The Position of the Hajj RThe Importance of Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī Balkhi’s Travelogue in the Study of the Hajj History and the Two Holy Shrines in the 5th Century

In Islamic civilization, travelogues are one of the most important sources for studying the history of the Hajj and the Two Holy Shrines. One of the most important of these travelogues was written by Nāsir Khusraw also known as the oldest and the most valuable travelogue in Persian. Nāsir Khusraw devoted a significant part of his travelogue to a detailed description of the social and civil status of the holy places of the Two Holy Shrines, especially the city of Mecca and the Holy Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām) in the 5th century AH. In this article, following a brief description of Nāsir Khusraw’s Hajj travel, various information about the Hajj and the Two Shrines, that his travelogue provides, are extracted and categorized into several subjects such as the description of Mecca and other areas of Ḥijāz, the description of the architecture of the Holy Mosque, the rare information about the holy places, the Hajj status and rituals, the difficulties of the Hajj travels, and the political history of Ḥijāz. The findings of this study show that in the absence of local histories about Mecca and Medina between the 4th and 6th  centuries, this travelogue is a first-hand source for studying the history of the Hajj and the Two Shrines especially in the 5th century AH.