Under These Circumstances, The Principal
Inducement With The Mekkawys To Remain In The Town, Namely, Their
Unceasing Gains, No Longer Existed.
The rich waited for a renewal of the
Hadj caravans; but many of the poor, unable longer to find subsistence,
retired from Mekka, and settled at Djidda, or other harbours on the Red
Sea; whither they have been followed by many of the more respectable
traders.
Trade is carried on by means of brokers, many of whom are Indians: in
general, the community of Indians is the wealthiest in
[p.191] Mekka. They are in direct intercourse with all the harbours of
Hindostan, and can often afford to undersell their competitors.
Many of them, as has been already observed, are stationary here, while
others are constantly travelling backward and forward between India and
the Hedjaz. They all retain their native language, which they teach
their children, and also many merchants of Mekka superficially, so that
most of the latter understand, at least, the Hindostanee numerals, and
the most ordinary phrases employed in buying and selling. The Indians
labour under great difficulties in learning Arabic; I never heard any of
them, however long resident in the Hedjaz, speak it with a tolerable
accent: in this respect they are inferior to the Turks, whose
pronunciation of Arabic so often affords subject of ridicule to the
Arabian mob. The children of Indians, born at Mekka, of course speak
Arabic as their native language. The Indians have the custom of writing
Arabic with Hindostanee characters.
They are said to be extremely parsimonious; and, from what I saw of them
in the houses of some of their first merchants, they seem to deserve the
character. They are shrewd traders, and an overmatch, sometimes, even
for the Arabians. They are despicable, from their want of charity; but
they display among themselves a spirited manner, which makes them
respected, and even sometimes dreaded, at Mekka. Many of them have
partners in India; consequently they receive their goods cheaper than
they can be bought from the Indian ships at Djidda: hence the inferior
dealers and shopkeepers at Mekka often find it more convenient to
purchase from them at short credit, than to go to Djidda, where every
thing must be paid for in ready money. With the exception of one or two
houses, no Arabian merchants of Mekka receive their goods direct from
India, but purchase them from the India fleet. Of all the people at
Mekka none are more strict in the performance of their religious rites
than the Indians.
Dealers, when bargaining in the presence of others from whom they wish
to conceal their business, join their right hands under the corner of
the gown or sleeve of one of the parties; by touching the different
joints of the fingers they note the numerals, and thus silently conclude
their bargain.
[p.192] The Mekkawys who do not ostensibly follow commerce, are attached
to the government, or to the establishment of the mosque; but as I have
already said, they all engage, more or less, in some branch of traffic,
and the whole population looks forward to the period of the Hadj as the
source of their income.
The persons attached to the mosque have regular salaries, partake in the
general presents made to it, expect many private donations from
charitable devotees, and share in the stipends which are brought by the
Syrian and Egyptian caravans. These stipends, called Surra, (of which I
have already given an account,) derive their origin principally from the
Sultans of Constantinople, who, upon their accession to the throne,
generally fix a certain yearly sum for the maintenance of the poor, and
the worthiest individuals of Mekka and Medina. They are distributed in
both towns by the Kadhy, as he thinks proper; but if a person has been
once presented with a stipend, he enjoys it for life, and it descends to
his children. He receives a ticket signed by the Kadhy, the Sherif, and
the Surra-writer, and his name is entered in a register at Mekka, of
which a duplicate is sent annually by the returning Hadj to
Constantinople, where the name is enrolled in the general Surra-book.
The Surra is made up at Constantinople in a great number of small
packets, each containing the stipulated sum, and indorsed with the name
of the individual to whom it is destined. If any fresh sum is sent to be
distributed, the Kadhy divides it, informs the inspector of the Surra at
Constantinople to whom the money has been given, and in the following
year the additional packages, addressed to the new pensioners, are added
to the former number. Some of the Surras are brought from Egypt, but the
far greater part from Constantinople, by way of Syria: this part is very
regularly received. Each caravan has its own Surra-writer, whose duty
also it is to distribute all the other money or tribute which the
caravan pays to Bedouins and Arabs, on its road to Mekka.
The Surra for Mekka is distributed in the mosque, under the windows of
the Kadhy's house, after the departure of the Hadj. There are persons
who receive so small a sum as one piastre; the greater number from ten
to twenty piastres; but there are a few
[p.193] families who receive as much as two thousand piastres annually.
Although not always given to the most worthy, many poor families derive
support from this allowance. The tickets are transferable; the Kadhy and
the Sherif must sign the transfer; and the new name, a small compliment
being given to the Kadhy's scribe, is registered and sent to
Constantinople. In former times a Mekkawy could scarcely be induced to
sell his Surra, which he considered an honour as well as the most
certain provision for his family. The value, however, of the Surra has
much changed. During the time of the Wahabys the tickets had almost
entirely lost their value, as for eight years their holders had received
no pay.
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