THE PEOPLE OF MAKKAH
1. EARLY INHABITANTS AND THE QURAYSH Arabised Adnānis from the father’s side.
Since the dawn of time, the population of the Hejaz has been
divided into urban and nomadic people. In his study, 'The
General History of Arabs', historian L.A. Sedillot describes
the Hejaz as the “land that captivates souls. An abundance
of sands and fertile grounds spread throughout it, hence
forming the dwellings of the tribes. These grounds are
surrounded by small villages which serve as strong fortresses
against the evil of enemy attacks”.
Before the Quraysh assumed leadership of Makkah, several
groups had battled for supremacy in the preceding two
thousand years. First it was the Jurham, followed by the
‘Amalikites, and then again the Jurham. These were followed
by Banu Khuza’a from the south and Banu Kenana from the
north. Their battles were mainly motivated by the tribulations
of starvation and aridity which struck these tribes’ major
regions and the displacement that accompanied them.
Khuza’a, a faction from the Yemen, wrested Makkah from
al-Jurhum, but afterwards Khuza’a itself became divided
into two factions. One faction went north while the other
separated and settled in the heart of Makkah, claiming
the title of “Khuza’a” (the seceding). Later, the Quraysh
contested with the Khuza’a over the leadership of Makkah.
Quraysh were mixed with Tamimi, Yemeni, and Quda’ai tribes.
It can be said that Banu Kenana were Southern Quda’ai
Arabs from the mother’s side as much as they were Northern
42
The Quraysh are considered to be among the Arabised Arabs,
from the seed of Isma’il. They had wandered the Arabian
Peninsula from the Levant. A group of them migrated to
Hejaz, including the Adnānian Arabs and passed through the
lands of Juzam, Juhaina, Bouli and the rest of the Quda’a
sub-tribes in Northern Hejaz, with whom they intermixed,
resulting in kinship of the Isma’ili Adnāni Arabs. A band of
the Isma’ili Adnāni Arabs settled in the west of al-Sarawāt
Mountains in Hejaz and also moved north and to the middle
of the peninsula. Some settled close to Makkah, such as Banu
Kenana, who formed the origin of Quraysh.
The Quraysh were also divided into two groups: Quraysh
al-Bitah or the inhabitants of the heart of Makkah, and
Quraysh al-Dhawahir or the Arabs living on its periphery. The
Quraysh in the heart of Makkah were descendants of Ka’ab
ibn Louai and ‘Amr ibn Louai, from a branch of Bani Kenana,
who had usurped leadership from the Khuza’a. Banu Fehr
were another branch of Banu Kenana; they remained mainly
Bedouin Arabs living around Makkah and were dubbed
“Fahirists”.
By the time leadership of Makkah was taken by Qusāi ibn
Kalāb – the true founder of Quraysh –tribes living in Makkah
had a variety of origins and composed a diverse population.
Besides Quraysh, there were Quda’a, ‘Uthra, and Khuza’a
tribes also living in Makkah. Then there was a group of
 PEOPLE OF MAKKAH

THE CITY OF MAKKAH 43

 Ahābish dwelling outside the Makkah valley. This group was
a subdivision of Banu Kenana and was given its name due to
taking up residence at Habashi Mountain.
Banu ‘Abs, Banu Dhubyān, Lihyān, Mouhareb, Banu Assad,
and Hawâzin tribes also dwelt in the vicinity of Makkah.
These tribes remained indigenous and reflected Bedouin
Arab manners. Some of these Arabs formed alliances and
family relationships with the Quraysh clans who lived on the
periphery of Makkah rather than its core. Hence they were
thought to be behind in civilization and remained among the
authentic Arabs and were semi-Bedouins.
Qusay ibn Kalāb established Dar al-Nadwa in 450CE, a
parliamentary institution for Makkah’s government,
approximately in 450 CE, situated to the north of the Ka’bah.
The chamber stood to resolve conflicts of the valley, where
all subdivisions had their own representatives. Qusay was in
charge of serving water to the pilgrimages, caring for those
who were separated from pilgrimage, and creating and
curbing fires in Muzdalefah to pave the way for those coming
from the plain of Arafat.
After Qusay, the Quraysh clashed over the control of the
administrative, service, and supervisory affairs. This resulted
in the Qureysh dividing into groups supporting two of his
sons. The alliance of ‘Abd Manāf clan was named “the
Perfumed Alliance”, as people in this group dipped their
hands in a bowl of perfume then wiped it on the drape of
44
the Ka’bah. It was agreed that serving of water and caring
for pilgrims would go to ‘Abd Manāf clan and that issues
regarding religious affairs, Haram, holding the flag (liwa) and
administrative affairs (al-Nadwa) would be in the hands of
‘Abd al-Dār clan.
Hashim, son of ‘Abd Manāf, organised the summer and
winter trips to the Yemen and Levant, also known as Elāf al-
Quraysh. Makkah became the destination of merchants from
all over the Old World, and Quraysh gained fame and fortune.
Makkah’s marketplaces flourished, and the city achieved a
prosperous trading regime.
Hāshim and his brothers concluded trade agreements and
treaties with the Byzantine Empire, Ghassanid princes, Turks,
and Himyarite state in the Yemen. The Makkans believed that
Hāshim and his three brothers (‘Abd al-Shams, Nawfal, and
al-Muttalib) had won this advantage for the Quraysh, and
therefore they were dubbed the ‘Mujabirun’ (imposers of
their force).
After Hāshim, during the era of his son ‘Abd al-Muttalib,
Makkah trade reached its prime, and Quraysh made a
major international mark. It had political and economical
agreements with influential Old World nations. Such
agreements were interpreted as an acknowledgement of the
Quraysh as an independent rising political entity.
Quraysh monopolised the Arabia Felix trade. Life in Makkah
 PEOPLE OF MAKKAH

Tribes in Arabia at the relevation of Islam

Banu Ghassan
(the Ghassanids) Banu Lakhm
(the Lakhmids)
Banu Salih
Banu Kalb Sasaniyan
Bahraa (Sassanid Empire)

Judham Bakr ibn Wall al-Khatt

(al-Qatif)

Udhrah Banu Tamim

Bali ‘Abs

Yathrib Ghatafan Numayr ‘Abd ul-Qays

(Madinah)
Juhaynah Banu Asad
Banu Hanifah Hizwa

Banu Sulaym Banu Dhabbah

Khuza’ah Bahila
Banu Kilab Azd ‘Uman
Makkah Hadhayl
Banu Ka’ab
Quraysh Hawazan al-Yamamah
Thaqif Banu Hilal
Ta’if Kinanah Banu ‘Uqayl Qaryat Dhat Khal
Daws (al-Faw)
al-Azd Najran
Midhhal
Khath’am Mahrah
al-Harith
Kindah
Hamadan
San’a’ Murad
Ma’afir
Yafi’
‘Ans

was at the peak of bustle and glory. Makkah became a
marketing and financial centre, trading to a string of cities
including Tanis, and Hermopolus (Egypt), Basrah, Damascus,
the Horn of Africa, Sudan, Sour (Tyre), Sidon, and even
Naples. Arabs, Arabised Arabs, Jews, Pagans, and Christians,
all populated Makkah. Diversity and social heterogeneity
further blossomed from their already - deep roots.
National pride in Makkah increased during the era of ‘Abd
al-Muttalib bin Hāshim and was manifested in the domination
of the “al-Hamms” code. Al-Hamms was derived from
al-Ahmassi and meant “child of the country” or “child of
sanctity”. It belonged to the Ka’bah and the Maqām, and was
a privilege for the citizens, and to the noble keepers of the
House. They were given special privileges that set them apart
from the remainder of the population of Makkah.
It is worth noting that the second Khalifah, `Umar ibn al-
Khattāb, set the genealogy principles which were followed
by the Arab genealogists in dividing Arabs according to two
recognised origins: the Adnāni and the Qahtāni. The reason
behind `Umar’s action in 15 H/636 CE was to administer
finances related to allowances and pensions. The priority was
given to the members of the House of the Prophet, whose
ancestor was Hāshim, who in turn were the seed of Mudar,
hence, the offspring of Adnān.

THE CITY OF MAKKAH 45

 2. MAKKAH THE MELTING POT
In his encyclopaedia 'The Arabs in Historical Eras', Saudi
historian Amin Madani states: “In Makkah, Ibrahim called for
pilgrimage and people answered him from all places: from
the land of the Euphrates river, the tops of Cedar mountains,
the shores of the Nile, and the dams of Yemen. It became the
melting pot of various cultures of the Arabs at the dawn of
the second millennium B.C.”
The disruption of the traditional al-Sham route in 6thc CE due
to Byzantine-Persian wars, as well as the decline of Red Sea
navigation due to escalating pirate attacks, was instrumental
in the increase and importance of the Hejazi trade route.
With the expanding role of the Quraysh, Makkah became a
prominent trading centre.
Makkah was supported by commercial links as well as
contemporary communications whether by inter-marriages,
trade, tribal alliances, and immigration, or by interaction
during the seasons of “Souqs” in ‘Ukaz, Majanna or Dhu
al-Majāz. Subsequently, Makkah was subject to an ongoing
process of acculturation and diffusion of ideas.
During the Pre-Islamic epoch Makkah was exposed to other
civilizations such as the Persian, Byzantine, and the Romans.
After the spark of Islam, pilgrimage provided Makkah with an
enduring, ongoing wave of cross-cultural and international
civic dialogue.
46
During the Quraysh era, Makkah attracted many communities
such as Roman Christians, Persian Pagans, Iraqis, Egyptians,
Ethiopians, Syrians, and Yemenis. Some settled for commerce
and labour while others came from areas of distress and
discrimination. Makkah also welcomed Najrani Christians
when their ancestors were massacred in the Ukhdoud
massacre. In the famed al-Foudoul pact, ‘Abdullah ibn Jada’an
vowed to halt any sort of discrimination against any members
of foreign communities.
Even Byzantium had commercial representatives in Makkah
who took care of its trade. In Kitab al-Bayān wa al-Tabyin
(The Book of Eloquence and Exposition), al-Jāhiz states that
Makkah market resounded with Christian priests that visited
it and its citizens. In his study 'Arabia Before Muhammad',
Dr. Lacy O’Leary asserts that Roman merchants had trading
assemblies in Makkah which were responsible for two jobs:
trading and spying on locals. Makkah also attracted powerful
Ethiopian merchants. Furthermore, Qammtah the Roman was
a prominent merchant of Makkah with tremendous wealth.
Heterogeneity and ethnic mixture shaped the demography
of this city. This is endorsed by accounts of voyages through
Hejaz, whether during the Middle Ages through to the
contemporary eras. These journeys to Makkah include Ibn
Jubair’s (579 H/1183 CE), Ibn Battuta’s (roughly 730 H/1330
CE), John Lewis Burckhardt’s (1227 H/1812 CE), Richard
Burton’s (1269 H/1853 CE), Charles Didier’s (1273 H/1857 CE),
John Cain’s 1295 H/1878 CE, Snouck Hurgronje’s (1302 H/1885

CE), Aziz Doltchen’s (1315 H/1898 CE), Labib Baik al-Batnouni’s
(1318 H/1900 CE), and Ibrahim Rafaat Pasha’s (1319 H/1901 CE).
Local historian Ahmad al-Subaii professed that by the end of
the 12thc H/19thc CE, Makkans had already “forgotten their
origins, where their new convoys began adopting the new
characteristics reflected in their unified fashions, customs,
and language…These characteristics reflect cosmopolitan
Makkah after it had overflowed with several races and
managed to unite all residents and immigrants into one
identity, which is evident in most of their traditions, customs,
language, and lifestyle”.
Swiss explorer John Lewis Burckhardt, who visited Makkah in
1227 H/1812 CE, noticed that locals are those “Makkans, who
were of foreign origin, yet, have adopted the Arab customs”.
They racially intermixed “by marrying Makkan women,
where they have created a race that is indistinguishable from
the original peninsula race. He found that, in spite of the
traditional rivalry between Arabs and Turks, it didn’t prevent
Makkans of Turkish origins “from joining other locals in
mocking Turks, even though it was their own origin”.
Burckhardt concluded, after roaming most of the major Arab
cities, that most strangers rigorously clung to native cultures,
whereby they would keep their native attires and accents
to be distinguished from locals. In contrast, in Hejaz and
Makkah, most people dressed up like its citizens, stripping
them of the “strangers” label that was eminent in other
oriental cities.
PEOPLE OF MAKKAH
Burckhardt also noticed that the majority of Makkans
possessed “yellowish brown facial features that were
either light or dark depending on the mother’s origin, which
could be a Makkan Arab or an Ethiopian concubine”. Their
appearances “were close to Bedouins. The sharifs also had
good-looking features, possessing the Bedouin face, eyes,
and crooked nose, with fuller bodies”.
Dutch orientalist Snouck Hurgronje, who settled in Makkah
for six months beginning 22 February 1884 (1302 H), points
out the arriving communities’ adaptation to the Makkah
lifestyle, saying: “Makkah is the land of diverse communities
of all nationalities and languages, and the place where
they all feel at home. Many different communities have
integrated with the Makkan society. Their expectations and
relationships, along with other factors, have brought them
closer with this inviting society, where they gradually found
their places. Several gradual adaptations to the Makkan
society can be found among these different communities.
Marriage is a primary link of integration between them.
A man who marries a woman raised in Makkah becomes
a Makkan. And with second or third generation, family’s
connection with its forefathers fades away”.
Sir William Jones, an eighteenth century philologist, described
the people of Makkah, some of whom he met in Calcota,
as having “their eyes full of life, their language easy and
unconfined, their behavior gentle and polite, their grasping
quick, and their minds always present and observant”.
However, Russian officer Aziz Doltchen, who visited Hejaz in
THE CITY OF MAKKAH 47
 1315 H/1898 CE, attributed the general mental evolution of
the people of Makkah to the traveling done by most of the
population, “since after the pilgrims’ departure, Makkans
would journey to all Islamic countries in order to seek
“albadal”- which is the task of performing pilgrimage rituals
on behalf of someone else in return for a certain reward.
Doltchen had considered the Makkans to be eager for
acquiring knowledge and deeply sensitive, saying: “They care
about and examine everything, and their conversations about
other nations are often true, factual, and very accurate”.
Makkan culture is unified by heterogeneity. The “Hejazi
nation”, according to the local intellectual Muhammad
Hasan Awwād, is “a mixture of numerous nationalities with
Indian, Egyptian, Moroccan, Jawin, Bukhari, Turkish, Afghan,
and Sudani origins, all have become united in thought,
religion, and nationality, regardless of their different racial
backgrounds”.
Fusion and openness towards others is a deep-rooted Hejazi
phenomenon. Amin Madani claims the ancient people of al-
Qura valley to have “imparted their beliefs and behaviours to
neighbouring nations, gave them their own touch, subjected
them to their own language, and added innate beauty
and enchanting style to their exported imagination and
emotions”.
Acculturation is widely eminent in Makkah’s character. It is
evident in the classical Arabic language which was formed in
48
the Quraysh-dominated regions. Words originally borrowed
from the glossaries of Latin, Syrian, Persian, Greek, and
Ethiopian, have been adopted into its linguistic system.
Makkan costume is also an evidence of the cultural diffusion.
Ibrahim Rafaat Pasha, the Egyptian commander of the Hajj
garrison who visited Makkah on 1319 H/1901 CE, noticed
that “the Makkan attires were a mixed collection of clothes
from Islamic countries: an Indian turban, Egyptian gown, a
Shami jubbah, and a silver or gold gemstone-studded dagger
beautifully seen on the sharifs’ belts in particular. The poor
labourer could be seen wearing a shirt, a silk-embroidered
collar, a baggy feature at the bottom of his pants, and
barefooted”.
The geographical sites in Makkah reflect that diversity. There
are the Turk, Indian, and Sudan mountains, the Sulaimani
(Afghani) and Shami districts as well as the Moroccan,
Bukhara, Hadrami, Indian, Buhra, and Roman lanes.
In his Hejazi voyage to Makkah 1318 H/1900 CE, Labib Baik
al-Batnouni remarkably described the features of the
contemporary Makkan personality by saying, “A Makkan
character has profoundly merged the Anatolians’ gentleness,
the Turkish’s grandeur, the Javanese’ submissiveness, the
Persians’ pride, the Egyptians’ mildness, the Sharaksis’
solidity, the Chinese’s calmness, the Moroccans’ sharpness,
the Indians’ naïveté, the Yemens’ slyness, the Syrians’ energy,
the Blacks’ idleness, and the Ethiopians’ color. They clearly

have the combination of the delicacy of the civilization, and
the austerity of the Bedouins.”
3. SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF MAKKAH
Social structure of Makkah in the Mamluk era divided the
Makkan society into four classes: 1) the Sharifs and Qowad
(semi-Sharifs); 2) Ahliyeen, the locals (civic families), which
included landlords, religious figures, merchants, and
craftsmen; 3) the Mujawireen, those living close to the Grand
Mosque, and could also integrate with the Ahliyeen over a
period; and 4) the slaves and commoners. At the periphery of
Makkah, tribal dwellers maintained their lifestyle as a buffer
group.
When the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baibars performed
pilgrimage to Makkah in 667 H/1269 CE, he recognised leaders
of each class by granting them royal gifts, granting gifts as
well as to Abu Numay, Makkah’s governor, to some civic
figures, and to the tribal leaders.
Throughout the Mamluk era, a wave of immigration of
different classes and magnitude flowed in to Makkah. Some
of the more famous included scholars and philanthropists
such as the Egyptian Sheikh Burhān Eddine Ibrahim who
lived in the al-Sidra Ribat, Burhān al-din al-‘Ajmi, wealthy
philanthropist Sheikh Izz-Eddine al-Wassiti, ‘Afif Eddine ibn
Asa’ad al-Yafi’e, Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Kufairi, the algebra
PEOPLE OF MAKKAH
and mathematics scientist Ali ibn Ahmad Al-Kalkushandi, the
Yemeni figure Ahmad ibn Ali al-Kulaghi al-Himyari, Shams
Eddine Muhammad al-Khwarizmi, and ‘Abed al-Rahmān ibn
Ahmad ibn Ayyash, who was originally from Damascus, and
became a Makkan resident.
During the Ottoman era 924-1334 H/1518-1916 CE, the qowad
rank faded away, and the sharifs’ class remained. The class
of the locals (Ahliyeen) expanded and many present Makkan
families have descended from them.
The bulk of the immigration included Arabs from Madinah,
Taif, Yamama and Egypt, as well as imported groups of slaves,
Ethiopian, Circassian, and Roman concubines.
The “Mujawireen” rank prospered during the Mamluk era.
When a group of them complained about the blustering
treatment towards them by Makkah rulers Humeidah and
Rumaytha, the Mamluk sultan sent an army consisting of
three-hundred and twenty Turkish Mamluks, and five-hundred
musketeers from Madinah. They all marched to Makkah in
order to scold and discharge the vicious princes.
Hassanain took control over local rule of Makkah since 358
H/969 CE after the fall of the Ikhshidid rule in Egypt and the
Hejaz. Four clans ascended to govern Makkah. These were:
the Moussavis, the Suleimanis, the Hashemites, and the
Qatadis. All ruled locally in the Hejaz until 648 H/1250 CE,
under the umbrella of the central caliphate or ruling dynasty:
THE CITY OF MAKKAH 49
 either the Abbasid caliphate, the Fatimid caliphate, the Zengid
dynasty, or the Ayyubid dynasty.
Among the most important Sharif descendants who dwelled
in Makkah were the Banu Zaid and their rivals, the clan of
Banu ‘Aoun.
The last of the Hejaz rulers from the Zaid clan was Sharif
‘Abed al-Mutlab ibn Ghaleb, who was discharged in 1299
H/1882 CE for autocracy and excessive brutality and
negligence. The Sharif title subsequently passed on to the
‘Aoun clan and was represented by Sharif Aoun al-Rafik Pasha
(1299-1323 H/1882-1905 CE) and Sharif Ali Pasha (1905-1908
CE), followed by al-Hussein Bin Ali as the last ruling Sharif
over Makkah. The Ashraf establishment collapsed just after
the rise of the Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd, which was unified
by King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the founder of the modern
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Sharif lineages in Makkah were either Bedouin-urban
lineages or semi-urban. In their social structure, they were
Bedouin following the strict tribal code. Conversely, they
were urban in their inner-city setting and inclination towards
a lavish lifestyle.
Modern Makkah prospered as an attractive spot for all those
coming to work in trade, pilgrimage services, educational and
juridiciary institutions, charitable endowments, government,
and the army. The Mutawwif profession evolved during
50
the Mamluk epoch and flourished during the Ottoman era.
Muhammad al-Miyāss, a Makkan figure, was the first to
provide Tawaf service to the Turkish Sultan and his entourage.
A influx of merchants and entrepreneurs grew in to Hejaz
as a result of trade legislation enacted at the beginning
of the Tanzimat era. These included tariff facilities for
importing goods into the ports of the Ottoman Empire. In
the new territories law of 1281 H/1864 CE and the Islahat
(reforms) of 1286 H/1869 CE, real estate and agrarian taxes,
as well as obligatory military service, were also imposed.
As a consequence, many Arab families decided to settle in
Makkah, which was exempted from such regulations.
Scholars, Mujawireen, and students kept flowing to
Makkah at the same rate. Makkah also saw the arrivals of
administrative employers, soldiers, and slaves. A reverse
emigration of Makkan families, returning back to Makkah
after living abroad, also took place.
Doltchen’s 1315 H/1898 CE story provides the framework
of the modern Makkah morphology. The Hejaz population
was divided into its urban group and desert dwellers. “The
population living in the city is called ’Ahlyeen‘ while the rest
of the Hejaz population is made up of different Bedouin
tribes, collectively known as pure Arabists, and includes a lot
of Africans and Ethiopians who became their slaves”.
 PEOPLE OF MAKKAH

Chart of populations trend in Makkah:

422 1030 2000 After 35,000 had moved out Nāsir Khusraw
923 1517 120,000 Exaggerated Prince Musslih-Eddine (Sultan’s envoy)
1250 1834 18,000 Reasonable Shafi’i tariffs
1227 1812 25,000 – 30,000 Reasonable John Lewis Burckhardt
1309 1892 60,000 Reasonable Adrian Broset
1318 1900 150,000 Exaggerated Labib al-Batnouni
1329 1911 200,000 Exaggerated Sharif al-Barkāti
1367 1948 100,000 Graphic statistics Robert Matthew
1428 2007 1,700,000 Graphic statistics General statistics

4. RISE AND FALL OF POPULATION
The demographic curve in Makkah has undergone remarkable
fluctuations throughout the course of its history.
At the time of the Islamic conquests, many Makkan
clans moved to the newly conquered Levant and the
Mesopotamian cities. According to Persian explorer Nāsir
Khusraw, during his visit to Makkah in 421 H/1030 CE, around
35000 people had moved out of Makkah, due to severity
and lack of resources, leaving only 2000 inhabitants behind.
In 1149 H/1736 CE, Sharif Māssoud sent numerous foreigners
away from Makkah because they were “hampering on the
natives’ resources”. In contemporary era, during World War
I, many Makkan families sought shelter in Jeddah, Mussawa,
Asmara, Port Sudan, Egypt, Syria, and the Indonesian Islands.
However, almost all returned to their homeland after the
declaration of the Saudi state.
Makkah had also witnessed another wave of immigration,
which came in early 1390 H/1970 CE during the oil boom.
Jeddah in particular took in a large number of Makkan
families who moved for employment and trade purposes and
to be closer to the port and governmental institutions. In
fact, this move didn’t seem strange or out of cultural context.
Swiss explorer Burckhardt had noticed earlier, in 1227 H/1812
CE that “Makkah and Jeddah are inhabited by people of the
same class perspective and with similar characteristics and
customs. All wealthy Makkans own houses in Jaddah and the
trade benefits for both cities are the same”.
In the last centuries, population estimates in Makkah
ranged from reasonable to exaggerated. In 1227 H/1812 CE,
Burckhardt had estimated the Makkan population to be
between 25000 and 30000, while in 1309 H/1892 CE, the
French doctor Adrian Broset reckoned it to be 60000.
The Sharif Sharaf al-Berkāti provided biased numbers in his
book The Yemeni Voyage. He estimated the population in
1329 H/1911 CE to be 200,000. That was also the case with
Labib Baik al-Batnouni, who counted the Makkan population
to be 150,000 (50,000 natives, and the remainders were
visitors). But this estimate could also refer to the population
in the pilgrimage season and the rest of the year.
After the re-enactment of the Ottoman constitution in 1326
H/1908 CE, the Makkah population ranged between 70,000
and 150,000. These estimates were made during the elections
of ‘Meclis-i Mebusan’ (the parliamentary council), and as a
result Makkans were given a seat in compliance with the
“quota” representation of the Ottoman parliament.
In 1428 H/2007 CE General Statistics the Makkan population
jumped to around 1,700,000. Extended families accounted
for 11% and nuclear families were the remaining 89%. Whereas
75% of the Makkah population was Saudi, the other 25% were
foreigners. Its largest community was the Yemeni community,
followed by Pakistani, Egyptian, Burmese, Bengali, Nigerian,
and Mali communities.

THE CITY OF MAKKAH 51