King Saud I, may he rest in peace, ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 9 November 1953, succeeding his father, the founder King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, who passed away on that day after a life filled with struggle and perseverance in unifying the Arabian Peninsula and establishing its security and stability.
The reign of King Saud, which lasted until 2 November 1964, witnessed rapid developments on the Arab, regional, and international levels. These circumstances required His Majesty to undertake numerous tours both within the Kingdom and abroad.
Domestically, he traveled extensively across the vast regions of his country to inspect the conditions of his people, ensure their well‑being, and determine what he could provide for them. This reflected his famous declaration:
“If my father’s reign was the era of unification, then my reign shall be dedicated to combating poverty, ignorance, and disease.”
A Saudi writer once noted that King Saud was exceptionally generous. During his tours, he distributed silver coins and clothing to citizens after witnessing their difficult living conditions. He then opened the doors of education wide for both boys and girls, established two universities—one in Riyadh and another in Medina—and ushered in a new era of modern healthcare, transitioning from cauterization and folk healing to contemporary medical treatment. He also settled all outstanding state debts.
Thus, “the foundations of the nation were laid with divine guidance and firm adherence to principles,” making his reign the true starting point for the nation‑building completed by the kings who succeeded him—arguably the most challenging phase, given the competing interests, unrest, and turmoil surrounding the Arabian Peninsula at the time.
Extensive Foreign Visits
In addition to his many domestic tours, King Saud undertook numerous official and private visits abroad. Indeed, during the first five years of his reign (1954–1959), he made more foreign visits than any of his successors.
1954
He visited Cairo, Kuwait, Karachi, Jordan, and the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, responding to invitations from President Mohammed Naguib, Sheikh Abdullah Al‑Salem Al‑Sabah, Governor‑General Ghulam Muhammad, King Hussein bin Talal, and Imam Ahmad Hamid Al‑Din, respectively.
1955
He visited Qatar, Iran, Kuwait, Karachi, and Delhi, responding to invitations from Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al‑Thani, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Sheikh Abdullah Al‑Salem Al‑Sabah, President Iskander Mirza, and Jawaharlal Nehru.
1956
On 9 March, he traveled to Cairo for a summit with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Syrian President Shukri Al‑Quwatli, returning to Jeddah aboard the Egyptian yacht Al‑Hurriya.
On 13 November, he flew to Beirut at the invitation of Lebanese President Camille Chamoun to attend the second Arab Summit. On his return, he visited Syria and Jordan by land.
1957
This year also witnessed numerous official tours.
On 21 January, he made his first visit to the United States as king. On his return journey, he stopped in Madrid, Rabat, Tunis, and Tripoli, visiting these capitals between 10–23 February at the invitations of General Francisco Franco, King Mohammed V, Bey Muhammad Al‑Amin, and King Idris Al‑Sanusi.
On 24 February, he visited Cairo again for a summit with Presidents Nasser and Al‑Quwatli, King Hussein of Jordan, and the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Haj Amin Al‑Husseini.
On 18 May, he made his historic visit to the Kingdom of Iraq at the invitation of King Faisal II and Crown Prince ‘Abd al‑Ilah.
On 8 June, he arrived in Amman at the invitation of King Hussein and departed on the 14th.
On 19 July, he held a summit meeting with Emperor Haile Selassie in Asmara.
Visits for Medical Treatment and Recuperation (1958–1964)
From 1958 onward, most of King Saud’s travels were for medical treatment and rest.
In July 1957, he left Jeddah for treatment in Germany, stopping in Beirut and Athens en route. On his return in September, he stopped in Switzerland and then visited Syria.
His medical trip to Germany was repeated in July 1959, when he departed Jeddah aboard the yacht Adriatic, which passed through the Suez Canal. There he met Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer—representing President Nasser—in the Great Bitter Lake. He then continued to Corfu, where he met King Paul of Greece. On his return, he visited Egypt again to meet Nasser in August.
On 26 November 1959, he visited Qatar at the invitation of Sheikh Ali Al‑Thani, and again on 6 February 1961.
On 21 November 1961, he made another extended visit to the United States for medical examinations and to meet President John F. Kennedy. On his return to Riyadh, he stopped in Madrid and paid an official visit to Morocco at the invitation of King Hassan II.
On 1 June 1962, King Saud departed Jeddah for Italy to receive medical treatment, followed by a period of convalescence in Germany. Yet one may ask: did Bahrain have a share in these extensive royal journeys? The answer is certainly yes, owing to the deep‑rooted historical ties between the two countries, their peoples, and their ruling families.
On Saturday, 7 Sha‘ban 1373 AH (10 April 1954)—less than six months after his accession to the throne—King Saud left Riyadh by air for Dhahran, from where he proceeded the following day to Bahrain on his first visit as king to the Kingdom’s small island neighbor, responding to an invitation from the late Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The royal visit offered an opportunity to recall the many memories and bonds that had long connected the two nations and their noble rulers from the Houses of Saud and Khalifa.
Relations between the two sides date back to the First Saudi State (1744–1818) and were strengthened during the Second Saudi State (1843–1891), when Prince Saud bin Faisal bin Turki visited Bahrain in 1870 and presented to Sheikh Isa bin Ali the famed sword of his grandfather, al‑Ajrab, as a gesture of friendship between the two ruling families. The relationship deepened further when Prince Abdullah bin Faisal made a similar visit in 1887.
Documented history records that Imam Abdulrahman Al Faisal Al Saud, who had visited Bahrain in 1876, stopped there again in 1891 to meet its ruler, Sheikh Isa bin Ali, and consult with him while en route with his family—including his son, the future founder King Abdulaziz—from Riyadh to Kuwait.
After Imam Abdulrahman’s death in 1928 and King Abdulaziz’s successful restoration of his ancestral realm, the latter—now King of the Hijaz and Sultan of Najd and its dependencies—resolved to make his first visit to Bahrain to meet the man he affectionately called “the father,” Sheikh Isa bin Ali. This sentiment is evident in the letters King Abdulaziz addressed to him, beginning with the words:
“From Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Faisal to the noble, eminent, most honorable, of gracious character, the revered father Sheikh Isa Al Khalifa—may God preserve him and prolong his life.”
The visit took place on 25 February 1930, three days after the historic summit between King Abdulaziz and King Faisal I of Iraq aboard the British warship Lupin, anchored off the northern coast of Bahrain. King Abdulaziz had reached the vessel from Ras Tanura aboard the Patrick Stewart, owned by Cable & Wireless, while King Faisal arrived on his ship Nargis.
Numerous accounts describe British attempts in Bushehr and Bahrain to obstruct the meeting between the Saudi and Bahraini leaders—sending a message to Abdulaziz claiming that Sheikh Isa was ill and unable to receive him, and another to Sheikh Isa alleging that Abdulaziz had cancelled his visit due to urgent commitments. Yet the meeting took place, owing to Sheikh Isa’s insistence on seeing the young man he had first met as a ten‑year‑old boy accompanying his father, Imam Abdulrahman, and who had since unified the Arabian Peninsula and assumed a distinguished historical role. His sons—Hamad, Mohammed, and Abdullah—likewise insisted on hosting the visit despite British objections.
It is recorded that Sheikh Hamad bin Isa personally sailed out to meet King Abdulaziz’s ship, boarded it, and invited him to set foot on Bahraini soil, refuting the British claims. After the auspicious visit, Sheikh Hamad bade farewell to King Abdulaziz at the coast of Zallaq, where the King invited him to perform the pilgrimage.
On 2 May 1939, King Abdulaziz visited Bahrain again, sailing from the port of Khobar to Manama with a retinue of 300 princes and attendants. Contemporary witnesses recount that Manama was adorned with flags and decorations on an unprecedented scale, and that the Bahraini sheikhs who came to greet him cast their cloaks and robes upon the path of the royal procession as a gesture of honor and reverence.
King Saud’s 1954 visit was not his first to Bahrain. As Crown Prince, he had made six earlier visits, the most notable being:
- 9 December 1937, at the invitation of Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, returning to Riyadh via al‑Ahsa on 19 December.
- 2–7 May 1939, accompanying his father King Abdulaziz.
- 13 June 1940, during his return flight from Karachi and Bombay with several of his brothers.
Some add a seventh visit, referring to the arrival of the “King Saud Traveling Exhibition” in Bahrain in February 2009—its first stop outside Saudi Arabia—organized by the late King’s sons and daughters.
What concerns us here, however, is the fourth visit of King Saud to Bahrain, whose sixtieth anniversary was marked last April. The visit was met with an unprecedented official and popular welcome, coinciding with the reopening of the newly renovated Qudaibiya Palace, prepared to host the King and his accompanying delegation of princes, ministers, and dignitaries.
The most significant event during this visit was King Saud’s proposal to construct a bridge linking Khobar on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast to the islands of Bahrain, emphasizing the project’s importance and expressing his country’s readiness to bear a substantial share of its cost.
During a banquet hosted in his honor by the notable Hassan Al‑Mudayfi‘ at his farm in Juffair, near the present site of the Chinese Embassy, the King declared—according to Sawt al‑Bahrain, issue 7, year 4 (Ramadan 1373 AH), p. 64:
“The bonds between Bahrain and the Kingdom are strong, and we must work to strengthen them. I have previously spoken to Your Highness about constructing a bridge between Khobar and Bahrain, and I remain convinced of the necessity of building this bridge. I hope you will study this project, and the Kingdom will contribute a large share of its costs.”
He added:
“National consciousness is rising, and the Arab peoples are now alert. It is our duty to understand this, for we are shepherds, and every shepherd is responsible for his flock.”
The magazine noted that the King’s remarks were met with applause after each sentence.
As King Saud prepared to depart Bahrain, he issued a farewell message titled “From King Saud bin Abdulaziz to His Brothers in Bahrain.” The message reflected the deep affection and goodwill he held for the people and leaders of Bahrain. Among its lines:
“I deeply appreciate, as I leave this dear land, all the sincere sentiments I have witnessed and heard from my brothers in Bahrain. I pray that God grants success to all in achieving what brings goodness, happiness, and prosperity to the Arab nations in general and to our two countries in particular.”