The winter of 1472-3 was exceedingly severe, and the rains so incessant that the foundations of the buildings were, in many instances, undermined; three hundred and sixty houses are said to have fallen down from this cause, but one woman, who was buried in the ruins of her dwelling, was the only person killed.
About the end of the year 1475 the Sultan himself, El Ashraf Catibái, performed the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on his return from Mecca. Immediately upon his arrival in the city he held a court, on which occasion the inhabitants crowded round him to present petitions against the Viceroy, whom they accused of all manner of injustice and oppression. The chief Cádhí was also included in the indictment, as having given corrupt decisions in the interests of the governor. The latter purchased immunity by paying off upon the spot all claims that were made against him, and was retained in his office by the Sultan, who, however, intimated that if a single complaint were again made he would have him cut in halves. The Cádhí narrowly escaped corporal punishment, and was dismissed ignominiously from his office, and compelled to leave the city.
In May, 1476, orders came from the Sultan to arrest all the Christians connected with the Churches of the Holy Sepulchre, Sion and Bethlehem, in revenge for the capture of four Muslims by the Franks at Alexandria. The orders were executed, but we are not told what became of the prisoners. Towards the end of 1477 the plague, which had been raging for some time in Syria, reached Jerusalem, and lasted for more than six months, causing a terrible mortality.
In 1480 a great disturbance took place in Jerusalem in consequence of the governor having imprisoned and put to death some Bedawín of the Bení Zeid tribe. A crowd of ferocious Arabs bore down upon Jerusalem determined to revenge the death of their comrades, and the governor, who was riding outside the city at the time of their arrival, narrowly escaped falling into their hands. Setting spurs to his horse he dashed through the Báb el Esbát, rode across the courtyard of the Mosque, and escaped through the Báb el Magháribeh. The Bedawín swarmed in after him with drawn swords, utterly regardless of the sacred character of the place. Finding that their victim had escaped they followed the method adopted on similar occasions by European agitators, broke into the houses and shops of the neighbourhood and plundered all that they could lay their hands on, and then broke open the jail and let loose the prisoners.
In 1481 a number of architects and workmen were sent to Jerusalem by the Sultan to repair the Haram, and to rebuild the various colleges which had fallen into decay. In 1482 a messenger arrived bearing the Sultan’s order that the Christians were to be permitted to take possession once more of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and exhibit therein the customary Easter pyrotechnic display. The order was at first disputed by the Muslim officials, but as the commissioner threatened to indict them for contempt of authority they were obliged to give way.
In 1491, Jerusalem was again visited by the plague; at first from thirty to forty people died of it daily, but in a little time the average rate of mortality was increased to a hundred and thirty.
The winter of this year was very severe, and a snowstorm occurred, which lasted several days, and lay upon the ground to the depth of three feet, greatly incommoding and frightening the inhabitants. When it began to melt, the foundations of many of the houses gave way, and serious disasters were the result.
Mejír-ed-dín’s history of this period is very diffuse, and is chiefly devoted to an account of the various Cádhís, and other religious or legal functionaries in Jerusalem. But the ascendency of the Shafiite or Hanefite doctrines, or the intense devotion of an old gentleman who had learned a whole commentary upon the Coran by heart, are not subjects of much general interest; we have, therefore, confined ourselves to stating the few facts above detailed.
We ought, perhaps, to include in our list of Mohammedan pilgrims those from whom all our information is gleaned,—Ibn ‘Asáker, and the later Arabic writers who have written on the subject; their names, however, and the names of their books, although of high authority to the Oriental scholar, could have but little weight with the English reader.