Princess Wadha Al-Ureier King Saud's Mother
Saud Bin Abdul Aziz had an elder brother named Tirki (his father's nickname) who was born in the year (1900). He also had two brothers who passed away at an early age. One of them was called Khalid who was born in Riyadh in the year (1320H) and passed away in 1327H) [1], and had one sister called Mounira.
Their mother was the second wife of king Abdulaziz who was called Wadha Bint Muhammad Al Hussein Al Orair from Al Hamid branch. The family of Al Orair traces its ancestry back to the famous” Bani Khalid “tribe which was known for its great might and its expansion in the center of the Arabian Peninsula and the Arabian Gulf. Al Orair, the Sheikhs of Bani Khaled are of Adnani origin, despite the fact that some say they are of Qahtani origin. They have come from their native land in Syria and Hejaz to the Ihsa and stayed in the region surrounded by the valley of Makta in the north, Noujoud Al Saman in the west and al Bayyad in the south. They trace their ancestry back to the tribe of Bani Makhzoum from Quraish, the descendants of who is Saif Allah al Masloul, the companion of the great Muslim army commander Khalid Bin Al WaIeed. When the tribe of Bani Khaled reached Al Ihsa, it dominated vast regions in the Gulf region during different epochs in history after it had suppressed the ottoman power in Ihsa'a between the years (1077 - 1081) (1866 - 1869). Some storytellers from Bani Khaled say that there was a discord between Al Sardah and Al Orair families who are both paternal cousins descending from Al Hamid branch. This happened after Bani Khaled were defeated by Tirki Bin Abdullah Al Saud during the second Saudi state. As a result of this defeat part of them moved to Basra and stayed at Al Saadoun, the Sheikhs of the Mountafic tribe. Another part fought with the first and second Saudi Kingdom. When Muhammad Al Hussein Al Ouraiar the father of Wadha (King Saud's mother) died, Wadha's mother (Abta Sardah ) took her and her sister Hossa to Qutaif where she had recourse to her brothers Nahar and Talmas Sardah who wanted to marry her daughters off to Al Sardah branch but she refused because she wanted to marry them off to their cousins from Al Orair. So, she sought refuge with Hamada Bin Abdullah Al Hussein Al Orair, her daughters' paternal cousin who was visiting Al Ahwar in Iraq after his return from Kuwait, who took Wadha and Hossa back with him to Kuwait where he married her off to King Abdul Aziz who had a strong relationship with him since he met him through Sheikh Mubarak Al Sabah who later married Hossa, Wadha's sister.
The relationship between King Abdul Aziz and Hamada Al Orair developed and the latter became among his closest friends and participated with him in some of his conquests. Hamada’s son Naïf was a close friend to Abdul Aziz's two sons Tirki and Saud, and participated with Saud in the Yemen war. He died after King Saud passed away. Abdulaziz was famous for his intelligence and various skills. Thus, he consolidated his relationship with the tribes through being related by marriage to them. He did the same thing with some known families in the Arabian Peninsula, which helped him in putting an end to the conflicts among the tribes near the Gulf region which is near the heart of Najd and strengthen his relationship with the tribes of that region. This was done when he became related by marriage to the tribe of Bani Khaled while dwelling near them in Kuwait. Moreover, this act was a great advantage to his country especially that the Gulf is the only commercial and maritime access for Najd.
Wadha, King Saud's mother, was not King Abdul Aziz's only wife from Bani Khaled for he married after her, Al Anoud daughter of Barghash Al Sardah whom he divorced and married Hossa, Wadha's sister, after she got her divorce from Mubarak Al Sabah and returned to live with her sister Wadha in Riyadh. He also married Oum Dlaiel, from the Mahasheer from Bani Khaled and Oum Sheikha from Al Mandeel from Bani Khaled. As for the Imam Abdul Rahman, he also married Mounira daughter of Hutaim AlThunian from Al Mahasheer, (the mother of Abdullah Bin Abdul Rahman) and another wife who is the maternal grandmother of King Abdul Aziz (the mother of Sarah Bint Ahmad al Sudairi) from Al Noueiran from Al Mahasheer. When King Saud ascended to the throne of the country and the (allocations) were granted for the tribal Sheikhs , each having a share according to his participation and his role in establishing the Kingdom, King Saud refused that his maternal uncles have the benefit of the special royalties.
(As for his mother Wadha, she experienced the death of her five children and she passed away forty days after the death of King Saud in Riyadh city. She was a good charitable woman all her life,, For she was famous for her generosity and compassion. Thus, she left third of her inheritance in her will (the amount permitted by Islamic Shariah law to none relatives) as an endowment to the poor, plus she built several Mosques in Riyadh city. ( May Allah rest her soul in peace).
References
- ^ Information from the King Abdul Aziz in Riyadh.