The Hashemites (Arabic: الهاشميون, romanized: al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921–1958). The family had ruled the city of Mecca continuously from the 10th century, frequently as vassals of outside powers, and were given the thrones of the Hejaz, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan following their World War I alliance with the British Empire; this arrangement became known as the "Sharifian solution".