Records of the Hashimite Dynasties - Cambridge Archive Editions

Near & Middle East Titles:
Records of the Hashimite Dynasties

ISBN: (13) 978-1-85207-590-3
Extent: 15 volumes, 10,000 pages

Editor: Chief Editor A. de L. Rush, Assistant Editor J. Priestland
Author:N/A
ISBN: (10) 1-85207-590-2
Published: 1995
Paper: Printed on acid free paper
Binding: Library binding with gilt finish.
See sample pages: not available

Resumé

Records of the Hashimites is a rare and valuable publication, an encyclopaedia of authentic historical documents, tracing in detail through 15 volumes the destiny of the Hashimites, the most ancient and distinguished family in the Middle East. Through painstaking and expert research in government and private files, the editor and his assistant editor have located diaries, secret reports and a wealth of previously unpublished correspondence. These documents are now reproduced in exact facsimile to make available for your library and your own research the primary documents and archival evidence for the history of the Hashimites.

Records of the Hashimites focuses on the 20th century and provides the reader with a detailed study of the convergence of Hashimite and British interests that led to the Arab Revolt in the First World War and the establishment of Hashimite rule in Iraq, Jordan and, briefly, Syria following the defeat of Turkey.

Of the many hundreds of documents collected and made public in this great work, some of them ancient, many of them normally hidden or scattered in obscure archives, some of great political importance and all of historic interest - here we give you a glimpse of the sequence and contents of these 15 volumes. The following are merely a few highlights from the c. 10,000 pages of this modern reference work for Hashimite history.

Historical Overview

The authenticity of the Hashimite lineage ...

The story of the Hashimites dates back over fourteen hundred years to the lifetime of Hashim, great-grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad (d.632 A.D.) and grandfather of Abbas, the forerunner of the Abbasid caliphs. Though the authenticity of this lineage cannot be proved beyond question, most Muslims have always accepted it; and it is this traditional consensus that legitimised the ascendancy of the Hashimites in the Holy land of the Hijaz for over six centuries until their expulsion by the father of the present Saudi Arabian monarch in 1925.

As Sharifs - or, more properly, Amirs - of Mecca, they directed the vast concourse of pilgrims that flocked to Mecca and Medina each year from every corner of the Islamic world. Arch-predators among the devout masses, they were nonetheless deeply revered. Until simpler fashions took hold during the Sharifate of ´Aun al-Rafiq (1882-1905), they were overwhelmingly formidable and impressive figures. Indeed no one privileged to observe them in those earlier centuries ever forgot the sight of a Grand Sharif in his ceremonial gold-embroidered robes and elaborate turban processing through the Grand Mosque beneath the huge umbrella of State, surrounded by his trumpeters, bodyguards, reciters of the Qur´an and African slaves.

The Emirate of Mecca

It was after the outbreak of the First World War when Sharif Hussein began to make secret approaches to the British, that his personal, long-term ambitions were revealed. These communications with British officials and the later story of the Arab Revolt form the substance of the first five volumes of this work. After the success of the Revolt and the defeat of Germany and Turkey, Sharif Hussein was understandably angered and embittered by Britain´s failure to honour her promises in full regarding Hashimite rule in the former Ottoman provinces. On the other hand, reading his innumerable, often incomprehensible protests over the Balfour Declaration and the Sykes-Picot Agreement and recalling the enormity of his ambition to become ´King of all the Arabs´ and bearing in mind, also, his shortcomings as a ruler, we can easily understand why the British Government abandoned him and why, in the end, he achieved no more than the kingship of the Hijaz.

In October 1924, friendless and menaced by the Wahhabi forces of Ibn Sa´ud (later King ´Abd al-´Aziz), he abdicated and joined his second son, Abdallah, in Transjordan. His eldest son, Sharif Ali, succeeded him; but within fifteen months, after Ibn Sa´ud´s occupation of the Holy Places he too abandoned the throne and went into exile; thus ending the centuries-old Sharifian Emirate of Mecca.

The Hashimite succession

Especially interesting are the sections of Volume 8 of this work relating to the succession crisis that followed Abdallah´s assassination in 1951. Shortly before his death, doubting the wisdom of devolving power upon either of his sons, Talal and Naif, he had considered directing the succession to his nephew, King Faisal II of Iraq.

In view of this and, in particular, of Talal´s mental condition and his grandson Hussein´s tender age it was not surprising that the Iraqi Regent, ´Abd al-Ilah, intervened and, in so doing, alarmed those favouring the preservation of Jordan´s independence and the succession of Talal and Hussein.

Contents Outline

Volume 1

Genealogy of the Hashimites: family trees both in English and Arabic; list of Sharifs of Mecca
Extracts from 19th century travellers, descriptions of Grand Sharifs
Assassination of Grand Sharif, 1880; deposition of next one
Conditions in Hijaz under corrupt administration, 1890s
British aim to assume Control in Hijaz, 1916

Volume 2

Description of Sharif Hussein and his family, 1915
Sharif Hussein assumes title "King of the Arab Nation", 1916
The British recognize him only as King of Hijaz, 1917
Reports by Captain T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") on conversations with King Hussein and Emirs Feisal and ´Abdallah, 1917
Rivalry between King Hussein and Ibn Sa´ud, 1917-1919

Volume 3

Ibn Sa´ud encroaches on Hijaz, 1921
King Hussein´s grievances against Britain
Ibn Sa´ud captures Taif, 1924
Abdication of King Hussein, accession of Emir Ali, 1924

Volume 4

Struggle to prevent invasion of Hijaz by Ibn Sa´ud, 1923
Ibn Sa´ud occupies Mecca, 1925-1926
Ex-King Hussein´s death, 1931; King Ali´s death, 1935
Attempts to restore Hashimite rule in Hijaz, 1932, 1937-1940
Activities of relatives of King Hussein, 1916-1962

Volumes 5

Origins of the Arab Revolt; the McMahon-Hussein correspondence; future of the Caliphate; finance and arms procurement, etc, 1882-1916
Turkish account of events preceding Arab Revolt, 1916
Account of talks between Sharif Hussein and Amir Faisal with Sykes and Picot, 1917
Operations against Hijaz railway; capture of Damascus and Aleppo, 1917-1918
Siege and fall of Medina, 1917-19

Volumes 6-7

Transjordan: Amir Abdallah and the Caliphate, 1920
Events in Transjordan; relations with the British; relations with Ibn Sa´ud during 1920s
Danger of attack by Sa´udi Ikhwan, 1932
Amir Abdallah´s relations with King Ghazi of Iraq, 1937
The Palestine Conference; Amir Abdullah´s ambition to be king of a united Transjordan and Syria, 1938-1939
Reported Hashimite involvement in conspiracy to murder Ibn Sa´ud, 1940-1941; expressions of goodwill with Ibn Sa´ud, 1942
Abdallah´s attainment of kingship, 1946; his assassination, 1951

Volume 8

Jordan: reign of King Talal, 1951
Possible Hashimite union of Jordan and Iraq, and Saudi opposition, 1951
King Talal´s visit to the Pope, 1952
Concern about King Talal´s mental health; his deposition, 1952

Volumes 8-9

Amir Hussein´s proclamation as King of Jordan, 1952
King Hussein´s education, 1952-1953
Marriage with Queen Dina, 1955, and later divorce
Dismissal of General Glubb, 1956
Martial Law, 1957
Plot to overthrow Hashimite monarchy, 1958; King Hussein´s escape by low flying, 1958
King Hussein´s foreign relations and Hashimite leadership: throughout period
King Hussein´s travels abroad and relations with British: throughout period
Plots to overthrow or assassinate King Hussein: intermittent throughout period

Volumes 10-14

Syria : Hashimite claims and French opposition; Amir Faisal´s quest for Syrian independence, 1919
Progress of French Mandate, 1920s
Iraq: candidates for the throne of Iraq; Ibn Sa´ud opposes Hashimites; Faisal emerges as King of Iraq, 1921
Draft ´Law of Succession to the Throne of Iraq´, 1929
Profiles of King Faisal and Iraqi personalities, 1932
Admission of independent Hashimite Kingdom of Iraq to League of Nations, 1932
Death of King Faisal; accession of King Ghazi, 1933
Iraqi propaganda against Transjordan and Kuwait, 1938-1939
Death of King Ghazi; proclamation of King Faisal and selection of a Regent, 1939
Fall of Nuri Sa´id´s Cabinet, 1944; travels and speeches of the Regent, 1940s
King Faisal´s accession, 1953
Political hiatus and popular discontent; Arab Union with Jordan, 1958
Overthrow of Hashimite regime in Iraq; assassination of royal family, seizure of power by ´dissident officers´; declaration of Iraq as a republic, 1958

Volume 15

Syria and Palestine: role of the Hashimites in the Levant, 1915-1939
Hashimite resistance to French occupation of Syria, 1920-1922
Claim of ex-Khedive Abbas Hilmi to Syrian throne, 1922, 1932-1936
Hashimite isolation during discussions on Arab League Constitution, 1945-1946
Position of Syria during 1950s; possible Hashimite intervention and likely consequences, 1962