bin Salman named new Saudi Crown Prince|url=http://tass.com/world/952543|work=TASS|access-date=23 June 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170622194650/http://tass.com/world/952543|archive-date=22 June 2017|url-status=live|location=Beirut|date=21 June 2017

References

Bibliography

• Madawi Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, Cambridge University Press, 2002,

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