Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz

Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi was an <a href="/facts/Arab/E77duPsg">Arab</a> leader from the <a href="/facts/Banu_Qatadah/gCXrowzN">Banu Qatadah</a> branch of the <a href="/facts/Banu_Hashim/IgqYGgzU">Banu Hashim</a> clan who was the <a href="/facts/Sharif_of_Mecca/NpfxSasC">Sharif and Emir of Mecca</a> from 1908 and, after proclaiming the <a href="/facts/Great_Arab_Revolt/vbE1APx6">Great Arab Revolt</a> against the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a>, <a href="/facts/King_of_the_Hejaz/TCt9LLhV">King of the Hejaz</a>, even if he refused this title, from 1916 to 1924. <a href="/facts/Sharifian_Caliphate/X2kKkE1A">He proclaimed himself Caliph</a> after the <a href="/facts/Abolition_of_the_Caliphate/jycbKs26">abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate</a> in 1924 and stayed in power until 1925 when Hejaz was <a href="/facts/Saudi_conquest_of_Hejaz/o8fEwQNS">invaded</a> by the <a href="/facts/Saudis/lWPV7vGj">Saudis</a>. His Caliphate was opposed by the <a href="/facts/British_Empire/hrsz0j7A">British</a> and <a href="/facts/French_colonial_empire/IRauBDs1">French</a> empires, the <a href="/facts/Zionism/kL92sl76">Zionists</a> and the <a href="/facts/Wahhabism/FGAPQ20M">Wahhabis</a> alike. However, he received support from a large part of the Muslim population of that time and from <a href="/facts/Mehmed_VI/jkzx4MEw">Mehmed VI</a>. He is usually considered as the father of modern <a href="/facts/Pan-Arabism/7AH9WCrb">pan-Arabism</a>.
In 1908, in the aftermath of the <a href="/facts/Young_Turk_Revolution/pTDXuQch">Young Turk Revolution</a>, Hussein was appointed Sharif of Mecca by the <a href="/facts/List_of_sultans_of_the_Ottoman_Empire/kEpbIIMQ">Ottoman sultan</a> <a href="/facts/Abdul_Hamid_II/3AWvfqF4">Abdul Hamid II</a>. His relationship with the Ottoman government deteriorated after the <a href="/facts/Committee_of_Union_and_Progress/qrP1C272">Committee of Union and Progress</a> took power, particularly because of their policies of <a href="/facts/Turkification/Bd3K0zeJ">Turkification</a> and persecution of ethnic minorities, including Arabs. In 1916, with the promise of British support for Arab independence, although it is debated as to what extent the British were influential in his choice, he proclaimed the <a href="/facts/Arab_Revolt/vbE1APx6">Arab Revolt</a> against the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a>, accusing the Committee of Union and Progress of violating tenets of <a href="/facts/Islam/zDLbL45C">Islam</a> and limiting the power of the sultan-caliph. While his armies, led by his sons, were engaged in <a href="/facts/Campaigns_of_the_Arab_Revolt/VUTw7s7F">fighting the Ottoman and German troops in the Middle East</a>, Hussein supported the <a href="/facts/Armenians/SxHfJF8N">Armenians</a> during the <a href="/facts/Armenian_genocide/n4qY58hs">Armenian genocide</a> and saved up to 4,000 of them. In the <a href="/facts/Aftermath_of_World_War_I/47nhUht5">aftermath of World War I</a>, Hussein refused to ratify the <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Versailles/BsNmjaqV">Treaty of Versailles</a>, in protest of the <a href="/facts/Balfour_Declaration/rIdF2TXc">Balfour Declaration</a>, a document supporting the <a href="/facts/Israeli_settlement/vSrw9ylS">Jewish settlers in Palestine</a>, and the establishment of British and French <a href="/facts/League_of_Nations_mandate/CXCj7gno">mandates</a> in <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Syria/r9A2lFaN">Syria</a>, <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Iraq/ewSlT8G0">Iraq</a>, and <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">Palestine</a>. His sons <a href="/facts/Faisal_I_of_Iraq/XwHxNwvb">Faisal</a> and <a href="/facts/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan/SELbyU44">Abdullah</a> were made rulers of Iraq and <a href="/facts/Emirate_of_Transjordan/UyhMyUQu">Transjordan</a> respectively in 1921.
He later refused to sign the Anglo-Hashemite Treaty and thus was left in a very precarious position, the British decided progressively to stop supporting him after the proclamation of his caliphate and the refusal to sign any treaty with them. Thus, they decided to support <a href="/facts/Ibn_Saud/4Hmo3To7">Ibn Saud</a>, who promptly launched an <a href="/facts/Saudi_conquest_of_Hejaz/o8fEwQNS">invasion</a> of the Kingdom of Hejaz. In October 1924, facing defeat by Ibn Saud, he abdicated and was succeeded as king by his eldest son <a href="/facts/Ali_bin_Hussein,_King_of_Hejaz/sf8z15Gn">Ali bin Hussein</a>. After Hejaz was subsequently completely invaded by the <a href="/facts/House_of_Saud/9egk15WK">Ibn Saud</a>-<a href="/facts/Wahhabism/FGAPQ20M">Wahhabi</a> armies of the <a href="/facts/Ikhwan/DvLEjkKx">Ikhwan</a>, on 23 December 1925, Hussein surrendered to the Saudis, bringing the Kingdom of Hejaz, the <a href="/facts/Sharifate_of_Mecca/P2cHHqaT">Sharifate of Mecca</a> and the <a href="/facts/Sharifian_Caliphate/X2kKkE1A">Sharifian Caliphate</a> to an end.
Hussein was then sent into exile to <a href="/facts/Cyprus/t9wL6lVK">Cyprus</a>, where the <a href="/facts/British_Empire/hrsz0j7A">British</a> kept him prisoner until his health deteriorated so much that they allowed him to go back to <a href="/facts/Amman/eGCyJk1L">Amman</a>, next to his son <a href="/facts/Abdullah_I_of_Jordan/SELbyU44">Abdullah I of Jordan</a>. He died in Amman in 1931 and was buried as a Caliph in the <a href="/facts/Al-Aqsa/cmqRc8JJ">Al-Aqsa mosque</a> compound.

Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz open-in-new

Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz