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'File 61/13 I (D 133) Wahabis and Pilgrimage to Hedjaz' [89v] (190/431)
The record is made up of 1 volume (213 folios). It was created in 21 May 1923-2 Mar 1937. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
18
for the transport of Indian pilgrims. 1 hose who benelited by his efforts in this
direction were subjected to some inconvenience owing to delay in departure, but
were amply compensated by not having to share the unfortunate experience of
pilgrims carried in the Government cars. J
73. At the meeting of the National Conference soon after the pilgrimage
(see paragraph 1) the private motor companies took exception to the action of
the Government in itself engaging in the business of pilgrim transport in
competition with them, ihis so angered the Director-General of finance that
he threatened to dissolve the Government concern, but to revive the old practice
of requisitioning. Some composition is understood to have been arrived at, but
as it was oral little reliance can be placed on it pending the actual experience of
another season.
74. A further stage was reached this year in the correspondence referred to
in paragraph 46 a of the report for 1930, on the question whether the charge
collected in advance for the return journey from Medina should be refunded in
the case of pilgrims dying there. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs held that no
refund could be allowed, as it would entail loss on the transporters who have to
make provision for the return journey. There is little prospect of moving the
Hejazi Government from this attitude. It would be sufficiently reasonable if
the whole of the money charged were for transport. As it includes the Govern
ment koshan or road tax, it may be argued that part of that tax at least should
be remitted, but the Government, in their present financial straits, are unlikely to
admit this.
75. The practice of commandeering cars for Government use was not
entirely abandoned in 1931. On one occasion seventy pilgrims failed to reach
Jedda in time to sail by the steamship Jehangir "" owing to their vehicles having
been requisitioned by the Government for military transport. The pilgrims were
compelled to make other arrangements, entailing additional expense for their
journey to Jedda. It required the intervention of the Indian vice -consul to
secure a refund of the return fares paid in advance to the company which was to
have brought them back to Jedda in the first instance.
76. Owing to the inability of the Naqaba to provide suitable vehicles for
pilgrims wishing to secure cars for their exclusive use. certain well-to-do pilgrims
were driven to hiring cars belonging to members of the Royal Family. The rates
charged were exorbitant in comparison with the ordinary rates officially
sanctioned.
_77. In the report on which the foregoing paragraphs are based, the British
Indian vice-consul draws attention to the probable aggravation of the difficulties
and hardships described in them, if and when regular motor routes for pilgrims
are organised between the eastern coast of Arabia and the Hejaz. There has of
late been much talk of the opening up of such routes from ITasa and/or Iraq to
Mecca and/or Medina. Having regard to present financial conditions in the
Hejaz and elsewhere, Sir A. Ryan considers the prospect of any of these projects
taking shape in the near future so doubtful that he prefers to refrain from any
attempt to foreshadow their possible consequences.
(lam eh.
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/8. With the exception of a number of Javanese early arrivals, who
travelled by camel in the circumstances related in paragraph 67, the great
majority of pilgrims travelled by car this year. Ibn Sand turned a deaf ear
to the appeal made lo him by a deputation of carpenters who make it their
business to manufacture camel litters or shuqclufs throughout the year and store
them for use during the pilgrimage season. These men are no less affected by
the substitution of motor transport for camels than the Bedouin camel -owners.
Being townsmen they are in a better position than the latter to approach the
King. They complained that they had invested all they had in the litter business
and had to pay rent for storage as well. They suggested that pilgrims should
be allocated to cars and camels respectively in the proportion of two to one. Not
only did they get no satisfaction, but the koshan (road tax) for camels was raised
iiom .J.") piastres miri (
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
4/6/—) to 70 piastres, with the result of approxi-
rnately equalising tue inclusive rates for camel hire and motor hire. This step
is stated to have been taken to discourage the use of camels by Indian pilgrim 8 -
1 hese are not officially denied freedom of choice, but, if they find that camel hire
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About this item
- Content
The volume consists of letters, telegrams, memoranda, and reports relating to the Hajj pilgrimage to the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. The majority of the correspondence is between the British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. (later British Legation) in Jeddah, the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, and Indian Office in London, the British Residencies in Bushire and Aden, the High Commissioners in Cairo and Baghdad, the Political Agencies in Bahrain and Kuwait, and Ibn Sa'ud.
Contained in the volume are the annual reports on the pilgrimage composed by the Agent in Jeddah for the years 1929-1935 inclusive. Each report consists of some or all of the following:
- a general introduction;
- information on quarantine;
- statistics;
- information on health, transport, customs, 'mutawwifs' (pilgrim guides), religious policy, tariffs and the cost of pilgrimage, and pilgrims from other Muslim regions of the British Empire (India, Afghan, Malay, West Africa, Sudan, Iraq, Palestine, Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan , Sarawak, Somalia, Zanzibar and East Africa, South Africa, Aden, Hadhramaut, Muscat, Bahrain, and Kuwait).
Other documents cover the following subjects:
- the Hajj under King Hussein and the implications of a Wahhabi conquest of the Holy Cities;
- an attack on Yemeni pilgrims by the Ikhwan in August 1923 and the subsequent fighting;
- an Egyptian Medical Mission to Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina to assist with the pilgrimage;
- Jeddah's water supply;
- a new motor road between Medina and Najaf;
- Japanese interest in the pilgrim trade;
- the formation and progress of a National First-Aid Society in the Hejaz and Nejd;
- the religious tolerance of the Wahhabis, specifically the kissing of the Black Stone in Mecca.
At the back of the volume (folios 205-206) are internal office notes.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (213 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged chronologically.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The sequence starts on the first folio and continues through to the inside back cover, the numbers written in pencil, circled, and located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. The only irregularities are the first three folios (ff 1A-1C).
Fold-out folio: f 2.
There is an inconsistent and incomplete pagination sequence that is also written in pencil but is not circled.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/575
- Title
- 'File 61/13 I (D 133) Wahabis and Pilgrimage to Hedjaz'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1ar:1cv, 3r:13v, 15r:201v, 203r:209v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence