Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem

The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem , also known as the <a href="/facts/Sanjak_of_Jerusalem/T0Qo524j">Sanjak of Jerusalem</a>, was a district in <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Syria/rFP3TE2N">Ottoman Syria</a> with special administrative status established in 1872. The district encompassed <a href="/facts/Jerusalem/PKJ8LT0Y">Jerusalem</a> as well as <a href="/facts/Hebron/FlKSDvJS">Hebron</a>, <a href="/facts/Jaffa/BFjHzofX">Jaffa</a>, <a href="/facts/Gaza_City/4mmNgFq6">Gaza</a> and <a href="/facts/Beersheba/dKXzMLaC">Beersheba</a>. Many documents during the <a href="/facts/Late_Ottoman_period/4xqmxcuk">Late Ottoman period</a>, refer to the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem as Palestine;. One such describes Palestine as including the <a href="/facts/Nablus_Sanjak/ABwa3TnX">Sanjak of Nablus</a> and <a href="/facts/Acre_Sanjak/LvU91DI2">Sanjak of Akka (Acre)</a> as well, more in line with European usage. It was the 7th most <a href="/facts/Population_density/70zGTCFc">heavily populated</a> region of the <a href="/facts/Administrative_divisions_of_the_Ottoman_Empire/UbGQuB0I">Ottoman Empire's 36 provinces</a>.
The district was separated from the <a href="/facts/Damascus_Eyalet/5FpX8VXR">Damascus Eyalet</a> and placed directly under the supervision of the <a href="/facts/Sublime_Porte/fGobAwAd">Ottoman central government</a> in <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Constantinople/a6Df1sRG">Constantinople</a> (now <a href="/facts/Istanbul/Xo1hzGWH">Istanbul</a>) in 1841, and formally created as an independent province in 1872 by <a href="/facts/List_of_Ottoman_grand_viziers/gaRwpe1q">Grand Vizier</a> <a href="/facts/Mahmud_Nedim_Pasha/fFaR6RH1">Mahmud Nedim Pasha</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Khedivate_of_Egypt/nrRH0px9">Khedivate of Egypt</a>. Initially, the <a href="/facts/Acre_Sanjak/LvU91DI2">Mutasarrifate of Acre</a> and <a href="/facts/Nablus_Sanjak/ABwa3TnX">Mutasarrifate of Nablus</a> were combined with the province of Jerusalem, with the combined province being referred to in the register of the court of Jerusalem as the "Jerusalem <a href="/facts/Eyalet/1fe45cCd">Eyalet</a>", and referred to by the British consul as the creation of "<a href="/facts/Palestine_(region)/HxMSPazK">Palestine</a> into a separate eyalet". After less than two months, the sanjaks of Nablus and Acre were separated and added to the <a href="/facts/Beirut_vilayet/IbkSEvQj">Vilayet of Beirut</a>, leaving just the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem. In 1906, the <a href="/facts/Nazareth/hfzpLR1I">Kaza of Nazareth</a> was added to the Jerusalem Mutasarrifate as an <a href="/facts/Enclave_and_exclave/AFKB4LW6">exclave</a>, primarily in order to allow the issuance of a single tourist permit to <a href="/facts/Christian_pilgrimage/u6L4Gsja">Christian travellers</a>.
The area was conquered by the <a href="/facts/Allies_of_World_War_I/HBo9sw1M">Allied Forces</a> in 1917 during <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a> and a military <a href="/facts/Occupied_Enemy_Territory_Administration/2bAtdEkJ">Occupied Enemy Territory Administration</a>, OETA South, was set up to replace the Ottoman administration. OETA South consisted of the Ottoman sanjaks of Jerusalem, Nablus and Acre. The military administration was replaced by a British civilian administration in 1920 and the area of OETA South was incorporated into the <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">British Mandate of Palestine</a> in 1923.
The political status of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem was unique from other Ottoman provinces as it was under the direct authority of the Ottoman government in Constantinople. The inhabitants identified themselves primarily on religious terms, 84% being Muslim Arabs. The district's villages were normally inhabited by farmers while its towns were populated by merchants, artisans, landowners and money-lenders. The elite consisted of the religious leadership, wealthy landlords and high-ranking civil servants.

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Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem