Bibliograph

The British Empire and the Hajj, 1865-1956, John Slight

Type

Label

The British Empire and the Hajj, 1865-1956, John Slight

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Illustrations

mapsillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The British Empire and the Hajj, 1865-1956

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

906121676

Responsibility statement

John Slight

Summary

The British Empire at its height governed more than half the world's Muslims. It was a political imperative for the Empire to present itself to Muslims as a friend and protector, to take seriously what one scholar called its role as "the greatest Mohamedan power in the world." Few tasks were more important than engagement with the pilgrimage to Mecca. Every year, tens of thousands of Muslims set out for Mecca from imperial territories throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, from the Atlantic Ocean to the South China Sea. Men and women representing all economic classes and scores of ethnic and linguistic groups made extraordinary journeys across waterways, deserts, and savannahs, creating huge challenges for officials charged with the administration of these pilgrims. They had to balance the religious obligation to travel against the desire to control the pilgrims' movements, and they became responsible for the care of those who ran out of money. John Slight traces the Empire's complex interactions with the Hajj from the 1860s, when an outbreak of cholera led Britain to engage reluctantly in medical regulation of pilgrims, to the Suez Crisis of 1956. The story draws on a varied cast of characters<U+0127> Richard Burton, Thomas Cook, the Begums of Bhopal, Lawrence of Arabia, and frontline imperial officials, many of them Muslim<U+0127> and gives voice throughout to the pilgrims themselves.--, Provided by publisher

Table Of Contents

Contexts -- Pilgrimage in the mid-Victorian era, c. 1865-1900 -- Pilgrimage in the Edwardian era, 1901-1914 -- The First World War and the Hashemite interregnum, 1914-1924 -- Britain and the Hajj under Saudi control, 1924-1939 -- Hajj from the far ends of Britain's Muslim empire, 1924-1939 -- Epilogue: Hajj in the time of war and decolonization, 1939-1956

Classification

Creator