and seized the Kaaba’s black stone. Mecca’s dis-
tance from the centers of political power provided
the Sharifs, a local aristocracy claiming descent
from the ahl al-bayt through Muhammad’s grand-
son Hasan (d. 669), with opportunities to main-
tain order and exercise power in the Hijaz region
in varying degrees from the 10th century until
the fall of the last sharif of Mecca to Saudi forces
in 1924. His heirs were subsequently made the
Hashemite kings of Transjordan (now Jordan) and
Iraq by the British. Meanwhile, the Fatimid and
Ayyubid dynasties exercised what amounted to
indirect control over Mecca between the 10th and
13th centuries, followed by the Mamluks (13th to
16th centuries), and the Ottomans (16th to 20th
centuries). The largesse of these rulers, together
with religious endowments (waqfs) established
by pious individuals, were what provided the city
with the infrastructure, financial resources, and
even food supplies needed to serve its inhabitants
and pilgrims through the centuries.
The creation of the Kingdom of saUdi arabia
in 1932 has inaugurated an era of epic change for
Mecca. The Wahhabi outlook of the country has
led to the eradication of many of its shrines and
Sufi landmarks. The government, however, has
been very careful to protect and improve the sites
of the required hajj rituals to keep up with the
growing numbers of pilgrims and win the good
will of Muslims around the world. Within two
years after taking control of the city in 1924, King
abd al-aziz ibn saUd (1880–1953) upgraded the
electrical system of the Sacred Mosque, widened
adjacent roads for the passage of automobiles,
and built the city’s first paved road. The Saudis
conducted two major hajj building projects in
1955–78 and 1980–95. The latter construction
phase is estimated to have cost $155 million,
financed by the government from its oil revenues.
The expansion and upgrading of the Sacred
Mosque and adjacent neighborhoods has, how-
ever, led to the loss of much of the city’s venerable
architectural heritage, to the chagrin of archi-
tectural historians and cultural preservationists.
Commercial development of the precincts around
the Sacred Mosque has resulted in the erection
of luxury hotels, shopping malls, and high-rent
residential complexes. As an indication of the
importance Mecca has to the Saudi government,
the governor of Mecca Province, which includes
both Mecca and Jedda, is always a member of the
royal family.
Because of Mecca’s geography and climate, its
population has been small for most of its history.
An Ottoman census of its inhabitants in the early
16th century counted only 12,000, excluding
merchants and soldiers. However, a recent census
demonstrates how much the city has grown thanks
to modern technologies, mechanized transport,
and economic development. In 2004 it had an
estimated population of 1.7 million. Likewise,
the influx of pilgrims has grown at an astounding
rate since the beginning of the 20th century. An
estimated 83,000 pilgrims participated in the hajj
of 1807; by the beginning of the 21st century over
two million were thought to be performing the hajj
annually. At other times of the year the umra now
brings an additional 1.5 to 2 million pilgrims.
Even with all of the aspects of modernity that
have become embedded in Mecca’s sacred land-
scape, it continues to serve as a vital religious sym-
bol in the everyday lives of Muslims everywhere.
When they pray they face toward it, when they
read the Quran they are reminded which of its
chapters were revealed there, when they study the
hadith they are studying the words of people who
are believed to have been born there. The imagery
of Mecca has been captured in poetry and art, and,
more recently, on television and the Internet.
See also: adam and eve; arabian religions,
pre-islamic; companions oF the prophet; emi-
grants; goddess; hashimite dynasty; sUFism.Further reading: Hamza Bogary, The Sheltered Quarter:
A Tale of a Boyhood in Mecca. Translated by Olive Kenny
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991); Richard F. Bur-
ton, A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to al-Madinah
and Meccah. 2 vols. (1855. Reprint, New York: Dover,K 468 Mecca