Depicting the Hajjah: Female Pilgrims from the Dutch East Indies in the Late 19th – Early 20th Century

The Islamic pilgrimage, the Hajj, is known as one of the biggest movement of people in the world. This annual event has long become the meeting point of Muslims from various places. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the face of hajj changed significantly due to the advance in technology, opening of transportation routes and involvement of colonial government in conducting the hajj. The number of hajj participants from the Dutch East Indies, which were also known as the haji jawa increased greatly, including the female pilgrims, which made up 20-30% of the total pilgrims from the region. This thesis puts gender and colonial perspective together to study the female pilgrims and hajjah from the Dutch East Indies in comparison to the male counterparts. This thesis addresses the issue of how the Dutch colonial government perceived the female pilgrims and hajjah from the Dutch East Indies, such as what kind of themes appeared in the depiction of female pilgrims in the archives,...Show moreThe Islamic pilgrimage, the Hajj, is known as one of the biggest movement of people in the world. This annual event has long become the meeting point of Muslims from various places. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the face of hajj changed significantly due to the advance in technology, opening of transportation routes and involvement of colonial government in conducting the hajj. The number of hajj participants from the Dutch East Indies, which were also known as the haji jawa increased greatly, including the female pilgrims, which made up 20-30% of the total pilgrims from the region. This thesis puts gender and colonial perspective together to study the female pilgrims and hajjah from the Dutch East Indies in comparison to the male counterparts. This thesis addresses the issue of how the Dutch colonial government perceived the female pilgrims and hajjah from the Dutch East Indies, such as what kind of themes appeared in the depiction of female pilgrims in the archives, where and when the female pilgrims were mentioned or not mentioned and why, and how it eventually relates to the production of knowledge about it. Contrary to the popular beliefs that the pilgrims were all male, there were many female pilgrims and many of them stayed in Mecca as moekimers. Women were mainly depicted as wife and companion, and victim of violence and slavery. They were underplayed in the archives and had never been under the spotlight in comparison to male pilgrims which were regarded as very important due to the possibility of being subversive and rebellious. The downplayed depiction of female pilgrims in the archives is continued until today in the historiography of hajj.Show less

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Depicting the Hajjah: Female Pilgrims from the Dutch East Indies in the Late 19th – Early 20th Century