Editing Mecca (section)

=== Medieval and pre-modern times ===
Mecca was never the capital of any of the [[caliphate|Islamic states]]. Muslim rulers did contribute to its upkeep, such as during the reigns of '[[Umar]] (r. 634–644) and '[[Uthman ibn Affan]] (r. 644–656) when concerns of flooding caused the caliphs to bring in Christian engineers to build barrages in the low-lying quarters and construct dykes and embankments to protect the area around the Kaaba.<ref name="EIE" />

Muhammad's return to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca and later even further away when '[[Ali]], the fourth caliph, took power and chose [[Kufa]] as his capital. The [[Umayyad Caliphate]] moved the capital to [[Damascus]] in Syria and the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] to [[Baghdad]], in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re-entered Islamic political history during the [[Second Fitna]], when it was held by [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr|Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr]] and the Zubayrids.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} The city was twice besieged by the Umayyads in [[Siege of Mecca (683)|683]] and [[Siege of Mecca (692)|692]], and for some time thereafter, the city figured little in politics, remaining a city of devotion and scholarship governed by various other factions. In 930, Mecca was [[Sack of Mecca|attacked and sacked]] by [[Qarmatians]], a [[millenarianism|millenarian]] [[Shia Islam|Shi'a]] [[Ismailism|Isma'ili]] [[Islamic schools and branches|Muslim sect]] led by [[Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī]] and centered in eastern Arabia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mecca|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0832430.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817083014/http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0832430.html|archive-date=17 August 2010|access-date=6 April 2010|publisher=Infoplease.com}}</ref> The [[Black Death]] [[pandemic]] hit Mecca in 1349.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Islamic World to 1600: The Mongol Invasions (The Black Death)|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/blackDeath.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721033845/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/blackDeath.html|archive-date=21 July 2009|access-date=6 April 2010|publisher=Ucalgary.ca}}</ref>

==== Ibn Battuta's description of Mecca ====
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One of the most famous travelers to Mecca in the 14th century was a Moroccan scholar and traveler, [[Ibn Battuta]]. In his ''rihla'' (account), he provides a vast description of the city. Around the year 1327 (729 AH), Ibn Battuta arrived at the holy city. Immediately, he says, it felt like a holy sanctuary, and thus he started the rites of the pilgrimage. He remained in Mecca for three years and left in 1330. During his second year in the holy city, he says his caravan arrived "with a great quantity of alms for the support of those who were staying in Mecca and Medina". While in Mecca, prayers were made for (not to) the King of Iraq and also for [[Saladin|Salaheddin al-Ayyubi]], Sultan of Egypt and Syria at the Ka'bah. Battuta says the Ka'bah was large, but was destroyed and rebuilt smaller than the original. According to Ibn Battuta, the original Kaaba, prior to the conquest of Makkah by the Prophet, contained images of angels and prophets including Jesus (Isa in Islamic tradition), his mother Mary (Maryam in Islamic tradition), and many others - Ibn Battuta however states these were all destroyed by the Prophet in the year of victory. Battuta describes the Ka'bah in his time as an important part of Mecca due to the fact that many people make the pilgrimage to it. Battuta describes the people of the city as being humble and kind, and also willing to give a part of everything they had to someone who had nothing. The inhabitants of Mecca and the village itself, he says, were very clean. There was also a sense of elegance to the village.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Battuta|first=Ibn|title=The Travels of Ibn Battuta|publisher=Cosimo|year=2009}}</ref>

====Under the Ottomans====
[[File:Khalili Collection Hajj Mecca panorama.jpg|alt=|thumb|Panorama of Mecca, 1845, from the [[Khalili Collection of Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage]]]]In 1517, the then Sharif of Mecca, Barakat bin Muhammad, acknowledged the supremacy of the [[Ottoman Caliphate|Ottoman Caliph]] but retained a great degree of local autonomy.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Mecca|volume=17|page=952}}</ref> In 1803 the city was captured by the [[First Saudi State]],<ref>"[http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/7.htm The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721222356/http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/7.htm|date=21 July 2011}}". [[Library of Congress Country Studies]].</ref> which held Mecca until 1813, destroying some of the historic tombs and domes in and around the city. The Ottomans assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under Ottoman control to their powerful ''[[Khedive]]'' (viceroy) and ''[[Wali (administrative title)|Wali]]'' of Egypt, [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]]. Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control [[Ottoman return of Mecca 1813|in 1813]]. In 1818, the Saud were defeated again but survived and founded the [[Second Saudi State]] that lasted until 1891 and led on to the present country of Saudi Arabia. In 1853, Sir [[Richard Francis Burton]] undertook the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina disguised as a Muslim. Although Burton was certainly not the first non-Muslim European to make the ''Hajj'' ([[Ludovico di Varthema]] did this in 1503),<ref>{{cite web|author=Leigh Rayment|title=Ludovico di Varthema|url=http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/varthema.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617222339/http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/varthema.html|archive-date=17 June 2012|work=Discoverers Web}}</ref> his pilgrimage remains one of the most famous and documented of modern times. Mecca was regularly hit by [[cholera]] [[Cholera outbreaks and pandemics|outbreaks]]. Between 1830 and 1930, cholera broke out among pilgrims at Mecca 27 times.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114078/cholera/253250/Seven-pandemics#ref=ref886683 Cholera (pathology)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627012745/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114078/cholera/253250/Seven-pandemics|date=27 June 2009}}. Britannica Online Encyclopedia.</ref>