[2] Despite its lack of natural resources, the region had great political importance as the cradle of Islam and was a source of legitimacy for the Ottomans' rule.

The Hejaz was at the time, a Mamluk suzerainty and had relied on Egypt for grain imports, it was also under threat from an aggressive Portuguese navy in the Red Sea.

[2] Since the 1750s, Wahabi Muslims, a puritanical sect from the Najd region backed by the influential Al Saud family, began to pose a threat to the stability of the Hejaz.

In 1801, while the Ottoman Porte's attention was diverted to the French invasion of Egypt, the Wahhabis overpowered local Hejazi defences and captured the holy cities.

[11] The Wahhabis imposed their strict religious doctrines in the holy cities; the mentioning of the Sultan was forbidden during Friday sermons, officials from the four madhabs (schools of Islamic jurisprudence) were dismissed and replaced with Wahabbis.

In early 1807, the leader of the Wahhabi army Ibn Saud ordered the expulsion of all pilgrims and troops loyal to the Emir of Mecca, looting of the city later followed.

It was alleged that Ibn Saud banned pilgrim caravans that were accompanied with trumpets and drums, which were contrary to Wahhabi doctrines.

[11] The Ottoman government found itself unable to confront the Wahhabis, and gave the task of defeating them to the powerful Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt in 1809–1810.

The exact population of the Hejaz is impossible to determine, particularly because of the mobility of Bedouins and pilgrims, and also because of the inability of Ottoman authorities to conduct a census in Arabia.

[22] Bedouin tribes dominated the region, and Ottoman control over them was mostly indirect, appointing governors to Medina and Jeddah but allowing local rule elsewhere.

[4] The economy of the vilayet relied heavily on the annual Hajj and pilgrimage, where Muslims from all over the world travel to the cities of Mecca and Medina.

[24] Hejaz's primary exports were dates, henna, hides, Meccan balsam, gum, nacre and Zamzam water.

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had a negative impact on trading in Jeddah because steamships could dock at smaller ports such as Yenbo on the Red Sea coastline.