Paper short abstract:

This paper examines gender dynamics of the hajj pilgrimage in the early twentieth century, specifically among women from the Malay-Indonesian archipelago.

Paper long abstract:

In the turning of the twentieth-century, the female pilgrims from the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) who were called as the Jawah women in the colonial records, grew in numbers and made up almost 30% of the total pilgrims from the region. This increased participation was a result of better maritime technology and routes, as well as the involvement of the colonial government in the management of the Hajj in the late nineteenth-century, which brought changes in the practice of Hajj pilgrimage, including among the women.

This paper examines gender dynamic as a consequence of these changes, by proposing questions such as; how did gender play a role in the cross-border movement like hajj? What spaces did women come to dwell in the hajj practices in the early twentieth century? How did female spaces differ across different regions?

Some important figures like the female muthawifs, which was a novel profession in the early twentieth century, will be highlighted. Other figures like female teachers and female sellers catering the needs of the growing female pilgrims are also the focus of the discussion.

This paper will contribute a new point of view to the historiography and the study of hajj in general.