The tribal system in the face of the state-formation process: Mandatory Transjordan, 1921-46

This article attempts to offer a historical explanation for the resilience of tribes in the emirate of Transjordan during the formative period of the British Mandate from 1921 to 1946. It shows that the survival of tribes and their important role in society and politics was due to a combination of three factors. First, at the time of the creation of the emirate, nearly the entire population of Transjordan was organized along tribal lines and adhered to tribal values and customs. In the vacuum of central authority left by the collapse of Ottoman rule, the tribe served as the main frame of reference in most aspects of life, from the provision of security to the structuring of political, social, and economic relations. This was certainly true in the most obvious case of the nomadic and seminomadic tribes, but the settled population in the villages and even townspeople resembled them in many ways and are best analyzed in tribal terms. Second, in response to the gradual increase in government control, tribes, and especially their leaders, reacted by combining modes of collaboration and resistance. In such a way tribes and their shaykhs remained indispensable partners of the government, carving out for themselves a unique political role within the framework of the modern state. Third, and partly as a consequence of the last point, unlike some other modern Middle Eastern states where governments either attempted to erode tribal identities and practices or artificially invented them, in Transjordan state policies in fact enhanced existing tribal modes of politics. Within the general framework of British methods of indirect rule, the colonial administrators learned to take advantage of the tribal system to facilitate their efficient and economical control over the country. However, this study also shows that tribes were not kept intact but underwent a dramatic change in their function and nature. As state agencies began to assume many of the functions previously performed by tribes, the tribes started to function as a vehicle for channeling and allocating resources and services originating from the central government and thus became dependent on it. Nevertheless, tribes remained dominant political and social units in Transjordan on the eve of independence in 1946 and for many years to come. The article begins with a methodological discussion that addresse s the issue of state-tribe relations in the Middle East and outlines several hypotheses for the analysis of this subject. This is followed by an introduction to tribal society in Transjordan as it existed on the eve of the establishment of the Mandatory state. The main section assesses the process of state formation and its effect on society, focusing on British colonial policies vis-à-vis the tribes and their consequences. The essay concludes with some general observations on the uniqueness of the Jordanian case within the Middle East and its wider implication for the study of the region.