3 - The Changing Faces of Jeddah

Summary

Chapter 3 examines the changing population of Jeddah by drawing on exemplary migration histories, reconstructed on the basis of (often oral) family histories. The chapter shows the variety of origins and different ways in which individuals managed to establish themselves in the city, both economically and politically. While precise historical dates are often unavailable, the chapter attempts to trace when specific groups, such as West Africans fleeing French expansion in sub-Saharan Africa, had particular incentives to migrate to the Hijaz. Special attention is given to the slave trade and the ways in which male and female slaves, and notably their descendants, were integrated into households.