Establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan refers to the government that was set up in Transjordan on 11 April 1921, following abrief interregnum period.

Abdullah, the second son ofSharif Hussein (leader of the 1916Great Arab Revolt against theOttoman Empire), arrived fromHejaz by train inMa'an in southern Transjordan on 21 November 1920. His stated aim was fighting the French in Syria, after they had defeated the short-livedArab Kingdom of Syria during theBattle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920.^[1]

Transjordan then was in disarray and widely considered to be ungovernable with its dysfunctional local governments.^[2] Abdullah spent almost four months with his base in Ma'an, which he left in late February arriving in Amman on 2 March 1921.^[3] Following theCairo Conference and Abdullah's meeting withColonial SecretaryWinston Churchill in Jerusalem, theEmirate of Transjordan was established on 11 April 1921.^[4]

Four centuries ofOttoman rule over theLevant and theHejaz came to an end duringWorld War I by the 1916Arab Revolt; driven by long-term resentment towards the Ottoman authorities, and growingArab nationalism.^[5] The revolt was led bySharifHussein ofMecca, and his sonsAbdullah,Faisal andAli, members of theHashemite family of theHejaz, descendants ofMuhammad.^[5] Locally, the revolt garnered the support of the Transjordanian tribes, including Bedouins, Circassians andChristians.^[6] TheAllies of World War I, including Britain and France, whose imperial interests converged with the Arabist cause, offered support.^[7] The revolt started on 5 June 1916 fromMedina and pushed northwards until the fighting reached Transjordan in theBattle of Aqaba on 6 July 1917.^[8] The revolt reached its climax when Faisal enteredDamascus in October 1918, and established an Arab-led military administration inOETA East, later declared as theArab Kingdom of Syria, both of which Transjordan was part of.^[6] During this period, the southernmost region of the country, includingMa'an andAqaba, was alsoclaimed by the neighboringKingdom of Hejaz.

The nascent Hashemite Kingdom over theregion of Syria was forced to surrender to French troops on 24 July 1920 during theBattle of Maysalun;^[9] the French occupied only the northern part of the Syrian Kingdom, leavingTransjordan in a period of interregnum. Arab aspirations failed to gain international recognition, due mainly to the secret 1916Sykes–Picot Agreement, which divided the region into French and British spheres of influence, and the 1917Balfour Declaration, which promised Palestine to Jews.^[10] This was seen by the Hashemites and the Arabs as a betrayal of their previous agreements with the British,^[11] including the 1915McMahon–Hussein Correspondence, in which the British stated their willingness to recognize the independence of a unified Arab state stretching fromAleppo toAden under the rule of the Hashemites.^[12]: 55

Following the fall of the Arab Kingdom of Syria on 24 July 1920, Transjordanian merchant and tribal leaders and British officials assigned to the region competed for political influence. The BritishHigh Commissioners for Palestine and Transjordan,Herbert Samuel, travelled to Transjordan on 21 August to meet withAl-Salt city's residents. He there declared to six hundred Transjordanian notables that the British government had decided that the administration of Transjordan would be kept separate from that of Palestine and that British advisors will aid the creation of local governments throughout the area. The High Commissioner promised that the British government would provide Transjordan with the goods it needs and that free trade with Palestine will continue to help spur economic growth.^[13]

The second meeting between British officials and the notables of Transjordan occurred inUmm Qais nearly a month later on 2 September. MajorFitzroy Somerset received a petition from the local residents who demanded an independent Arab government in Transjordan to be led by an Arab prince (emir), and a representative body which would have the power to enact legislation and administer the country's affairs. They also demanded that land sale in Transjordan to Jews be stopped as well as preventing Jewish immigration there; that Britain fund and establish a national army; and that free trade be maintained between Transjordan and the rest of the region.^[13]

Following the outcomes of the two conferences, the British dispatched six officers to aid the establishment of local governments in Transjordan which existed between August 1920 and March 1921. They included:

1. the "Government of Dayr Yousef" inAjloun's Kura district under Najib Abd Al-Qader Al-Shuraydah
2. the "Government of Jabal Ajloun" in Jabal Ajloun underRashed Al-Khuzai bin Durgham of the Freihat
3. the "Government of Moab" inKarak under Rufayfan Majali
4. a government inTafila under Salih Umran
5. a government inAl-Salt under Mazhar Raslan
6. a semi-official government in Ajloun's Al-Wustiyya district under Naji Mazid Al-Azzam
7. an administration inIrbid under Ali Khulqi Al-Sharayri
8. an administration inJerash under the Kayid branch of the Utum family
9. an administration inRamtha under Nasir Al-Fawwaz Al-Barakat of the Zu'bi family

Sa`id Al-Mufti, a leading figure in Transjordan's Circassian community then, sent out a telegram toSharif Hussein demanding that he send one of his sons to save the country from chaos. Sa'id remembered:^[13]

After the French occupation of Syria, Transjordan lived in chaos. It was not long before we sent to King Hussein bin Ali a telegram demanding in it that he send one of his sons to the country to save it from chaos.

Abdullah's ambitions were affected when theIraqi revolt against the British began in May 1920 and Faisal'sArab Kingdom of Syriafell to the French in July 1920. Abdullah left Medina in mid-October; the 800-kilometre (500 mi) journey took 27 days due to the poor state of theHejaz railway which had been heavily damaged during World War I.^[4]

The stated reason for his travel was to redeem the Kingdom his brother Faisal had lost.^[1]

Abdullah arrived inMa'an in southern Transjordan on 21 November 1920. Sources differ as to the number of men he had with him,^[14] from 300,^[15] to 1,200,^[16] to 2,000.^[4][17]

On his arrival in Ma'an Abdullah arranged for letters to dispatched to invite the leaders of theSyrian National Congress and notable Transjordanians, to meet him in Ma'an and discuss the "firm intentions of the people".^[18] Two weeks later, on 5 December, he issued a proclamation which stated that his sole intention was to "expel the invaders".^[19] The British had discouraged some of the prominent Transjordanians from allying with Abdullah, including Mazhar Raslan, the mutasarrif of Salt. Rufayfan Pasha, the mutasarrif of Karak, did not go to Ma'an at all, and other officials demanded a guarantee for their army pensions or tried to extract other forms of payment before they would join Abdullah.^[18]

In January 1921, Abdullah's forces moved into Kerak without opposition from the British.^[20] Abdullah spent almost four months with his base in Ma'an, which he left on 28 February 1921 and arrived in Amman on 2 March 1921.^[3]

By early February 1921 the British had concluded that "the Sherif's influence has now completely replaced that of the local governments and of the British advisers in Trans-Jordania, and [that] it must be realised that if and when Abdullah does advance northwards in the spring, he will be considered by the majority of the population to be the ruler of that country."^[21]

TheCairo Conference was convened on 12 March 1921 byWinston Churchill, then Britain's Colonial Secretary, and lasted until 30 March; the conference was to endorse an arrangement whereby Transjordan would be added to the Palestine mandate, with Abdullah as the emir under the authority of the High Commissioner, and with the condition that the Jewish National Home provisions of the Palestine mandate would not apply there.^[22]

Abdullah then headed to Jerusalem to meet with Winston Churchill on 28 March 1921.

Following agreement with Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill, theEmirate of Transjordan was established on 11 April 1921.^[4]

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• Kirkbride, Sir Alec Seath (1956).A Crackle of Thorns: Experiences in the Middle East. J. Murray.
• Rudd, Jeffery A (1993)."Chapter 8: Abdullah and the Creation of Transjordan"(PDF).Abdallah bin al-Husayn: The Making of an Arab Political Leader, 1908–1921 (PhD). SOAS University of London.

• 1921 in Transjordan
• April 1921
• Emirate of Transjordan