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Mecca

Saudi Arabian city and capital of the Makkah province

40 dated entries naming Mecca, drawn from 35 separate years between 570 CE and 2024 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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6th century

  • 570Muhammad, Islamic prophet, is born in Mecca (today's Saudi Arabia). His father Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib dies a few months before his birth, so he and his mother Aminah bint Wahb are protected by Muhammad's paternal grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, who is recognized as the leading figure in his tribe, the Quraysh.source

7th century

  • 610Muhammad, Islamic prophet, begins at 40 years old to preach a religion which will be called Islam. According to Islamic teachings, the angel Gabriel appears to him in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca (Saudi Arabia) and calls him: "The Prophet of Allah". Muhammad gathers followers, reciting to them the first verses of Qur'an(Iqra), thus beginning the revelation of the Qur'an.source
  • 613Islam: Muhammad begins preaching in public. He spreads the message of Islam and encourages a personal devotion to God. Quraysh leaders of Mecca oppose any change in the traditional tribal and religious customs.source
  • 617Meccans begin a boycott of the Banu Hashim clan, to which Islamic prophet Muhammad belongs. A civil war begins in Medina.source
  • 621Islamic tradition says Muhammad visited heaven aboard the winged mount Buraq, in the Isra wal-Miraj, (the Night Journey), from Mecca to Jerusalem, then to heaven from Jerusalem's Temple Mount, then back to Mecca.source
  • 622September 9 or June 17 – The Islamic prophet Muhammad secretly leaves his home in Mecca to make the Hijrah (emigrate) to Yathrib (later renamed by him Medina), along with his companion Abu Bakr. They take refuge in the Cave of Thawr south of Mecca for three days, departing on September 13 or June 21.source
  • 624Zayd ibn Haritha, the Sahabi and military commander for Muhammad is sent on an expedition to Dhat Irq near Mecca. He then carries out the Al-Qarada raid of a caravan of Meccan merchants after discovering their trade route and captures more that 100,000 dirhams worth of goodssource
  • 624December 21 – A group of 1,000 Muslims from Mecca, led by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, sets out from Mecca to capture Medina, defended by the Banu Khazraj tribe, led by Abd Allah ibn Ubayy. The two forces will fight combat three months later, on March 23, 625, at the Battle of Uhud.source
  • 624February 11 – While praying in the Masjid al-Qiblatayn in Medina, the Islamic prophet Muhammad receives revelations from God on the qibla, the direction of prayer, that he should be facing Mecca rather than Jerusalem during prayer, beginning an Islamic tradition.source
  • 624January 26 – (29 Rajab 2 AH) The Raid on Nakhla, the first successful raid the Muslims of Medina, against the Quraysh tribe in Mecca, is carried out by Abd Allah ibn Jahsh, who leads the plunder of a caravan of supplies.source
  • 624March 13 – (17 Ramadah 2 AH) The Battle of Badr takes place in what is now Saudi Arabia as Muhammad and some 300 of his followers from Medina surprise a reinforced Meccan caravan at Badr (modern-day Saudi Arabia) returning from Syria, and defeat about 1,000 Quraysh from Mecca. After having heard that clan leader Abu Sufyan is escorting a rich trade caravan, Muhammad has the wells along its route (southwest of Medina) filled with sand in order to lure him into battle.source
  • 625March 19 – Battle of Uhud: Muhammad retreats against the inhabitants of Mecca (Saudi Arabia), which they consider a victory.source
  • 627March 31 – Battle of the Trench: Muhammad successfully withstands a siege for 27 days at Medina, by Meccan forces (10,000 men) under Abu Sufyan, whose allies, the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza, ultimately surrender to Muhammad.source
  • 628Muhammad, Islamic prophet, leads about 1,400 men on a pilgrimage to Mecca where their passage is blocked. The Quraysh tribe and the Muslim community in Medina sign a 10 year truce (Treaty of Hudaybiyyah).source
  • 630December 11 – Conquest of Mecca: A Muslim army (10,000 men) marches on Mecca, which surrenders. Muhammad takes the city from the Qurayshsource
  • 638Abu Musa al-Asha'ari, companion (sahabah) of Muhammad, establishes Hafar al-Batin, located in the northeastern region of the Arabian Peninsula. He orders the digging for new wells, along this desert route that Muslims travel from Iraq to Mecca for the Hajj (pilgrimage).source
  • 646Caliph Uthman ibn Affan founds the city of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) on the coast of the Red Sea. He establishes a port for Muslim pilgrims making the required Hajj to Mecca.source
  • 683September–November – Siege of Mecca: The Umayyad army led by Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni besieges Mecca, during which the Kaaba ("Sacred House") catches fire and is burned down.source

9th century

  • 802The Mecca Protocol: Caliph Harun al-Rashid and the leading officials of the Abbasid Caliphate perform the hajj to Mecca, where the line of succession is finalized. Harun's eldest son al-Amin is named heir, but his second son al-Ma'mun is named as al-Amin's heir, and ruler of a broadly autonomous Khurasan. A third son, al-Qasim, is added as third heir, and receives responsibility over the frontier areas with the Byzantine Empire.source
  • 875Muhammad II, emir of the Aghlabids, dies and is succeeded by his brother Ibrahim II. Towards the end of his reign, a caravan of pilgrims from Mecca introduces the plague in Ifriqiya (Tunisia).source

10th century

  • 924March – A group of 1,800 warriors of the Qarmatians of Bahrayn attack and destroy the returning Hajj caravans at al-Habir. Some of the more prominent pilgrims, who were returning to Baghdad from Mecca, are taken to Al-Ahsa Oasis to be held for ransom. The event leads to the downfall and execution of the Abbasid Caliphate's vizier, Ibn al-Furat.source
  • 930January 11 – Sack of Mecca: The Qarmatians, led by Abu Tahir al-Jannabi, sack Mecca, desecrating the Zamzam Well and carrying off the Black Stone to their homeland in Eastern Arabia.source
  • 966Ali al-Sulayhi, sultan of Yemen, Tihamah and Mecca (d. 1066)source

12th century

  • 1181Summer – Raynald of Châtillon, lord of Oultrejordain, raids Saladin's territory, reaching as far as Tabuk (modern Saudi Arabia) on the route between Damascus and Mecca. In November, Saladin sends an expedition under his nephew, Farrukh Shah, who invades Oultrejordain. Raynald of Châtillon is forced to withdraw home. Saladin complains to King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (the Leper) for breaking the treaty (see 1180) and demands compensation.source

14th century

  • 1315September 3 (3 Jumada II 715 AH) – Rumaythah ibn Abi Numayy, the former emir of Mecca, arrives at the court of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, al-Nasir Muhammad in Cairo. He receives pardon from the Sultan and seeks support against the new Emir, Humaydah ibn Abi Numayy, who had killed his brother and predecessor, Abu al-Ghayth. Al-Nasir sends Rumaythah back to Mecca with an Egyptian army. However, six days before the relief army's arrival, Humaydah pillages and burns the castle at Wadi Marr, and destroys 2,000 date palm trees.source
  • 1324July 19 – (26 Rajab 724 AH) Mansa Musa, the extraordinarily-wealthy Emperor of Africa's Mali Empire, arrives in Cairo after three days of camping by the pyramids of Giza, and brings with him a large entourage of fellow Muslim pilgrims and a vast supply of gold. Musa, who is making the pilgrimage to Mecca, meets with Egypt's Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad and stays in Cairo for three months before departing with the pilgrims on October 18.source
  • 1324October 18 – (28 Shawwal 724 AH) After he and his entourage of Muslim pilgrims have stayed in Cairo for three months, the Emperor Mansa Musa of Africa's Mali Empire resumes the group's pilgrimage to Meccasource
  • 1349The Black Death in England spreads to the north and a ship from England carries it to Askøy and Bjørgvin (modern-day Bergen) in Norway. The disease also breaks out in Mecca and is prevalent in the Île-de-France and the Kingdom of Navarre.source

15th century

  • 1426April 25 (17 Jumada II 829 AH) – Hasan ibn Ajlan, who has been allowed to leave Cairo after being appointed by the Egyptian Mamluk Sultan as the Emir of Mecca and paying the first installment of a fee of 30,000 dinars, dies on the way back to Mecca. The Sultan, Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Dīn Barsbāy, summons Hasan's sons Barakat ibn Hasan and Ibrahim ibn Hasan to Cairo to complete payment of the remaining 25,000 dinars owed.source
  • 1490Merchants carry coffee from Yemen to Mecca (approximate date).source

17th century

  • 1616February 18 - Preparing the declaration of independence from the colony of the Hashimi Empire, namely the Arya Bayu Kingdom by Khan Nasaruddin II, who was crowned in Mecca,Medina, and Isfahan.source

18th century

  • 1757October 24 (10 Safar 1171 A.H.) – 1757 Hajj caravan raid: Bedouin warriors of the Bani Sakher confederacy conduct a massive assault against a caravan of thousands of Muslim travelers who are on their way back to Damascus after the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The attack, made at Hallat Ammar after the group has been resupplied at Tabuk, leads to the annihilation of 20,000 of the pilgrims. Those who are not killed outright die later in the desert from thirst and starvation. According to one Arabic source, the largest attack takes place on October 24.source

20th century

  • 1924October 19 – Abdul Aziz, founder of Saudi Arabia, declares himself protector of holy places in Mecca.source
  • 1979November 20 – Grand Mosque seizure: A group of 200 Juhayman al-Otaybi militants occupy Mecca's Masjid al-Haram, the holiest place in Islam. They are driven out by Saudi military forces after bloody fighting that leaves 250 people dead and 600 wounded.source
  • 1980January 9 – In Saudi Arabia, 63 Islamist insurgents are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November 1979.source
  • 1987July 31 – Four hundred pilgrims are killed in clashes between demonstrating Iranian pilgrims and Saudi Arabian security forces in Mecca.source
  • 1990July 2 – 1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy: A stampede in a pedestrian tunnel leading to Mecca kills 1,426.source
  • 1997April 14 – Fire breaks out in a pilgrim camp on the Plain of Mena, 11 km mi from Mecca; 343 die.source

21st century

  • 2015September 24 – A stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca kills at least 2,200 people and injures more than 900 others, with more than 650 missing.source
  • 2024June 23 – 2024 Hajj disaster: More than 1,300 people are reported to have died due to extreme heat during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.source

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