The National Library Department, in cooperation with the Royal Hashemite Documentation Centre, hosted a ceremony on Thursday evening to launch the book The High Headquarters (The Royal Hashemite Court) and Its Role in Jordanian Public Life (1921–1951) by Dr. Ma’an Mousa Al-Qallab.
اضافة اعلان
The ceremony was patronised by former Prime Minister and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Jordan, Dr. Abdul Raouf Al-Rawabdeh. It was attended by a gathering of intellectual, political and cultural figures, as well as people interested in national affairs. Speakers offered intellectual perspectives and praised the book’s academic and political value, noting its accessible yet rigorous style.
The book, which grew out of a doctoral dissertation, spans 313 pages and contains three main chapters and 15 appendices, alongside an extensive list of references, an index of names and detailed footnotes.
Poet and visual artist Ghadeer Haddadin, who hosted the ceremony, said that writing a country’s history is not merely a matter of documenting events. Rather, it involves an in-depth examination of the establishment of institutions, the accumulation of experience and the transformation of early beginnings into an established national journey. She noted that nations that understand their collective memory can better comprehend the present and move towards the future with greater confidence.
Former Minister of Government Communication and Professor of Modern and Contemporary Arab History, Dr. Muhannad Mubaideen, said the book presents a well-grounded historical narrative and an objective account supported by extensive academic research based on the examination of sources, documents and interviews.
He explained that the book goes beyond the biography of a particular figure to document the development of governing and state institutions, particularly the institution of the Royal Hashemite Court’s High Headquarters. He noted that the book highlights the institution’s establishment budget and the financial allocations designated for governance and leadership. He added that the work stands out for its detailed and unprecedented examination of this vital institution.
Mubaideen, who supervised the doctoral dissertation on which the book is based, said the research examines the High Headquarters and its administration during a period rich in Jordanian historical and political developments. He praised the researcher for choosing a challenging subject that required exceptional effort, in addition to the work undertaken by the Royal Hashemite Documentation Centre to provide the content and documents needed for the study.
He added that the research not only traces the institution’s development but also examines governance mechanisms, the relationship between leadership and the public, and the close ties between the ruling family and institutions involved in decision-making. The book is also distinguished by its wealth of rare documents, historical photographs and accounts of pivotal milestones, giving it added value and making it an accessible documentary resource for the wider public rather than merely a specialised academic study.
Mubaideen said society, libraries and future generations are always in need of historical works that shed light on subjects that have not previously received sufficient research and documentation. He also highlighted the book’s important footnotes, which expand on the main text and reveal historical facts and information, setting them apart from the conventional role of footnotes in books.
Former minister and political science professor Dr. Amin Al-Mashaqbeh said the author adopted a rigorous academic methodology that combined descriptive and analytical approaches with historical research, enabling a detailed analysis of the subject.
He added that the book constitutes an important Jordanian document recording a pivotal period in the country’s founding. It highlights the central role played by His Highness Prince Abdullah bin Al Hussein, later King Abdullah I, in institutionalising the High Headquarters of the Royal Hashemite Court, developing the country’s foreign relations and organising the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consular affairs.
Al-Mashaqbeh reviewed the book’s main themes, including the establishment of the High Headquarters, the administrative structure of the Court’s presidency and its responsibilities concerning decorations, titles and military ranks. He also cited figures from the book showing that the Court’s budget initially stood at 180,000 dinars.
He pointed to the book’s discussion of oversight of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and education affairs, highlighting the Court’s prominent political role in organising Arab, Islamic and international relations and shaping foreign policy, particularly after independence. The book also examines the organisation of judicial and agricultural affairs and the distribution of state-owned land.
Al-Mashaqbeh said the book is an essential reference for anyone seeking to understand the country’s historical development and examine the quality of documents and correspondence exchanged between kings and leaders. He praised the appendices, which include tables detailing loans, salaries and subsidies, as well as organisational structures for the diplomatic corps and judiciary, alongside royal decrees.
President of the Jordanian Writers Association, Dr. Riyad Yassin, said he had read the book through the lens of the French Annales School, which focuses on critical analysis and interpreting historical phenomena through the interaction of geography, economics and society, rather than simply recounting political events.
He added that the book employs the concept of “longue durée”, or the long term, despite focusing on the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan between 1921 and 1951. The author traces the historical roots of the institution of the diwan through to the High Headquarters, examining earlier Islamic, Ottoman and Hashemite experiences to connect transformations across time.
Yassin discussed the relationship between the diwan and the concept of long-term historical change, noting that the institution’s roots extend to early Islamic administrative traditions and continue through Ottoman, Egyptian and earlier Hashemite experiences before reaching the Emirate of Transjordan. This approach, he said, helps explain how the administrative and political functions of the centre of leadership evolved and adapted to changing circumstances, rather than focusing solely on isolated events.
He also addressed the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the Court, noting that the author highlighted the political, economic and regional challenges facing the emirate following the fall of the Faisal government in Damascus.
Yassin further discussed the expansion of the Court’s functions. The book traces the institution’s transition from the High Headquarters to the Amiri Diwan and then to the Royal Hashemite Court following independence in 1946. It documents the gradual expansion of its responsibilities from correspondence and ceremonial affairs to financial, consular and judicial matters, as well as communication with external entities, presenting the institution as an integral part of Jordan’s state-building history.
For his part, the book’s author, Dr. Ma’an Al-Qallab, expressed his pride in the launch of The High Headquarters (The Royal Hashemite Court) and Its Role in Jordanian Public Life (1921–1951), describing it as the culmination of years of research and examination of historical documents and sources.
Al-Qallab explained that the study was founded on the conviction that a country’s history cannot be understood through events and personalities alone; it also requires examining the enduring institutions that helped shape that history and tracing their impact on public life.
He added that the study’s findings showed that the High Headquarters was more than a correspondence office. It played a vital role in following up on governance and administrative affairs and linking the leadership with the emerging state institutions. He stressed that documenting the history of national institutions is a way of honouring the efforts that built the country and preserving its collective memory for future generations.
Al-Qallab said the study employed a descriptive and analytical historical methodology, drawing on Hashemite documents and archives held by the Royal Hashemite Documentation Centre and the National Library, as well as the British Archives. He added that comparing these sources enabled the construction of a rigorous historical account based on analysis, criticism and verification, rather than relying solely on conventional narratives of major political events.
