Transjordan

The Emirate of Transjordan was a semi-autonomous political subdivision of the Middle East carved out of the former Ottoman Empire after World War I, and was administered by the British under the nominal auspices of the League of Nations until its independence in 1946, after which point it became known more simply as Jordan.

"Transjordan" was a word coined to express the idea that the lands so described were "across the Jordan", i.e. on the far (eastern) side of the Jordan River. On the western side of the Jordan River lie Israel and the West Bank, which contain many places of historical and religious signifance to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This likely explains why the lands east of the Jordan river were implicitly consdidered of secondary importance (being on the "other" side of it).

Transjordan was, if I understand correctly, created in 1918 through the Sykes-Picot Agreement[?] between Great Britain and France after the First World War. It was first ruled by the Hashemite Emir Faisal[?]. Britain recognized Transjordan as a state on May 15, 1923. On May 25, 1946, the parliament of Transjordan made the emir Abdullah king and subsequently set up the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

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External Links

• The Peace Encyclopedia: Jordan, Transjordan (http://www.yahoodi.com/peace/jordan.html), an Israeli view of Transjordan't history
• Jordan - History: The making of Transjordan (http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_transjordan.html), King Hussein's official page whence the former content of this article came