Cholera Changed Mecca Forever | Michael Christopher Low

In this episode of the afikra podcast, Professor Michael Christoper Low – director of the Middle East Center at The University of Utah – explains how Mecca and its burgeoning influx of pilgrims from around the world — transported by the recently invented steamships — became ground zero for cholera. He maps out how this situated the Hejaz within broader colonial interests. We reflect on perceptions and understandings of Mecca — placing it in a "trans-imperial" space — and Michael underscores that to understand the Arabian Peninsula we need to go beyond studying the Middle East and include the Indian Ocean and British Empire.