The Aga El Haram, Together With The Kadhy, Who Was Sent Hither Annually
From Constantinople, To Preside Over The Tribunal Of Justice, Became,
Under The Above Circumstances, Mere Ciphers.
The former was usually a
eunuch, who knew nothing of Arabic, and who received the appointment
rather in the way of exile, than as a preferment.
His income, which he
received from Constantinople, although handsome, did not enable him to
keep up any military guard sufficient to cope with his rival, the Aga of
the town; and he soon found himself only left in the charge of the
temple, and the command of the eunuchs and
[p.393] Ferrashyn. But the Aga of the town himself was not complete
master; several of the chiefs of the different quarters had great
authority; the Sherifs settled here had their own chief, called Sheikh-
es'-Sadat, a man of great power; and thus, much disorder prevailed. The
people of the town, and the gardeners and inhabitants of the suburbs,
were often contending for months together: in the interior of the town
itself bloody affrays often occurred between the inhabitants of the
different quarters, on which occasions they sometimes barricadoed the
streets, and kept up a firing upon each other from the tops of their
houses. Instances are related of people firing even into the mosque upon
their enemies, while engaged in prayer.
Within the last twenty years a man named Hassan had been appointed Aga
of the castle, which gave him the surname of Hassan el Kalay. Born among
the dregs of the people, his great skill and cunning, and determined
hardihood, had raised him to this office. He was a man of a very short
stature and a limping gait, but notwithstanding of great bodily
strength; and his voice, when he was in anger, is said to have terrified
even the boldest. After several years' hard struggle, this man succeeded
in becoming complete master and tyrant of the town: he kept a guard of
town's-people, of Bedouins, and Moggrebyns in his service, and had all
the rabble on his side. He was guilty of the most flagrant acts of
injustice; he oppressed the pilgrims, extorted money from them,
confiscated the property of all the hadjys and foreigners who died here,
withheld the surra brought from Constantinople by the Hadj, from the
people for whom it was destined, and amassed great wealth. Instances are
recorded of tyranny and brutality which cover his name with infamy. A
rich old widow, with her daughter, having arrived at Medina, from
Constantinople, to visit the tomb, he seized on her, and compelled her
to marry him; two days after, she was found dead, her property was
seized by him; and a short time after he forced the daughter to yield to
his embraces. Many complaints were made at Constantinople against this
man, but the Sultan had not power enough to dispossess him; and whenever
the caravan arrived from Syria, Hassan el Kalay showed
[p.394] so imposing an attitude, that its chiefs could attempt nothing
against him. He threw great obstacles in their way; and it is generally
ascribed to him, that the last caravan from Damascus, which attempted to
perform the journey after the Wahaby conquest, was obliged to return to
Syria.
When the Wahabys began to make inroads into the Hedjaz, and to direct
their forces against Medina, the conduct of Hassan became still more
violent. During the two or three years which preceded the capture of the
town, he set no bounds to his oppressions, and was often seen to inflict
the severest punishments upon persons who happened to be laughing among
themselves when he passed by, pretending that his limping gait was the
cause of their mirth. During the night shops were robbed by the Arabs in
his service, who patrolled the streets in large parties, and no justice
could be obtained against them. When he saw the impossibility of holding
the town longer against the Wahabys, after all the surrounding Bedouins,
and Mekka itself, had surrendered, he gave up the place to Saoud, on
condition that he should be continued in his command; this was promised,
and the promise was kept: a Wahaby garrison was then placed in the
castle; the Aga el Haram, with all the Turks residing in Medina, were
obliged to leave the town, where he had been for several years a mere
shadow; and Hassan el Kalay remained governor under the Wahabys. Being
now unable to act with the same injustice as he had before done, he
affected the greatest zeal for the new religion, and oppressed the
inhabitants, by enforcing upon them, with the most scrupulous severity,
the precepts of the Wababy creed. Saoud showed much less respect for
Medina than he had done for Mekka: the income of the latter town was
left, as it was, in the hands of the Sherif, and the inhabitants were
exempted from the zekat, or tribute, which the other Wahaby subjects
paid to the chief, who here abandoned his right in favour of Ghaleb. The
same conciliatory system was not observed at Medina: the inhabitants,
who had never before known what imposts were, except the payment of some
trifling land-tax, found themselves grievously oppressed; and Hassan el
Kalay, with the tax-gatherers of Saoud, enforced the taxes with the
utmost rigour.
[p.395] The Hadj caravans now ceased; few pilgrims arrived by way of
Yembo; Saoud, soon after, prohibited the passage to the town to all
Turkish pilgrims; and the surra or stipends were of course withheld.
Under these circumstances the Medinans felt most heavily the pressure of
the times, and became exasperated against the Wahabys. Some further
details on the subject will be found in my account of Mohammed Aly's
campaign.
When Mohammed Aly first prepared an expedition against the Hedjaz, a
strong garrison was placed in Medina, consisting principally of warlike
Bedouins from Nedjed and the southern provinces, under the command of
Medheyan, whom Saoud had named Sheikh of the tribe of Harb.
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