Cholera Changed Mecca Forever | Michael Christopher Low

In this episode of the afikra podcast, Professor Michael Christoper Low - director of the Middle East Center at The University of Utah - explains how Mecca and its burgeoning influx of pilgrims from around the world - transported by the recently invented steamships - became ground zero for cholera. He maps out how this situated the Hejaz within broader colonial interests. We reflect on perceptions and understandings of Mecca - placing it in a "trans-imperial" space - and Michael underscores that to understand the Arabian Peninsula we need to go beyond studying the Middle East and include the Indian Ocean and British Empire.
0:00 Introduction
2:11 Michael's Background
5:33 Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and Indian Ocean Hajj
6:45 Colonial Fear of Cholera and Hajj
20:02 Quarantine Stations in the 1860s: Kamaran Island
26:09 How Did Cholera Spread & What Happened to the Corpses?
33:19 Place of Cholera in the Hashemite’s History
36:26 Mecca as a Trans-Imperial Space
41:40 Mecca’s Identity & Connections to Caucuses & African Continent
51:43 Jeddah’s Population Between 1950s and the Present
56:29 Perceptions of Mecca & Sovereignty
Michael Christopher Low received his PhD from Columbia University in 2015. He is the director of the University of Utah's Middle East Center and his primary research and teaching interests include the Ottoman Empire, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Ocean world, and environmental history. He is the author of Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj (Columbia University Press, 2020) which in 2021 won the Middle East Studies Association’s Albert Hourani Book Award.
Connect with Michael 👉 / mchrislow
Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 spoti.fi/47I59ns
Hosted by:
Mikey Muhanna 👉 / mikey_mu
FOLLOW & RATE THE AFIKRA PODCAST:
» Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/lb/podcast...
» Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/5nafoF1...
» Anghami: play.anghami.com/podcast/1014...
THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK
Explore all episodes in this series: • 🎙️ The afikra Podcast
ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region - past, present and future - through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: / afikra_
🔗 Facebook: / afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: / afikra
#Mecca #Cholera #Pandemics #History #afikraPodcastNetwork

[@mohammedsadiq6291]

Very interesting and relevant in our post pandemic era. Thank you for sharing

[@afikra]

Our pleasure! We're glad you found it interesting.

[@altaf1395]

It would be good to have a similar exploration of pre colonial hajj and umrah

[@corolla2rollerfk681]

Really interesting stuff!

[@afikra]

Glad you liked it!

[@altaf1395]

Very interesting information, I know that neither the Ottoman Sultans nor the Mughal Emperors ever did Hajj even though they spent to upgrade and invest in the holy cities.