Jarrar

Jarrar (Arabic: جرار‎) is a large Palestinian clan that served as rural landlords and tax-collectors (mutasallims) in the Jenin area during Ottoman rule in Palestine. During this era, they were the most powerful of the rural clans in Palestine's central highlands.[1]

History

The Jarrar clan migrated to Marj Ibn Amer (Jezreel Valley) in the Lajjun district from the Balqa region of Transjordan in 1670. They became an economic power and gained control over what would become Sanjak Jenin in the early 19th century.[2] The area was known for it grain, tobacco and cotton production. It also marked the border between Galilee and Jabal Nablus, linked the coast to the interior and contained the market town of Jenin, which also served as a storage for collected taxes from the district.[1] The Jarrars' political power was further punctuated by their command over their peasant militia and the massive fortress they maintained in their throne village of Sanur.[2] Sanur was built by a branch of the Jarrar family, that moved there from nearby Jaba',[3] which was also another fortified village of the Jarrars.[4]

In the 18th century, the Jarrar clan was at the forefront of various conflicts between the governors of Acre and the rural clans and urban notables of Jabal Nablus. Acre was a rising power and as its successive governors attempted to expand their area of influence, they entered into conflict with the Jarrar clan because of the proximity of Marj Ibn Amer and Acre. The first serious battle occurred in 1735 with Daher al-Omar over control over Nazareth, a principal center of trade in the interior between Jabal Nablus and the Levantine regions north of it. The town had for decades paid taxes to the Jarrar clan, but Daher al-Omar attempted to covet it. His forces defeated the Jarrar clan and the latter's leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Jarrar, was slain.[5]

As the Nablus-based Touqan clan expanded its control over parts of the city's rural hinterland, primarily through their seizure of the Bani Sa'b subdistrict from the Jayyusi clan in 1766, the Jarrars attempted to halt the process of urban control the hinterland. To punish the Touqans, they allowed Daher al-Omar to pass through their territory without resistance and lay siege on Nablus in 1771 and 1773. The circumstances of these events placed the Touqans and the Nimr clan as the defenders of Ottoman sovereignty and the Jarrars as the backers of rebels, namely Daher al-Omar and the resurgent Mamluks of Egypt under Ali Bey Al-Kabir.[6]

Following Daher al-Omar's death, Jezzar Pasha succeeded him as governor and unlike his predecessor developed close relations with the Ottoman government, eventually being entrusted with the governorship of Sidon Province and Damascus Province. He also cultivated close ties with the Touqans. The Jarrars meanwhile resisted Jezzar's efforts to centralize control over Palestine. As a result, their fortress at Sanur was twice besieged by Jezzar's troops in 1790 and 1795, both ending unsuccessfully for Jezzar.[6]

Between 1817 and 1823, a civil war occurred in the Jabal Nablus region, the Jarrars and the Qasim clan of the Jamma'in subdistrict leading the front against the Touqan clan, which had the support of the Ottoman government. The Touqans hired outside mercenaries to aid them, stationing them in the village of Junayd. This move by the Touqans fostered further resentment against them by the inhabitants of the area and helped the Jarrars in their war efforts. They defeated the Touqans and the latter's leader Musa Bey Touqan was killed by poison on 20 November 1823.[6]

In 1830, the Jarrars refused to submit to Governor Abdullah Pasha of Acre's authority after he was apportioned the Jabal Nablus district. Consequently, Abdullah Pasha, with reinforcements from Emir Chehab of Mount Lebanon, besieged the Jarrar village of Sanur, storming it four months later.[7] The Jarrars' fortress was destroyed and their influence took a heavy blow.[6] A year later, forces dispatched by rebel leader Muhammad Ali of Egypt conquered the Levant and ended Abdullah Pasha's reign. Ali's son Ibrahim Pasha was appointed governor of the Levant. He favored the Abd al-Hadi clan based in Arraba as a counterweight to the Jarrars. They subsequently replaced the Jarrars as the leaders of the Sha'rawiyah subdistrict.[8]

The influence of the Jarrar clan was significantly reduced by the mid-19th century.[9] In 1848, the Jarrar clan split into two separate factions.[10] One of these factions aligned with the clan's former rivals, the Touqans, to aid the Ottoman authorities in crushing the Abd al-Hadi family's power in Jabal Nablus. They participated in the assault on the Abd al-Hadi's throne village of Arraba, looting it and destroying the village's defenses and the Abd al-Hadi family's fortified houses.[11]

Surname

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Doumani, 1995, p. 31.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Doumani, 1995, p. 37.
  3. ↑ Palestine Exploration Fund, 1905, p. 356.
  4. ↑ Scholch, 1993, p. 183.
  5. ↑ Doumani, 1995, pp. 41–42.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Doumani, 1995, pp. 43–44.
  7. ↑ Philip, 2004, p. 20.
  8. ↑ Doumani, 1995, p. 46.
  9. ↑ Doumani, 1995, p. 172.
  10. ↑ Doumani, 1995, p. 148.
  11. ↑ Doumani, 1995, pp. 234–235.

Bibliography

External links