History of Jordan

In 1948, Jordan fought with the newly born state of Israel over lands of former Mandatory Palestine, effectively gaining control of the West Bank and annexing it with its Palestinian population.

[1] Many of the villages built during the Early Bronze Age (3200–1950 BC) included simple water infrastructures, as well as defensive fortifications probably designed to protect against raids by neighboring nomadic tribes.

At Bab al-Dhra in Wadi `Araba, archaeologists discovered more than 20,000 shaft tombs with multiple chambers as well as houses of mud-brick containing human bones, pots, jewelry and weapons.

[17]The Nabataeans, nomadic Arabs based south of Edom, managed to establish an independent kingdom in the southern parts of Jordan in 169 BC by exploiting the struggle between the two Greek powers.

At the time, Amman, today the capital of the Kingdom of Jordan, became a major town in "Jund Dimashq" (the military district of Damascus, itself a subsection of the Bilad al-Sham province), and became the seat of the provincial governor.

Under the Umayyad's successors, the Abbasids (750–1258), Jordan was neglected and began to languish due to the geopolitical shift that occurred when the Abassids moved their capital from Damascus to Kufa and later to Baghdad.

The levant, which has been in Mamluk control since 1250 and specifically the Burji dynasty since 1382 was lost to the Ottomans after their victory in the Battle of Marj Dabiq that ended with the killing of the ruling Qansuh al-Ghuri in August 1516.

The Ottoman period would see the power players inside Jordan which were the Bani Amr-Banu Oqbah, the Mihaydat, and Al-Fadl, be replaced roughly by Al-Majali, Al-Fayez-Bani Sakher, and the Adwan respectively.

The Bani Sakher have up until then been roaming the areas from south of Al Ula to as far north as the Golan Heights, and as far East as Fayum in Egypt since at least the Early Mamluk age, but the migration that was about to occur was more permanent and significant in nature.

[44] The end of the 17th century saw the Wuld Ali tribe of the Anazah confederation, led by their paramount sheikhs Al-Tayyar and Ibn Smeir, began migrating deeper northwards out of Khaybar and into the Jawf region, which the Sirhan now inhabited.

This union bore a son named Adwan, who would later forge an alliance through marriage with a daughter of the Mihdawiya sheikhs, thereby knitting together significant tribal relations that would lay the groundwork for future confrontations and territorial expansions.

Over time, Hamdan's ambition and growing discontent with his master, Jaudat, the Mihdawiya Emir, drove him to secretly amass a loyal group of followers known as the Al Qradha, or "The Borrowed."

The victory allowed Adwan to consolidate control over the Ghor, distributing the newly acquired lands among his sons and relatives, at the cost of Dhamman who took refuge at the Balawna tribe.

Diyab regained his position momentarily until another revolt caused his death and the Adwan to flee to Jabal Al Druze for half a year, coming back under the leadership of the famous poet Nimr Al-Adwan.

[58] Upon Jalal's arrival, Al-Karak was dominated by two influential factions: the Imamiya, descendants of Turkish officials, and the Amr, who traced their lineage back to Banu Oqbah of Harb, a participant in the historic defeat at Mu'tah in 629.

However, his plans were disrupted when Salim's grandson Yusef ibn Sulayman Majali, responding to the community's urgent needs, led a grain caravan from Jerusalem back to Al-Karak.

Despite attempts by Khalil to intercept and rob the caravan, Yusef's diplomatic skills ensured its safe passage, which earned him great favor with the local Al-Karaki people.

The Karakis, under Yusuf Al-Majali, refused to pay the Wahhabis, which might've been the reason for Ibn Sa'ud conferring on title of "Emir of all the Bedouins to the south of Damascus, as far as the Red Sea."

The middle of the 18th century so the rapid expansion of the Bani Sakher, under now Emir Fendi Al-Fayez who has seemingly overshadowed his Khreisha counterpart and would gain effective control of the whole tribe.

Led by Abdullah Al-Huara, chief of Al Tafilah, they collectively decided to renounce their vassal status, proposing instead to offer yearly gifts as a token of homage.

In a strategic move, Al-Majalli covertly approached Fendi under the cover of night to formally concede defeat, agreeing to make amends to those affected by the hostilities, including reinstating Al-Huara's son as the Chief of Al-Tafilah.

[70] Henry Tristram's expedition to the area was right after this marriage, and he was guided by Sheikh Sattam Al-Fayez around much of the country in a 3-month journey, showing signs of much greater stability than what was the case in the previous centuries.

[73] After four centuries of stagnant and many times nominal Ottoman rule (1516–1918), Turkish control over Transjordan came to an end during World War I when the Hashemite Army of the Great Arab Revolt, took over and secured present-day Jordan with the help and support of the region's local Bedouin tribes, Circassians, and Christians.

The works of Benny Morris, Avi Shlaim, Ilan Pappe, Mary Wilson, Eugene Rogan, and other historians outline a modus vivendi agreement between Abdullah and the Yishuv.

These two nations were inevitably linked in the President's mind as twin emergent states: one serving the needs of the refugee Jew, the other absorbing recently displaced Palestinian Arabs.

"[95] In 1978, the U.S. State Department published a memorandum of conversation between Mr. Stuart W. Rockwell of the Office of African and Near Eastern Affairs and Abdel Monem Rifai, a Counselor of the Jordan Legation, on 5 June 1950.

However, in April 2005, amid reports of the king's dissatisfaction with the slow pace of reforms, the government resigned and a new cabinet was sworn in, led by Prime Minister Adnan Badran.

The following month, King Abdullah appointed a new prime minister, former army general Marouf Bakhit, and charged him with quelling the protests whilst carrying out political reforms.

The street protests continued through the summer, albeit on a smaller scale, prompting the King to replace Bakhit with Awn al-Khasawneh, a judge at the International Court of Justice (October 2011).

However, Prime Minister Awn al-Khasawneh resigned abruptly after just six months having been unable to satisfy either the demands for reform or allay establishment fears of empowering the Islamist opposition.