Exquisite politeness veiled the Mughal Emperor’s rage. “Alms sent to Mecca by the refuge of authority, His Excellency Jalal-ud-Din Akbar, may God eternise him, are being distributed in the Haram sharif,” noted Murad bin-Selim, ruler of the Ottoman realms and custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. “You shall stop the distribution of alms by the aforementioned monarch,” he ordered. “You shall not permit those who have come from that side, whether the ladies of the above-mentioned monarch or others, to stay longer than required.” Evicted from Mecca in 1580, historian N.R. Farooqi recorded in 1996, and insulted by the governor...