TRANSJORDANIA. — So called (because it corresponds to the Transjordan of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem) until 1949; thereafter the “Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.”
I. GEOGRAPHY
It embraces a strip of the Syrian-Arabian plateau east of the rift in which the Jordan flows and the Dead Sea spreads, which the Transjordan shares with neighboring Israel, and to the west the so-called Arab Palestine (6,000 sq. km.), occupied in 1949 and annexed the following year. Its 96,000 sq. km. of territory bring it into contact with Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel; they allow it to face south on the Red Sea (Gulf of ‘Aqabah) and push it to within a short distance of the Mediterranean. In the western sector its frontier cuts through the urban settlement of Jerusalem. Less than one-tenth of this area, however, is cultivable; the rest belongs to steppe or outright desert. Pastoralism is therefore the prevailing occupation (over 1 million head of cattle and 350,000 sheep), in nomadic and semi-nomadic forms. The sedentary population, settled in the fertile Jordan depression where irrigation is possible and on the nearby highland, cultivates cereals (wheat, barley, and millet), legumes, tobacco, vines (especially for table grapes), and olives (the harvest is destined for oil presses). Although mineral resources are not lacking (phosphates, bitumen, copper, salt, and perhaps even petroleum), none of them has yet been exploited.The population, almost entirely Arab and Muslim, numbers 1.2 million, of whom just over one-third are scattered in the territory east of the Jordan and slightly less than one-third in that to the west, where it is denser. Another 400,000 are refugees from Israel, gathered in concentration camps organized by the United Nations. There are few settlements of any importance; the capital ‘Ammān stands out (its population is estimated at about 170,000), on the Hejaz railway, which once reached Medina but now operates only from Der‘ā to Ma‘ān within Hashemite territory.
The Transjordan, which had been part of the British Mandate over Palestine, became independent in March 1946 and was constituted a monarchy two months later. The authority of the sovereign is tempered by a legislative assembly of 20 members elected by male suffrage and by a Council of Notables of 10 members chosen by the king.
II. HISTORY
The modern political districts into which the Transjordan is divided correspond in part to the kingdoms indicated in the Old Testament. Beginning in the north, they are: the district of ‘Ajlūn (biblical Gilead [v.]), between the Yarmūk (Wadi al-Manādir) and the biblical Jabbok (Nahr az-Zarqā’), a high plateau from 600 to 800 m., covered with recent volcanic materials, with cultivated areas alternating with woods and pastures. Next comes the district of al-Balqā’, from the Jabbok to the ‘Arnon (Wadi al-Mūjib), a rolling highland 800–1,000 m. high (Jabal Usha‘ 1,096 m.), the territory of the Ammonites (v.), with notable cultivated areas, numerous villages, and the city of ‘Ammān, capital of the kingdom. South of the ‘Arnon to Wadi al-Hasā is the district of al-Karak (biblical Moab [v.]), 800–1,000 m. high, with extensive grain-growing areas, especially around al-Karak, the largest center in the region; finally, the district of Ma‘ān (biblical Edom [v.] and the land of the Nabataeans), from south of Wadi al-Hasā to the Gulf of al-‘Aqabah, with mountains up to 1,000 m. but very arid and with very few settlements, the largest of which is Ma‘ān. The Gulf of al-‘Aqabah is the Transjordan’s only outlet to the sea, along barely 5 km. of coast between the Israeli border and the Hejaz. The Transjordanian territory east of the railway line from Damascus to Mecca is a desert plateau with few oases, among them the oasis of al-Azraq on the Amman–Baghdad road and the oasis of Hausa on the southeast border.Archaeological exploration and excavations carried out in various parts of the country have established that the Transjordan was inhabited from the Paleolithic era, as indicated by extensive remains of the megalithic culture. After the victories won by Moses over the Amorite kingdoms of Sihon and Og (Num. 21:26; Josh. 13:15–32), part of it was inhabited by the Israelite tribes of East Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben, and then disputed between the kings of Samaria and Damascus. In the 1st century B.C., the cities of the Decapolis (v.) flourished in the northern part, and Perea (v.) and the Nabataean Petra (v.). The emperor Trajan annexed the territories to the Roman province of Arabia, whose southern part (Petraea) became in 400 the province of Palaestina Tertia. As the ruins of ancient churches (Madaba, Nebo, Gerasa) indicate, Christianity flourished there until the Muslim period, when the Arabs settled there after the battle of the Yarmūk (A.D. 636). The Umayyad dynasty endowed the desert with a series of palaces, of which wonderful architectural ruins remain. At the time of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, the various territories of the Transjordan were for the first time united into a single state, with the fief of the Pays d’Outre-Jourdain, established by Baldwin I with its capital at Le Krak (Karak). The Crusader fortresses of Kerak, of Subayk (Montreal), Wadi Mūsā (Le Val de Moïse), and on the small island of al-‘Aqabah (Grave), now Gezirat Far‘ūn, still remain, though in ruins.
After the Crusaders, the Transjordan fell into neglect and, except for the brief Mamluk period, was ruled by tribal chiefs. When the Allies conquered the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire in 1916–18, the Arabs hoped to unite them all in the Arab empire they were preparing to found with King Ḥusayn, leader of the Arab revolt against the Turks, and his sons; instead, the Anglo-French Allies, through secret agreements, had divided the territory into spheres of influence. The sanjak of Kerak, together with Palestine, was entrusted to the British Mandate (San Remo Conference, 25 April 1920). Subsequently, after agreements with local tribal chiefs and an intervention by Churchill with ‘Abdallāh, eldest son of Ḥusayn, in Jerusalem (28 March 1921), it was decided to constitute an emirate of Transjordan under Emir ‘Abdallāh, even though the territory remained under the general mandate for Palestine. In the definitive text of this mandate approved by the League of Nations (24 July 1922), it was provided (Art. 25) that the Mandatory Power should have the faculty, for the territory east of the Jordan, to derogate from the general provisions. Thus was born the state of Transjordan, which had a different history from that of Palestine (among other things, it was exempted from Jewish immigration and its consequences).
The autonomy of the Emirate of Transjordan (in Arabic Sarq al-Urdunn) was proclaimed on 1 October 1922. The new state, not fully independent, had its capital at ‘Ammān, residence of the emirate and of a British resident dependent on the High Commissioner for Palestine, who was based in Jerusalem. Relations with Great Britain were defined by the Anglo-Transjordanian Agreement of 28 February 1928, by which Britain was recognized as having strong influence in financial administration and legislative activity and the right to maintain armed forces in the territory and to control Transjordanian forces. The borders had been delimited between 1923 and 1925, with some concessions in the south favoring the Nejd; the port of al-‘Aqabah, formerly belonging to the Hejaz, was annexed to Transjordan in 1925 at the time of the Saudi invasion of the Hejaz; this cession was not recognized by the Saudi government.
The Constitution of the T., issued on 16 April 1928, established the emirate’s institutions within the framework of the League of Nations mandate and the aforementioned Anglo-Transjordanian Agreement; however, from 1928 onwards, T. had a quasi-constitutional government with an emirate invested with broad powers. Until 1946, T. was thus governed by the emirate under a mandate regime; Britain derived considerable advantages from the special position it enjoyed in that territory. The Arab Legion, trained and commanded by British officers (first Peake, then Glubb), proved useful in curbing Wahhabite incursions from the south and later, during the World War of 1939–45, in maneuvering in Syria and Iraq.
T. also benefited from British financial and technical assistance to improve its economic infrastructure and introduce civil institutions. After the war, as other mandate territories (first Iraq, then Syria and Lebanon) had gained independence, T. sought to achieve autonomy and independence as well. This occurred through the Anglo-Transjordanian Treaty of 22 March 1946, by which Britain recognized the termination of the mandate and the proclamation of the independent Kingdom of T. On 25 March 1946, ‘Abdallāh was acclaimed in ‘Ammān. Unlike the aforementioned newly formed Arab states, T. was not admitted to the United Nations.
The new Kingdom of T. found itself directly involved in the then-escalating Palestinian question. Before the World War, many British attempts to resolve the Arab-Jewish dispute—stemming from the 1917 promise to establish a national home for Jews in Palestine—had failed. In the postwar period, the Palestinian question was referred to the United Nations, which, in an atmosphere of widespread global sympathy for persecuted Jews, decided to partition Palestine between Arabs and Jews (29 November 1947). The decision was opposed by the Arabs of Syria, Lebanon, T., Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Egypt, who, since 1945, had been united in the Arab League with its seat in Cairo.
The Kingdom of T. was a member of the League, and its king appeared among the Arab heads of state most fervent in defending the Palestinian Arab cause. He also had the advantage of commanding the most battle-ready troops in the immediate vicinity of the theater of operations. Thus, when, on 15 May 1948, following the end of the British mandate in Palestine, the forces of the various Arab states crossed the borders to proceed with the "liberation," the Arab Legion of ‘Abdallāh, having crossed the Allenby Bridge over the Jordan, easily occupied Jericho, Jerusalem (the Old City), Bethlehem, and Judea. The Arabs then encountered the effective and aggressive armed action of the Jews everywhere, and Palestine remained divided between the Jews of the new State of Israel and the Arabs along administrative lines (1949) that, as of 1952, were still awaiting the conclusion of peace.
The failure of the Arabs in the Palestinian campaign stems, and continues to depend, on rivalries among the Arabs and disorder within individual states, including T. Indeed, having taken control of the part of Palestine on the right bank of the Jordan occupied in 1948, T. came into conflict with the Arab League when it decided (24 April 1950) to annex it to its own territory. A de facto annexation had already occurred in 1949, and from then on (19 June 1949), T. officially assumed the name of the "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan." The Arabs of Jordan and other states blamed King ‘Abdallāh for his excessive dependence on Britain, the discord he introduced into the Arab League, his opposition to closer contacts among Arab states or some of them (such as the Fertile Crescent Union or Greater Syria), his tendency to make a separate peace with Israel, and his agreement with it to prevent the internationalization of Jerusalem as decided by the UN. On 20 July 1951, King ‘Abdallāh was assassinated in a mosque in ‘Ammān; he was succeeded by his eldest son, Talāl, who was deposed on 12 August 1952 due to a serious nervous illness and left the throne to his son Ḥusayn. Since 18 January 1952, Jordan has had a new constitution, more liberal than that of 1928, with a government responsible to Parliament.
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### III. RELIGIOUS SITUATION
For the history prior to the First World War, V. PALESTINE. Among a total population of approximately 400,000 inhabitants, the vast majority of whom are Muslim, there are 35,000 Christians, most of whom are "Orthodox" and enjoy satisfactory religious freedom.
The new Constitution, which entered into force on 8 January 1952, although it proclaims Islam the state religion (Art. 2), guarantees the equality of all citizens without distinction of religion (Art. 6, 1) and freedom of worship (Art. 14), recognizes the right of religious communities to maintain their own schools (Art. 19), and grants Christian religious courts the same rights as Muslim ones (Art. 109).
There are approximately 7,000 Latin-rite Catholics and 6,500 Greek-rite Catholics. There is also a small Armenian-Catholic community with a parish in ‘Ammān. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has been active in T. since 1866 in efforts to convert dissidents. In 1908, the Greek-Catholics and Melkites also began their work, though with fewer resources than the Latin mission, but with the great advantage of offering the population the possibility of becoming Catholic while retaining the traditional rite in Arabic. In recent decades, a true movement of union can be observed. In 1932, the Holy See established the Diocese of Petra and Philadelphia for the Greek-Catholics of T., with its seat in ‘Ammān. Cooperation between Latins and Greek-Catholics left much to be desired.
The union between the two rites has been greatly strengthened since a joint popular mission was held in 1938 by Latin and Greek priests. At the request of the Greek bishop, the Apostolic Delegate appointed a permanent visitor for the schools of both rites, and it was agreed never to open two Catholic schools (one Latin and one Greek) in a single village but rather one school simply called "Catholic." The organization of the Union of Catholic Schools now oversees this important work. The Latin Patriarchate has 21 parishes in T., while the Greek-Catholic diocese has about thirty.
There are approximately 60 Catholic schools with a total of about 9,000 students. Since 11 February 1948, the Apostolic Delegate of Jerusalem and Palestine has also held jurisdiction over T. Since the end of the last century, Protestants have also been active in T. with substantial resources, but their success has been minimal, with only about 1,000 Protestants.
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