HEDJAZ or HEJAZ, a kingdom of Arabia, situated on the N. E. coast of the Red Sea, extending from the Gulf of Akabah to about the parallel of 20* N. and to the Nafud Desert on the E. The area is about 96,500 miles, and con sists largely of sand with little vegeta tion. The land slopes to the N. with the Tehema Mountains in the center ris ing to a height of 6,000 feet. Bedouins compose the population which is esti mated at about 300,000. The chief cen ters of population are the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, and Jeddah which is the principal port. A railway line, to be known as the Medina-Mecca-Jeddah line, was in the course of construction by the Hejaz Railway Company when the war broke out. The region was under nominal Turkish sovereignty, but in 1917 the Arabs, with the aid of the British, revolted against Turkish rule. The immediate occasion of the rising was the strengthening of the Turkish garrison at Medina by 3,000 picked troops, which the Sheerif of Mecca opposed. By inherited right, acknowl edged by the Turks for more than two hundred years, he exercised an authority in the Hedjaz both political and re ligious. But it was feared that Arabia was to be brought under complete Turk ish sovereignty In June, 1917, the dis content among the Arabs and Bedouins come to a head. The Turks held Mecca by means of forts and fortified bar racks. These were besieged by the Sheerif and his troops. The garrison opened fire upon the city with their guns and even the Great Mosque was damaged. After being beleaguered for a month the Turks in Mecca capitulated. Then the revolt spread to the coast. At Taif the Arabs besieged and took prisoners Ghabil Pasha, the Governor-General of the Hedjaz, and 3,000 Turkish regulars. Next, with British aid in the form of arms and munitions, they cut off Medina.
It was not possible to storm the city, which was held by some 14,000 men and was strongly fortified. But it was block aded, and the blockade kept up until the end of the war. In the meantime Arab forces moved N. against Maan. The Turks sent the re-enforcements from Constantinople and Damascus. The hos tile movements of the Bedouins proved of value to the British as a means of withdrawing Turkish forces from the front in Palestine and in Mesopotamia, and every effort was made through British diplomacy to add to the unrest among them. The rising in the Hedjaz al most synchronized with the British entry into Palestine, and the two events caused much alarm among the Turkish leaders. Against General Allenby in Syria on the coast sector was the 8th Turkish army, Von Kraasenstein in command; N. of Jerusalem the 7th Turk ish army, under Fevri Pasha; and E. of Jordan, based upon Ammam, the 4th Turkish army. It was the last army which was concerned in resisting the advance N. of the Arabs of the Hedjaz, and its difficulties were great. The Arabs were not slow to perceive the difficulty of the Turkish position and they continued their operations, winning minor successes as the Turkish diffi culties increased, and receiving from the British all the aid that could be given them. Before the Turkish collapse the Hedjaz had been cleared largely of Turk ish troops and the Arabs had been in stalled in the garrisons at Mecca and Medina. Following the downfall of the Turks the independence of the Hedjaz was proclaimed by the Arabs and was guaranteed by the Treaty with Turkey. The Emir Hussein assumed the title of king in Nov., 1916.