Hejaz Railway Research Articles

A Plan to Revitalise the Historic Railway Urban Environment, the Case of the Hejaz Railway in Amman City in Jordan

A Plan to Revitalise the Historic Railway Urban Environment, the Case of the Hejaz Railway in Amman City in Jordan

The Ottoman Measures to Prevent Attacks on the Hejaz Railway, 1908-1911: The Ottoman Archives as a Source

This study discusses the “Hamidiyah Hijazi Railway”, established by the Ottoman Empire to support Islamic politics worldwide. The importance of this study lies in its discussion, which focuses on a fragment of the glorious period of Islamic history that provided extraordinary services for Hajj pilgrims at that time. The Hijaz railway line was one of the most significant achievements of the Ottoman Empire and proved their intensive efforts in handling this matter as a religious matter. This study relies primarily on the Ottoman documents from 1908-1911, deposited in the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Directorate of State Archives in Istanbul. This article focuses on the steps taken by the Ottoman Empire in securing the Hijaz railway from attacks by Bedouin tribes and maintaining its religious reputation concerning the safe journey of Hajj pilgrims via the railway. The author argues that the measures the Ottoman Empire took were ineffective in preventing these attacks. The Ottoman Empire secured the railway line by entrusting it to the sheikhs of the local tribes and holding celebrations for the development of the line. With this celebration, the Ottoman Empire wanted to show the importance of developing the Hijaz railway to unite Muslims under their flag and strengthen the Ummah movement in the spirit of Islamic unity in the confrontation with Western countries. [Studi ini membahas “Jalur Kereta Api Hamidiyah Hijaz”, yang dibangun Kesultanan Turki Uthmani untuk mendukung perpolitikan Islam di dunia. Pentingnya studi ini terletak pada pembahasannya yang berfokus pada satu penggal periode kejayaan sejarah Islam, yang memberikan layanan luar biasa untuk para jamaah haji pada masa itu. Jalur kereta api Hijaz ini dipandang sebagai salah satu capaian Islam yang paling signifikan dan menjadi bukti adanya upaya intensif Kesultanan Uthmaniyah dalam menangani urusan keagamaan ini. keuntungan. Studi ini terutama mengandalkan dokumen resmi Pemerintah Turki dari tahun 1908-1911, yang disimpan di Direktorat Arsip Kepresidenan Turki di Istanbul. Tulisan ini mengambil fokus pada langkah-langkah yang diambil Kesultanan Uthmaniyah dalam mengamankan di jalur kereta api Hijaz dari serangan suku-suku Badui dan menjaga reputasi keagamaannya terkait dengan keselamatan perjalanan jamaah haji melalui jalur kereta api. Penulis berargumentasi bahwa langkah-langkah yang diambil oleh Kesultanan Uthmaniyah tidak efektif dalam mencegah serangan-serangan tersebut. Kesultanan Uthmaniyah mengamankan jalur kereta api dengan mempercayakannya kepada para syaikh dari suku-suku lokal dan menyelenggarakan perayaan-perayaan atas pembangunan jalur kereta. Dengan perayaan ini, Kesultanan Uthmaniyah ingin menunjukkan pentingnya pembangunan jalur kereta api Hijaz dalam menyatukan umat Islam di bawah benderanya dan memperkuat gerakan ummat di bawah semangat kesatuan Islam dalam menghadapi negara-negara Barat.]

The Iraqi Deputies’ Stance on the Privilege of the Hejaz Railway in the Discussions of the Ottoman Council of Deputies 1908-1914 CE

The Hejaz Railway, one of the most significant projects undertaken by the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, stands as a remarkable accomplishment. It was a collaborative effort involving Arabs and Muslims from various Ottoman provinces, including Iraq. Their contributions were vital due to the railway's religious, political, economic, and military significance. Consequently, the Hejaz Railway garnered attention during the discussions of the Ottoman Council of Deputies from 1908 to 1914, where Iraqi deputies actively participated with their proposals and opinions.
 The research delves into the Hejaz Railway project, which received foreign privileges granted to its German ally by the Ottoman Empire. Despite differing perspectives among Arab and Turkish writers regarding the concept and motivations behind these privileges, the railway sparked numerous debates within the Ottoman Council of Deputies. These discussions highlighted the divergence of views between Arabs and Ottomans concerning the railway project.
 As the Ottoman Empire shifted its policies toward European nations, it sought to strengthen relations through alliances and agreements known as "privileges." These privileges encompassed economic, military, political, and religious aspects, granting European powers freedom of movement and trade within the Ottoman territories. However, this approach had unintended consequences, as these privileges became tools for European intervention in the empire's internal affairs and control over its economy. Notably, the Hejaz Railway privilege was bestowed during Sultan Abdul Hamid II's rule.
 The Hejaz region held immense importance within the Ottoman Empire due to its status as the starting point of the Islamic world. Geographically and religiously, the Hejaz was unique, maintaining a special position for the Ottomans. This situation persisted for centuries until the Hejaz separated from Ottoman rule after the Great Arab Revolt. Consequently, the Hejaz Railway project garnered widespread Islamic interest.

Russian Sources of Qur’ānic Ethnography. III: Hajj from Russia in Russian intelligence Reports (Late 19th — Early 20th Centuries)

Archival material related to the activities of Russian intelligence in the late 19th — early 20th centuries that aimed at suppressing the spread of pan–Islamic and pan–Turkish propaganda within the Russian Empire and tracking hajji road networks continues to be of serious academic importance. Being the little–studied primary source to the history of Russian Islam they allow us to see the true goals of official St. Petersburg in its policy towards the world of Islam both within the empire and beyond its borders. The article is based on materials related to a series of trips of Russian intelligence officers to the Middle East (Staff Captain ‘Abd al–‘Aziz Davletshin (Istanbul, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, 1898), Captain Boris Shelkovnikov (Baghdad, Mosul and Basra vilayets of the Ottoman Empire, 1902—1903), Captain Nikolay Terletsky (the Hejaz railway, 1904, 1910), Staff Captain Ilyas Chanyshev (Turkey, Afghanistan and India, 1909—1910), Panteleimon Antaki (Istanbul and Cairo, 1911). The title of the article may seem misleading, but at this stage our task is to present the possible sources of Qur’anic ethnography in all their completeness and originality. Specialists in Arabian ethnography are well aware of the phenomenon of long–term preservation of deeply archaic elements of material culture and economic activities in the region. In this regard, the material of those trips often turns out to be important for Qur’ānic ethnography as well. The commented publication of such material will be the second part of our work. Such British sources are very well known, and their texts are cited, among other things, for historical and ethnographic purposes. Meanwhile, the Russian sources in question remain virtually unknown.The results of Chanyshev and Antaki's trips go beyond the scope of the Qur’anic ethnography proper, but they are important for understanding the problems associated with the hajj from Russia in their entirety.

HUMAN INVESTMENT IN THE HEJAZ RAILWAY PROJECT

This article, based on the monographs of the Hejaz Railway Project, aims to underline the significance attributed to the Hejaz Railway project not only by its initiator, the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II, who referred to it as “his old dream” but for all the parties who directly or indirectly contributed to its actualization, regardless of ethnic and religious divisions, not only from the Ottoman lands but also from all over the world. To focus on the significance of the human investment in the actualization of the project, this work will start with its technicalities generously shared by the aforementioned monographs. Mainly based on Ottoman and British archival sources, these works provide a very detailed depiction of the Hejaz Railway Project. In this depiction, this work will focus on the human aspects of the project: the human investment and belief in the project despite all its hardships, scarcity of sources and resources, whether they may be financial, physical, or natural. In this regard, it may not be wrong to refer to the project as a “miracle” as well. The human investment in the Hejaz Railway Project is covered in the current related literature but not particularly focused on by any work. This work thus aims to bring the human aspect of this project to the forefront to provide a new angle on the topic.

Structural assessment of the historic Ten Arches Bridge in Jordan

ABSTRACT The Ten Arches Bridge is a historical stone bridge that is located in Amman, Jordan. The bridge has a valuable cultural heritage as it was built in 1908 to serve the Hejaz Railway Line. This study presents a structural assessment of the bridge including a field inspection, experimental investigation, and numerical structural analysis. The study also investigates the efficacy of utilizing in-situ Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) such as Rebound Hammer (RH) and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) tests in the assessment of stone arch bridges. Detailed experimental and numerical investigations were performed to identify the structural integrity of the bridge by evaluating the acting stresses and displacements under static and dynamic loads. Minor deteriorations were found in the bridge’s body due to human and environmental factors. However, the geometrical properties of the bridge have not been significantly changed. The obtained results of the numerical analysis concluded that the bridge can sustain the current imposed dead and traffic loads, but not serve seismic actions. Compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of stone units obtained by RH and UPV tests are in agreement with the laboratory tests. Accordingly, NDT techniques can provide and verify basic mechanical properties that are needed for numerical analyses.

Desert Insurgency: Archaeology, T. E. Lawrence, and the Arab Revolt

Desert Insurgency: Archaeology, T. E. Lawrence, and the Arab Revolt

Religious policy of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II in the Syrian vilayets of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909): methods and symbols

The author examines the religious and political course of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909), aimed at strengthening the unity of the Ottoman state and society based on the principles of Islam, and the implementation of this strategy in the Syrian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The research is based on reports of contemporaries, as well as research works in Russian and English. Particular attention is paid to the strategic role of Ottoman Syria (including Lebanon and Palestine) in the context of strengthening the religious authority of the Sultan as the caliph of all Muslims and recruiting prominent ideologues and supporters of Islamic traditionalism from the Syrian vilayets to serve the Sultan. The author especially examines the role of wo representatives of the Muslim intellectual elite: the Sufi sheikh Abu-l-Huda al-Sayyadi as a close associate of the Sultan who provided patronage to the conservative ulama, as well as Ahmad Izzet Pasha al-Abid, who became the main inspirer of the Hejaz Railway. The article also reveals the features of the state policy towards religious minorities (both Muslim and non-Muslim) and migration processes in the Syrian provinces. With the weakening of the international positions of the Ottoman Empire and the strengthening of foreign interference, Syria set an example of relatively successful modernization based on Islamic tradition. At the same time, confessional identity continued to dominate over ethnicity, and the emerging feelings of Arab and Syrian patriotism did not conflict with the principle of Islamic unity of the subjects of the Sultan-Caliph.

The late Ottoman defended landscapes along the Hijaz railway in southern Jordan

The Hijaz Railway was built to transport hajj pilgrims from Damascus to Medina and Mecca. This paper examines railway landscapes in the south of Jordan and how they were militarized by a garrison at Maʿan and troops at smaller stations. Fieldwork has shown an extensive defended landscape surrounding the railway, but a date for constructing these fortifications was previously unknown. This paper demonstrates that the railway was lightly defended when constructed (1900–1908), however, after the capture of Aqaba in July 1917, and the establishment of a British base there, the Ottomans rapidly defended the landscapes with a series of forts, earthworks and trench systems. These defences are among the last constructed by the Ottoman Empire. They are some of the best-preserved early 20th-century CE military defences in the Middle East. They are not, however, protected and are subject to damage from industry and looting.

Investigating Development Options of the Historical Hejaz Railway for Local Communities and Tourism in Amman City in Jordan?

Investigating Development Options of the Historical Hejaz Railway for Local Communities and Tourism in Amman City in Jordan?

البنية الإقتصادية والإجتماعية للمدينة الأردنية (The Economic and Social Structure of Jordanian City)

Arabic Abstract: تناولت الورقة بالبحث والتحليل البنية الاقتصادية والاجتماعية للمدينة الأردنية من خلال دراسة نماذج من المدن الأردنية في الفترة منذ تباشير التنظيمات العثمانية سنة 1864 وحتى قيام الدولة الأردنية الحديثة ، فقد ارتبطت المدينة الأردنية إداريا بولايات الدولة العثمانية في بلاد الشام ومصر والحجاز ، وبالتالي أظهرت الدراسة نشأة وتطور المدينة من خلال معطيات المجتمع المحلي في شرقي الأردن في تلك المرحلة . وقد كشفت الدراسة عن حركات السكان والتنقل والهجرات ، وما تبعها من أنشطة اقتصادية واجتماعية شملت الزراعة وملكية الأرض ، وطرق النقل والتجارة وانتقال السلع ، مع ما رافق قوافل الحج الشامي والمصري ، وامتداد سكة حديد الحجاز بمرورها من الشمال إلى الجنوب في شرقي الأردن. غير أن التفاعل الاقتصادي والاجتماعي وتأثيره في شرائح السكان من مقيمين و مهاجرين ومظاهر الاستقرار ، ومستوى الخدمات العامة والتعليم عانى من مخلفات الصراع بين القبائل والسكان أواخر العهد العثماني ، والذي تمثل بسياسة الضرائب المرهقة والتجنيد الإجباري والغزو والسلب ، وتأثير ذلك في استقرار السكان والهجرة وانعدام الأمن، وما واجهته المدينة الأردنية من أشكال التجديد وبرامج الإصلاح وتطور أجهزة الحكم والإدارة وتحقيق الأمن والنظام عند تأسيس الإمارة الأردنية. وأبرزت الدراسة العلاقات السياسية والاقتصادية والاجتماعية للفئات السكانية المختلفة في المدينة الأردنية وما جاورها ، وانصهارها لتكون نواة المجتمع الأردني إبان قيام الدولة الأردنية الحديثة. الكلمات المفتاحية : البنية ، التفاعل ، حركات السكان ، ملكية الأرض ، السلع ، عائلة ، تجارة ، طرق النقل ، قوافل الحج ، الهجرة ، استقرار ، الإصلاح . English Abstract: This study sought to identify with research and analysis of the economic and social structure of the city of Jordan through studying models of Jordanian cities in the period from the beginning of the Ottoman organizations in 1864 until the establishment of the modern Jordanian country. The city of Jordan was administratively associated with the states of the Ottoman Empire in Levant, Egypt and the Hijaz. Thus, the study showed the origin and development of the city through the data of the local community in eastern Jordan at that time. This study also showed the movements of population, movement and migration, followed by economic and social activities which including agriculture, land ownership, transportation, trade and goods transport, accompanied by the Shami and Egyptian convoys, and crossing the Hijaz railway from north to south in eastern Jordan. However, economic and social interaction and its impact on the segments of the population of residents and immigrants and manifestations of stability, the level of public services and education suffered from the conflict between the tribes and the population at the end of the Ottoman era, which is the policy of exhausting taxes and forced recruitment and invasion and looting, and the impact of this on the stability of the population, migration and insecurity. In addition, the Jordanian city faced a form of renewal and reform programs and the development of governance and administration and the establishment of security when the establishment of the Emirate of Jordan. The study highlighted the political, economic and social relations of the various population groups in the Jordanian city and neighboring countries, their fusion into the nucleus of Jordanian society during the establishment of the modern Jordanian country.

The Social Adjustment of Girls Circassian Students in State Elementary Schools

The Circassians are Sunni Muslims, originated in the Caucasus, a part of the former Soviet Union. During the rule of the Ottoman Sultan Abd al-Hamid II in the 1860s, many Circassians joined the Ottoman Army; some of them were settled in Israel and worked as farmers or as the maintainers of the Hejaz railway’s route from attacks of Bedouin tribes (Shabsu, 1993) [1]. Since 1948, Circassian men had begun serving in the Israel Defense Forces on the order of their leaders. The Circassians live in two villages in the Galilee area, in the Village of Kama and in Rihania. These two villages have elementary schools, in which, most of the teachers are Circassians. They belong to the Druze Education Department that is separated from the regular Israeli educational system. At the end of the elementary school phase, the Circassian pupils go to Jewish schools. This article emphasizes on the difficulties of the Circassian students, who are forced to leave their local school in the village to a Jewish one, to be adjusted to new society and culture, while preserving their own culture and origin. The emphasis would be on the viewpoint of the Circassian students, the extent of adjustment and the option to develop a “built-in model” that would facilitate the absorption of these students (of different origins and cultures) at school. Furthermore, the article emphasizes on the importance of school’s staff exposure to students’ standings, in a manner that would lead towards sensitivity and empathy to these special ethnic groups of students in school.

Hejaz Railway Headquarters Building of the Original Drawings via a Reading

Hejaz Railway Headquarters Building of the Original Drawings via a Reading

Inspection and Numerical Analysis of an Ottoman Railway Bridge in Jordan

The construction of bridges represents a big challenge, since they require enormous economic effort and specialized technical skills. Bridges were historically important as they help connecting people and thus diffusing cultures, sharing ideas, and providing the backbone of transportation networks. This study focuses on the inspection and structural analysis of a 20th-century Ottoman railway stone arched bridge located on the Hejaz railway network in Jordan. The bridge has a very important cultural heritage value which stems from its history. The bridge stone material was cut and tested to determine its strength, in order to be used in the analysis. The structural analysis was carried out to assess the structural condition of the bridge and its suitability for reuse. The study includes static analysis under gravity loads and seismic analysis under earthquake loads. Despite the existence of deterioration in the bridge body construction materials due to a combination of human and natural factors, the analysis results proved enough structural capability to sustain the imposed gravity loads, but not a strong earthquake.

To Mecca on Pilgrimage on Foot and Camel-back: The JordanianDarb al-Hajj

Literary, archaeological and cartographic data were collated to reconstruct the Darb al-Hajj al-Shami, stretching from Damascus to Mecca and bisecting Jordan longitudinally (7th-15th centuries). This was succeeded by the Ottoman route (16th-early 20th centuries), probably planned by Sinan, the famous architect of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and ultimately by the Hijaz Railway. Examination of the relationship between these three routes and landscape elements (altitude, slope, relief, orientation, distance to hydrographic network, springs), while taking into account visibility, security, climate, and obstacles of the terrain, enabled us to define environmental parameters, which were integrated into GIS analyses. These proved how the Umayyad to Mamluk route adapted to the changing terrain, whilst the Ottoman route was an artificial creation that moulded the environment according to a global project of civil engineering.

City of Farmers and Merchants: Beisan in the Palestine Mandate Period (1918–1948)

This article discusses the rise of Palestinian Beisan during the late Ottoman period and the British Mandate (1918–1948). The study shows that the city grew due to two main factors: the first was the reform and change in the ownership of land and the second was the construction of the Hejaz railway and its connection to Haifa in 1905. Beisan attracted migrants from many regions and became a flourishing Arab centre of the Jordan valley region. This situation continued until the 1948 War, the Arab city was destroyed to its foundations and in its place was founded the Israeli Jewish city of Beit Shean.

The Exalted Column, the Hejaz Railway and imperial legitimation in late Ottoman Haifa

ABSTRACT:This article examines the political and social tensions of late Ottoman Haifa through the history of the Hejaz Railway and a particular monument, the ‘Exalted Column’ (Sütūn-u ʿĀlī), a monument erected in 1903 to commemorate the beginning of Ottoman construction on the Haifa railway branch. By first establishing the use of railways and railway architecture as a means of exerting state power in a comparative and local perspective, the railway structures in Haifa are analysed in the context of that city's other monumental buildings. This then leads to a discussion of theSütūn-u ʿĀlīas a celebration of Ottoman authority and modernity, and of the developing Ottoman–German alliance. The symbolism of the column's iconography is shown to reflect a variety of problems that the Ottoman state faced in Haifa at the turn of the twentieth century.

Supporting the Caliph's Project: Bosnian Muslims and the Hejaz Railway

This article will analyse Bosnian Muslims response and contribution to the construction of the Hejaz Railway. Based on primary sources during the 1900–1908 period, the article will argue that Bosnian Muslims actively followed news about the progress of the railway and financially contributed to its construction. Bosnian Muslim contribution took the form of establishing committees for the collection of voluntary donations in a number of Bosnian towns in 1905 and 1906. The active involvement of Bosnian Muslims in the construction of the Hejaz Railway shows that the spiritual bonds between Bosnian Muslims living in Austria-Hungary and their Caliph in Istanbul were not completely severed by the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia in 1878. Following a brief survey of Bosnian Muslim history within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the article describes the Hejaz Railway project and surveys the Bosnian Muslim contribution to the project.

The Mobile Matrix: The Hijaz Railway as Ritual Space and Generator of Space

Abstract Despite a revolution two months earlier, the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II (r.1876–1909) still sat on the throne upon the inauguration of the Hijaz Railway in September 1908. Dismissed as military strategy or as propaganda, the railway nevertheless signified more to many Muslims. This article examines the Hijaz Railway from an uncommon perspective, beginning with a component of the train largely neglected by scholars, the cami-vagonu or ‘mosque wagon’. A mobile space recapitulating historic loci of Ottoman Islamic ritual, it contributed to the production of an imperial discourse of legitimacy and authority. Within this wagon, the designers reproduced architectural forms and calligraphic motifs to incorporate the railway in a larger representational space. They also deployed modern maps to orient the mosque wagon and represent the railway, linking the calligraphic and the cartographic in a distinctly Ottoman visual-cultural language. These factors would inform the conception and reception of the sultan’s project in local and trans-imperial networks of patronage. The planners of the railway enhanced the functions of this network by sacralizing modern technological resources. In documenting architectural, aesthetic and ritual aspects of the mosque wagon, this study presents a more nuanced picture of the Hijaz Railway and its infrastructure in both the Hamidian and the Second Constitutional periods and explains how it was a ‘pious’ as well as a ‘pragmatic’ project.

The Funding of Hejaz Railway Project in the Turkish Press (1900-1908)

The Funding of Hejaz Railway Project in the Turkish Press (1900-1908)