Sharifate of Mecca
The Sharifate of Mecca (Arabic: شرافة مكة, romanized: Sharāfat Makka) or Emirate of Mecca was a state, non-sovereign for much of its existence, ruled by the Sharifs of Mecca. A sharif is a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali, Muhammad's grandson. In Western sources, the prince of Mecca was known as Grand Sherif, but Arabs have always used the appellation "Emir".
Sharifate of Mecca شرافة مكة | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 967–1916 | |||||||||
Flag | |||||||||
1695 map of the Sharifate of Mecca | |||||||||
| Status | under Abbasid Caliphate (967-969) Fatimid Caliphate (969-1171) Zengid Sultanate (1171-1174) Ayyubid Sultanate (1174-1254) Abbasid Caliphate (Mamluk Sultanate) (1254-1517) Ottoman Caliphate (1517-1783) Emirate of Diriyah (1783-1818) Ottoman Caliphate (1818-1916) | ||||||||
| Capital | Mecca | ||||||||
| Official languages | Arabic | ||||||||
| Religion | Zaydi Islam Sunni Islam (later) | ||||||||
| Sharif | |||||||||
• 967–980 | Ja'far ibn Muhammad | ||||||||
• 1916–1916 | Hussein bin Ali | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Saudi Arabia | ||||||||
The Sharifate existed from about 967 to 1916, when it became the Kingdom of Hejaz. From 1201, the descendants of the Sharifian patriarch Qatada ruled over Mecca, Medina and the Hejaz in unbroken succession until 1925. Originally a Zaydi Shi'ite emirate, the Hasanid Sharifs converted to the Shafi'i rite of Sunni Islam in the late Mamluk or early Ottoman period. Their Husaynid kin who traditionally ruled over Medina professed Twelver Shi'ism. Both the Hasanid sharifs in Mecca and Husaynid sharifs in Medina converted to Sunnism in the Mamluk period, however, Mamluk and Ottoman sources hint towards continued Shia sympathies from among the ruling Hasanids and Husaynids after their conversion to Sunnism.