descendants of Hasan, the eldest son of 'Ali, through his two sons Zaid and Hasan el-Musanna; but the first historical notice which we possess of their terri- torial jurisdiction in the Hijâz, is given by Ibn Shub- nah, during the reign of the Ayyubite princes in Yemen, who records that in his time El-Medinah and Meccah were severally governed by two mem- bers of that family, each bearing the title of "Amir."1 Although exercising almost sovereign power within the limits assigned to them, the Sherîfs were avowedly subordinate to the successive Khalifs of the Omeyya and 'Abbaside dynasties, and subsequently to the Mamlûk Sultans of Egypt, whose prerogative it was to recognize their authority by investing them annu- ally with a robe of honour. This suzerainty, in his time, is casually adverted to by Varthema, who speaks of the lord of Juddah and the Sultan of Meccah as being "subject to the Grand Sultan of Cairo."
But a supremacy which, in effect, was barely nominal, seldom availed to maintain public order in the Hijâz, more especially whenever rival factions among the Sherîfs contended for the chief magistracy of Meccah. Such family feuds were of constant occurrence, and one was actually in progress at the time of our traveller's visit, and his incidental re- marks on the subject are so strikingly corroborated by native historical records, as to merit special illus- tration. The following passages, translated from the Kurrat el-Ayûn, an Arabic manuscript Chronicle of
1 See D'HERBELOT, sub voce Meccah.
xxxii INTRODUCTION.
Yemen, besides substantiating the statements of Var- thema, afford a general view of the political condi- tion of the Hijâz at the period referred to : —
"A.H. 906. In the month of Zul' Käadah of this year, corresponding with parts of May and June, A.D. 1500,] a battle took place between the Sherîf Haza'a bin Muhammed bin Barakât and his brother Barakât ibn Muhammed, the lord of the Hijâz, wherein the latter was overcome and put to flight, the Egyptian escort seizing all his property, and depriving him of everything. The cause was as follows: — When El-'Adil Tûman Bey, lord of Egypt, succeeded El- Ashraf Janblat, he expelled an amir of the latter named Kansooh el-Máhmady, known as El-Burj, who proceeded to Meccah ; but neither the Sherîf nor the Kaclhi, nor any of the nobles, took any notice of him, fearing the displeasure of Tûman Bey. On the death, of Tûman Bey, he was succeeded by El-Ashraf Kansooh el-Ghôrî, who forthwith sent a letter to El-Burj, appointing him Näib of Damascus. Thereupon the Sherîf went to pay his respects to him ; but he refused to receive him on account of his former conduct. Hazä'a being then at Meccah, Kansooh el-Burj instigated him to assume the government of Meccah, and to place his brother Barakât over it [as his subordinate.] To this end he directed him to go to Yembo, and sent word to the Amir of the Egyptian Hajj to meet him there, to make over to him the imperial firmans, and to invest him with the imperial robe. This was accordingly done; and Hazä'a put on the robe which had been brought for his brother Barakât, and dressed his brother El- Jâsâni in the clothes which he himself wore when he presided with his brother Barakât. He then pro- ceeded with the Egyptian caravan towards Meccah, accom- panied by about one hundred of the Sherîfs of the Benu- Ibrahim. On hearing this, Barakât went out as far as the Wâdi Markâ to meet them, when a battle ensued wherein
INTRODUCTION. xxxiii
Hazä'a was routed several times, about thirty of his followers were killed, and some parts of the caravan plundered. The Egyptian escort then charged with Hazä'a, whereupon Bara- kât fled, leaving his son Abu'l-Kasam and several of his soldiers dead on the field. After this, the Egyptians entered the house of Barakât, seized all he had, his women included, whom they also plundered. Barakât took refuge in Juddah, and Hazä'a entered Meccah with the Egyptian escort ; but the city became much disturbed, outrages and fear increased on the roads, and the pilgrims who had come by sea returned home ; consequently the Hajj was very small, and the Sherîf Barakât did not perform it. When the Hajj was over, Hazä'a reflected that the cause of all this mischief was owimr to his contention with his brother Barakât ; and fearing lest he might be attacked by him in Meccah, he accompanied the Damascus caravan to Yembo, whither Barakât pursued him ; but the escort protected Hazä'a against him. So Barakât returned to Meccah, and peace and security were reesta- blished among the people and on the roads.
"But the year following [A.D. 1501] Hazä'a and Barakât again encountered each other in a place called Taraf el- Burka, when the latter was overcome, and his brother Abu- Da'anaj, with seven of the Sherîfs of the Benu-Nima, toge- ther with fourteen of the Turks on his side, were killed. On this occasion Hazä'a had with him three thousand two hundred horsemen, and Barakât only five hundred. The latter fled till he reached Salkhat el-Ghorab, and Hazä'a went to Juddah, where he proclaimed an amnesty to the inhabitants, and appointed Muhammed ibn Rajah ibn Sam- balali his deputy, and one of his slaves governor in Juddah, and sent his brother, El-Jâsâni, to Meccah, to settle matters in that quarter, whither he subsequently followed him with a military force. Some time after, a robe of investiture and a firman were sent to him from Egypt, and he took up his residence in Meccah.
d
xxxiv INTRODUCTION.
"On the fifteenth of the month of Rajab, [25th December 1501,] Hazä'a ibn Muhammed ibn Barak at was removed to the mercy of God, and his brother El-Jâsâni succeeded him, through the influence of the Kâdhi Abu es-Sa'ûd ibn Ibra- hîm ibn Dhuheirah.
"A.H. 908. In the month of Sha'aban of this year [cor- responding with January A.D. 1502] there was a fierce battle between the Sherîf el-Jâsâni and his brother Barakât at Munhenna, to the eastward of Meccah, in which the Sherîf Barakât was thoroughly routed, and all the principal men of his armies killed, he himself escaping with only a few adhe- rents.
" In the month of Rajab of the same year [December A.D. 1502] the Sherîf El-Jâsâni ibn Muhammed ibn Barakât was killed near the gate of the Kaabah by a band of Turks, on account of some outrages which he had committed, and they set up in his place his brother Humeidhah. Towards the end of that same year [between March and May 1503] the Sherîf Barakât fled from Egypt [by which it would appear that he had been taken there as a prisoner] with the connivance of the Amir ed-Duweidâr,1 and brought with him a large army, which he collected from among the Beni Lam, the Ahl esh-Shark, and the Findiyîn, and he pre- vented the people from performing the Wakûf,2 until the Amir of the Hajj gave him four thousand ashrafi to clear the road between them and the [place of the] Wakûf; where- upon he was able to accompany the people to Arafât and Muzdelifah and Mina f but in the meantime the followers
1 This was the first dignitary of the state, after the sovereign, during the regency of the Mamlûks. The office corresponded with that of the Grand Wazir among the Turks, and the court of the Amir ed-Duweidâr was almost equal to that of the Sultan.
2 One of the ceremonies connected with the Pilgrimage, which is performed at Arafât. Sec p. 43.
3 See note 1 on p. 45.
INTRODUCTION. xxxv
of Barakât plundered a caravan from Juddah,near the gates of Meccah."
The facts thus recorded are corroborated by the author of the Ruah er-Ruah, another Arabic chronicle of a later date; but these extracts amply suffice to attest the truth of Varthema's incidental remarks respecting the feud which existed between the rival brothers Barakât, and the general insecurity of the country resulting therefrom. Moreover, a careful comparison of dates, as they may be gathered from our traveller's journal, with those given in the above quotations, renders it highly probable that the Arabs whom the caravan encountered between El-Medinah and Meccah, (see p. 35,) and those also
