Page 167 - Arabian Studies (I)

■ *

The Pilgrimage to Mecca in Mamliik Times 151
22 dirhams. The extraordinary generosity of the king exhausted all
the money he had carried with him, until he was finally reduced to
borrowing at an excessive rate of interest from merchants in Cairo on
his return.
Due to the significance of Cairo and Damascus not only as
departure-points for the Egyptian and Syrian pilgrimages, but also as
the centres where pilgrim caravans from the larger part of the Muslim I
world collected before making the final stage of their journey to
Mecca, and because of the increasing political and economic
importance attaching to the pilgrim caravans from these cities, the
Mamluks paid special attention to the caravans’ organisation and
maintenance. Numerous officials were appointed; the emblem of the
caravan — the Mahmil — took on a special role; and vast sums of
money were spent on equipment and provisions.

2. Officials of the Egyptian and Syrian Pilgrim Caravans
The Amir al Hajj. The first person to hold the office of the leader of
the pilgrims, Amir al-Hajj, was Abu Bakr, who was appointed by the
Prophet in the ninth year of the hijrah, 631 A.D., to conduct the
pilgrim caravan from Medina and to preside over the ceremonies of
the pilgrimage. The same office was occupied in the days of the
Orthodox Caliphate by the Caliph himself, who led the pilgrims from
Medina and supervised the pilgrimage ceremonies. From that time it
became an established rule among the Muslim sovereigns to appoint,
at each pilgrim caravan centre, an official who assumed the title of
Amir al-Hajj and whose duty it was to conduct the pilgrims from
their respective countries to and from the Holy Cities. In carrying
out this tradition, the Umayyad and ‘Abbasid Caliphs had either
themselves accompanied the pilgrims or else appointed an official,
usually a member of the royal family, to lead the pilgrims and, as the
personal representative of the Caliph, to preside over the ceremonies
of the pilgrimage.
When the Mamluks usurped the sultanate of Egypt and Syria, and
consequently found themselves in charge of the Egyptian and Syrian
pilgrimages, they preserved the same tradition. The sultan annually
appointed officials at Cairo and Damascus to conduct the Egyptian
and Syrian pilgrimages to and from the Holy Cities. These officials
were usually referred to, during this time, as Amir al-Hdjj, Amir al
Rakb or Amir al Mahmil. 3 5
Al-MawardT, writing in the first half of the 5th/11th century,
distinguishes between two types of leadership over the pilgrimage,
and enumerates the basic qualifications and functions of each.3 6