Sharifian Caliphate
The Sharifian Caliphate (Arabic: ٱلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلشَّرِيفِيَّة, lit. 'ʾal-H̱ilāfaẗu ʾal-Ššarīfiyya') was a caliphate proclaimed by the Sharifian leaders of the Hejaz in 1924, replacing the Ottoman Caliphate, which was abolished by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Even though the Banu Hashim held the caliphate at various points in history, Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, was the first and last caliph of this lineage.
Sharifian Caliphate | |||||||||
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| 1924–1931 | |||||||||
Coat of arms
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Map with the kingdom in green and the current region in red. | |||||||||
| Status | Caliphate | ||||||||
| Capital | Mecca (de facto) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic | ||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
| Government | Caliphate | ||||||||
| Sharifian Caliph | |||||||||
• 1924 | Hussein bin Ali | ||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
• Foundation | 3 March 1924 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 19 December 1931 | ||||||||
| Currency | Hejaz riyal | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Saudi Arabia | ||||||||
In the Arab world, it represented the culmination of a long struggle to reclaim the caliphate from Ottoman hands. The first Arab revolts challenging the validity of the Ottoman caliphate and demanding that an Arab Sayyid be chosen as caliph can be traced back to 1883 when Sheikh Hamat-al-Din seized Sanaa and called for the caliphate as a Sayyid.
However, it was not until the end of the Ottoman caliphate, abolished by the Kemalists, that Hussein bin Ali was proclaimed caliph in March 1924. His stance towards the Ottoman caliphate was ambiguous, and while he was hostile to it, he preferred to wait for its official abolition before assuming the title, so as not to break the Ummah by creating a second caliph alongside the Ottoman caliph. He also supported financially the late Ottoman dynasty in exile, to avoid them being ruined.
His caliphate was opposed by the British Empire, Zionists, and Wahhabis, but he received support from a large part of the Muslim population at the time, as well as from Mehmed VI. Although he lost the Hejaz and was exiled, then imprisoned by the British on Cyprus, Hussein continued to use the title until his death in 1931.