EN
The Hashemites - the family claiming its origins from Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, and her older son, Hassan, as their prime male ancestor, has played an important role within the Ottoman Empire. Since the 10th century, the head of the family had always resided in Mecca and governed the city as the Sharif of Mecca, taking care and protecting pilgrims. The paper presents some views on the Hashemites in the period of the late Ottoman Empire, 1908-1925. In that period, the Hashemites are seen as intermediary between traditional tribal structures and Turks, as well as between the Arab national movement and Great Britain. The author aims to highlight certain aspects of the political line pursued by the Hashemites, and analyses possible motives and reasons of changes in that politics. He claims that the real motivation of the Hashemites which drove them to make political decisions would be rather that of desire to capture and fight for the caliphate than an idea of pan-Arabism. The paper bases on analysis of the memoirs of Abdullah ibn Hussein, an important member of the Hashemite clan of those days. This source seems to be especially valuable as regards explanations of the clan's motivations. It can, however - as the author notes - be considered as a one-sided.