Hajj-Nameh and Expanding the Boundaries of Hajj Studies

This article is a selected note made about the book “Hajj-Nameh”, a compilation of priceless past documents that was recently published in a folio and was made accessible in book markets. There have been many changes in the Hajj pilgrimage in the past and now. This article provides the readers with some information about these changes. For instance, to carry out the Hajj pilgrimage by a person on behalf of another (agency), an oral contract was common between “the pilgrim” and “the agent” and occasionally it was being written to be the basis of trust in the agent. Also, the managers of Hajj caravans and the sea and land transportation businesses were running advertisements to attract more pilgrims to their establishments, as described in the book’s last chapter. Contracts were also being made for things like making wills, letter-writing, hiring one to serve multiple pilgrims, renting a howdah to pilgrims, welcoming pilgrims, and so on.