Jayyusi clan

Al Jayyousi (also spelled Jayousi, Jayoosi or Jayyousi) (Arabic: الجیوسي, جيايسه‎) is a prominent Palestinian family whose members acted as local lords, army generals and tax collectors for two days. They were the traditional leaders of the Bani Sa'b subdistrict (nahiya), which included their throne villages of Kur and Kafr Sur; Jayyus, the village from which their clan name was derived; and the villages of Qalqilya, Tayibe, Jinsafut, Kafr Zibad and Kafr Jammal, among others.[1]

History

The Al Jayyousi family had served as the local rulers of the Bani Sa'b subdistrict (nahiya) since the 15th century, during Burji Mamluk rule in Palestine. When the area came under Ottoman rule, the clan continued to rule and was commissioned by the Ottoman authorities to protect the part of the Cairo-Damascus highway that ran between Majdal Yaba and Qaqun. As a testament to the continuing influence of the Jayyusi clan, Bani Sa'b was the only Mamluk-era subdistrict of Jabal Nablus to not be renamed.[2]

In 1766, the Nablus-based Tuqan clan under Mustafa Beik, managed to gain appointment as the chief of Bani Sa'b, temporarily sidelining the Jayyusi clan. This seizure of power was the first time an urban notable family gained direct control over a rural subdistrict and the move put the Tuqan in conflict with Jayyusi allies, the Sanur-based Jarrar clan and the autonomous ruler of Galilee, Zahir al-Umar.[3] The latter expelled the Tuqans from Bani Sa'b in 1771.[4]

According to the Palestinian historian al-Dabbagh in his book Our Land Palestine, they revolted, along with most of Palestine's prominent clans, against Ibrahim Pasha, the ruler of the Levant when he imposed new taxes and conscription orders on the local population.

Throne village

The Jayyousi family built and inhabited the throne village of Kur around 500 years ago.[5] Despite the economic and social hardships caused by the Israeli occupation (i.e. one third of its inhabitants were forced out of their homes by the Israeli Army in the Six-Day War[6]) they remain to be the only inhabitants of the throne village of Kur (located in the middle of Nablus, Tulkarem and Qalqilia district triangle, which was the former administrative center of the Bani Sa'b district.)[7] Today, only 29 historic castles and fortresses remain standing in the village.[8]

Notable personalities

References

Bibliography

External links

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