Page 176 - Arabian Studies (I)

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160 Arabian Studies I
concerning the exact day on which the lunar months began, since
such a decision is essential in calculating the day for the standing at
‘Arafat.
Among the functions of the QddT al-Rakb not stated in the decree
was the supervision of all contracts concluded between the Amir
al-Hdjj and the pilgrims on the one hand and the brokers and camel
masters on the other.78 For this reason the bureau of the QddT
al-Rakb included two officials known as Shuhud al-Mahmil or
notaries of the Mahmil.19 These two officials, who were appointed
by the QdclT al-Rakb, were to witness such contracts concluded under
the supervision of the OddT and to keep them in special registers.80
(ii) The Imam and Mu'adhdhin. Besides the QdclT and his two
notaries two other religious officials were appointed in the Egyptian
and Syrian caravans, namely, the leader of prayer (Imam) and the
announcer of the hour of prayer (mu'adhdhin).*1 These two officials
carried out their religious functions along the route and at ‘Arafat,
Muzdalifah and Mina. During their halt at Mecca and Medina the
pilgrims performed their prayers at the great mosques of the two
cities, where they were conducted by the local Imams and
nut'adhdhins.
(iii) Al-Nazir. The high death rate among the pilgrims, both along the
route and at the Holy Cities, demanded the appointment of an
official known as Nazir al-Mawanth al-Hashnyah or lntendant of
Intestate Estates. The only clear reference to this official is made by
Jazlrl, who mentions one Al-BadrT Hasan al-Sunbatl by this title in
the Egyptian caravan of 896/1491.8 2 Other references are made by
contemporary Mamluk writers to an official bearing the title of
Al-Nazir,8 3 which could either have indicated this Nazir or the Nazir
al-Sabil mentioned below. This official, who was a financial
administrator, seems to have controlled the properties of pilgrims
who died on the pilgrimage in the event of the absence or
I non-existence of heirs and, perhaps, kept a register of all those who
died along the route and in the Holy Cities. 8 4
The remarkably high rate of mortality among the pilgrims was due
in the first place to natural disasters such as floods, excessive heat or
cold, thirst and plague, and in the second to factors such as attack by
the Bedouin, the old age of many pilgrims and exhaustion. For
instance, in 790/1388, 107 of the Egyptian pilgrims were killed when
the caravan was overtaken by a great flood while it was camping at a
station along the route east of Suez.8S In 763/1361 owing to a
severe winter cold, 100 pilgrims of the Damascus caravan perished in
the Syrian Desert,86 while in 833/1430, 3000 pilgrims of the
Egyptian caravan died in the Hijaz as a result of excessive heat and

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