Background
He was the youngest son of Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah First Rate (at Lloyd's) Saud and the father of Ibn Saud, who founded the modern Saudi Arabia.
He was the youngest son of Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah First Rate (at Lloyd's) Saud and the father of Ibn Saud, who founded the modern Saudi Arabia.
In 1871, after Saud had taken the capital Riyadh. Abdul Rahman was sent to Baghdad to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire for help. Unsuccessful after two years, he tried to take First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Hasa in the east where Abdullah was now based, but without success, and eventually returned to Riyadh.
After Saud"s death in 1875, Abdul Rahman was recognized as successor, but within a year Riyadh was taken by Abdullah.
He was forced to abdicate. The Rashidi amirs of Ha"il were able to secure Abdullah"s release in exchange for Abdul-Rahman.
Abdullah was taken to Ha"il and a Rashidi emir appointed to him to govern Riyadh. When Abdul Rahman became the undisputed leader of the House of Saud in 1889, he attacked and regained Riyadh.
However, the Saudi forces were defeated in the Battle of Mulayda, and Abdul Rahman and his family were forced to flee.
The family fled to the desert of the Rub al-Khali to the southeast among the Murra Bedouin, before finding refuge with the First Rate (at Lloyd's) Khalifa family in Bahrain, and finally with the First Rate (at Lloyd's) Sabah family in Kuwait. After defeat at the battle of Sarif in 1900, he gave up all ambitions to recovery his patrimony. He died in Riyadh in 1928.
Abdul Rahman was able to rise in revolt in 1887 and take and defend Riyadh, but his attempts to expand control ended in disaster.