Abdullah bin Suleiman Al Hamdan

Abdullah bin Suleiman Al Hamdan (1887–1965), commonly known as Abdullah Suleiman, was the treasurer and long-term as well as first finance minister of Saudi Arabia (1932–1954). During the reign of Ibn Saud he was the most significant non-royal official.[1] He was named "the minister of everything" due to his involvement in nearly all state affairs which included agriculture, transportation and mining resources among the others.[2]

Abdullah bin Suleiman Al Hamdan
Finance Minister
In office
1932 – September 1954
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMohammed Suroor Sabban
Personal details
Born1887
Unaizah
Died1965 (aged 77–78)
NationalitySaudi Arabian

Biography

Abdullah Suleiman was born in 1887 in Unaizah, Qassim province, Saudi Arabia.[3][4] He received no formal education.[5] His family had business activities in Unaizah.[2] He lived in India, Bahrain and other Gulf States before returning to his native country.[3] In India he stayed at home of Sheikh Abdullah Al Fawzan who was a Najdi merchant settled in Bombay.[4] Abdullah Suleiman established his own firm in Bahrain.[6]

His brother was working at diwan of Ibn Saud as a minor finance clerk,[6] and he replaced his brother who left the diwan due to his illness.[3] From 1921 he began to work for Ibn Saud.[2] He was first assigned by Ibn Saud to manage his budget.[3] Later Abdullah Suleiman became his personal advisor.[7]

He began to deal with financial management of the Kingdom in 1928 when the body was named agency of finance.[8][9] Following the establishment of the ministry of finance in 1932 he became the head of the organization.[10] More specifically, in December 1931 the constitution of the council of deputies (Majlis al Wukala) was declared, and Abdullah Suleiman was made one of four members of the council as the deputy for finance.[11]

The oil agreement with the Standard Oil Company of California was signed by Abdullah Suleiman on behalf of Saudi Arabia and Lloyd N. Hamilton on behalf of the company in Khuzam Palace, Jeddah, on 29 May 1933.[12][13] Suleiman remained responsible for the relations with the company which was later renamed ARAMCO.[14] He accompanied Ibn Saud in his meeting with Franklin D. Roosevelt on 14 February 1945.[15] In 1947 Abdullah Suleiman prepared the first budget of Saudi Arabia which was rejected by Ibn Saud because of the inclusion of serious cuts in spending.[16]

Abdullah Suleiman continued to head the ministry following the death of Ibn Saud.[17] In addition, King Saud, the successor of Ibn Saud, made Abdullah Suleiman the head of the State Economic Council.[17] During this period he met with Hjalmar Schacht who was a consultant of Aristotle Socrates Onassis and Adolf Hitler's finance expert to negotiate the terms of an agreement to establish a state owned Saudi Arabian maritime tanker company.[18] The agreement was signed by King Saud and Onassis in January 1954.[18]

In September 1953 Suleiman asked to be relieved from the office due to his health problems, and his resignation was accepted by King Saud next year in September.[17] However, there are many reports citing various reasons for his resignation.[2] Some of these reasons are reported to be his involvement in the Onassis tanker agreement and his active role in the relations with Aramco.[18] Suleiman was replaced by Mohammed Suroor Sabban in the post.[17]

Following his retirement from government Abdullah Suleiman focused on business activities owning hotels and trading companies.[3] He died in 1965.[2][19]

Legacy

In 2018 J.E. Peterson published a book entitled Saudi Arabia Under Ibn Saud: Economic and Financial Foundations of the State focusing on the role of Abdullah Suleiman as minister of finance during the reign of Ibn Saud.[2][20]

References
  1. "The Prize Chapter 15: The Arabian Concession- The World that Frank Holmes Made". Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  2. David Commins (Summer 2020). "Book review". The Middle East Journal. 74 (2): 334–336.
  3. Alexei Vassiliev (1998). The History of Saudi Arabia (PDF). Saqi Books. p. 298.
  4. Mohammed Almana (1982). Arabia Unified A Portrait of Ibn Saud. Hutchinson Benham. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-09-147290-0.
  5. Soraya Altorki; Donald P. Cole (1989). "Chapter 5. Development of the New State and Education". Arabian Oasis City. University of Texas Press. p. 90.
  6. Mohammed Almana (1982). Arabia Unified A Portrait of Ibn Saud. Hutchinson Benham. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-09-147290-0.
  7. Gulshan Dhahani (1980). "Political Institutions in Saudi Arabia". International Studies. 19 (1): 59–69. doi:10.1177/002088178001900104. S2CID 153974203.
  8. Mohammad Zaid Al Kahtani (October 2004). "The Foreign Policy of King Abdulaziz (1927- 1953)" (PhD Thesis). University of Leeds. p. 85. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  9. Roderick Parkes (1966). "Notes on the Main Characters". Bloomsbury Collections. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  10. J.E. Peterson (21 June 2018). Saudi Arabia Under Ibn Saud: Economic and Financial Foundations of the State. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-83860-905-4.
  11. Charles W. Harrington (Winter 1958). "The Saudi Arabian Council of Ministers" (PDF). The Middle East Journal. 12 (1): 1–19. JSTOR 4322975.
  12. Rasoul Sorkhabi (2008). "The Emergence of the Arabian Oil Industry". GEOExPro. 5 (6).
  13. Mohammad Zaid Al Kahtani (October 2004). "The Foreign Policy of King Abdulaziz (1927- 1953)" (PhD Thesis). University of Leeds. p. 215. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  14. Ellen R Wald (3 April 2018), Saudi, Inc., Pegasus Books, ISBN 978-1-68177-718-4
  15. Thomas W. Lippman (April–May 2005). "The Day FDR Met Saudi Arabia's Ibn Saud" (PDF). The Link. 38 (2).
  16. Steffen Hertog (27 April 2011). Princes, Brokers, and Bureaucrats: Oil and the State in Saudi Arabia. Cornell University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-8014-5753-1.
  17. J.E. Peterson (21 June 2018). Saudi Arabia Under Ibn Saud: Economic and Financial Foundations of the State. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-83860-905-4.
  18. Nathan J. Citino (2000). "Defending the 'postwar petroleum order': The US, Britain and the 1954 Saudi‐Onassis Tanker deal". Diplomacy and Statecraft. 11 (2): 146. doi:10.1080/09592290008406160. S2CID 154961797.
  19. Khalid Abdullah Krairi (October 2016). "John Philby and his political roles in the Arabian Peninsula, 1917-1953" (PhD Thesis). University of Birmingham. p. 358. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  20. "Saudi Arabia Under Ibn Saud: Economic and Financial Foundations of the State". Good Reads. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
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