Turki I bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

{{Short description|Eldest son and heir of King Abdulaziz (1900–1919)}}

{{Infobox royalty

| image = Turki I bin Abdulaziz.jpg

| caption = Prince Turki in 1911

| alt = Photograph of Prince Turki

| succession = Crown Prince of Nejd

| reign = 13 January 1902–1919

| reign-type = In office

| predecessor = {{small|Post established}}

| regent = Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman

| reg-type = Monarch

| successor = Saud bin Abdulaziz

| birth_date = {{Birth year|1901}}

| birth_place = Kuwait City, Sheikhdom of Kuwait

| death_date = {{Death year and age|1919|1901}}

| death_place = Riyadh, Emirate of Nejd and Hasa

| spouse = {{ubl|Nuwair bint Obaid Al Rasheed|Muneera bint Obaid Al Rasheed|Fatimah bint Abdul Rahman Al Dakhil | Tarfa Al Muhanna}}

| issue = Prince Faisal
Princess Hessa

| full name = Turki I bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman

| house = Al Saud

| father = Abdulaziz, Emir of Nejd (later King of Saudi Arabia)

| mother = Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair

}}

Turki I bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ({{langx|ar|تركي الأول بن عبد العزيز آل سعود}} Turkī al ʾAwwal bin ʿAbdulʿazīz Āl Suʿūd; 1901–1919) was the eldest son of the Emir of Nejd (later King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia) and his second wife, Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair. He was his father's heir apparent from 1902 to 1919. Turki accompanied his father during the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula at a young age and witnessed battles in Kuwait and Al Hasa. He died from the Spanish flu pandemic, which also killed many others in the region. His younger brother Saud replaced him as heir apparent.

Early life

Turki was the eldest son of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman.{{cite book|author=James Wynbrandt|title=A Brief History of Saudi Arabia

|location=New York}}{{cite book|author=George Kheirallah|title=Arabia Reborn|date=1952|publisher=University of New Mexico Press|location=Albuquerque, NM|page=254|isbn=9781258502010}} His mother was Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair, Abdulaziz's second wife.{{cite thesis|author=Henri Lauzière|title=On the Origins of Arab Monarchy: Political Culture, Historiography, and the Emergence of the Modern Kingdoms in Morocco and Saudi Arabia|location=Simon Fraser University|degree=MA|page=66|isbn=9780612513877|year=2000

|url=https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/services/services-libraries/theses/Pages/item.aspx?idNumber=1006917235&wbdisable=true}}{{cite web|title=تحقيق سلسة نسب والدة الملك سعود بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود|date=March 2011|url=http://www.kingsaud.net/art/news/147/ARTICLE/1332/2011-10-03.html|access-date=27 April 2013|language=ar|trans-title=The achievements of the mother of King Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud|archive-date=14 May 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514060002/http://www.kingsaud.net/art/news/147/ARTICLE/1332/2011-10-03.html}}{{cite web|title=Ibn Saud marries for a second time|work=Information Source|access-date=3 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408063216/http://www.ibnsaud.info/main/1015.htm|archive-date=8 April 2013

|url=http://www.ibnsaud.info/main/1015.htm}} She was the daughter of the chief of the Bani Khalid tribe, who ruled Al Hasa. Abdulaziz and Wadha married in 1895.{{cite web|title=Appendix A Chronology of the Life of Ibn Saud|publisher=Springer

|page=197|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-349-22578-1%2F1.pdf}} Turki was born in Kuwait City in 1901 when his family was in exile there.{{cite book|editor=Bernard Reich|title=Political leaders of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A biographical dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3D5FulN2WqQC&pg=PA16|year=1990|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-26213-5|page=16|location=New York; Westport, CT; London}}

Turki was the full-brother of the future King Saud.{{cite thesis|author=Gary Samuel Samore|title=Royal Family Politics in Saudi Arabia (1953-1982)|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303295482|location=Harvard University|page=528|year=1984|id={{ProQuest|303295482}}

|degree=PhD}} His full sisters included Munira and Noura.{{cite journal|author=Mai Yamani|author-link=Mai Yamani|title=From fragility to stability: A survival strategy for the Saudi monarchy|journal=Contemporary Arab Affairs|date=January–March 2009|volume=2|issue=1|pages=90–105|doi=10.1080/17550910802576114}}

Activities and succession

File:King Abdulaziz with Prince Faisal and Prince Saud.jpg (seated), and younger brothers King Faisal (left) and King Saud. Following Turki's death, Saud became the heir to their father.]]

Turki was crown prince beginning by his father's conquest of Riyadh on 15 January 1902 up to his death in 1919. He was the deputy of his father as commander-in-chief of the army until his death.{{cite web|title=Ibn Saud's eldest son, Prince Turki, dies in influenza epidemic|url=http://www.ibnsaud.info/main/3073.htm|publisher=Information Source|access-date=11 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 February 2015|df=dmy-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201143453/http://www.ibnsaud.info/main/3073.htm}} He commanded an army of 4000 warriors based in Qassim region.{{cite thesis|author=Alexander Blay Bligh|pages=44–45

|title=Succession to the throne in Saudi Arabia. Court Politics in the Twentieth Century|id={{ProQuest|303101806}}|degree=PhD|year=1981

|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303101806|location=Columbia University}}{{cite journal|author=Christoph Baumer|title=Lt Col Hamilton's 1917 Political Mission to Emir Abd Al Aziz Al Saud of Najd|journal=Asian Affairs|year=2021|volume=52|page=11|s2cid=232245475

|doi=10.1080/03068374.2021.1878737}} He fought against Al Rashid forces and attempted to eliminate the leakage of supplies from the tribes to them.{{cite thesis|author=Khalid Abdullah Krairi|title=John Philby and his political roles in the Arabian Peninsula, 1917-1953|url=https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/7675/|location=University of Birmingham|degree=PhD|date=October 2016|pages=256,286–288}} In 1918, on the orders of his father, Turki initiated an attack against Al Rashid forces, known as the battle of Yatab, in which the Al Saud forces gained a victory. When the British government invited Abdulaziz to visit London, he assigned Turki as his envoy.{{cite thesis|author=Hassan Abedin|title=Abdulaziz Al Saud and the great game in Arabia, 1896-1946|url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.397151|location=King's College|degree=PhD|year=2003|page=146|access-date=15 July 2022|archive-date=21 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321181427/https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.397151|url-status=dead}} However, Turki died in 1919, and Abdulaziz named another of his sons, Faisal, as envoy.

Personal life

Turki's first wife Noweir bint Obaid Al Rasheed gave birth to his son Faisal bin Turki in 1918, a few years before Turki's death.{{cite thesis|author=George T. Fitzgerald|title=Government administration in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia|location=California State University, San Bernardino|year=1983|url=https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/292|degree=MA}} After the death of Turki, Princess Noweir married Turki's brother Saud, and they had a daughter, Al Anoud bint Saud. Turki also had a daughter with his other wife Tarfa Al Muhanna, Hessa bint Turki, who was the wife of Abdulaziz bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz. Princess Tarfa and Prince Abdulaziz had two sons, Faisal and Turki.{{cite web|title=تركي بن عبدالعزيز ) 1318-1337 هـ )- 1900-1919 م )

|url=http://www.kingsaud.net/art/inside/brown/index11.html|publisher=King Saud Official website|access-date=21 September 2013|archive-date=9 July 2017|language=ar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709203021/http://www.kingsaud.net/art/inside/brown/index11.html|url-status=dead}} Princess Hessa died in Riyadh at the age of 91 on 19 August 2007 and was buried in Al Oud cemetery.{{cite news

|title=Princess Hissah bint Turki dies|url=http://www.sauress.com/en/spaen/476050|access-date=13 April 2013|work=Sauress|date=19 August 2007}}

Two grandsons of Turki, the children of his son Faisal, served on the Allegiance Council: Turki bin Faisal,{{cite web|title=King Abdullah names members of the Allegiance Commission|url=http://www.saudiembassy.net/latest_news/news12100801.aspx|publisher=Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Washington D.C.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601061618/http://saudiembassy.net/latest_news/news12100801.aspx

|archive-date=1 June 2012|access-date=6 April 2012|url-status=dead}} (until his death on 28 February 2009){{cite web|title=Political reforms and the succession dilemma in Saudi Arabia|url=http://www.relooney.info/SI_Milken-Arabia/0-Important_31.pdf|access-date=6 April 2012

|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922154950/http://www.relooney.info/SI_Milken-Arabia/0-Important_31.pdf|archive-date=22 September 2013|df=dmy-all}} and Abdullah bin Faisal (until his death in February 2019).{{cite web|title=Saudi succession developments|url=http://www.foreignreports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Saudi-Succession-Developments.pdf|work=Foreign Reports Inc.|access-date=25 April 2012|date=28 October 2011}}

Death

Prince Turki died in Riyadh in late 1919 during the flu pandemic that killed many others in the region.{{cite book

|author=Mark Weston|title=Prophets and Princes: Saudi Arabia from Muhammad to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EEEFsVYLko4C&pg=PA129|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-18257-4|page=129|location=Hoboken, NJ}}{{cite book

|author=Jennifer Reed|title=The Saudi Royal Family|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_miHZ6G-mUC&pg=PA30|year=2009|publisher=Chelsea House|isbn=978-1-4381-0476-8|page=30|location=New York}} American doctors went to Riyadh to treat him upon the request of his father, but their attempts did not save Turki.{{cite journal|author=G. D. Van Peursem|title=Guests of King Ibn Saud |journal=The Muslim World

|date=April 1936|volume=26|issue=2|page=113|doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.1936.tb00862.x}} Abdulaziz was said to be deeply saddened by his death.{{cite web|url=http://www.kingsaud.net/art/inside/brown/index11.html|title=الملك سعود بن عبد العزيز|publisher=King Saud website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709203021/http://www.kingsaud.net/art/inside/brown/index11.html|access-date=27 April 2013

|archive-date=9 July 2017|url-status=dead|language=ar}}