Editing History of Saudi Arabia (section)

===Sharifate of Mecca===
{{Main|Sharifate of Mecca}}
[[File:Arabia%2C Egypt%2C Nubia and Abyssinia 1883 map.jpg|thumb|Atlas map of 1883]]
[[File:Arabia 1914.png|thumb|The Arabian Peninsula in 1914]]

From the 10th century (and, in fact, until the 20th century) the [[Hashemite]] [[Sharif of Mecca|Sharifs of Mecca]] maintained a state in the most developed part of the region, the [[Hejaz]]. Their domain originally comprised only the holy cities of Mecca and Medina but in the 13th century, it was extended to include the rest of the Hejaz. Although the Sharifs exercised at most times independent authority in the Hejaz, they were usually subject to the [[suzerainty]] of one of the major Islamic empires of the time. In the Middle Ages, these included the [[Abbasids]] of [[Baghdad]], and the [[Fatimids]], [[Ayyubids]], and [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] of Egypt.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Online: History of Arabia" />