Archaeological findings indicate traces of
Crusader settlement in Beit Wazan in the 12th century CE.
Ottoman era Beit Wazan, like the rest of
Palestine, was incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the
census of 1596 the village appeared under the name
Bayt Awzan as being in the
Nahiya (Subdistrict) of
Jabal Qubal, part of
Nablus Sanjak. It had a population of 52 families and 4 bachelors, all
Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and bee-hives; vineyards and fruit trees, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 13,000
akçe. In the 17th century, members of the
Arab Bani Ghazi tribe migrated to Beit Wazan from
Transjordan. The Qasim branch of the tribe established itself at Beit Wazan, as well as
Deir Istiya, as their
throne village from which they exerted power in the
Jamma'in subdistrict of
Jabal Nablus. The village contained the Qasim clan's palace, built in 1820, and was heavily fortified. The chief of the clan in the early 19th century,
Qasim al-Ahmad, was the leading commander of the countrywide 1834
Peasants' Revolt in Palestine. When the Egyptian governor
Ibrahim Pasha defeated the rebels of Jabal Nablus, he had Beit Wazan destroyed. In 1838,
Edward Robinson noted it under the name of
Beit Uzin, part of the ''Jurat 'Amra'' district, south of Nablus. In 1870/1871 (1288
AH), an Ottoman census listed the village with a population of 41
households in the
nahiya (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Awwal, subordinate to Nablus. In 1882, the
PEF's
Survey of Western Palestine listed it as a village of the Jurat 'Amra subdistrict and called it
Beit Udhen (Uden or Uzen). They described it as "a village rather smaller than
Beit Iba, situated on the slope above it. It had a
well on the east side, and a spring on the hill-side to the west." The residents of the village established commercial ties with the 'Asi family of
Nablus in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The people of Beit Wazan would sell 'Asi merchants onions for their stores in Nablus and the 'Asi would aid the people of Beit Wazan with commercial transactions in the city by negotiating prices down for goods, ranging from textile to
copperware.
British Mandate era Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Palestine in 1917, the sheikhs living in the Qasim Palace abandoned it and moved to Nablus. The palace suffered severe damage as a result of the
1927 Jericho earthquake. It remained abandoned, although still owned by members of the Qasim clan. It is currently leased by the
An-Najah National University of Nablus. In the
1922 census of Palestine, during
British Mandatory rule, Beit Wazan had a population of 270
Muslims, decreasing slightly to 253 in the
1931 census. In a
1945 land survey, the village had 310 inhabitants, all Muslims, with 3,711
dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 730 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,864 used for cereals, while 22 dunams were built-up land.
Jordanian era In the wake of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the
1949 Armistice Agreements, Beit Wazan came under
Jordanian rule. In 1961, the population of Beit Wazan was 372 persons.
Post 1967 Since the
Six-Day War in 1967, Beit Wazan has been held under
Israeli occupation. After the
1995 accords, 81% of the village land was classified as
Area A, while the remaining 19% was classified as
Area B. In 1997, a village council was established in Beit Wazan to administer local civil affairs. It operates in cooperation with the Joint Organizing Committee, which also includes the village councils of Beit Iba and
Zawata. In 2003, the Qasim Palace was renovated and was used by the university as its Urban and Regional Development Center. In the 2007 census, the village had a population 1,057 (518 males, 539 females) living in 207 households. The average family size was five members. The two largest families in Beit Wazan today are the Abu Eisheh and Abd al-Haq families. == Demography ==