Oksuz, Mustafa2025-05-102025-05-1020222757-839910.52637/kiid.1181612https://doi.org/10.52637/kiid.1181612https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14720/10140Modern-day Beit Jala, which hosts a Christian and Muslim population, is a city located in Palestine, a region at the hearth of world politics. It is possible to find information about the past of the city in the archives of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region for four centuries. Various documents that have survived to the present day, especially cadastral surveys, muhimme and foundation registers and court records, contain important information about Beit Jala, which was a Christian village in the sixteenth century. Based on these sources, this study aims to contribute to the understanding of the historical aspect of today's Palestine issue. Beit Jala was administered as a village in the Jerusalem district of the Jerusalem Sanjak under the Ottoman administration in the sixteenth century. This village, where only the Christian population lived, had close relations with the city due to its location. The troubles that occurred in the region during the Ottoman-Mamluk conflict had a negative impact on this place. It is seen that the region entered into a recovery process with the measures taken after Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) ascended the throne. It is understood that the stable structure that was created began to shake after the death of this sultan and the population of the village decreased. Although the detailed cadastral record register dated 1005h/1596-97 of the reign of Mehmed III (1595-1603) provides some clues about positive developments in terms of population in the village, the thirty-four-year gap between this register and the previous record makes it difficult to make a definitive evaluation. When we look closely at Beit Jala in the first century of Ottoman rule, it is possible to understand that there were some administrative changes. Beit Jala, which formed a part of the financing of the Haremeyn charity of the Mamluk Sultan Kayitbay, had become a fully-fledged foundation village after Hurrem Sultan's allocation to the Imaret Foundation in Jerusalem. While this change tightened its connection with the city, the attention of both the administrators in the sanjak and the administrators in the capital was on this place since it became one of the sources that financed a prestigious project of the empire. Its stability, therefore, was naturally of great importance. Ultimately, this transformation made Beit Jala even more dependent on Jerusalem and started to turn the wheels of production for the city/foundation economy. The sources offer a wealth of information on the agricultural product here. It is seen that various agricultural activities related to olive production, beekeeping and goat breeding were also carried out in the village where various plants, especially wheat, barley, olive and viticulture, were cultivated. Taxes on crops have changed over the century, sometimes to produce more income. This was a sign that a flexible mode of production had been adopted by the villagers . They have updated themselves in this regard by closely following the changes and transformations in the market. Undoubtedly, the ecological conditions and the change/transformation that took place in the region played a major role in the adoption of this attitude. In addition to not being closed to the outside world, the residents of Beit Jala preferred to go and settle in Jerusalem over time. When the situation worsened and they were forced to leave the city, they returned to their villages. As a matter of fact, there are signs confirming this situation in the statements in the cadastral records. There is enough information in the court records regarding the adventures of the residents of the city. Considering the flexible agricultural activities of the Muslims in the village, it is understood that the villagers belonging to the Orthodox sect do not have religious fanaticism. The poll tax paid by the Christians increased over time, and the capitation rate was determined as 70 akche during the conquest, considering the interests of the people. After the improvement of the economic situation in the village, the amount was increased to 80 akche and this amount was kept for most of the century. Considering the financial situation of the state and the depreciation of the akche, the villagers were obliged to pay the jizya as 90 akche at the end of the sixteenth century. In terms of other taxes, especially the jizya, the imperial administrators did not adopt a taxing practice that harass the people and tried to prevent all the practices they deemed illegal.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessOttoman StatePalestineJerusalemBeit JalaChristiansArticle52N/AN/A3954131143853WOS:001247516000009