"كتيّب الجزيرة العربية. المجلد I. ١٩١٧" [‎١‎٠‎٩] (٧٤٨/١١٨)

GOVERNMENT
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Emir could, call out considerable levies of Hejazi and other Bedouins,
and by so doing in order to fight the Turks' battles, Emirs, and par
ticularly the actual prince, Husein, have not only made interest
with the Porte, but inspired it with a wholesome respect, and,
further, kept in touch with a fighting force which could be used
some day for their own ends. This position of the Emir of Mecca
as a great Bedouin chief was bound to increase with the decline of
Ottoman strength ; and it is by using it that Sherif Husein, the
present prince, has almost restored the Emirate to the power and
independence it enjoyed before the Wahabite invasion.
The Emirate has never been, in theory, hereditary or restricted,
except by prescription, to any one Sherifial clan or family. As
a matter of fact, the Emirs for a century past, including the present
prince, who was sent from Constantinople to take the office in 1908,
have owed their succession to direct nomination by the foreign
occupying power. But the Porte has kept to the 'Abadilah house
since 1827, twice only interpolating a member of the rival Dhawi
Zeid for short terms (1851-6 and 1880-2) on the impera
principle. It has always been a disadvantage of the Emirs that
members not only of other Ashraf clans, but also of their own houses,
hold themselves as well or better entitled to the Emirate ; and if
the Turkish power were to be withdrawn, the internecine wars
which marked each avoidance of the throne up to the close of the
eighteenth century would no doubt revive. The actual Emir could
only secure the succession to a son by maintaining and leaving to
him a superior paid force of soldiery, and one son would be as likely
to claim the succession as another It is well to bear in mind that
in Mecca itself is always centred a strong opposition to the ruling
house, and an Emir can hardly fail to have foes of his own household.
The title ' Grand Sherif' is a European invention. The Arabs
call the prince of Mecca Emir, and address him as ' Seyyidna ' (our
Lord). From the Turks he had the titles £ Highness ' and ' Pasha ',
his sons being commonly styled ' Beys '.
2. Recent History and Politics
The ruling Emir, Sherif Husein ibn 'Ali, grandson of the first
'Abadilah Emir (died in 1858), is now well over sixty years of age.
He was nominated to the Emirate by the Anglophil Grand Vizier,
Kiamil Pasha, in 1908, after a long residence at Constantinople.
Sherif Husein's uncle, 'Abdillah, had died on the way to take up the
position to which he had been nominated at Mecca, and Husein's
cousin, 'Ali, who was Emir previously, had been banished with his