Many events have been recorded throughout history in Ramadan’s collective memory over the years. Al-Hal Net tracks them for you and highlights the most notable of these remembered Ramadan events.
In today’s installment of the “Happened in Ramadan” series, Al-Hal Net recalls the most important events associated with 30 Ramadan that took place in the region and the world, whether in modern history or in earlier decades and centuries.
The establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan
On 30 Ramadan in 1923, official recognition of the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan was formally announced.
The establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan is linked to the arrival of Prince Abdullah bin al-Hussein there. He had served as foreign minister of the Arab state in the Hejaz, and came in response to invitations sent to Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein by the notables and dignitaries of the regions of eastern Jordan, as well as by members of the Independence Party who had come to Jordan from Syria after the Battle of Maysalun in 1920. After Prince Abdullah arrived in the city of Ma’an on 21/11/1920, following an arduous 27-day train journey with his entourage and 500 guards, he began calling on the people of eastern Jordan and its local governments to rally around him. This led the French to regard Prince Abdullah’s arrival in eastern Jordan as a dangerous development that threatened their presence in Syria, especially since he declared that he had come to revive the revolution that had been crushed in Hauran and to participate in the defense of their homelands. He declared himself deputy to Prince Faisal and considered making Ma’an the temporary capital of the Syrian government in exile. (Prince Abdullah’s arrival in Ma’an was based on the view that it, along with Aqaba, was part of the land of the Hejaz, although the British considered it part of the Sykes-Picot Agreement.) He called on members of the Syrian Congress to come to Ma’an, and Ali bin al-Hussein al-Harithi was sent as his representative to Amman.
After pledging allegiance to the prince in Ma’an or in Amman (at the hands of Ali bin al-Hussein al-Harithi), the leaders asked the prince to proceed to Amman. After discussions, the prince traveled to Amman on 29/2/1920 and arrived on 2/3/1920. Before that, Churchill had convened the Cairo Conference to develop proposals to present to the prince.
The French government contacted the British government to pressure Prince Hussein into taking the necessary steps to stop his son, Prince Abdullah, and declared its readiness to enter Jordan if necessary. Britain did in fact mediate with Prince Hussein to prevent Prince Abdullah from taking any action, in return for granting the people of eastern Jordan self-rule under Prince Abdullah. Accordingly, Colonial Secretary Churchill was sent to meet Prince Abdullah in March 1921, and it was agreed to establish the emirate and form a constitutional government, which was announced on 11/4/1921, with Rashid Tali’a as its first prime minister. Thus, the local governments disappeared and merged into a single government: that of the Emirate of Transjordan. Britain delayed recognizing the government of Transjordan until 25 May 1923, when the British High Commissioner officially recognized the Jordanian government, on condition that the emirate’s government be able to fulfill its treaty obligations through a treaty put into effect between the two parties (the Mandate instrument), which granted the emirate the right to independence after five years, provided the necessary conditions were met—that is, that the constitutional status of the emirate be consolidated.
