Editing Emirate of Transjordan (section)

==Background==
===Relevant British agreements===
{{main|McMahon–Hussein Correspondence|Sykes–Picot Agreement}}
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| caption1 = British government map "illustrating Territorial Negotiations between H.M.G. and King Hussein"
| image2 = MPK1-426 Sykes Picot Agreement Map signed 8 May 1916.jpg
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| caption2 = Map signed by Sykes and Picot, enclosed within the official Anglo-French correspondence
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From July 1915 to March 1916, a series of ten letters were exchanged between [[Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca]], and [[Lieutenant Colonel (British Army)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Henry McMahon (diplomat)|Sir Henry McMahon]], [[List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to Egypt|British High Commissioner to Egypt]].{{sfn|Kedouri|2014|p=3}} In the letters – particularly that of 24 October 1915 – the British government agreed to recognize Arab independence after the war [[quid pro quo|in exchange for]] the [[Sharif of Mecca]] launching the [[Arab Revolt]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]].{{sfn|Kattan|2009|p=101}}{{sfn|Huneidi|2001|p=65}} The area of Arab independence was defined to be "in the limits and boundaries proposed by the [[Sherif of Mecca]]", with the exception of "portions of [[Syria (region)|Syria]]" lying to the west of "the districts of [[Damascus]], [[Homs]], [[Hama]] and [[Aleppo]]"; conflicting interpretations of this description was to cause great controversy in subsequent years.

Around the same time, another [[secret treaty]] was negotiated between the United Kingdom and France, with assent from the [[Russian Empire]] and Italy, to define their mutually agreed [[Sphere of influence|spheres of influence]] and control in an eventual [[partition of the Ottoman Empire]]. The primary negotiations leading to the agreement occurred between 23 November 1915 and 3 January 1916, on which date the British and French diplomats, [[Mark Sykes]] and [[François Georges-Picot]], initialled an agreed memorandum. The agreement was ratified by their respective governments on 9 and 16 May 1916. The agreement allocated to Britain control of what is today southern [[Israel]] and [[Palestine]], [[Jordan]] and southern [[Iraq]], and an additional small area that included the ports of [[Haifa]] and [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] to allow access to the Mediterranean.<ref>Eugene Rogan, The Fall of the Ottomans, p.286</ref> The [[Palestine (region)|Palestine region]], with smaller boundaries than the later [[Mandatory Palestine]], was to fall under an "international administration". The agreement was initially used directly as the basis for the [[1918 Anglo–French Modus Vivendi]] which agreed on a framework for the [[Occupied Enemy Territory Administration]] in the Levant. Shortly after the war, [[1918 Clemenceau–Lloyd George Agreement (Middle East)|the French ceded Palestine and Mosul]] to the British.{{sfn|Hughes|2013|p=122–128}} The geographical area that was later to become Transjordan was allocated to Britain.<ref name="PG">Peter Gruber, (1991) Historical Dictionary of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan p 45-46.</ref>

===Late Ottoman rule===
[[File:Peel-Commission Report Map1 AdminDistrictsSyriaPalestine 1154x1846.png|thumb|left|Ottoman Sanjaks covering the areas of Palestine, Transjordan, and Syria]]
Under the [[Ottoman Empire]], most of Transjordan was part of the [[Syria Vilayet]],<ref>Y. Ben Gad (1991) p 105.</ref> primarily the sanjaks of [[Hauran Sanjak|Hauran]] and [[Ma'an]]. The inhabitants of northern Transjordan had traditionally associated with Syria, and those of southern Transjordan with the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. There was no Ottoman district known as Transjordan, there were the districts [[Ajloun|Ajlun]], [[Balqa (region)|al-Balqa]], [[al-Karak]] and [[Ma'an]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rogan |first=Eugene L. |title=Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850–1921 |date=2002-04-11 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-89223-0 |page=23}}</ref>
In the second half of the nineteenth century, The [[Tanzimat]] laid the foundation for state formation in the area.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.openedition.org/ifpo/5002 |title=The Impact of Ottoman Reforms:Tanzimat, administrative boundaries and Ottoman cadastre |chapter=The Impact of Ottoman Reforms |date=2013 |website=Publications de l’Institut français du Proche-Orient |series=Contemporain publications |pages=198–201 |publisher=Presses de l’Ifpo |isbn=9782351594384 |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929035405/https://books.openedition.org/ifpo/5002 |url-status=live }}</ref> 
The [[Hejaz railway]] was completed in 1908 and greatly facilitated the Hajj pilgrimage along the Syrian route from Damascus as well as extending the Ottoman military and administrative reach southwards.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.openedition.org/ifpo/5005 |title=The Hijaz Railway |date=2013 |website=Publications de l’Institut français du Proche-Orient |series=Contemporain publications |pages=205–208 |publisher=Presses de l’Ifpo |isbn=9782351594384 |access-date=23 May 2019 |archive-date=16 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216020222/https://books.openedition.org/ifpo/5005 |url-status=live }}</ref>