Outbreak of the revolt in Mecca

On Saturday 10 June 1916, at half past three in the morning, shooting broke out in Mecca. The men of Sharif Hussein bin Ali opened fire simultaneously on all the Turkish barracks and posts in the city and on the Hamidiya government building, which housed the provincial offices. Five days after his sons’ rising near Medina, the Sharif launched the revolt in the holy city of Islam itself. The British chronology of the war records under this date that the Turkish garrison of Mecca capitulated. It did not go so quickly, however: within three days the insurgents had taken the city, but the main barracks and the fort overlooking it held out for nearly another month.

A city without a garrison

The Sharif had chosen his moment well. With the onset of the hot season the Turkish governor-general of the Hejaz, Ghalib Pasha, had moved with most of the troops to cooler Taif in the mountains, as he did every year. According to the British official history about 1,000 soldiers remained in Mecca; according to the Lebanese historian George Antonius about 1,400; and according to the Turkish historian Mustafa Bostancı 1,200 under Derviş Bey. They were posted in several places: in the main Jirwal barracks on the western edge of the city, by the roads to Jeddah and Medina; in the Jiyad (Ajyad) fort on a hill above the southern part of the city, from which every quarter could be shelled; in the main guardhouse at the south-eastern corner of the Great Mosque; and in the Hamidiya building. The insurgents, the Sharif’s men and Bedouin from the surrounding tribes, had the advantage in numbers, but only rifles. They had no artillery at all.

A telephone call to the palace

Antonius quotes an account from Al-Qibla, the newspaper the Sharif soon began publishing in Mecca. The guns of the Jiyad fort at once opened fire on the Bedouin positions and on houses in the city, above all on the Sharif’s palace. At about nine in the morning officers in the Jirwal barracks telephoned the palace and asked for the fighting to stop and for an official to be sent to explain what it was about. The official told them that the country had declared its independence and that the fighting would end only when the Turks left the barracks and gave up their arms. The officers refused, and the fort resumed its shelling. The fighting went on until dusk.

This telephone conversation gave rise to an anecdote that both sides told with relish. According to the British official history, the Turkish commander telephoned the Sharif with the words: “The Bedouin have revolted against the Government. Find a way out”. The Sharif is said to have replied: “Of course we shall”, and at once ordered a general attack. In the version recorded by Antonius, the Turk said that the Arabs had revolted and had reportedly declared complete independence, and Hussein replied drily that he had heard so too and would certainly do everything in his power about it. The dates do not agree either: the British official history puts the first open fighting in Mecca on 9 June, while Antonius and Arab sources give 10 June, that is the 9th day of the month of Sha’ban 1334 AH.

According to Al-Qibla, on the first day the Turks lost about 150 killed and wounded, and the Arabs only eight. These were figures from the insurgent side, published two months later. That same day the Sharif’s men were also fighting at Jeddah, and his second son, Abdullah, began to surround Taif with its garrison and the governor.

What came next

On 11 June the insurgents stormed the main guardhouse by the mosque, and on 12 June the Hamidiya building. The deputy governor-general and his officers were taken prisoner. At the Sharif’s request he wrote to the commanders of the barracks and the fort, urging them to surrender, but they did not listen. The fort’s garrison shelled the city, including the Great Mosque. Shells struck the Kaaba, and the faithful put out the burning covering of the shrine under fire. The Sharif later used this in his propaganda as proof of the Young Turks’ impiety. Without guns the insurgents could not take the fortifications, and the Turks did not dare to come out of them. The issue was decided only by Egyptian mountain guns with their crews, sent by the Governor-General of the Sudan and Sirdar of the Egyptian Army, Sir Reginald Wingate. The Jiyad fort fell on 4 July, and the Jirwal barracks surrendered on the evening of 9 July. The British official history describes these events differently, as a swift victory: according to it the barracks were set on fire on 12 June, and the next day the rest of the garrison went into captivity, except for the garrisons of two small forts.