Sharifian Army

The Sharifian Army was the military force behind the Arab Revolt which was a part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. Sharif Husayn ibn 'Ali led the Sharifian Army in a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire with the ultimate goal of uniting the Arab people under an independent government. Aided both financially and militarily by the British, Husayn's forces gradually moved north through the Hijaz and, fought alongside the British-controlled Egyptian Expeditionary Force, eventually taking Damascus. Once there, members of the Sharifian Army set up a short-lived monarchy led by Faysal, a son of Sharif Husayn.

For centuries in the Hijaz, the western region of Arabia where the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina are located, power was strongly centralized in the hands of the family of the sharif. Members of this family, as descendents of the Prophet Muhammad, were called Hashemites in English. Unlike many areas of the Ottoman Empire, there were few competing political influences among the urban elite. The tribal chieftains served as intermediaries between their tribes and the sharif but rarely challenged his authority. The sharif's lone political rival was the Ottoman vali (governor) of the region, who was responsible for ensuring Ottoman sovereignty over the region. A power struggle existed between the sharif and the vali; the authority to make decisions switched back and forth between the two over time. As a whole, the political climate left a large amount of influence in the hands of the sharif and in the early years of the twentieth century this was Sharif Husayn.

Dissatisfied with his limited power, Sharif Husayn began discussions with tribal leaders in the region, Arab nationalists, and the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon. Husayn knew that many Muslims believed that the Sharif of Mecca was the rightful claimant to the caliphate, which was currently held by the family of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottomans. The British support that was pledged in the Husayn-McMahon Correspondence caused Husayn to emerge from these talks with a strengthened belief of his right to claim both the caliphate and sovereignty over Arab land. Furthermore, and more importantly, the promises made by the British to Husayn in the Husayn-McMahon Correspondence of 1915 and 1916 led Husayn to think that if he were to lead a successful revolt against the Ottomans, the British would help him establish an Arab Caliphate encompassing most of the Arabian Peninsula stretching as far north as present-day Turkey. Although the British could not promise a few districts that they had already pledged to give the French, the pieces seemed to be falling into place for Sharif Husayn, and he prepared to launch the Arab Revolt.

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