A LAND WITH A PEOPLE: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF JERUSALEM AND NABLUS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Paul F. Horton B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1989 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts in the Department of History O Paul F. Horton 1993 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY January 1993 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME: Paul F. Horton DEGREE: TITLE OF THESIS: A Land with a People: The Political Economy of Jerusalem and Nablus in the Nineteenth Century EXAMINING COMMITTEE: CHAIR: J. I. Little William Cleveland, ~rofes'sor Department of History - - John Spagnolo, ~~so&tech.ofessor- Department of History -- - Derryl MacLean, Associate Professor Department of History Hani Faris, ~esearch~<soaate - Institute of Apwi7GZh British Columbia (Exa DATE: 27 Janaury 1993 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay A LAND WITH A PEOPLE: The Political Economy of Jerusalem and Nablus in the Nineteenth Century Author: .. / (signature) Paul F. Horton - - -- (name) Abstract The historiography of modem Palestine is largely confined to studies of the period of the first Zionist aliyah onward. This approach has two inherent shortcomings: the history of Palestine becomes little more than an addendum to the history of Zionist colonization, and, minimal attention is given to the origins of the so-called 'traditional' Palestinian Arab elites. The works which do concern themselves with the earlier part of the nineteenth century do so for shorter periods, rather than examining the social, political, and economic development of Palestine throughout the entire century. Moreover, there is a tendency to impose stubbornly held generalizations about the Middle East as a whole onto Palestine, taking little or no account of the unique features of Palestine in the late Ottoman era. This thesis attempts to address some of the neglected areas in the historiography of Palestine for the 'long' nineteenth century. Through the study of Jerusalem and Nablus, and more specifically of the most important families of notables, the present work hopes to provide a clearer picture of crucial social, political, and economic developments in Palestine over the entire period. Chapter one first traces the origins of the Husayni, Khalidi, Nashashibi, 'Abd al-Hadi, and Tuqan families and then examines their fortunes during the first half of the nineteenth century. Chapter two examines the Palestinian notables' response to the new bureaucratic and administrative structures of the Tanzimat and Hamidian periods. Chapter three, concentrating on awqaf, land tenure, soap production, and citriculture, examines the economic development of Palestine in the nineteenth century. In examining the most important notable families of Jerusalem and Nablus and their role in the economic development of Palestine, this thesis establishes a number of points regarding commonly held generalizations on or about Palestine in the nineteenth century. Firstly, certain of the so-called traditional political leaders of Palestine were in fact relatively new to positions of prominence. Secondly, the notables of Palestine continued to prosper in the changing administrative climate of the nineteenth century, while becoming the willing agents of Istanbul's policy of centralization. Lastly, the economy of Palestine was not moribund prior to the arrival of Zionist colonizers, nor was it ever totally incorporated into the world economy. This thesis is based on relevant primary sources in the British Foreign Office Confidential Prints FO 424 and Arab Bureau Papers FO 882, on contemporary European accounts and a wide range of secondary published and unpublished sources, including the most recent historical scholarship. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Robert Norman Holt. Acknowledgments I would like to offer my gratitude to Dr. William L. Cleveland and Dr. John P. Spagnolo for the assistance and encouragement they have offered through the course of two degrees. It was they who first introduced me to the study of the Middle East six years ago and who have, since that time, shown the patience of saints when confronted by my various peccadillos. I would also like to express my appreciation to the various students I have had the pleasure to work with during my time at Simon Fraser University. In particular I would like to thank Michael James Peter Joseph Quilty, I'm sure if he ever hears another thing about soap or oranges he will never go near either for the rest of his life. Finally, I would like to thank the support staff of the History Department at Simon Fraser University, three Js, an M and a D, for their assistance, patience, and wit, which made my stay all the more pleasurable. Table of Contents .. Approval............ -. ............................................................................................... 11 ... Abstract................................................................................................................... 111 Dedication................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgments................................................................................................. vi ... Introduction ........ .. ......................................................................................... VIII I . Notable Power in a Changing Environment........................................ .. .... 1 . Origins of the Five Families................................................................... 3 . Family Consolidation in the Early Nineteenth Century................ 11 . The Egyptian Period in Palestine. .... ................................................... 17 . The Return of Ottoman Power to Palestine..................................... 22 / I1 . Adaptation and Manipulation under the Ottomans............ .. ......... 29 . The CIVICCouncils .................................................................................. 30 t . Education and Adaptation...................................................................... 45 ,. 111 . The Fruits of Power.................................................................................... 52 . Urban and Rural Land Accumulation.................................................. 53 Soap Production and Citriculture......................................................... 66 Conclusion............................................................................................................ 84 References.............................................................................................................. 91 vii Introduction The historiography of modern Palestinel is largely confined to studies dating from the first Zionist aliyah of 1882 forward.2 The works which do concern themselves with the pre-1882 era are very narrowly focused, and do not examine the social, political, and economic development of Palestine throughout the entirety of the nineteenth century. Moreover, many of the works which do concern themselves with nineteenth century Palestine exhibit a tendency to impose stubbornly held generalizations concerning the entirety of the Middle East onto Palestine, taking little to no account of the unique features of Palestine in the late Ottoman era. This thesis offers a tentative beginning of the restoration of Arab Palestine to its rightful place within the historiography of the Mashriq in the nineteenth century. Through the examination of Jerusalem and Nablus over the course of the nineteenth century, this thesis shows that the history of these two cities did differ from others in the region, and in fact, from each other. Such an examination serves to refute the stubborn Orientalist tradition which seeks to compress a highly heterogeneous entity, the Islamic world in general, and more specifically the Middle East -- the "Other" -- into a comfortable, uniform whole. Little account has been taken of the diversity which existed within the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The corpus of literature on the Arab l~ithinthe context of this thesis Palestine is taken to mean the geographic area contained within the borders of British mandatory Palestine. Commenting on this phenomenon, Beshara Doumani notes that "Israeli academics, and ironically, their Palestinian counterparts who sought to rebut them, generally assume that the real history of Palestine did not begin until after the first aliyeh or wave of Zionist immigration in 1882." Beshara Doumani, "Merchants, Socioeconomic Change and the State in Ottoman Palestine: The Nablus Region, 1800-1860," Ph. D., Georgetown University, 1990, p. 10. viii provinces does stress the difference between Damascus and Beirut, yet these differences are most often attributed to the