Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎259v] (519/540)

46
the principal countries of origin peculiarly difficult problems of an administra
tive, sanitary and, in some cases, economic character. It is therefore worth
while to consider the volume and fluctuations of the pilgrimage from overseas,
bearing in mind that the figures include a small proportion of sea-borne pilgrims
from other parts of the Hejaz and the adjoining Arab countries, and that, while
the bulk of the pilgrims arriving by land come from the interior of Arabia, theyj^
include a small proportion of aliens, like those who make their way overland,
sometimes from very far afield, across the Peninsula. The sea-borne foreign
pilgrims are, nevertheless, by far the most important element from every point
of view. All figures are approximate, but those given in successive pilgrimage
reports may be taken as being fairly accurate. The total number of overseas
pilgrims in the last three years of the Hashimite regime were estimated at 56,319
in 1922; 75,221 in 1923; and 92,707 in 1924. In 1925 Ibn Sand already held
Mecca, but the Hashimites were still in possession of Jedda and there was war
between them. This reduced the pilgrimage to very small proportions. The
following table gives the estimated numbers for the five years after the
completion of Ibn Baud's conquest of the Holy Land. It shows the figures for
the principal countries of origin, those for the more important countries forming
part of the British Empire or directly administered by Great Britain being given
in detail. A certain number of miscellaneous British subjects are included under
the heading “ Other.”
Estimated Number of Overseas Pilgrims for the Five Years 1926 to 1930.
Nationality.
1926.
1927.
1928.
1929.
1930.
British and British administered.
Indian
18,937
26,496
13,954
15,146
11,061
Malayan
5,500( 2 )
29,601(2)
4,418
1,455
2,590
West African p)
# %
} 1,377 {
589
2,051
2,338
3.525
Sudanese
957
2.014
1,371
1,065
Palestinian ..
168
333
471
558
383
Dutch East Indies
# #
5,110
39,704
42,730
31,119
32,000
Egyptian
# #
16,094
15,517
14,099
18,522
17,127
Otlier
••
8,539
18,879
21,030
18,049
17,070
Total
••
55,725
132,109
100,767
88,558
84,K21
p) 1 hert* is a possibility of confusion in these figures owing to the difficulty of knowing io what
extent Nigerian and other British West Africans have been consistently distinguished or are distin
guishable from other West Africans
( 2 ) These figures, which are reproduced from the annual pilgrimage reports, are the subject of some
uncertainty owing to the large number of Javanese and other non-Malayans who sailed from Singapore.
The figure 5,500 was an approximate estimate of the number of Malayans in a total of 9,608 embarked
there in 1926. The figure for 1927 is the total number of pilgrims embarked at Singapore, but it is
understood that only 12,000 odd of them were Malayans.
156. The above table shows that in 1926, the first year of Ibn Baud’s
complete supremacy in the Hejaz and the year of the International Moslem
Conference held under his auspices at Mecca, there was a distinct revival of the
pilgrimage. In 1927 his reputation in the Moslem world was at its zenith and
it was a bumper year. In addition to the 132,000 odd pilgrims from overseas,
there was an enormous gathering from the interior, and it was estimated that the
total number present during the Aid or festival, which marks the culminating
point of the pilgrimage to Mecca, was not less than 220,000. The subsequent
years show a falling off attributable to various causes, including economic
depression. This made itself most felt towards the end of 1930, and although
anticipatory estimates are uncertain, it was clear that in 1931 the decrease
would be so great as to menace the finances of the Hejaz most seriously. In
December it looked as though the overseas }>ilgrimage must at the best fall short
by one-third of the figures for 1930.
157. The Indian pilgrimage presents very difficult problems, not only
owing to the number of pilgrims involved, but to their diversity of race and