Page 175 - Arabian Studies (I)

The Pilgrimage to Mecca in Mamliik Times 159

Ma/imil, spent at the same place.73 Such an incident may indicate
that the Amir al-Awwal enjoyed his authority in spite of the
presence of the Egyptian Amir al-ITajj, though, whether it was he or
the Amir al-Hajj who had supreme executive power over the pilgrims
of the advance caravan during their stay at the Holy Cities, remains
uncertain.

Other Functionaries of the Egyptian and Syrian Caravans. The early
designation of the Amir al-Hajj of the Egyptian and Syrian caravans
and of the Amir al-Awwal, which, for convenience, took place
several months previous to the departure of the pilgrimages from
Cairo and Damascus, was chiefly intended to allow him sufficient
time to recruit his officials for the service of the caravan, and to
arrange the purchase and transport of his own equipment and that
needed for the caravan. As the amirs of all classes already had their
own personal attendants, the Mamliik leaders of the Egyptian and
Syrian pilgrimages recruited some of the staff required for the
caravan from amongst their own Mamluk followers, while the rest
were chosen from among the natives of Cairo and Damascus. In the
account which we shall give here of the officials of the pilgrim
caravan, we shall first enumerate those functionaries who are clearly
indicated as officials in the Egyptian and Syrian caravans during
Mamluk times. Since our sources often merely state the title of an
official, without giving details of his duties in the caravan, we shall,
on occasion, be forced to make conjectures only, regarding the
functions of certain of these officials.74 We shall go on to give a brief
account of other functionaries mentioned by an official, al-JazIrl, in
the Egyptian pilgrimage in the middle of the tenth/sixteenth century
as being the Egyptian caravan’s officials in his own time.
Under the first heading come the following functionaries:
(i) Qd(Ti al-Rakb. This official, also called Qddl_ al-Mahmil, was
nominated by the Amir al-Hajj from among the Qadis of any of the
four Orthodox schools, and invested by the chief judge or Qafi
al-Oudat15 of his school. Upon his nomination he received a special
decree from the Chancery (Diwan al-Insha')16 which contained his
official appointment and the duties entailed by his office. According
to the contents of one of these decrees,77 the duties of the Qadi
al-Rakb were to direct the pilgrims on questions concerning the
Thram or donning of the pilgrimage garments and the various
religious obligations of the muhrim pilgrim while within the sacred
limits of the two Holy Cities, and to decide on the prescribed
expiation incumbent upon any pilgrim who might violate any of the
acts prohibited to the muhrim. He had also to give his decision