30 Chapter One
Second, following the withdrawal of Egyptian troops from Syria the Ottomans
struggled for years to restore order to the region, and to raise taxes from the
local population adequate to fund a functioning hajj caravan. As attacks on pil-
grims persisted, and word spread about dangers pilgrims faced along the route,
many Muslims sought alternate routes to Mecca. In December 1840 the hajj car-
avan did not leave Damascus as scheduled because the Ottomans were unable to
secure the desert route. This left thousands of pilgrims stranded in Damascus,
faced with the choice of either making the long journey back home or waiting in
the city for a year until the next year’s hajj season.^39
Historians have written about the devastating effects of the hajj caravan’s
decline on Damascus, whose economy had been based for centuries on the pil-
grim traffic.^40 Another consequence, however, was that opportunities opened
up for Russia and other European powers to increase their involvement in the
hajj through their new consulates in Syria. Opportunities were especially rich
for Russia and France, which were connected to Syria and the Damascus cara-
van through their Muslim populations from the Caucasus and Algeria. In the
18 40s both began to organize support for their subjects making the hajj along
the Syrian route through their consulates, and to intervene in Ottoman organi-
zation of the Damascus caravan.^41
As the leading Russian diplomat in Syria, Bazili became involved in the hajj in
Damascus in December 1840. He knew that many Russian subjects were among
the thousands of pilgrims stranded in the city, along with a number of “distin-
guished” Persian pilgrims who carried documents from the Russian consulate in
Tabriz that entitled them to Russian diplomatic protection. When the head of the
Persian contingent wrote to the Beirut consulate from Damascus to ask for help,
Bazili contacted the newly arrived Ottoman governor in Damascus, Nejib Pasha,
asking him to protect these pilgrims, and warning him that among them were
notables whose safety was important to the Persian government. At the same time,
Bazili wrote back to the Persian leader, inviting him to file any “grievance” he
might have with the consulate through an agent Bazili had sent to Damascus who
was “authorized” to approach the Ottoman governor on their behalf.^42 Meanwhile,
Bazili got to work to reroute Russian and Persian subjects in Damascus through
Cairo, asking local Ottoman officials to guarantee their “safe passage” from
Damascus to Beirut, and writing to the caravan commander in Damascus directly,
asking him to announce the new plan to these pilgrims under his authority.
On their own initiative, some Muslims began to reach out to Bazili from
Damascus, sending petitions to ask for his help getting to Mecca. These peti-
tions reveal some of the dangers faced by hajj pilgrims taking the Syrian route