Jordan » History

The country that is now Jordan contained the lands of Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Bashan in biblical times. Jordan submitted to Ottoman Turkish rule and was administered from Damascus in the 16th century. Taken from the Turks by the British in World War I, Jordan (formerly known as Transjordan) was separated from the Palestine mandate in 1920, and in 1921, placed under the rule of Abdullah ibn Hussein.

In 1923, Britain recognized Jordan's independence, subject to the mandate. In 1946, grateful for Jordan's loyalty in World War II, Britain abolished the mandate. King Abdullah was assassinated in 1951. His son Talal, who was mentally ill, was deposed the next year. Talal's son Hussein, born on Nov. 14, 1935, succeeded him.

Longer Historical Perspective

Jordan is a land steeped in history. Jordan continues to play this role today. Jordan was swept into the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, however, and lost East Jerusalem and all of its territory west of the Jordan River, the West Bank.

The first parliamentary elections under King Abdullah took place in June 2003 and resulted in a two-thirds majority for the king's supporters. In 2005, the king, unhappy with the slow progress on reforms, replaced his cabinet.

Jordan was governed along with modern-day Palestine and Syria as a single administrative entity (called a vilayet). When King Abdullah was assassinated in 1951, the crown passed to his son Hussein ibn Talal. King Hussein assumed the throne in 1952 and ruled the country until early 1999. Until a major change in Jordanian policy in 1988, the West Bank comprised three of Jordan’s eight provinces, while over half of the Jordanian population claimed Palestinian origin. Jordan lost the West Bank after the Six-Day War of 1967, and gained thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled across to Jordan.  after 1967, political power in Jordan was concentrated fully in the hands of the King and his Council of Ministers. Political parties and almost all political activity were banned.

Jordan formally claimed the West Bank in 1950.King Abdullah united the West Bank and Transjordan, giving the areas equal representation in the Jordanian Parliament, to create the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Following the assassination of Abdullah, the first King of Jordan, in 1951, his eldest son Talal ruled for less than a year before he was deposed (owing to illness) in favour of his eldest son, King Hussein, who succeeded to the throne in 1952. During the war of June 1967 Israel occupied the whole West Bank and East Jerusalem. Hussein was succeeded by his eldest son, King Abdullah II.