Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca
Sharif Hussein of Mecca led the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans and lost everything he had been promised. Born in Istanbul around 1854 into the Hashemite family, which claimed descent from the Prophet and had held the guardianship of Mecca for centuries, he was kept in the Ottoman capital as a virtual hostage for eighteen years before being appointed Sharif of Mecca in 1908. The Young Turk government's centralisation and the Hejaz railway threatened his autonomy, and he opened negotiations with the British in Cairo. The McMahon-Hussein correspondence of 1915-16 is the origin of a century of dispute. Britain, needing to divert Ottoman forces and to counter the sultan's declaration of jihad, indicated support for Arab independence in a large area, with reservations expressed in language vague enough to be read several ways. He proclaimed the revolt in June 1916. Arab forces under his sons Faisal and Abdullah, with T. E. Lawrence attached, took Aqaba, cut the railway repeatedly, and tied down substantial Ottoman garrisons while advancing north to Damascus with Allenby. Britain had meanwhile agreed the Sykes-Picot partition with France in 1916 and issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917. The settlement gave France Syria, from which Faisal was expelled in 1920, and gave Britain mandates in Iraq and Palestine. Faisal was compensated with Iraq and Abdullah with Transjordan. Hussein declared himself caliph in 1924 after Atatürk abolished the office, and was attacked by Ibn Saud, losing the Hejaz within a year. He abdicated and died in exile in 1931.
- Lived: 1854 CE – 1931 CE
- Nationality: Arab
- Roles: ruler, revolt_leader
