Abdullah, more complete name ‘ABD ALLH IBN AL-HUSAYN (b. 1882, Mecca, now in Saudi Arabia—d. July 20, 1951, Jerusalem), statesman who became the first ruler (1946—51) of the independent Arab kingdom of Jordan.
Abdullah, the second son of usayn ibn ‘Alt, the ruler of the Hejaz, was educated in Istanbul. After the Turkish Revolution of 1908 he represented Mecca in the Ottoman Parliament. Early in 1914 he joined the nationalist Arab Union, which sought independence for Arab territories in the Ottoman Empire. In 1915—16 he played a leading role in clandestine negotiations between the British in Egypt and his father that led to the proclamation (June 10, 1916) of the Arab revolt against the Ottomans. During the ensuing hostilities he played only a limited part.
With dubious legality Abdullah was proclaimed constitutional king of Iraq on March 8, 1920, by the so-called Iraqi Congress in Damascus. But he declined the Iraqi throne, which in August 1921 was given to his brother Fayal I. After French troops drove Fayal out of Damascus (July 1920), Abdullah occupied Transjordan and threatened to attack Syria. The following March the British agreedto the creation of an Arab government under the British mandate in Transjordan.

Abdullah was successful in gradually negotiating the
separation of Transjordan from the Palestine mandate. In 1928 the Arab administration became largely self-governing.
The creation of a united Arab kingdom encompassing Syria, Iraq, and Transjordan was Abdullah’s ambition. During World War
he actively sided with Great Britain, and
army—the Arab Legion—took part in the British occupation of Syria and Iraq in 1941. In 1946 Transjordan became independent, and he was crowned in Amman on May 25, 1946. He was the only Arab ruler to accept the United Nations’ partitioning of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states (1947). In the war with Israel in May 1948, his armies occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River and captured Old Jerusalem. Two years later
annexed the West Bank territory into the kingdom of Jordan, a move that angered
former Arab allies, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, which wanted to see the creation of
Palestinian Arab state on the West Bank. His popularity at home declined, and he was assassinated by a Palestinian nationalist.


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