Succession to the Saudi Arabian throne

The order of succession to the throne of Saudi Arabia is determined by, and within, the House of Saud. Every vacancy of the throne has been duly filled by the crown prince, with a new crown prince then being appointed according to agnatic seniority among the sons of Ibn Saud, though various members of the family have been bypassed for various reasons. A deputy crown prince (second in line for the throne) was first selected in 2014.

The current ruler of Saudi Arabia is King Salman, who succeeded King Abdullah on his death on 23 January 2015. On the same day, Prince Muqrin became Crown Prince only to be replaced three months later by Muhammad bin Nayef at the order of Salman.

As of 2015, the current crown prince is a grandson of Ibn Saud, the first of his generation to be officially placed first in the line of succession, and the deputy crown prince is another grandson of Ibn Saud. The appointment of grandsons to line of succession is to be based on merit. The Allegiance Council was created in 2006 to facilitate the royal transfer of power.

The House of Saud controlled vast parts of the Arabian peninsula for two and a half centuries. The dynasty collapsed twice in the 1800s due to discord over succession. In 1890s, the Al Sauds were completely supplanted by the Al Rashid. The kingdom began to fight to restore itself through Emir Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, known to the world as "Ibn Saud", and his capture of Riyadh in 1902. After much tumult, Saudi Arabia became a kingdom in 1932.

As Ibn Saud conquered Arabia, he formed alliances by polygamous marriages to members of its biggest tribes. This strengthened his power within the Al Sauds and expanded his legitimacy in Arabia, not to mention nearly a hundred children, sixty of whom were boys. He died in 1953.

...
Wikipedia