Family tree of the early sharifian dynasties of Mecca.
Sulaymanids
Hashimids
Ja'farids
Bani Qatada
The Sharif of Mecca (Arabic: شريف مكة, romanized: Sharīf Makkah) or Hejaz (Arabic: شريف الحجاز, romanized: Sharīf al-Ḥijāz) was the title of the leader of the Sharifate of Mecca, traditional steward of the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the surrounding Hejaz. The term sharif is Arabic for "noble", "highborn", and is used to describe the descendants of Hashim Ibn Abd-Manaf.
The Sharif was charged with protecting the cities and their environs and ensuring the safety of pilgrims performing the Hajj. The title is sometimes spelled Sheriff or Sherif, with the latter variant used, for example, by T. E. Lawrence in Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
The office of the Sharif of Mecca dates back to the late Abbasid era. Until 1200, the Sharifate was held by a member of the Hashim clan,[1] not to be confused with the larger clan of Banu Hashim from which all Sharifs claim descent. Descendants of the Banu Hashim continued to hold the position until the 20th century on behalf of various Muslim powers including the Ayyubids and the Mamluks. In 1517, the Sharif acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph, but maintained a great degree of local autonomy. During the Ottoman era, the Sharifate expanded its authority northwards to include Medina, hitherto a sharifate of its own, and southwards to the frontiers of 'Asir, and regularly raided Nejd.
The Sharifate came to an end shortly after the reign of Hussein bin Ali, who ruled from 1908, who rebelled against the Ottoman rule during the Arab Revolt of 1916. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and its subsequent dissolution in 1923, Hussein formed the independent Kingdom of Hejaz and then declared himself Caliph. The British granted control over the newly formed states of Iraq and Transjordan to his sons Faisal and Abdullah. In 1924, however, in the face of increasing attacks by Ibn Saud, Hussein abdicated his political titles to his eldest son, Ali bin Hussein, who was to become the last Grand Sharif. At the end of 1925, Ibn Saud conquered the Hejaz and expelled the Hashemites. The House of Saud has ruled Mecca and Medina and overseen the Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca) since that time.[2]
^"الأشراف الهواشم الأمراء - أشراف الحجاز". www.al-amir.info (in Arabic). Retrieved 17 March 2017.
The SharifofMecca (Arabic: شريف مكة, romanized: Sharīf Makkah) or Hejaz (Arabic: شريف الحجاز, romanized: Sharīf al-Ḥijāz) was the title of the leader...
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in a campaign outside ofMecca so she was raised by her grandfather Sharif Hussein. When the Arab Revolt started in 1916, Sharif Hussein ordered his grandchildren...
Hussein bin Ali (SharifofMecca), the leader of the 1916 Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Hussein claimed to be an agnatic descendant of Muhammad's...
the Sharifate ofMecca, which arose at about the same time, the sharifsof Medina were usually obliged to vassalage to the rulers of Egypt, as the two...
second daughter of 'Ali bin Hussein, King of the Hejaz and Grand SharifofMecca. Faisal's father was killed in a mysterious car crash when he was three...
direct descendant of Muhammad. Born in Mecca, Hejaz, Ottoman Empire, Abdullah was the second of four sons of Hussein bin Ali, SharifofMecca, and his first...
Mecca (/ˈmɛkə/; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah) is the capital ofMecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia...
Faisal was born in Mecca, Ottoman Empire (in present-day Saudi Arabia), in 1885, the third son of Hussein bin Ali, the Grand SharifofMecca. He grew up in...
died out. Prince Zaid was the fourth son of Hussein bin Ali, who was the Sharif and Emir ofMecca, and only son of Hussein and his Ottoman-Turkish third...
his grandfather, Hussein bin Ali, the Hashemite Grand SharifofMecca and head of the royal house of Hashim, who called Ghazi "Awn" after his great-grandfather...
control most of the peninsula. However, Arabia had its own rulers: a group of tribal chiefs in Najd and its surrounding area, and the SharifofMecca ruled the...
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the SharifsofMecca launched forays into the desert to punish the Najdi tribes who mounted raids on oases and tribes in the Hejaz. The emergence of what...
spouse of Hussein bin Ali, SharifofMecca, King of Hejaz between 1916 and 1924. Adila Khanum was born in Constantinople 1879. She was a daughter of Salah...
family has had conflicts with the Ottoman Empire, the SharifofMecca, the Al Rashid family of Ha'il and their vassal houses in Najd along with numerous...
Hussein bin Ali, the SharifofMecca, was the first and last caliph of this lineage. In the Arab world, it represented the culmination of a long struggle to...
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