Abdullah ibn Hussein

Abdullah ibn Hussein (1882-1951), king of Jordan (1946-1951). The son of King Husein ibn Ali of Al Ḩijāz (the Hejaz), he was born in Mecca but educated in İstanbul, Turkey, where he was active in Arab circles; later he represented Mecca in the Ottoman legislature. During World War I, however, he and his father sided with the Allies and in 1916 led an Arab revolt against the Ottomans. Under British auspices Abdullah became the nominal ruler (emir) of the British mandate of Transjordan (present-day Jordan) in 1921, and when the mandate ended in 1946, he proclaimed himself king.

In May 1948, immediately after the creation of Israel, King Abdullah, pressured by other Arab countries, led his British-trained army against the new state, capturing a large area of its territory. After the armistice in 1949, Jordan—as the kingdom was renamed—retained control of this area, now called the West Bank; it was officially part of Jordan from 1950 to 1967. Violently opposed by Palestinian Arabs, who suspected him of collusion with Israel, he was assassinated by one of them on July 20, 1951.