Ajlun

Ajlun is a mountainous district of Transjordan, north of the Wadi al-Zarqa' and west of the Hamad. Its fortress, Kal'at 'Ajlun, was built by Izz al-Din Usama.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) describes 'Ajlun as a district of Transjordan bounded by the Yarmuk to the north, the Hamad to the east, the Wadi al-Zarqa' to the south and the Ghawr to the west. It partly corresponds to the old territory of Gilead, and in Roman times it held towns of the Decapolis. The name seems to be Aramaic. It was first called Jabal Darash, and later Jabal 'Awf after a turbulent tribe that occupied it in the Fatimid period. The amir Izz al-Din Usama pacified it, having been granted it in fief by al-Malik al-'Adil b. Ayyub, and built there, on the site of an ancient monastery, a fortress called Kal'at 'Ajlun. It was rebuilt in the Mamluk period, when 'Ajlun was one of the districts of Damascus. At present 'Ajlun is a kada, whose chief place is Irbid. ¹