| Vilayet of the Hejaz | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vilayet of theOttoman Empire | |||||||||
| 1517–1916 | |||||||||
.svg) | |||||||||
_v2.png) The Hejaz Vilayet in 1900 | |||||||||
 the Vilayet's subdivisions in 1910 | |||||||||
| Capital | Mecca[1] Taif(summer residence)[2] | ||||||||
| Demonym | Hejazi | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• 1914[3] | 250,000 km2 (97,000 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1914[1] | 300,000 | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 1517 | |||||||||
| 1908 | |||||||||
| 1916 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Saudi Arabia Jordan | ||||||||
TheVilayet of the Hejaz (Arabic:ولاية الحجازWilayat al-Ḥijāz;Ottoman Turkish:ولايت حجازVilâyet-i Hicaz) refers to the costal region ofArabia when it was administered as a first-level province (vilayet) of theOttoman Empire. At the beginning of the 20th century, it reportedly had an area of 96,500 square miles (250,000 km2).[3] The Hejaz included all land from the southern border of theVilayet of Syria, south of the city ofMa‛an, to the northern border of theVilayet of Yemen, north of the city ofAl Lith.[2]
Despite its lack of natural resources, the region had great political importance as the cradle of Islam and was a source of legitimacy for the Ottomans' rule.[4] Subsidies provided by the state andzakat were the main source of income for the population of the two holy cities, but trade generated by thehajj was also an important source of revenue.[4]
The Ottoman regular force in Hejaz was constituted as afırka (division), attached to theSeventh Army in Yemen.[5] Outside of cities and towns, Ottoman authority was weak.[6] OnlyMedina andJeddah had permanent garrisons.[4]
SultanSelim I defeated theMamluk Sultanate in 1517 and took over Egypt. The Hejaz was at the time, a Mamluksuzerainty and had relied on Egypt for grain imports, it was also under threat from an aggressive Portuguese navy in the Red Sea.[7] As a result, the emir of Mecca at the time, Berekat ibn Muhammed Haseni, sent his 12-year-old son, Muhammad (future "Ebu-Numey"), to Egypt and pledged their allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan, along with the key to Mecca. The Sultan allowed the emir of Mecca to remain in power in exchange for loyalty to the Sultan. To strengthen the Sultan's legitimacy in Hejaz and in the Muslim world, the Sultan adopted the titleCustodian of the Two Holy Mosques.[7] Initially, the Ottomans administered the Hejaz under theEyalet of Egypt.[8] TheSharif of Mecca represented imperial authority in the region.[9] Administration later fell to the Governors ofJeddah, and the Eyalet of Jeddah was later transformed into the Hejaz Vilayet, with a governor inMecca.[2]
Since the 1750s,Wahabi Muslims, a puritanical sect from theNajd region backed by the influentialAl Saud family, began to pose a threat to the stability of the Hejaz. In 1801, while the OttomanPorte's attention was diverted to theFrench invasion of Egypt, the Wahhabis overpowered local Hejazi defences and captured the holy cities.[10]Şerif Pasha, the governor of Jeddah, temporarily wrestled Mecca back from the Wahhabis but was finally defeated in 1806.[11] The Wahhabis imposed their strict religious doctrines in the holy cities; the mentioning of the Sultan was forbidden during Friday sermons, officials from the fourmadhabs (schools ofIslamic jurisprudence) were dismissed and replaced with Wahabbis. In early 1807, the leader of the Wahhabi armyIbn Saud ordered the expulsion of all pilgrims and troops loyal to the Emir of Mecca, looting of the city later followed. It was alleged that Ibn Saud banned pilgrim caravans that were accompanied with trumpets and drums, which were contrary to Wahhabi doctrines.[11]
The Ottoman government found itself unable to confront the Wahhabis, and gave the task of defeating them to the powerfulMuhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt in 1809–1810.[12][13] Muhammad Ali Pasha dispatched an army commanded by his sonTusun Pasha in 1811, and successfully retook Medina and Mecca in 1812 and 1813 respectively. Tusun Pasha died of disease during the campaign and was replaced by his younger brother,Ibrahim Pasha, who continued the campaign into the Najd, withthe war ending only in September 1818, with the defeat and dissolution of what was known as theFirst Saudi State.[13] From 1818 to 1845, the region would be administered byEgypt, until Muhammad Ali was forced to restore Hejaz to the Sultan as a result of theSecond Turko-Egyptian War.[12] Osman Pasha was then appointed to the Governorship of the Hejaz. The borders of the province were redefined better, and theEmirate of Mecca was restored.[14]
In the late 1860s, a commission was sent to the Hejaz to reorganize the province, and the following decades saw the introduction of administrative reforms.[15] Hejaz was reorganized as avilayet in 1872 according to the Vilayet Law of 1864.[15] The province was divided intosanjaks,kazas andnahiyes.[15] Mecca became the center of the vilayet, with Medina and Jeddah as sanjaks.[15] The administrative structure of the Hejaz was reformed, but some changes enacted in the rest of the Empire were not implemented here.[16]
The towns of Mecca and Medina were exempted from paying taxes and in fact, were given subsidies, calledsurre, from the Ottoman treasury that was to be distributed to the poor in Mecca and Medina.[17] The Hejaz region first receivedsubvention in the reign of the Abbasid caliphAl-Muqtadir in the tenth century, afterwards it became customary for other caliphs and sultans to send these subsidies. However, aside from residents of Mecca and Medina, the inhabitants of other towns and villages did not benefit as much.[18] Subsidies were also paid to notable nomadic shaikhs, who had the potential to disrupt the passage of pilgrims in the region. The entire province was also exempted from military service; attempts to overturn this exemption were blocked by theSharif of Mecca.[17]
The Ottomans maintained a garrison force of 7,000 soldiers under the command of officers, in addition to the Sharif's own personal guard of 500.[17] Proper garrisons were stationed at the towns of Mecca and Medina whereas pocket garrisons were kept in Jeddah,Yanbu andTa'if- all of which were alongside the strategicHejaz Railway. Besides these settlements, roads and other infrastructure were not under Ottoman control - the roads to Yanbu from Medina required strong escorts and the Mecca-Medina railway route was regularly closed by tribesmen who demanded payment for passage -highway robbery and murder were common on these roads.[17]
The Ottomans completed theHejaz Railway, linking Damascus to Medina, in 1908, but the railway was severely damaged during World War I and later abandoned.[19] In 1916, as a result of theMcMahon–Hussein Correspondence,Sharif Hussein ibn Ali declared himselfKing of the Hejaz.
The exact population of the Hejaz is impossible to determine, particularly because of the mobility of Bedouins and pilgrims, and also because of the inability of Ottoman authorities to conduct a census in Arabia.[20] The population for the vilayet is given by the 1885 Ottoman census as 3,500,000.[3] According toWilliam L. Ochsenwald, the actual population of the Hejaz including theAsir at the end of the 19th century ranged from 400,000 to 800,000.[21]
Most of the population was not settled, and included nomads andsemi-nomads making a livelihood from stock-breeding.[22]Bedouin tribes dominated the region, and Ottoman control over them was mostly indirect, appointing governors toMedina andJeddah but allowing local rule elsewhere.[4]
The economy of the vilayet relied heavily on the annualHajj and pilgrimage, where Muslims from all over the world travel to the cities of Mecca and Medina. The importance of the pilgrimage was such that a majority of townspeople, especially residents of Mecca and Medina, relied on windfall from the pilgrimages for daily sustenance.[23] Many residents worked as guides for pilgrims, camel-brokers, built and provided pilgrim accommodations, sold or distributedZamzam water. Others worked in the maintenance of theMasjid al-Haram and theMasjid al-Nabawi as sweepers, doorkeepers, servants, prayer leaders, preachers or candle-cleaners.[23] Of these occupations, the most numerous were the pilgrimage guides. These guides had the task of organising the pilgrim's accommodation, transportation, acting as a translator and generally guiding the pilgrim through the rituals and prayers required. Aside from payment from a pilgrim, the guide would also be able to make any transactions in the name of the pilgrim.[24]
Hejaz's primary exports weredates,henna,hides, Meccanbalsam,gum,nacre and Zamzam water. As there are few natural resources in the region, the vast majority of products had to be imported, a practice that continued until the early twentieth century.[25]
The mercantile centre of the region was the port city ofJeddah, which was the principal port of theRed Sea. As the port lay on the coffee trade route fromYemen and the trade route from India, ships from Arabia, India, Africa and southern Europe regularly passed through the port, with a majority of European merchants setting up offices in the port.[25][22]Customs duties collected at the port were another source of income for both the vilayet and theEmirate of Mecca. The opening of theSuez Canal in 1869 had a negative impact on trading in Jeddah becausesteamships could dock at smaller ports such asYenbo on the Red Sea coastline.[22]
Due to the region's intense heat and scarcity of rainfall, the Hejaz could not support an agriculture-based economy. Agriculture was only possible in oases and on the irrigated outskirts of major towns, with dates being the primary crop grown. Semi-nomadic tribes would also engage in agriculture or would herd sheep and camels.[23]
Sanjaks of the Vilayet:[26]
Media related toVilayet of Hejaz at Wikimedia Commons
