The History of the Hajj as Heritage: Asset or Burden to the Saudi State?

Abstract

This chapter investigates the infrastructure that developed in Jeddah to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims over the course of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Before oil, the annual pilgrimage or hajj was the largest source of local income for the successive states of the Ottomans, Sharifians and the early phase of the third Saudi state. At the same time, however, it was a seasonal business only, one which also posed substantial problems in terms of population control and health. Thus, a range of infrastructure evolved to cater for the needs of pilgrims. Some of this infrastructure, such as the different types of housing available to pilgrims, have older origins, while others, such as quarantine barracks and hospitals, were an immediate outcome of international concerns. Furthermore, the Hajj also accelerated the development of transport infrastructure, from improvements to the port to the introduction of busses and cars. The chapter, which is based on Ottoman, British, French and local archival sources, in addition to travelogues, memoirs, local histories, oral history and photographic sources, also touches on the question of how pilgrims, many of whom stayed for lengthy periods of time, were able to become part of the local societies.