British colonial secretary Winston Churchill convenes a high-level conference in Cairo to consider Middle East policy in March 1921.

As a result of these deliberations, Britain subdivides the Palestine Mandate along the Jordan River-Gulf of Aqaba line.

The eastern portion—called Transjordan—is to have a separate Arab administration operating under the general supervision of the commissioner for Palestine, with Abdullah appointed as amir.

At a follow-up meeting in Jerusalem with Churchill, High Commissioner Herbert Samuel, and T. E. Lawrence, Abdullah agrees to abandon his Syrian project in return for the amirate and a substantial British subsidy.