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The Hajj caravan routes were routes that transported Muslim pilgrims from throughout the Islamic world to participate in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Medina and Mecca. The principal marshaling points for the caravans were Damascus, Cairo, Baghdad, Kufa, Basra, Sana'a and Oman.

Background
The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina is a central ritual in Islam. Prior to modern modes of transportation such as rail and air travel, pilgrims would make the journey on foot or camel-back. The pilgrims, who came from throughout the Islamic world, traveled in caravans that mainly assembled at six departure points. The pilgrims of Egypt, North and West Africa and Spain assembled at Cairo. Pilgrims from Syria and Anatolia assembled at Damascus, and pilgrims from Iraq, Iran and Central Asia assembled at Baghdad/Kufa. There were two routes from Sana'a, one that went through the Yemeni highlands and the other along the Red Sea coast, while there were also Hajj routes to Mecca from Basra and Oman.

The Hajj route from Damascus was the oldest and most important route during the Umayyad period (632–750 CE). However, with the caliphate's center of power shifting to Baghdad after the rise of the Abbasids (750–1250), the Syrian route declined in favor of the route from Baghdad/Kufa, which traversed the desert directly to Medina. The Abbasids built numerous stations along the route, which often consisted of a cistern, fort, mosque, palace and unfortified residences.

Making the Hajj was historically a considerably "challenging and risky" endeavor, according to historian Murat Özyüksel. Among the most difficult conditions the pilgrims faced on the way to the holy cities in the Hejaz was the scarcity of water, shortages of food, high temperatures, the threat of Bedouin attack and the expenses incurred. High death tolls were common and as a result of the risks, many Muslims wishing to partake in the pilgrimage avoided doing so. To rectify this situation and ease the risks and expenses of the Hajj, the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II launched the Hejaz Railway. By establishing the railway, the Ottomans sought to connect Mecca with Damascus and the imperial capital, Istanbul and supplant the traditional Hajj caravan routes. Its establishment would also cut the trip between Damascus and Mecca from fifty days to eight days.

Syrian route
The Syrian Hajj route (Darb al-Hajj ash-Shami) was partly based on a preexisting road called the King's Highway. The exact course of the medieval Syrian Hajj caravan route is unclear, though it is known that the route changed depending on the time of year when the Hajj started (the lunar calendar is used in Islam), security conditions and availability of water. Among the main primary accounts describing the route's course are from the following medieval travelers: Ibn Batuta (d. 1369), Abu'l-Fida (d. 1331) and Ludovico di Varthema (d. 1517). According to archaeologist Andrew Petersen,"There has been an assumption from several modern writers that the Medieval Hajj followed the King’s Highway via the great Medieval fortresses of Ajlun, Karak and Shawbak (see for example Bakhit 1982). Whilst these fortresses certainly had a role in the Medieval Hajj it appears that the actual stopping places lay outside these fortresses and urban centres, thus at both Karak and Shawbak it seems that sites several miles away were used for the Hajj caravan."

Based on most accounts, the first stopping point of the Hajj route after the departure from Damascus was the village of al-Kiswah, where the caravan would temporarily stop to give time for late arrivals to join. Afterward, the caravan proceeded, in succession, southwestward to the large town of as-Sanamayn, southeastward to Izra' and then southeastward to Bosra where it again stopped for a few days to accommodate late arrivals. As the caravan traversed Transjordan, the medieval accounts vary. Abu'l Fida only mentions Birkat Ziza, about 100 kilometers southwest of Bosra, while Ibn Batuta also mentions Birkat Ziza as the first stop after Bosra. The caravan bypassed the major settlements of Ajlun, as-Salt and Hisban. This was done to avoid the inevitable delays associated with stops at major towns and to protect agricultural fields from damage caused by the caravan's transport camels. Ibn Batuta mentions that after a day's halt at Birkat Ziza, the caravan continued southwestward to Lajjun, then southwestward to al-Karak where the caravan made a four-day stop. It proceeded southward to Ma'an, which was described as the last stop in Syria before the caravan entered the Hejaz. From Ma'an, the caravan departed southeastward for Aqabat al-Suwwan (present-day Aqabat al-Hijaziyya in Jordan) then, in succession, southeastward to Dhat al-Hajj and southward to Tabuk, al-Ula and Medina.

Ottoman era
Muzayrib, located to the west of Bosra, replaced the latter as a way-station by the late 15th century. Its location allowed quicker and more direct access to the rest of the Hajj route as opposed to the eastward jut to Bosra. The Ottomans preserved the medieval route, but added new way-stations and fortified existing ones. In the 16th century, the fortified sites along the Hajj route before Medina were, in north-south succession, al-Kiswah, as-Sanamayn, Muzayrib, Tell Far'un (modern al-Mafraq), Qasr Shabib (modern az-Zarqa), Birkat Ziza, al-Qatranah, al-Unayzah, Ma'an, Dhat al-Hajj, Tabuk, al-Ukhaydir, Qal'at al-Mu'azzam, al-Ula and Wadi al-Qura. In the 18th century, Dab'a was built between Birkat Ziza and al-Qatranah, Hasa was built between al-Qatranah and al-Unayzah, and Fassu'a and al-Mudawwara were built between Ma'an and Dhat al-Hajj. More forts were built in that century, including Dar al-Hamra and Mada'in Saleh between Qal'at al-Mu'azzam and al-Ula, and Bir al-Ghannam, Zumurrud, Sawrah, Hadiyya and al-Nakhlatayn between al-Ula and Wadi al-Qura. Between the latter and Medina, the fort of Hafirah was built.

While Constantinople was the Ottomans' center of power, Damascus remained the primary pilgrim assembly point in the east. The route connecting Constantinople with Damascus, known as tarik-i sultani (the imperial way), formed part of the wider Syrian Hajj route. It took 37 days (excluding rest days) to reach Damascus from the Ottoman capital. In Anatolia, the route passed through Iznik, Konya, Adana and Payas before reaching Antioch in Syria. From there, the route followed the course of the Orontes River before reaching Homs and then continued southward to Damascus. Unlike the simply built way-stations south of Damascus (except for Muzayrib), the Syrian way-stations north of Damascus were well-endowed with facilities, including caravanserais (khans) and mosques, and sometimes bathhouses, shops and kitchens. The northern way-stations in Syria from north to south were Baylan, Baghras, al-Zanbakiyya, Jisr al-Shughur, Qal'at al-Mudiq, Rastan, Hasyah, Nabk and al-Qutayfah.

Darb Zubayda
The 1,140 kilometer-long Hajj route from Kufa to Mecca was called the Darb Zubayda. It was established by the Abbasids in the 9th century. Its chief patrons were Caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) and his consort and the route's namesake, Zubayda (d. 831). The route consisted of numerous structures along the way to support the pilgrims en route. These included over 1,300 wells, over 100 reservoirs, 54 way-stations and several underground canals, fire beacons and milestones. According to historian Marcus Milwright, "The construction of a passage through harsh and arid terrain was a major undertaking ... The diversity of technology represented in hydraulic engineering suggests that skilled craftsmen were brought from many regions of the Abbasid Caliphate to work on the Darb Zubayda". The route from Baghdad and Kufa was largely disused after the destructive Mongol invasion of Iraq in 1258. Afterward, pilgrims from Iraq, Iran and Khurasan, most of whom were Shia Muslims, assembled at Damascus. They typically reaching Damascus by first assembling in Baghdad, then crossing through Upper Mesopotamia and then eastward to Aleppo, where they joined pilgrims heading southward.

Egyptian route
The departure point of the Hajj caravan route from Egypt and Africa was Cairo. From there the caravan traveled northwest to Birket al-Hajj, where it waited for three to four days before proceeding to al-Qulzum (modern-day Suez). The next stop after al-Qulzum was Nakhl, then eastward to Ajrud and southeastward to Ayla (later became Aqaba), where it remained for four to five days. Afterward, the caravan proceeded southward along the Red Sea coastline. The rest stops on the way were, in succession, Haql, al-Bad', al-Wajh, Aqra, al-Hurah, Yanbu, Badr and Rabigh. From the latter stop, the caravan proceeded eastward inland to Medina.

Yemeni route
The pilgrim assembly point in Yemen was Sana'a, where the caravan split into two parts, with one using the highland route and the other taking the coastal route. The highland route was leveled and paved, and in some places curbs were built. There were numerous reservoirs, wells, mosques and milestones along the highland route.