According to ancient tradition each year skilled Egyptian craftsmen made the Kiswah, the tapestry which was to cover the Ka'aba in the Grand Mosque in Makkah during the Hajj. The great black cloth, interwoven with gold, was made in Egypt and brought to Makkah in an ornate litter (the Mahmal), accompanied by Egyptian soldiers and a band of buglers.
The arrival of the bright and noisy caravan in Makkah proved too much for the austere Ikhwan to bear. Outraged, they threw themselves on the convoy and, in the ensuing conflict, a number of people were killed. Only the timely arrival of Ibn Saud or, according to other accounts, Prince Faisal, Ibn Saud's son, prevented further bloodshed.
