Kura rebellion | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Sheikh Kulaib's militia | Emir Abdullah's forces British RAF | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sheikh Kulaib al-Shraideh | Emir Abdullah Frederick Peake | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
unknown | 15+ (1921 offensive) [1] |
History of Jordan |
---|
Prehistory |
Ancient history |
Classical period |
Islamic era |
Emirate and mandate |
Post-independence |
Jordanportal |
The Kura rebellion in Transjordan, April 1921, was instigated when Sheikh Kulaib al-Shraideh, a self-established ruler of the district of Kura, refused to surrender his autonomy to the adjacent district of Irbid. Shraideh's motivations included personal hatred towards Ali Khulki Al-Sharayri, one of Emir Abdullah's ministers, who was head of the Irbid district. Shraideh demanded that the Kura be designated a separate entity, severed from Irbid, and answerable separately to Amman.
The Amman central government refused such arrangement as it would have paved the way for more similar demands from other ambitious tribal leaders. The central government sent tax collectors to Kura but one of them was killed. The collectors withdrew to Irbid and returned with an armed force that was ambushed, killing no less than fifteen and imprisoning several others. Abdullah, realizing the nascent central government's weakness, went to Kura personally. Shraideh was flattered, and declared his submission upon the Emir's arrival. In return, Abdullah announced an amnesty for the rebels, and the Emir reshuffled the cabinet to remove Sharayri, which added to Shraideh's satisfaction.
In 1920, sheikh Kulaib al-Shurayda had established himself as an autonomous rural potentate with French support and encouragement from Damascus. [1] When the first central government was organized in Amman in April 1921, and the Kura was declared a part of the administrative region of Irbid, Kulayb refused to accept such arrangement. [1] One reason for this was the personal feud between sheikh Kulayb and Ali Khulqi al-Sharayiri, the head of the government of Ajlun in Irbid, who has meanwhile become a minister in Amman, in charge of security. Kulayb got a strong support from local villagers, asking Kura to be separated from Irbid and established as an administrative district of its own, directly under Amman's governorship. [1]
The recently organized central government of Transjordan could not accept Kulayb's demands, which could have resulted in similar demands from other sheikhs, and badly needed money, meaning immediate need of tax collection. As a result, tax collectors were sent to Kura, escorted by a contingent of local gendarmerie. [1] Though they had eventually arrived to Kura, the deputy commanding officer of the force was killed by local villagers, [1] and the tax collectors retreated to Irbid. Fuad Slim, commander of the cavalry, was ordered to advance against the rebels and find the responsible for the killing. [1] However, alerted people of Kura caught the attacking force in an ambush and defeated them. Fifteen of the attacking force were killed and many, including Fuad Slim himself, taken prisoners. [1]
Unable to reduce Kulayb by force, the government of Transjordan offered negotiations. [1] The government was refused to reach a surrender of Kura rebels, responsible for killing, and it was finally decided to close the feud by tribal custom of returning government forces' horses and arms and pay a diyyah (blood money, or reparations) to the relatives of the killed government men. [1] Even this arrangement did not work, and emir Abdullah decided to resort to personal diplomacy and arrive to Kura himself. [1] Flattered by the "respect" of emir's personal visit, the leader of Kura rebellion, sheikh Kulayb, hastened to meet him upon arrival and declared his surrender and submission. [1] In return, the sheikh and his men were granted a general amnesty. About the same time Ali Khulqi al-Sharayiri was removed from cabinet after a government reshuffle - a matter which added to sheikh Kulayb's satisfaction. [1] The scandalous failure of the central government to suppress the Kura rebellion encouraged similar rebellions in other areas, which made the tax collection impossible in many parts of the country. [1]
In 1923, sheikh Kulayb al-Shurayda of Kura district renewed his rebel activities, and prompted a strong response by the British. His stronghold in Tibna was bombed by the RAF and captain Frederick Peake led a newly organized reserve force of 750 men in an all-out attack on the district. [1] Unable to further resist, the sheikh fled to seek refuge in Balqa, while a number of his men were caught and brought to trial.
On May 25, 1923 Britain formally announced the self-government of Transjordan under emir Abdullah, and the emir issued a general pardon for the Kura rebels in honor of this occasion. [1]
With the end of the Kura affair, another trouble began to loom as the feud between Bani Sakhr, headed by Mithqal Al-Fayez – especially favored by Emir Abdullah, and Adwan bedouins of Balqa, headed by Sultan al-Adwan. [1] Dangerously exposed to the Wahhabi raids from Arabia, Emir Abdullah had not intention to alienate Sultan al-Adwan, even if he did pay a special attention to Banu Sakhr, since they protected the nascent state from the Wahhabi raids. After unsuccessful pacification attempts Sultan al-Adwan decided to strike first. He advanced on Amman in a full force, and occupied two gendarmerie outposts, at the western entrances to the capital. [1] Adwan's forces were defeated in a fierce battle and put to flight. [1]
Some tribal unrest continued to simmer in the country for a few years after the suppression of Adwan insurrection. In 1926, the government had to send a force to suppress a rebellion in Wadi Musa, where the villagers refused to pay taxes and seized and looted the local gendarmerie post and government house. [1]
The history of Jordan refers to the history of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the background period of the Emirate of Transjordan under British protectorate as well as the general history of the region of Transjordan.
Irbid, known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela, is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate. It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a population of around 2,003,800. As a city, Irbid is Jordan's third-largest, after Amman and Zarqa.
As-Salt, also known as Salt, is an ancient trading city and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa highland, about 790–1,100 metres above sea level, the city is built in the crook of three hills, close to the Jordan Valley. One of the three hills, Jabal al-Qal'a, is the site of a 13th-century ruined fortress. It is the capital of Balqa Governorate of Jordan.
The Beni Sakhar confederacy is one of the largest and most influential tribal confederacies in Jordan. Its founder, Sakher bin Tha'labah al Tayy likely lived in the 3rd century AD, making the tribe around 18 centuries old. The Bani Sakher began migrating to Jordan as early as the 16th century and grew to become an influential tribe as by around the mid 18th century. The Beni Sakher is made out of many clans, both through ancestry and alliances. These clans are primarily separated into three groups, Al-Twaqa headed by the princely Al-Fayez family, Al-Ka'abneh headed by the Khreisha family, and Al-Khdeir.
Jarrar is a large Palestinian family that served as rural landlords and tax-collectors (mutasallims) in the Jenin area during Ottoman rule in Palestine. During this era, they were the most powerful of the rural families in Palestine's central highlands.
Sheikh Barjas Shaher Sayel Al-Hadid -, also known locally as Abu NidalBarjas Al Hadid, is a Jordanian politician and Sheikh of the prominent Al-Hadid tribe and member of the Parliament of Jordan. As well as being leader of the 30,000-member Balqa Governorate-based Al-Hadid tribe, Barjas Al-Hadid was formerly a member of the Royal Jordanian Air Force. As Sheikh, Al-Hadid's duties have included mediating in disputes, including blood feuds, which arise between Jordanian tribe and clan members, within whose families tribal law still exists. Significant numbers of the Al-Hadid tribe are also found in Syria; where they come under the name Hadidi, the Sheikh has been dispatched in the past to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen in order to mediate.
Ikhwan raids on Transjordan were a series of attacks by the Ikhwan, irregular Arab tribesmen of Najd, on Transjordan between 1922 and 1924. The repeated Wahhabi incursions from Najd into southern parts of his territory were the most serious threat to emir Abdullah's position in Transjordan. The emir was powerless to repel those raids by himself, thus the British maintained a military base, with a small air force, at Marka, close to Amman. The British military force was the primary obstacle against the Ikhwan, helping Emir Abdullah to secure his rule over Transjordan.
The Adwan Rebellion or the Balqa Revolt was the largest uprising against the newly established Transjordanian government, headed by Mezhar Ruslan, during its first years.
Ali Khulqi Alsharairi is Ali bin Hussein Alsharairi was one of the first Jordanian politicians. As an experienced military man and a politician, he contributed significantly to the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan.
Mustafa Wahbi Tal, also known by his pen name Arar, was a Jordanian poet, writer, teacher and civil servant, widely regarded as Jordan's most prominent poet and among the best-known Jordanian poets among Arab readers.
General elections were held in Transjordan on 16 October 1937.
Jordanian nationalism is a nationalistic ideology that considers the Jordanian people a separate nation and strives to maintain Jordan as an independent nation-state. It emerged as one of three nationalist currents in the 1920s, and was opposed to both Palestinian nationalism present in the region, as well as the Hashemite Arab nationalism promoted by Abdullah I, the first ruler of the Emirate of Transjordan.
Kafr Al-Maa is one of the Al-Kourah District towns, in the province of Irbid, Jordan, and away from the Irbid city district center 28 km to the south-west, and the capital, Amman, about 81 km in the north-west direction. It had a population of 17,919 in 2015.
Mehmed Rashid Pasha was an Ottoman statesman who served as the vali (governor) of Syria Vilayet in 1866–1871 and as minister of foreign affairs of the Ottoman government in 1873–1874 and 1875 until his death. Rashid Pasha was raised in Egypt where his father was an aide of the governor Muhammad Ali and was educated in Paris before joining government service in Istanbul in 1851. There he became a protege of the grand vizier Ali Pasha, a key figure in the empire-wide Tanzimat reforms. After the latter was reappointed grand vizier in 1866, Rashid Pasha was appointed governor of the Damascus-centered Syria Vilayet which extended from Tripoli and Hama in the north to Palestine and Transjordan in the south.
Haditha Ali Abdullah Al-Khraisha was a Jordanian Bedouin tribal sheikh. He was one of the two paramount sheikhs of the Bani Sakhr Tribe, arguably the most powerful tribe in Jordan. Haditha headed the northern clans of the Bani Sakher (al-Ka'abnah), while Mithgal Al-Fayez headed the other half, (al-Twaga). In the early twentieth century, Haditha and the Bani Sakhr, in addition to other Trans-Jordanian tribes such as the Huweitat and the Belqawiah, fought the Wahhabi Ikhwan, a religious militia who helped establish Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud as the first King of Saudi Arabia. The Wahhabi Ikhwan were Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud's tool for territorial expansion and lent religious legitimacy to Ibn Saud's territorial and political ambitions. According to King Faisal Al Saud the armed resistance that Bani Sakhr put up against Ibn Saud and the Wahhabi Ikhwan was "the reason that Saudi Arabia's borders do not extend all the way to Palestine and why the Al Sauds never became the rulers of the Levant". Haditha was known throughout Arabia for his wisdom and chivalry, He played a significant role in building the nascent Jordanian state and shaping its development. An ally and supporter of King Abdullah I, Haditha served several terms as Senator and Parliamentarian, including the first Jordanian Senate in 1947 which consisted of only ten members. Haditha was also elected to the second Legislative Council in June 1931, and the Fourth Legislative Council in 1937 while Jordan was still an Emirate. Haditha was also one of the founding members of the Jordanian Solidarity Party in March 1933. Sheikh Haditha also cultivated the oasis of Azraq, Jordan.
Mithqal bin Sattam bin Fendi Al-Fayez (Arabic: مثقال الفايز, was a Jordanian political and tribal figure whose work helped the establishment of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Mithqal was one of the two leading sheikhs of Bani Sakhr; he took power in the early twentieth century, and headed the Bani Sakhr tribe generally and the Al-Twaga half of the tribe specifically, which consisted of the four major clans, Al Ghbeyen, Al Ghuful, Al A'lqam, and Al Tabab, which comprise of 32 sub-clans which further divide into more sub-clans. He also headed his own clan, Al-Fayez.
The Balqa, known colloquially as the Balga, is a geographic region in central Jordan generally defined as the highlands east of the Jordan Valley in between the Zarqa River to the north and the Wadi Mujib gorge to the south.
Establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan refers to the government that was set up in Transjordan on 11 April 1921, following a brief interregnum period.
The House of Fayez(Arabic: الفايز or, colloquially: Al-Fayez, Alfayez, Al Fayez, Al Faiz, Al Fayiz) is a noble sheikhly Jordanian family that heads the major Jordanian clan Bani Sakher. The family's influence and prominence in the region was at its ultimate under Fendi Al-Fayez, who led the family in the 1840s and gradually became the leader of the entire Bani Sakher. Fendi would rule large parts of Jordan and Palestine, including the ancient Kingdoms of Moab and Ammon, and parts of modern-day Saudi Arabia until the late 1860s when a series of battles with the Ottoman Empire decreased the family's resources and claimed a portion of its holdings. After Fendi, his young son Sattam led the tribe in a push to cultivate the lands and live a more sedentary lifestyle, then under Mithqal Alfayez as a permanent political power in modern Jordan. The family was the largest owner of land in Jordan and owned portions of modern day Palestine, and Mithqal was the single largest owner of private land in the kingdom in 1922. The Al-Fayez family is active in Jordanian and Arabian politics and is currently headed by former Prime Minister Faisal Al-Fayez.
Sattam bin Fendi bin Abbas Al Fayez (Arabic: سطام الفايز, was an emir who led the Bani Sakher tribe from 1881 until his death in 1891. He was the de facto ruler of the Bani Sakher after his father Fendi Al-Fayez gave him most of his responsibilities in the late 1870s, and was the first person to have led Westerners to view the Moabite Stone in 1868. Sattam was also the first tribal sheikh to begin cultivating land in the 1860s, which began the sedentary settlement process of many of the biggest tribes in Jordan. In September 1881, after the reunification of the Al-Fayez family under Sattam, he was recognized by the Ottoman Administration as the Emir of Al-Jizah and the paramount Shaykh of the Bani Sakher clan.