Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem

Palestine, 1872–1917. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, also known as the Sanjak of Jerusalem, was a district in Ottoman Syria with special administrative status established in 1872. The district encompassed Jerusalem as well as Hebron, Jaffa, Gaza and Beersheba. Many documents during the Late Ottoman period refer to the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem as Palestine; one such describes Palestine as including the Sanjak of Nablus and Sanjak of Akka (Acre) as well, more in line with European usage. It was the seventh most heavily populated region of the Ottoman Empire's 36 provinces.

Seat of power: Jerusalem

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• The district was separated from the Damascus Eyalet and placed directly under the supervision of the Ottoman central government in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1841, and formally created as an independent province in 1872 by Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pasha.
• Scholars provide a variety of reasons for the separation, including increased European interest in the region, and strengthening of the southern border of the Empire against the Khedivate of Egypt.
• The breach in the wall was created in 1898 by the Ottoman authorities in order to allow German emperor Wilhelm II to enter the city triumphally.

Picture

Jaffa Gate is one of the seven main open gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Image: Herwig Reidlinger, CC BY-SA 3.0, file

Sources

• Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (Wikipedia)
• Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.