A Pilgrimage to Mecca

3 ideas

1. Bhopal's ruler audits the Hejaz, 1863–64

   Sikandar Begum, ruling Begum of Bhopal, made the Hajj in 1863–64 with a large retinue that included her mother. Instead of a devotional travelogue she wrote a report of customs duties levied on her party's goods at Jeddah, unsanitary streets and lodgings in Mecca, disputes with camel-men over hire, and gift-seeking by the Sharif's and Ottoman officials. When the overland route to Medina proved unsafe, she did not go on to the Prophet's city. The account is a documented case of a sitting head of state judging a sacred territory's government by the administrative standards of her own.

2. Separating the sacred site from its management

   She treats reverence for the holy places and criticism of the people who run them as fully separable, so piety does not require excusing filth, extortion or disorder. Criticism of the custodians becomes a way to protect the sanctity of the place rather than an attack on it. The lens lets a believer audit a religious institution without implying a loss of faith.

3. Her offer to run the holy cities

   She states that, given the funds the Sultan already spends on the Hejaz, she could administer the holy cities better herself. Her own experience of governing Bhopal gives her a basis for proposing a different administration rather than only reporting local conditions.

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