Abdullah I of Jordan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
as-Sayyid Abdullah I, King of Jordan (1882 – July 20, 1951) (Arabic: عبد الله الأول), also known as as-Sayyid Abdullah bin al-Husayn (Arabic: عبد الله بن الحسين `as=Sayyid Abd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn), was, successively, Emir of Transjordan (1921–1946) under a British Mandate, then King of Transjordan (May 25, 1946–1949), and King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (1949–1951). He is also frequently called King Abdullah the Founder (عبدالله المؤسس), since he was the founder of Jordan.
The son of the Hashemite as-Sayyid Husayn ibn Ali, he had two sons and three daughters: (1) H.M King Talal bin Abdulla; (2) H.R.H Prince Nayef bin Abdulla; (3) H.R.H Princess Hayd bint Abdulla; (4) H.R.H Princess Munera bint Abdullah; (5) H.R.H Princess Maqbouleh bint Abdulla. When the French forces captured Damascus at the battle of Maysloun, and kicked out his brother Faysal, Abdullah moved his forces from Hejaz towards Syria to liberate Syria and dislodge the French from Damascus, where his brother was proclaimed King in 1918. Having heard of Abdullah's plans Winston Churchill invited Abdullah to the infamous "tea party" where he convinced Abdullah to stay put and not attack Britain's allies, the French. Churchill told Abdullah that French forces were superior to his and that the British did not want any trouble with French, thus Abdullah caved in and was rewarded handsomely, when the British created a protectorate for him, which later became a state, Transjordan. He embarked on negotiations with the British to gain independence, resulting in the announcement of the Emirate of Trans-Jordan’s independence on May 25, 1923. This date is Jordan’s official independence day. His brother Faisal became King of Iraq.
Prime Ministers under Abdullah formed 18 governments during the 23 years of the Emirate.
Abdullah, alone among the Arab leaders of his generation, was a moderate with a modestly pro-Western outlook. He would actually have signed a separate peace agreement with Israel, but for the Arab League's militant opposition. Because of his dream for a Greater Syria comprising Jordan, Syria, and Iraq under a Hashemite dynasty, many Arab countries distrusted Abdullah, and the rivals of the Hashemites, the Saudis most of all.
In 1946-1947, Abdullah expressed interest in ruling over the Arab parts of Palestine, and had no intention to "resist or impede the partition of Palestine and creation of a Jewish state."[1] However, by 1948, the neighboring Arab states pressured Abdullah into joining them in an "all-Arab military intervention" against the newly created State of Israel, which he used to restore his prestige in the Arab world, which had grown suspicious of his relatively good relationship with Western and Jewish leaders.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Assassination
On July 20, 1951, Abdullah, while visiting Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, was shot dead by Mustapha Shukri Usho, "a Palestinian from the Husseini clan."[3] On July 16, Riad Bey al-Solh, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon, had been assassinated in Amman, where rumors were circulating that Lebanon and Jordan were discussing a joint separate peace with Israel. The assassin passed through apparently heavy security. Abdullah was in Jerusalem to give a eulogy at the funeral and was shot while attending Friday prayers at the Dome of the Rock in the company of his grandson, Prince Hussein.[citation needed] The Palestinian gunman, motivated by fears that the old king would make a separate peace with Israel, fired three fatal bullets into the King's head and chest. Abdullah's grandson, Prince Hussein Ibn Talal was at his side and was hit too. A medal that had been pinned to Hussein's chest at his grandfather's insistence deflected the bullet and saved his life.[citation needed]
The assassin was 21-year-old tailor's apprentice Mustafa Ashu,[4] who according to Alec Kirkbride, the British Resident in Amman, was a "former terrorist".[5] Ten conspirators were accused of plotting the assassination and were brought to trial in Amman. The prosecution named Colonel Abdullah Tell, ex-Military Governor of Jerusalem, and Dr. Musa Abdullah Husseini as the chief plotters of "the most dastardly crime Jordan ever witnessed."[citation needed] The Jordanian prosecutor asserted that Col. Tell had given instructions that the killer, made to act alone, be slain at once thereafter to shield the instigators of the crime. Tell and Husseini fled to protection in Egypt and four local co-conspirators were sentenced to death in Amman. Jerusalem sources added that Col. Tell had been in close contact with the former "Grand Mufti of Jerusalem", Amin al-Husayni, and his adherents in Arab Palestine.
Abdullah was succeeded by his son Talal; however, since Talal was mentally ill, Talal's son – the aforementioned Prince Hussein – became the effective ruler as King Hussein at the age of seventeen. Hussein was in turn succeeded by his half-English son, King Abdullah II.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Sela, 2002, 14.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Michael T. Thornhill, ‘Abdullah ibn Hussein (1882–1951)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 24 November 2006
- ^ Wilson, 1990, p. 211.
[edit] References
- Sela, Avraham. "Abdallah Ibn Hussein." The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Ed. Avraham Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002. pp. 13-14.
- Shlaim, Avi (1990). The Politics of Partition; King Abdullah, the Zionists and Palestine 1921-1951 . Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-07365-8.
- Wilson, Mary Chrstina (1990). King Abdullah, Britain and the Making of Jordan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-39987-4.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by — |
Hashemite King of Jordan 1949–1951 |
Succeeded by Talal |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Kings of Jordan | House of Hashim | Field Marshals | World War II political leaders | Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George | Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire | Assassinated monarchs | Assassinated Jordanian people | 1882 births | 1951 deaths
