This dissertation seeks to analyse the founding of the state and the characteristics of the emerging regime in mandate Transjordan. In doing so, the thesis employs broadly a social forces approach. The theoretical perspective is one of state formation and political power. Special attention has been paid to identifying and examining the power groups which existed prior to and during the establishment of the state. The role of these power groups in the politics of Transjordan, and the way in which they were transformed by the consolidation of the state and the policies of the regime are of special interest. The dissertation is also particularly concerned with the attempts to establish both a loyal elite to occupy the structures of the state and to forge a social base for the regime.