HIJAZ RAILROAD

Railroad connecting Damascus and Medina.

Built during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamit II, the Hijaz Railroad is 811 miles (1,308 km) long. It is so named because Medina, its eastern terminus, is located in a western region of the Arabian Peninsula called the Hijaz. Abdülhamit built the railroad to facilitate the movement of the Ottoman army, thus allowing for closer Ottoman control of southern Syria and the Hijaz. In addition, easier movement of religious pilgrims to Mecca would buttress his claim to be caliph of the Muslims. Additional branches were built connecting the main line to
Haifa, Basra, Lydda, and Ajwa, bringing total track-age to 1,023 miles (1,650 km) in 1918.

The railroad, which cost 4 million Turkish liras (equivalent to about 15 percent of the Ottoman budget), was financed without foreign loans. Arguing that the railroad was essential to the protection of Mecca and Medina, and that it should be financed and operated by Muslims, the Ottoman government raised between one-third and one-fourth of the total cost through contributions from its subjects and donations from Muslims around the world. The remainder was financed by the state.

As the Ottomans began to design and construct the railroad in 1900, they wanted to build the railroad without foreign assistance. Yet because all previous railroads and public utilities had been built and managed by foreigners, their experience was limited. Thus, the goals of speeding construction and limiting costs dictated the use of foreign assistance. Ottoman military officers, led by Mehmet Ali Paşa, supervised the initial engineering and construction, assisted by an Italian engineer, La Bella. But incompetent surveying, maltreatment of workers, and financial problems limited progress in the first six months of construction to the preparation of 12.5 miles (20 km) of earthwork for tracks. As pressure from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to speed up construction increased, Mehmet Ali Paşa was removed and court-martialed.

His successor, Kazim Paşa, de facto ceded Ottoman control over the technical aspects of construction to a German engineer, Heinrich Meissner. Meissner supplemented his largely foreign staff with Ottoman engineers trained in Europe. Ottoman soldiers pressed into service provided most of the labor force, though foreign workmen also were employed. The railroad reached Medina in August 1908. Over the next six years, facilities including storehouses, switching yards, and repair facilities were constructed.

Passenger service for the pilgrimage began in 1908. In 1914, operations included three weekly passenger trains from Damascus to Medina, and seven weekly trips from Damascus to Haifa. The run to Medina was scheduled to take fifty-six hours, although three days was average; the shorter run to Haifa was scheduled for eleven and a half hours.

During World War I, the Hijaz Railroad was central to the strategy of both the Ottoman army and the Arab army of Sharif Husayn ibn Ali that launched the Arab Revolt in 1916. For the Ottomans, a planned invasion of Egypt, defense of the Hijaz, and defense of southern Syria depended on control and extension of the railroad. Unable to confront 25,000 Ottoman troops directly, the Arab army directed raids against the railroad, disrupting service and wresting control of sections from the Ottomans. On 1 October 1918 the Ottoman Hijaz Railroad administration was replaced by an Arab general directorate.

See also abdÜlhamit ii; arab revolt (1916); husayn ibn ali.

Bibliography

Issawi, Charles. An Economic History of the Middle East and North Africa. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.

Ochsenwald, William. The Hijaz Railroad. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1980.

Owen, Roger. The Middle East in the World Economy, 1800–1914. London: Methuen, 1981.

Shaw, Stanford, and Shaw, Ezel Kural. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. 2: Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey, 1808–1975. Cambridge, U.K., and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

david waldner