The Saudi family name goes back to the founder of the first Saudi state, Muḥammad ibn Sa‘ūd. One of his forebears, Māni‘ al-Muraidi, lived with his relatives in Eastern Arabia. In the year 1446 he moved from there and settled near a kinsman, ibn Dir‘, who was living near the area which is present-day Riyaḍ. Ibn Dir‘ gave Māni‘ the area which became known as ad-Dir‘iyah. The family of Māni‘ grew larger and, like many other Arab families of that time, passed through periods of weakness and strength until Muḥammad ibn Sa‘ūd became the amir of ad-Dir‘iyah in the year 1726. The real power of the Saudi amirate began in 1744 when this amir made an agreement with the religious reformer Shaikh Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhāb to spread the reformer’s ideas.
Historians divide the history of Āl Sa‘ūd into three periods: the first Saudi state which began with the above-mentioned agreement and ended with the surrender of Imām ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘ūd to Ibrāhīm Bāshā in the year 1818; the second Saudi state which started with Imām Turkī ibn ‘Abd Allāh as-Sa‘ūd’s capture of Riyaḍ in 1824 and ended with the depaeture of Imām ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Faiṣal as-Sa‘ūd from this town in 1891; and the third Saudi state which began with the capture of Riyaḍ by ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Sa‘ūd in 1902.
Following Muḥammad ibn Sa‘ūd’s agreement with Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhāb, some Najdi towns voluntarily joined the new state but others stood out against it. The most famous amir among its opponents in Najd was Diham ibn Dawwās, the amir of Riyaḍ, who fought against it for about twenty-eight years. However, by the time of Muḥammad ibn Sa‘ūd’s death in 1765 the influence of the state had spread to many Najdi districts. Muḥammad was succeeded by his son ‘Abd al-‘Azīz – one of the greatest rulers ever to emerge in the Arabian peninsula. ‘Abd al-‘Azīz excelled in military prowess and as an administrator and was exemplary in the practice of religion and justice. During his reign the influence of the Saudi state extended to include Najd, al-Ḥasā, ‘Asīr and parts of the Hijāz and the coast of the Arabian Gulf. Not only were his forces able to withstand the incursions of the Ottoman governors of Iraq, but they were also able to carry out several attacks on the Iraqi provinces. In the year 1803 his army entered Makkah without fighting, but in the same year he was assassinated by an Iraqi at the Mosque of ad-Dir‘iyah. He was succeeded by his son Sa‘ūd, who continued the work of his father in spreading the influence of the state and the ideas upon which it was founded. His efforts were so successful that – with the exception of the Yaman, the Ḥaḍramaut, ‘Umān and Kuwait – Arabia as a whole became his domain: indeed, even some tribes in Iraq and Syria were forced to pay him tribute.
When Sa‘ūd captured the Hijāz, the Ottoman Sultans determined to fight him with all possible means. Orders were given to the governor of Egypt, Muḥammad ‘Alī, to take the Holy Cities from Sa‘ūd and crush the Saudi state. The expeditionary force reached the Hijāz in 1811 and at first lost many men. Later on, however, the Ottoman armies succeeded in capturing the large cities of the Hijāz without difficulty as the Sharīf of Makkah collaborated with them against Sa‘ūd.
While the forces of Muḥammad ‘Alī were facing solid resistance in ‘Asīr, Imām Sa‘ūd in ‘Abd al-‘Azīz died in 1814. With his death the Saudis lost one of the best military leaders Arabia had ever produced. He was succeeded by his son ‘Abd Allāh, who lacked his father’s fighting qualities. He made a treaty with Tusun ibn Muḥammad ‘Alī, but the latter’s father would not ratify it, and set another expedition under the leadership of his other son, Ibrāhīm Bāshā. Despite the courage shown by the followers of ‘Abd Allāh, Ibrāhīm succeeded in his advance across Najd and his forces reached the walls of ad-Dir‘iyah itself. He besieged it for six months, during which time many battles were fought. Supplies were reaching Ibrāhīm daily, and Imām ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘ūd was finally forced to surrender in 1818. He was taken to Egypt, and from there he was sent to the Ottoman capital, where he was tried and executed in the same year.
Ibrāhīm Bāshā did not keep the promise he had made to ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘ūd, but punished and killed some of the Najdi religious scholars and leaders and destroyed the town of ad-Dir‘iyah. One of the punitive measures he took was to exile to Egypt every member he could find of the families of as- Sa‘ūd and Shaikh Muḥammad ibn ‘Ab al-Wahhāb. A year later he returned to Cairo.

With the end of the first Saudi state and the departure of Ibrāhīm Bāshā’s forces to Egypt, law and order broke down in Najd. Muḥammad ibn Mu‘ammar exploited the situation and began to rebuild ad-Dir‘iyah in order to establish a new state in the area under his leadership. Some of the old inhabitants of the town returned to it. Among them were Turkī ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Sa‘ūd and members of his family who had escaped from ad-Dir‘iyah when Imām ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘ūd surrendered to Ibrāhīm Bāshā. However, the amirate of ibn Mu‘ammar was not to last long.
Mishārī ibn Sa‘ūd, the brother of Imām ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘ūd, had escaped from his guards on the way to Egypt and returned to Najd. Here he gathered followers and surprised ibn Mu‘ammar in ad-Dir‘iyah, where he took power from him and appointed Turkī ibn ‘Abd Allāh as governor of Riyaḍ. However, ibn Mu‘ammar managed to capture Mishārī ibn Sa‘ūd and send him to the Ottoman fort in ‘Unaizah, where he died. Turkī ibn ‘Abd Allāh reacted by gathering forces and attacking ibn Mu‘ammer and killing him. Following this, fighting broke out between the forces of Muḥammad ‘Alī and Turkī ibn ‘Abd Allāh, who succeeded in capturing Riyaḍ in 1824. After less than five years Najd, al-Ḥasā and parts of the coast of the Arabian Gulf near ‘Umān had fallen to him.
In 1825 Mishārī ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān as-Sa‘ūd escped from Egypt and returned to Najd where his uncle, Turkī ibn ‘Abd Allāh, received him with great honour. Two years later Faiṣal ibn Turkī arrived from Egypt to become his father’s right-hand man. However, Mishārī ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān was ambitious and he rebelled against his uncle. He failed to gain support among the Najdis and escaped to the Hijāz. When he failed to gain support there, he asked his uncle to pardon him. This was granted, and he returned to Riyaḍ. It seems, however, that his ambition persisted. When Faiṣal ibn Turkī was away dealing with a rebellion that had broken out in the Eastern Province, Mishārī hatched a plot which resulted in the assassination of Imām Turkī in 1834, and seized power in Riyaḍ.
As soon as Faiṣal heard the news he returned with his forces and besieged Mishārī in Riyaḍ. Forty days after the assassination of Turkī, Mishārī was killed and Faiṣal became the ruler of the country. However, in less than two years a new expedition was sent from Egypt under the leadership of Khālid ibn Sa‘ūd (brother of the last Imām of the first Saudi state, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sa‘ūd) and Ismā‘īl Āghā.
Faiṣal was forced to abandon Riyaḍ; but Khālid and Ismā‘īl were defeated in the southern district of Najd, and this gave Faiṣal a chance to besiege Khālid and his forces in Riyaḍ. Egyptian reinforcements were sent under the leadership of Khurshīd Bāshā, and in 1839 Faiṣal finally surrendered to Khurshīd and was taken to Egypt. After this Khurshīd with drew most of his forces from Najd, leaving Khālid with a small garrison. ‘Abd Allāh ibn Thunaiyān as-Sa‘ūd then rebelled against Khālid and succeeded in seizing power in Najd in 1841.
In 1843 Faiṣal ibn Turkī returned from Egypt and began to fight ibn Thunaiyān. He succeeded in forcing him to surrender in the same year. Faiṣal ruled the country until his death in 1865.
After the death of Faiṣal ibn Turkī a power struggle started among his sons. In 1871 Sa‘ūd ibn Faiṣal forced his elder brother ‘Abd Allāh ibn Faiṣal to leave Riyaḍ. In 1874 Sa‘ūd died, and was succeeded by his brother ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Faiṣal. But in 1876 the latter abdicated in favour of his brother ‘Abd Allāh ibn Faiṣal, who remained in power until 1887, when Muḥmmad ibn Rashīd was able to capture Riyaḍ and gain control of most of the Najdi districts. ‘Abd Allāh and his brother ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān were taken to Ḥā’il, the capital of the Āl Rashīd dynasty. Two years later they were allowed to return to Riyaḍ, where ‘Abd Allāh died within a few days of their arrival. ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Faiṣal became Imām, although real power in Najd as a whole was in the hands of Muḥammad ibn Rashīd. In 1890 a furious battle was fought between ibn Rashīd and the people of al-Qāsim at al-Mulaidā. Ibn Rashīd won the battle, and the spirit of ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Faiṣal was broken. He left Riyaḍ, and after some unsuccessful military attempts he decided to leave Najd with his family in 1891. Muḥammad ibn Rashīd became the sole ruler of Najd.

Eventually the family of Āl Sa‘ūd settled in Kuwait. Muḥammad ibn Rashīd died in 1897, and was succeeded by his nephew ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Mut‘ib. in 1902 ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Sa‘ūd captured Riyaḍ, the first step in the unification of present-day Saudi Arabia.