Gaza Sanjak

Gaza Sanjak (Arabic: سنجق غزة), known in Arabic as Bilād Ghazza (the Land of Gaza), was a sanjak of the Damascus Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire centered in Gaza, and spread northwards up to the Nahr al-‘Awja/the Yarkon River. In the 16th century it was divided into nawahi (singular: nahiya; third-level subdivisions): Gaza in the south and Ramla in the north along the Nahr Rūbīn/Wādī al-Ṣarār.^[1]

Gaza Sanjak سنجق غزة
sanjak of the Ottoman Empire
1516–1916
Coat of arms
Capital	Gaza
History
• Ottoman Empire captured Syria	1516
• Sykes–Picot Agreement	16 May

Gaza Sanjak "formed a passageway connecting Egypt and the Levant, precipitating bi-directional trade, conquest and population movements". Situated in the southern part of the Levantine coastal plain, Gaza Sanjak received less precipitation and was more prone to drought and nomadic incursion than more northerly regions.^[2]

Marom and Taxel have shown that during the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, nomadic economic and security pressures led to settlement abandonment around Majdal ‘Asqalān, and the southern coastal plain in general. The population of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, while the lands of abandoned settlements continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages.^[2] Overall, during the 17th century, about half of all inhabited sites in the District of Gaza were abandoned.^[3]

By 1800 settlement in the district expanded again. Migrations from Egypt, improved transportation and security conditions, and land reform led to the repopulation of deserted villages with the encouragement of the Ottoman authorities.^[3]

The Ottoman census of 1871 (1288 AH) documented the Gaza District as consisting of 55 settlements, including villages and towns. These were organized into the sub-districts of al-Majdal, Gaza, and Khan Yunis. The rural population throughout this district was uniformly Sunni Muslim, adhering to the Shāfi‘ī school of Islamic jurisprudence.^[4]

List of settlements (1596)

In the 1596 daftar, the sanjak contained the following nahiyah and villages/town

Gaza Nahiyah

• Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya,^[5] Bayt Tima,^[5] Hamama,^[5] Al-Tina,^[6] Yibna,^[6] Isdud,^[6] Arab Suqrir,^[6] Deir al-Balah,^[7] Burayr,^[7] Jabalia,^[7] Beit Lahia,^[7] Al-Majdal, Askalan,^[7] Bayt 'Affa,^[7] Najd,^[7] Ni'ilya,^[7] Bayt Jirja,^[8] Hiribya,^[8] Qatra,^[8] Iraq Suwaydan,^[8] Kawkaba,^[8] Beit Jimal Monastery,^[8] Al-Batani al-Sharqi,^[8] Al-Qubayba,^[9] Al-Faluja,^[9] Bayt Daras,^[9] Al-Maghar,^[9] Hatta,^[10] Jusayr,^[10] Zikrin,^[10] Zayta,^[10] Barqa,^[10] Beit Hanoun,^[10] Dayr Sunayd,^[10] Simsim,^[10] Al-Jaladiyya,^[11] 'Ajjur,^[11] Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya,^[12] Julis,^[12] Karatiyya,^[12] Bayt Jibrin,^[12] Iraq al-Manshiyya,^[12] Qastina,^[12] Ibdis,^[12] Idnibba,^[13] Jilya,^[13] Rafah,^[13] Al-Jura,^[13] Tell es-Safi,^[13] Abasan al-Kabera,^[13] Al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya,^[14] Summil,^[14] Barbara,^[14] Al-Muharraqa,^[14] Mughallis,^[14] Yasur^[14]

Ramla Nahiyah

• Qula,^[14] Dayr Tarif,^[14] Jaffa,^[14] Jimzu,^[15] Kharruba,^[15] Barfiliya,^[15] Sarafand al-Amar,^[15] Artuf,^[15] Bayt Susin,^[15] Islin,^[15] Al-Khayriyya,^[16] Khulda,^[16] Al-Tira,^[16] Dayr Ayyub,^[16] Qibya,^[16] Bayt Nabala,^[16] Budrus,^[16] Bnei Brak,^[16] Imwas,^[16] Aqir,^[16] Deir Qaddis,^[17] Yalo,^[17] al-Midya,^[17] Shuqba,^[17] Salama,^[17] Sar'a,^[17] Saqiya,^[17] Lod,^[17] Jisr Jindas,^[18] Bayt Dajan,^[18] Al-Safiriyya,^[18] Al-'Abbasiyya,^[18] Yazur,^[18] Innaba,^[18] Rantiya,^[18] Bir Ma'in,^[18] Bayt Shanna,^[18] Ni'lin,^[18] Kharbatha Bani Harith,^[18] Kasla,^[18] Aboud,^[19] Beit Sira,^[19] Kafr 'Ana^[19]