Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Thunayan (1889–1923) was a Turkish-born Saudi royal and government official who was one of the advisors to Abdulaziz, Emir of Nejd, who later founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[1] He was the paternal uncle of Iffat Al Thunayan, spouse of King Faisal.
Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Thunayan | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | 1889 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire | ||||
Died | 1923 (aged 33–34) Istanbul | ||||
| |||||
House | House of Saud | ||||
Father | Abdullah bin Abdullah bin Thunayan Al Saud | ||||
Mother | Tazeruh Hanım |
Prince Ahmed's family were the descendants of Thunayan, one of the brothers of Muhammad bin Saud, who is the patriarch of the House of Saud.[2] Ahmed's father was Abdullah bin Abdullah bin Thunayan Al Saud, who was captured by the Ottomans in Bombay and sent to Istanbul in August 1880.[3] He was appointed to the royal court there and was a member of the Ottoman Council of State in the 1880s and 1890s.[3][4] Ahmed's mother was a Cherkess-origin Turkish woman named Tazeruh.[1] His paternal grandfather, Abdullah bin Thunayan, ruled the Emirate of Nejd from 1841 to 1843.[1]
Prince Ahmed was born in 1889 in Istanbul and raised there.[5][6] He had a twin-sister, Jawhara, and two brothers, Mohammed and Suleiman.[1] Mohammed was the father of Iffat, who married the future King Faisal in the 1930s.[1]
Just before World War I, Prince Ahmed went to Arabia and became a private secretary of Emir Abdulaziz.[2][3] In March 1913, he met with the Ottoman governor of Baghdad, Cemal Pasha, as an envoy of Abdulaziz to eliminate the tensions between Abdulaziz and Sharif Hussein.[7] Prince Ahmed headed the Saudi delegations which met with Sharif Hussein's staff following the establishment of the Kingdom of Hejaz in 1916.[8] Over time, Prince Ahmed became Abdulaziz's chief foreign affairs advisor[9] and acted as Saudi foreign minister.[10] Prince Ahmed, together with Abdullah Al Qusaibi, another advisor of Abdulaziz, accompanied Prince Faisal (later King Faisal) during his official visit to London and Paris in 1919.[2][11] Prince Ahmed's mission in this visit was to transmit the demands of Abdulaziz to British officials.[12] Through Prince Ahmed, Abdulaziz asked the British to exert pressure on Sharif Hussain to allow Najdi people to go on pilgrimage.[13] Prince Ahmed and Sharif Hussain's son Abdullah managed to sign a peace and friendship agreement in February 1920 in Baghdad, which lasted only for a short time.[8][14] Prince Ahmed was accompanied by Abdullah Al Damluji in this visit.[14]
On 1 May 1922, Prince Ahmed represented Abdulaziz in the Conference of Al Muhammarah, which was held to resolve the problematic Saudi-Iraqi border issues.[11][15] Despite the objections of Abdulaziz, Prince Ahmed signed the treaty of al Muhammarah, which led to his dismissal from the post.[11] Abdulaziz did not ratify the treaty and informed the British High Commissioner B. H. Bourdillon that Prince Ahmed had no authority to sign it.[15] Following this incident, Prince Ahmed was replaced by Abdullah Al Damluji as chief foreign affairs advisor.[9]
Prince Ahmed was fluent in Turkish, Arabic, English and German.[1][8] He died in Istanbul in 1923[11] shortly after his return from Saudi Arabia.[1] However, Joseph A. Kechichian argues that he died in 1921 which contradicts with the fact that he participated in the Conference of Al Muhammarah in May 1922.[11]
Prince Ahmed was featured by Rubén Ochandiano in the 2019 film on King Faisal entitled Born a King.[16]