Administrative origins and Ottoman conquest Before Ottoman rule, Safed was the capital of its own
mamlaka (province) of the
Cairo-based
Mamluk Sultanate. Administrative information about Mamlakat Safad derives mainly from two sources: the
qadi (Islamic head judge) of Safed in the 1370s, Shams al-Din al-Uthmani, and the Mamluk historian
al-Qalqashandi, who based much of his material about Mamlakat Safad on al-Uthmani's work. Travelers' accounts from the 15th century describe a general decline of the region around Safed precipitated by famine, plagues, natural disasters and political chaos, and the flight of peasants from their villages to the main towns or their adoption of nomadism. They bypassed the city, setting up camps at the Daughters of Jacob's Bridge,
Khan Jubb Yusuf,
Khan al-Minya and
Khan al-Tujjar, all located in the
mamlaka, before proceeding to conquer Mamluk Egypt.
Prosperity in early to mid-sixteenth century After its incorporation into the Ottoman Empire, Safed was reorganized into a
sanjak administratively part of the
Damascus Eyalet. The first known Ottoman land and tax survey in the sanjak was in 1525/26, followed by a second survey in 1538/39. The second survey shows substantial increases in the population and tax revenues, possibly a result of peasants returning to their villages and the stability brought by the early Ottoman rulers. In 1547–48, Safad Sanjak contained a total of 287 villages. In the 16th century, the Sudun clan of
Qana, who were Shia Muslims of purported
Circassian origins, and the Al Shukr of
Aynatha, a family of Shia
seyyeds (religious leaders), dominated the Bilad Bishara nahiya of the sanjak.
Ascendancy of the Druze The initial prosperity of the sanjak waned toward the end of the 16th century and remained in general decline, more or less extending until the 19th century. The native chronicler and
Hanafi mufti of Safed,
al-Khalidi al-Safadi (d. 1625), indicated in his writings that the closing years of the 16th century in the sanjak were marked by devastation and desolation, which is generally reflected in Ottoman government records. In 1602 the
Druze chieftain of the
Chouf-based
Ma'n dynasty and governor of Sidon-Beirut,
Fakhr al-Din II, was appointed governor of Safed. Fakhr al-Din had become an increasingly powerful figure in the region and at the time enjoyed support from the Ottoman government. He was tasked in Safed with controlling the Shia Muslim clans, who were generally viewed more negatively by the Sunni Ottomans than the Druze, and like the Druze and Bedouin of the region in general, were in a frequent state of rebellion through their stockpiling of muskets and refusal to pay taxes. Three years after Fakhr al-Din's appointment, the Ottomans commended him for "guarding the country, keeping the Bedouins in check, ensuring the welfare and tranquility of the population, promoting agriculture and increasing prosperity". Khalidi, who became Fakhr al-Din's adviser and practical court historian, also testified that Bedouin brigandage along the highways of the sanjak ceased under Fakhr al-Din, resulting in peace and security, and that agriculture was thriving anew. Around the same time, in 1617, the Shia Muslim clan of Munkar and the house of
El Assaad Family of Ali Al-Saghir emerged, along with Al Shukr, as opponents of the Ma'ns in Bilad Bishara. Ali al-Saghir and his brother Husayn, who traced their origins to an old, influential Shia Muslim tribe, eliminated the rival clans of Sudun in 1639 and Al Shukr in 1649, thereafter establishing their family as the sole leaders of the Shia Muslim clans across Jabal Amil, including the areas of Tibnin,
Hunin, Qana and Ma'araka. The following year, the Ali al-Saghir clan irked the authorities for not forwarding revenues from Tyre earmarked for a
waqf (religious trust) in Damascus.
Ahmad Ma'n died in 1697 without male progeny and the Ma'n tax farms in Sidon-Beirut Sanjak were transferred to Haydar Shihab by the Ottoman government. With the demise of the Ma'ns in the late 17th century, the Safad Sanjak also largely came under the control of the
Shihab dynasty. Taking control of Bilad Bishara, he granted it to his Druze deputy Mahmud Abu Harmush. The Saqr extended their protection to the
Banu Zaydan clan under its chief, whose name is not defined in the sources. Mansur died in 1702 and was succeeded as governor by Umar, who held the post until he died in 1706, the same year Bashir I died in Safed. In an effort to improve their position with the authorities, the Saqr invested in Umar al-Zaydani's son
Zahir al-Umar to serve as their representative. After twenty-five years of clashes and cooperation, Zahir and the Shia Muslim clans of Jabal Amil led by
Nassif al-Nassar of the Ali al-Saghir clan agreed a formal alliance making Zahir their official representative with the authorities in Sidon, overseeing their tax payments and agreeing to defend them against the Druze led by Mulhim Shihab in exchange for their military backing. Zahir fortified Acre and made it the capital of his expanding
sheikhdom and the center of his monopoly on the cotton trade from Palestine. Acre's practical dominance of the sanjak under Zahir, who ruled until his death in 1775, and his Ottoman-appointed successors
Jazzar Pasha (1775–1804),
Sulayman Pasha al-Adil (1805–1819) and
Abdullah Pasha (1820–1831) contributed to the political decline of Safed, which became a nahiya center with limited local influence, belonging to the
Acre Sanjak. ==References==