“Haramayn” is the word used in Ottoman Manuscripts to refer to Mecca and Medina; it means “the two harams-sanctuaries.” Mecca is a sanctuary because of the Ka’ba, and Medina was declared a sanctuary after the Prophet’s emigration to this city. The Ottomans referred to Jerusalem, which was the first direction for prayer (qibla), as “the third of the Haramayn.”

The Ottomans were emotionally connected with these two holy cities and this connection was reflected in their national traditions and international policies. Starting from the time of Sultan Celebi Mehmed, every year a caravan of royal gifts (Surre Alayi) was sent to the holy lands as a sign of respect. Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror demanded that the Mamluks renovate the conduits that carried water to the Hijaz, or that they leave the renovation to the Ottomans. The Mamluks’ refusal to do this brought the two countries to the brink of war.

Following the conquest of Egypt by Selim I (Yavuz Sultan Selim) in 1517, the governor of Mecca sent an envoy to deliver the keys of the city to the Sultan and expressed his allegiance on July 12, 1517; it is from this date that the Ottoman rule over the holy lands, a rule lasting for four centuries, started. Selim I sent the envoy back with a caravan of two hundred thousand gold coins and a great quantity of foodstuffs.

Selim I attended the Friday prayer in the Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami) of Aleppo after defeating the Mamluks in Marj Dabiq. The imam proclaimed the sultan to be “Ruler of the Haramayn” while delivering the Friday sermon given in the presence of Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawaqqil. Selim I correct the imam saying that he was the “Servant of the Haramayn”. This gives an idea about the respect the Ottomans felt towards the region in comparison to the Mamluks, who had adopted the title “Protector of the Haramayn”.

Selim I is quoted as having said, “We are a nation who has sacrificed our lives for the unity of Muslims” For centuries, the Ottomans were a unique power that protected the Islamic world from outside attacks; a fact that has strengthened the allegiance of Muslims to Istanbul until the time when the Great Ottoman State (Devlet-i Aliye) collapsed. Halil Inalcik reports the following events in his “The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600: In 1517, while Selim I was in Cairo, the Protuguese fleet entered the Red Sea to attack Mecca. The governor of Mecca was about to leave the city when the people of Hijaz asked for help and protection from the Ottoman admiral Selim Reis. The port of Jeddah was successfully defended against the Portuguese.

The Ottomans already had a fleet in the Mediterranean; Selim I ordered that another fleet be built in the Suez to ensure Ottoman rule over the Red Sea and the protection of the Haramayn, which was further strengthened after Aden and Yemen were annexed.

In the sixteenth century, the Muslim rulers of Sumatra and India demanded support from the Ottomans against the Portuguese , and in their letters they addressed the sultan as the “protector of Islam”. Turkish khanates to the north of the Black Sea complained to the Ottomans about the Russian obstruction of their pilgrimage route to Mecca through the Crimea. The Ottomans launched a campaign to the Volga basin to establish security for the pilgrims.

Excerpted from the “Yildiz Albums of Sultan Abdul Hamid II Mecca-Medina”