'Abdul-Karim Rafeq, wani fitaccen masanin tarihi dan Siriya wanda ya fara amfani da takardun kotunan shari'ar Musulunci (sijillat) a matsayin madogara ga tarihin zamantakewa da musamman na birane, kuma ya rubuta sosai game da Siriya da Falasdinu a zamanin Daular Usmaniyya, ya ci karo da kalmar Larabci Filastin a lokuta da dama (Rafeq 1990; Gerber 2008: 51). Daga cikin madogaran Larabci da Rafeq ya yi amfani da su game da Falasdinu a karshen karni na 19 akwai wani rubutun hannu na 1879 da marubuci dan Damascus Nu'man al-Qasatli ya rubuta, mai suna: 'al-Rawda al-Numaniyya in the Travelogue to Palestine and some Syrian Towns' (Rafeq 1990; Gerber 2008: 51), wanda ke ba da bayani game da Falasdinu a shekarun 1870. Wannan karuwar amfani da kalmomin Larabci Falastin da Filastin a rabin na biyu na karni na 19, da kuma karuwar fahimtar (na cikin gida, na yankin da na duniya) cewa Falasdinu ta zamani/Kasa Mai Tsarki ta bambanta, idan ba ta rabu ba, da Siriya ta zamani, na daga cikin alamomi da dama na canjin fahimta game da Falasdinu a karshen zamanin Usmaniyya. Duk da haka, idan ana duba yadda aka yi amfani da kalmomin Filastin, Filistin da Falastin a cikin madogaran 'adabi-ilimi' na asali da ke cikin Larabci, ya kamata a ko da yaushe a tuna da yanayin al'adun Falasdinu da suka fi dogara da magana da ji tun kafin zamani. Haka kuma, abin lura shi ne, sabanin yadda buga littattafai da injin buga takardu ya shigo Turai a karni na 15, wanda a hankali ya kai ga iliminsa ga jama'a da bugu mai yawa, Falasdinu ta samu injunan buga takardu na farko shekaru dari biyar bayan haka, a karshen karni na 19, kuma daga baya wani shahararren wurin buga littattafai a Jaffa ana kiransa 'Palestine Press', مطبعة فلسطين – don haka babu makawa adadin rubuce-rubucen 'adabi-ilimi' game da Falasdinu da aka yi da Larabci kafin karshen karni na 19 ya kasance kadan (idan aka kwatanta da tarin madogarai da ke harsunan Turai).

‘Abdul-Karim Rafeq, a distinguished Syrian historian who pioneered the use of sharia (Islamic law) court records (sijillat) as sources for social and especially urban history and wrote extensively on Ottoman Syria and Palestine, came across the Arabic term Filastin on a number of occasions (Rafeq 1990; Gerber 2008: 51). Among Rafeq’s Arabic sources for late 19th century Palestine was an 1879 Arabic manuscript by Damascene author Nu’man al-Qasatli, entitled: ‘al-Rawda al-Numaniyya in the Travelogue to Palestine and some Syrian Towns’ (Rafeq 1990; Gerber 2008: 51), which provides an 1870s survey of Palestine. This increase in the use of the Arabic terminology of Falastin and Filastin in the second half of the 19th century and the growing perception (local, regional and international) that modern Palestine/Holy Land was distinct, if not separate, from modern Syria, were among the multiple indicators of the paradigm shift in the perception of late Ottoman Palestine. However, with reference to the textual ‘usage’ of the terms Filastin, Filistin and Falastin in indigenous ‘literary-scholarly’ sources in Arabic, the context of the predominantly pre-modern oral/aural culture of Palestine should always be kept in mind. Also, crucially, unlike the introduction of printing presses in Europe in the 15th century – which gradually led to mass literacy and mass publications – Palestine had its first printing presses five centuries later, in the late 19th century – and subsequently one famous printing press in Jaffa was called ‘Palestine Press’, مطبعة فلسطين‘ ’– therefore, inevitably the volume of ‘literary-scholarly’ output on Palestine in Arabic prior to the late 19th century (in comparison with the mountains of sources in European languages) was limited.

Saboda dalilai da yawa (wanda babba daga cikinsu shi ne gasar da ƙasashen Turai suka yi wajen neman Falasɗinu/Ƙasar Alkawari da kuma shigarsu ƙasar a zahiri), fahimtar masu mulki na daular Usmaniyya mai raguwa game da muhimmancin Falasɗinu ta fara canzawa sosai a rabin na biyu na ƙarni na 19. Wannan tsari ya zo a hankali kuma an nuna shi a cikin ƙamusai na Turkanci na Usmaniyya zuwa Turanci na farkon da tsakiyar ƙarni na 19: sau da yawa ana fassara kalmar ‘Holy Land’ zuwa ‘Filastin’. Ɗaya daga cikin irin waɗannan ƙamusai na asali an samar da shi a shekara ta 1856 ta Sir James Redhouse, An English and Turkish Dictionary, wanda daga baya aka yi amfani da shi a matsayin tushen ƙamusai da yawa na Turkanci‒Turanci, ya fassara kalmar Turanci ‘Holy Land’ zuwa rubutun Larabci a matsayin ‘Dar Filastin’ (دار فلسطين), ko ‘ƙasar Falasɗinu’; Redhouse 1856.)8 A cikin ƙamusun Musulunci, wanda Redhouse da jami'an Usmaniyya duka suka saba da shi, kalmar Larabci ta ɗaya dar na iya nufin ‘gida’, ‘wuri’, ‘ƙasa’, ‘ƙasa mai iyaka’, ‘yanki’ ko ‘yankin ƙasa’. Wannan ƙamusun an ba da umarnin samar da shi ne ta Hukumar Kwamishinoni ta Amurka don Ayyukan Mishan na Ƙasashen Waje, mafi girma kuma mafi muhimmanci na ƙungiyar mishan ta Amurka a ƙarni na 19. Hukumar ta fara sabon aikin mishan zuwa Falasɗinu a shekara ta 1819. Amma Redhouse da kansa ya yi aiki ga gwamnatin Usmaniyya shekaru da yawa, da farko a matsayin mai zane-zane a ƙarshen shekarun 1820 kafin ya koma Ingila a shekara ta 1834 don buga ƙamusun Usmaniyya‒Turanci na farko. A shekara ta 1838 Redhouse ya koma Istanbul don yin aiki ga gwamnatin Usmaniyya a matsayin mai fassara ga Vezir-i Azam (a zahiri Firaministan ƙasa) da Ministan Harkokin Waje. A shekara ta 1840 an canja Redhouse zuwa Hukumar Ruwa ta Usmaniyya kuma ya zama memba a Majalisar Sojojin Ruwa ta Usmaniyya. A wannan matsayi, ya je Siriya‒Falasɗinu don taimakawa wajen sadarwa tsakanin jiragen ruwan Birtaniya da na Usmaniyya waɗanda a lokacin suke kewaye da sojojin Masar a Levant ƙarƙashin umarnin Ibrahim Pasha. Bayan karshen mulkin Masar a Falasdinu da Siriya a shekarar 1841, Redhouse ya samu Umarnin Sarki na Iftar Nisani a shekarar 1941, daya daga cikin umarnin girmamawa na Daular Usmaniyya. Ya zauna a Istanbul har zuwa shekarar 1853 kafin ya koma Landan don yin aiki a Ofishin Harkokin Wajen Birtaniya.

For a host of reasons (top of which was the European powers’ scramble for, and actual penetration of, Palestine/Holy Land), the perception of the importance of Palestine by the rulers of the shrinking Ottoman Empire began to change radically in the second half of the 19th century. This was a gradual process and was also reflected in Ottoman Turkish‒English dictionaries of the early and mid-19th century: the term ‘Holy Land’ was often rendered into ‘Filastin’. One such original dictionary was produced in 1856 by Sir James Redhouse, An English and Turkish Dictionary, which was later used as the basis for many Turkish‒English dictionaries, translated the English term ‘Holy Land’ into the Arabic script as ‘Dar Filastin’ دار فلسطين) ), or or ‘land of Palestine’; Redhouse 1856.).8 In Islamic terminology, with which both Redhouse and Ottoman officials were familiar, the Arabic singular form dar may mean ‘house’, ‘place’, ‘land’, ‘country’, ‘region’ or ‘territory’. This dictionary was commissioned by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the largest and most important American missionary organisation in the 19th century. The Board started a new mission to Palestine in 1819. But Redhouse himself had worked for the Ottoman government for many years, first as a draftsman in the late 1820s before he returned to England in 1834 to publish his first Ottoman‒ English dictionary. In 1838 Redhouse returned to Istanbul to work for the Ottoman government as an interpreter to the Vezir-i Azam (effectively Prime Minister) and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. In 1840 Redhouse was transferred to the Ottoman Admiralty and became a member of the Ottoman Naval Council. In this capacity, he went to Syria-Palestine to help with communications between the British and Ottoman fleets which at the time were blockading the Egyptian forces in the Levant under the command of Ibrahim Pasha. After the end of Egyptian rule in Palestine and Syria in 1841 Redhouse received the Sultan’s Imperial Order Iftar Nisani in 1941, one of the chivalric orders of the Ottoman Empire. He remained in Istanbul until 1853 before returning to London to work for the British Foreign Office.

Wani muhimmin alamar sauyin fahimta game da ƙasar Falasɗin/Ƙasa Mai Tsarki ita ce sake tsara tsarin mulkin gudanarwa na Daular Usmaniyya a Falasɗin, sauye-sauyen da aka ƙaddamar da wani ɓangare a ƙarƙashin matsin lamba daga ƙawayen Turai waɗanda suka goyi bayan Daular Usmaniyya a yakinta da mamayar Masar a Levant a shekarun 1831‒1840, da kuma lokacin yakin Usmaniyya‒Rasha (na Crimea) na 1853‒1858. "Mutumin Rashin Lafiya na Turai" ya kuma ƙara faɗawa ƙarƙashin ikon kuɗi na ƙasashen Turai, waɗanda shigowarsu cikin Ƙasa Mai Tsarki/Falasɗin ba za a iya dakatar da ita ba.

Another key indicator of the shift in the perception of the country of Palestine/Holy Land was the Ottoman administrative reorganisation in Palestine – reforms which were partly instituted under growing pressure from the European allies who had backed the Ottoman Empire in its struggle against the Egyptian occupation of the Levant in 1831‒1840 and during the Ottoman‒Russian (Crimean) War of 1853‒1858. The ‘sick man of Europe’ was also increasingly falling under the financial control of the European powers, whose penetration of Holy Land/Palestine was unstoppable.

Eyalets (lardunan lardi ko pashalik) su ne manyan rassan gudanarwa na Daular Usmaniyya, wani rarrabawa da ya ci gaba daga tsakiyar karni na 15 har zuwa shekarun 1860, kuma shugabannin su manyan jami'ai ne da ake kira valis, ko babban gwamna. A shekarar 1859, a cikin A Gazetter of the World. Or Dictionary of Geographical Knowledge (Vol. 1), wani memba na Royal Geographic Society na Birtaniya ya bayyana Acre a matsayin pashalik na Daular Usmaniyya kuma a matsayin wani bangare na Falasdin.

Eyalets (provinces or pashaliks) were a primary administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, a division which lasted from the mid-15th century until the 1860s, and were headed by senior officials known as valis, or general governor. In 1859, in A Gazetter of the World. Or Dictionary of Geographical Knowledge (Vol. 1), a member of the British Royal Geographic Society, described Acre as a pashalik of the Ottoman Empire and a part of Palestine.

A shekarar 1860 ne Daular Usmaniyya mai rauni sosai ta maye gurbin waɗannan eyalet da vilayet (Larabci: wilayah). Dukansu eyalet da vilayet an raba su zuwa sanjak ko liwa. Sanjak ɗin kuma an raba su zuwa qada, waɗanda kuma aka raba su zuwa nahiyah. A farkon shekarar 1870 Usmanawa sun kuma ƙirƙiri wani matsayi na musamman na mulki ga Urushalima, tare da wasu gundumomi huɗu, wanda ake kira mutasarrifiyyah (Larabci) ko mutasarriflik (Turkancin Usmaniyya).

In the 1860s the greatly weakened Ottoman Empire replaced these eyalets with vilayets (Arabic: wilayah). Both the eyalets and vilayets were subdivided into sanjaks or liwas. The sanjaks were divided into qadas, which in turn were divided into nahiyahs. In the early 1870s the Ottomans also created a special administrative status for Jerusalem, together with four other sub-districts, called mutasarrifiyyah (Arabic) or mutasarriflik (Ottoman Turkish)

(Büssow 2011: 5; Abu-Manneh 1999: 36). Gyare-gyaren mulki da aka aiwatar a shekarun 1860 da 1870 sun samu ne sakamakon karuwar tasirin Turawa, kuma sun biyo bayan mummunan yakin Crimea (1853‒1856), wanda ya hada Rasha, Birtaniya, Faransa da kuma Daular Usmaniyya mai rauni.

(Büssow 2011: 5; Abu-Manneh 1999: 36). The administrative ‘reforms’ of the 1860s and 1870s were introduced under the impact of growing European influence and they followed the devastating Crimean War (1853‒1856), which involved Russia, Britain, France and the weakened Ottoman Empire.

Babban dalilin yakin ya ta'allaka ne da gwagwarmayar da manyan kasashen Turai suka yi mai zafi don samun Falasdinu, da kuma batun "hakkokin" al'ummun Kiristoci marasa rinjaye a Kasa Mai Tsarki. Tare da gwagwarmayar iko kan Kasa Mai Tsarki da Urushalima, wadannan abubuwa masu girgiza sun sanya Falasdinu a tsakiyar tunanin kasashen Turai da na Daular Usmaniyya. Sauye-sauyen gudanarwa masu zurfi da Daular Usmaniyya ta yi a shekarun 1860 da 1870, tare da gasar Turai mai tsanani kan Kasa Mai Tsarki, ba wai kawai sun haifar da sakamako na gudanarwa ga Falasdinu ba, har ma sun taimaka wajen sauya yadda ake kallon Falasdinu, da yadda aka sake tsara ta, da kuma yadda aka fuskance ta a zamanin karshen Daular Usmaniyya.

The immediate cause of the war centred on the fierce struggle of European powers for Palestine and over the ‘rights’ of Christian minorities in the Holy Land. Combined with a power struggle for the Holy Land and Jerusalem, these cataclysmic events propelled Palestine to centre stage in both European and Ottoman thinking. The far-reaching Ottoman administrative changes of the 1860s and 1870s, combined with intense European rivalry over the Holy Land, not only produced administrative consequences for Palestine but also contributed to a profound shift in the way Palestine was perceived, reconfigured and experienced in the late Ottoman period.

Sauyin ya fara ne da sauyin fahimta da sake fasalta ra'ayin Falasdinu a lokacin ƙarshen zamanin Daular Usmaniyya (Tamari 2011), kuma ya bayyana a cikin sake tsara harkokin mulki da iyakokin ƙasar.

The shift began with a change in the perception and reconceptualisation of Palestine in the course the late Ottoman period (Tamari 2011) and was embodied in the administrative and territorial reorganisation of the country.

Wanda aka yi wahayi zuwa ga kafa Mutasarrifate mai cin gashin kai na Dutsen Lebanon a shekarar 1861, Mutasarrifate mai cin gashin kai na Birnin Kudus Mai Daraja (Larabci: متصرفية القدس الشريف ; Turkanci na Ottoman: Kudüs-i Şerif Mutasarrıflığı)

Inspired by the creation of the independent administrative Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon in 1861, the autonomous Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem (Arabic: متصرفية القدس الشريف ; Ottoman Turkish: Kudüs-i Şerif Mutasarrıflığı)

an 1872 ya kafu kuma aka ba shi matsayin gudanarwa na musamman na mutasarrıflığı ko mutasarriflik. Sauyin fahimtar Falasɗinu ya bayyana a wani bangare ta girman sabon Mutasarrifate na Alkudus Mai Daraja. Da farko ya kasance aƙalla sau biyar fiye da sanjaks na Nablus da Acre idan aka haɗa su tare. Wannan babban Mutasarrifate ba a taɓa nufin ya zama sanjak ba, sai dai wani irin super sanjak, a zahiri wilayah, lardi mai zaman kansa gaba ɗaya, kuma mai banbanci sosai da rabe-raben gudanarwa na tarihin Daular Usmaniyya a al-Sham. Haka kuma, matsayin siyasa na Mutasarrifate na Alkudus Mai Daraja ya zama na musamman ta wata fuskar: ya kasance ƙarƙashin ikon kai tsaye na Istanbul (Büsso 2011; Khalidi, R. 1997: 174).

was established in 1872 and given the special administrative status of mutasarrıflığı or mutasarriflik. The shift in the perception of Palestine was partly reflected in the scale of the new Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem. To begin with it was at least five times bigger than the sanjaks of Nablus and Acre put together. This very large Mutasarrifate was never intended to be a sanjak but rather a kind of super sanjak, practically a wilayah, an independent province completely separate and remarkably distinct from the historic Ottoman administrative divisions of al-Sham. Also, the political status of the Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem was unique in another respect: it came under the direct authority of Istanbul (Büsso 2011; Khalidi, R. 1997: 174).

Gaskiyar magana, waɗannan sauye-sauyen gudanarwa masu tsauri da fa'ida a Filasɗin an aiwatar da su ne da yardar ko kuma goyon bayan masu faɗa a ji na 'yan ƙasar Filasɗin (Foster 2016a). Ba a taɓa samun rahoton adawa daga 'yan Filasɗin ba game da raba Urushalima da yawancin Filasɗin daga yankin al-Sham ta fuskar gudanarwa. Mutasarrifiyyar Urushalima Mai Daraja ta ƙunshi, baya ga gundumar Urushalima, wasu gundumomi (qadas) huɗu masu girma: Yafa, Gaza, al-Khalil (Hebron) da Bi'r al-Sab'. Saboda girmanta, wannan ya sa ta zama sabon lardi a zahiri, wanda cibiyarsa ita ce birni mai tsarki na Urushalima. Urushalima kuma ta kasance cibiyar Provincia Palaestina, Byzantine Palaestina Prima da lardin Larabawa na Jund Filastin tsawon ƙarnuka da dama; ta zama babban birnin lardin Mutasarrifiyyar Urushalima Mai Daraja, sabon lardin da sau da yawa ake haɗawa ko kwatanta shi da 'Filasɗin'.

Crucially these radical and far-reaching administrative reorganisations in Palestine were carried out with the consent or active support of the influential local Palestinian elites (Foster 2016a). No local Palestinian opposition to administratively separating Jerusalem and much of Palestine from the al-Sham region was recorded. The Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem consisted of, in addition to the district of Jerusalem, four other large districts (qadas): Jaffa, Gaza, al-Khalil (Hebron) and Beersheba. With its huge size, this made it effectively a new province, at the centre of which was the holy city of Jerusalem. The latter for many centuries had been central to Provincia Palaestina, Byzantine Palaestina Prima and the Arab province of Jund Filastin; it became the provincial capital of the Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem, a new province which was often conflated or equated with ‘Palestine’.

A cikin shekarar 1911‒1912, Gwamnan Mutasarrifate na Urushalima, Cevdet Bey, ya rubuta wasika zuwa ga sanannen jaridar Falastin da ke birnin Yafa (فلسطين), yana kiran kansa ‘Gwamnan Falasdinu’ (Foster 2016b; haka kuma Kushner 1987).

In 1911‒1912 the Governor of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, Cevdet Bey, wrote a letter to the popular Jaffa-based newspaper Falastin ( (فلسطين calling himself the ‘Governor of Palestine’ (Foster 2016b; also Kushner 1987).

A shekarar 1872 Daular Usmaniyya ta kuma kafa sanjaks na gudanarwa na Nablus da Acre, waɗanda, tare da Mutasarrifate na Urushalima, suka zama tushen yankin Falasɗinu na Mandate a 1917-18. Sai dai masana tarihi sun kasa fahimtar cewa tushen tarihin Falasɗinu na Mandate da tushen yankin sanjak na Acre sun koma karni na 18, kuma lardin (pashalik) na Acre ba lardi ne na gargajiya da hukumomin Usmaniyya suka kafa ba. Lardin Acre sabon abu ne na tsakiyar karni na 18. Dhahir al-ʿUmar ne ya ɗora shi a kan Daular Usmaniyya, wanda ya ci sojojin Usmaniyya a yaƙi, ya mamaye Acre a 1749 kuma ya mayar da shi babban birnin masarautarsa ta Galilee. Wannan masarautar, a zahiri, ta maye gurbin tsohon lardin gudanarwa na Usmaniyya na Sidon. A gaskiya ma, hukumomin Usmaniyya masu rauni daga baya sun tilasta amincewa da mulkin al-ʿUmar a yawancin sassan Falasɗinu, kuma sun ba shi lakabin hukuma na ‘Sheikh na Acre, Emir na Nazareth, Tiberias, Safed, da Sheikh na dukan Galilee’ (Philipp 2015).

In 1872 the Ottomans also created the administrative sanjaks of Nablus and Acre, both of which, together of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, formed the territorial basis of Mandatory Palestine in 1917-18. However, historians failed to recognise that both the historical roots of Mandatory Palestine and the territorial basis of the sanjak of Acre go back to the 18th century and to the fact that the province (pashalik) of Acre was not a traditional province created by the Ottoman authorities. The province of Acre was a modern creation of the mid-18th century. It was effectively imposed on the Ottoman Empire by Dhahir al-ʿUmar, who militarily defeated the Ottoman army, occupied Acre in 1749 and made it the capital of his Galilee-based emirate. The latter, in effect, had replaced the old Ottoman administrative province of Sidon. In fact, the weak Ottoman authorities were subsequently forced to recognise al-ʿUmar’s regime in large parts of Palestine and he was officially granted by them the title of ‘Sheikh of Acre, Emir of Nazareth, Tiberias, Safed, and Sheikh of all Galilee’ (Philipp 2015).

Bayan mutuwar al-ʿUmar, Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, wanda yanzu aka amince da shi a hukumance a matsayin Gwamnan pashalik na Acre, ya ci gaba da mulki kamar al-ʿUmar, daga babban birni guda, Acre, daga 1776 har zuwa mutuwarsa a 1804. Wannan gadon yanki, na gudanarwa da iko na karni na 18 ya ci gaba har zuwa karni na 19, kuma shi ne ginshiƙin sanjak na Acre.

After al-ʿUmar’s death, Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, now officially recognised as the Governor of the pashalik of Acre, continued to rule, as al‑ʿUmar, from the same capital, Acre, from 1776 until his death in 1804. This modern regional, administrative and power legacy of the 18th century persisted well into the 19th century and formed the basis of the sanjak of Acre.

Yayin da Daular Usmaniyya, tare da goyon bayan manyan mutanen Falasdinu na gida, ke neman isar da saƙo bayyananne ta hanyar kafa wani muhimmin banbanci na gudanarwa tsakanin sanjak (Akka da Nablus) da mutasarriflik (Mutasarrifancin Urushalima), wasu marubuta masu basira sun ci gaba da kiran Mutasarrifancin Urushalima da ‘Sanjak na Urushalima’, lamarin da ba daidai ba ne (Abu-Manneh 1999). A fili, sunansa, girmansa da matsayinsa sun nuna cewa an tsara shi da gangan a matsayin wani ‘super sanjak’ mai matsayi na musamman.

While the Ottomans, with the support of local Palestinian elites, sought to send a clear message by creating an important administrative distinction between sanjak (Acre and Nablus) and mutasarriflik (Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem), some otherwise perceptive authors continued to refer, rather inaccurately, to the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem as the ‘Sanjak of Jerusalem’ (Abu-Manneh 1999). Clearly the naming, size and status of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem meant that it was consciously conceived as a ‘super sanjak’ with a particularly eminent status.

Tsarin gudanarwar Daular Usmaniyya a Filistinu a shekarun 1870 ya kuma ba mu wasu alamu da ke nuna alaƙa bayyananniya tsakanin siyasa da tattalin arzikin Filistinu a karni na 18 da kuma na Filistinu ta ƙarshen zamanin Usmaniyya da ke sauyawa. Akka da Nablus su ne cibiyoyin kasuwanci da masana'antu mafi ƙarfi a Filistinu a yawancin karnonin 18 da 19, dukkansu kuma suna da muhimmanci a cinikin auduga da yadi na Filistinu da na Sham baki ɗaya. Haka kuma, abin da yake da muhimmanci ƙwarai, Akka ta kasance babban birnin mulkoki biyu da ke da 'yancin kai a zahiri, na Ɗahir al-ʿUmar da na Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, kusan rabin karni, daga shekara ta 1746 zuwa 1804. Haka kuma, abin sha'awa, lokacin da aka kafa sanjakai biyu na Nablus da Akka, an fara sanya su ƙarƙashin ikon siyasa na Mutasarrifiyyar Ƙudus, maimakon na Dimashƙu (al-Sham). Wannan yana nuna farkon wata sabuwar fahimta ta Filistinu bisa ra'ayin Ƙasa Mai Tsarki guda ɗaya – ra'ayin da ya fara tsara tunanin Turawan Yamma a karni na 19, kuma tattaunawa ce da jami'an Usmaniyya a Filistinu da kuma manyan 'yan Filistinu na yankin suka sani sosai – wadda ke ƙarƙashin mulki kai tsaye daga wani mutasarrif da Istanbul ke naɗawa.

Ottoman administrative reorganisation of Palestine in the 1870s also provides us with some clues as to the unmistakable links between the politics and economy of 18th century Palestine and that of evolving late Ottoman Palestine. Acre and Nablus were Palestine’s most powerful trade and manufacturing centres throughout most of the 18th and 19th centuries and both were central to Palestine’s and al-Sham’s global trade in cotton and textiles. Also, crucially, Acre had been the capital of two practically independent Palestinebased regimes, those of Dhaher al-ʿUmar and Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, for almost half a century from 1746 to 1804. Also, interestingly, when the two sanjaks of Nablus and Acre were established, they were initially placed under the political authority of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, rather than that of Damascus (al-Sham). This suggests the beginning of a new conceptualisation of Palestine based on the idea of a unified Holy Land – an idea which began to shape European thinking in the 19th century and a discourse with which both Ottoman officials in Palestine and local Palestinian elites were acutely aware – subject to direct rule from an Istanbul-appointed mutasarrif.

Ana kiran mutasarrifate da sanjakai biyu na Akka da Nablus, a cikin gida da kuma a duniya, da sunan 'Falasdinu'.

The mutasarrifate and the two sanjaks of Acre and Nablus were commonly referred to locally and internationally as ‘Palestine’.

Hausa translation: Hotuna da fahimta koyaushe suna da ƙarfi sosai, kuma rabon sabon yankin kudu–arewa na Falasɗinu/Ƙasa Mai Tsarki ya yi kama da rabe-raben kudu–arewa na tarihi na ƙasar a ƙarƙashin Byzantines (tare da Palaestina Prima da Palaestina Secunda na asali) da kuma farkon Musulunci (Jund Filastin da Jund al-Urdun). Abin mamaki, duk da haka, ko da yake sanjaks na Acre da Nablus ba da daɗewa ba aka haɗa su da wilayar Beirut, galibi don a yi adawa da tsangwamar Yammacin duniya da ba ta ƙarewa ba a Ƙasa Mai Tsarki/Falasɗinu, ƙirƙirar Mutasarrifate na Urushalima (da kuma sanjaks biyu na Nablus da Acre) an fahimce shi kuma jakadan Birtaniya a Urushalima ya ambace shi a matsayin ƙirƙirar ‘Falasɗinu zuwa wani eyalet daban’9 (Abu-Manneh 1999: 39). Iyakokin wannan eyalet na Falasɗinu daban, ko Ƙasa Mai Tsarki guda ɗaya, su ne (a mafi yawan lokuta) yankin da ya zama sananne da Falasɗinu ta Mandate (Foster 2016b).

Images and perceptions are always very powerful and the new south‒ north division of Palestine/Holy Land inadvertently echoed historic south‒month divisions of the country under both the Byzantines (with originally Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda) and early Islam (Jund Filastin and Jund al-Urdun). Paradoxically, however, although the sanjaks of Acre and Nablus were soon to be attached to the wilayah of Beirut, mainly in order to counter persistent Western intervention in the Holy Land/Palestine, the creation of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (as well as the two sanjaks of Nablus and Acre) were perceived and actually referred to by the British consul in Jerusalem as the creation of ‘Palestine into a separate Eyalet’9 (Abu-Manneh 1999: 39). The boundaries of this distinct Palestine eyalet, or unified Holy Land, were (by and large) the territory which became known as Mandatory Palestine (Foster 2016b).

A hukumomin Daular Usmaniyya, cikin damuwa mai zurfi game da tsoma bakin Turawa a cikin "Ƙasar Mai Tsarki", sun nemi takaita kalmar ƙasa Filastin ga Mutasarrifate na Jerusalem Mai Daraja, kuma wani littafin koyar da ƙasa na Usmaniyya na shekarar 1913 (Mekatib-i Ibtida'iye, Juğrafiya-i Osmani, Matbaa-i 'Amire, 1332 [1913/1914], shafi na 193) ya ƙunshi taswira da ke nuna Mutasarrifate na Jerusalem daidai da فلسطين ('Filastin'). Sai dai haɗuwar sanjak na Acre da Nablus tare da lardin ko Mutasarrifate na Jerusalem Mai Daraja ta haifar da wata fahimta daban sosai game da Filastin/Ƙasar Mai Tsarki, kuma haɗakar gundumomin gudanarwa na "Uku cikin Ɗaya" an ambace ta a cikin rajistar Kotun Shari'ar Musulunci ta Jerusalem a matsayin 'Eyalet al-Quds' ('Lardin Jerusalem') (Abu-Manneh 1999: 43).

Officially the Ottoman authorities, deeply concerned about European interference in the ‘Holy Land’, sought to confine the geographic term Filastin to the Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem and a 1913 Ottoman geography textbook (Mekatib-i Ibtida’iye, Juğrafiya-i Osmani, Matbaa-i ‘Amire, 1332 [1913/1914], p. 193) had a map showing the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem equated with فلسطين (‘Palestine’).10 However, the combination of the sanjaks of Acre and Nablus with the province or Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem produced a radically different perception of Palestine/Holy Land and the combination of the ‘Three in One’ administrative districts was referred to in the register of the Islamic Sharia Court of Jerusalem as ‘Eyalet al-Quds’ (the ‘Province of Jerusalem’) (Abu-Manneh 1999: 43).

Ya kamata a kiyaye ci gaban tarihi a rarrabuwar yankin Falasdinu bisa wuri. Rarrabuwar Falasdinu kashi uku na zamanin Daular Usmaniyya, daga kudu (Mutasarrifate na Alkudus Mai Daraja) zuwa arewa (sanjak na Nablus da na Akka), na nuna rarrabuwar kasar da aka yi a baya karkashin farkon Musulunci (Jund Filastin da Jund al-Urdun) da kuma karkashin Romawan Gabas (Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda da Palaestina Salutaris) (Rosen-Ayalon 2006: 15). Tabbas, fahimta tana da karfi sosai, kuma idan aka duba tarihi baya, wannan fahimtar Falasdinu ta karshen zamanin Usmaniyya/Kasa Mai Tsarki a matsayin 'Uku cikin Daya' – 'mutasarriflik daya da sanjak biyu a cikin eyalet daya', wanda Alkudus ke tsakiya kuma Mutasarrifate na Alkudus ke jagoranta – ba ta da cikakken rashin hujja ko kuma sabon abu a tarihi. A tarihi, mun riga mun ga wannan wakilcin 'Uku cikin Daya' na Provincia Palaestina karkashin Romawan Gabas a Zamanin Tsakiyar Tsufa, lokacin da kuma ra'ayin Kasa Mai Tsarki ya bayyana kuma ya ƙarfafa. Tabbas, 'sanjak uku' suna daidai da 'Falasdinu uku' (Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda, Palaestina Tertia); suna dogara ne akan kwatancin 'Uku cikin Daya' na kirkira.

Historical continuities in the geographic division of Palestine should be kept in mind. The three-way division of Ottoman Palestine from south (Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem) to north (the sanjaks of Nablus and Acre respectively) echoes previous divisions of the country under both early Islam (Jund Filastin and Jund al-Urdun) and the Byzantines (Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Salutaris) (Rosen-Ayalon 2006: 15). Of course, perceptions are very powerful and with historical hindsight this perception of late Ottoman Palestine/Holy Land as ‘Three in One’ – ‘One mutasarriflik and two sanjaks in one eyalet’, centred on Jerusalem and led by the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem – is not entirely unjustified or historically unprecedented. Historically, we have already seen this ‘Three in One’ representation of Provincia Palaestina under the Byzantines in Late Antiquity, during which period the notion of the Holy Land also emerged and was consolidated. Of course, the ‘Three sanjaks’ are equivalent to the ‘Three Palestines’ (Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda, Palaestina Tertia); they are based on the creative analogy of ‘Three in One’.

Daulolin Usmaniyya da kansu sun kasance magada kai tsaye ga Daular Bizantine, kuma sun san tarihin Bizantine da na Larabawa game da Gabas ta Tsakiya da Filasdinu.

The Ottomans were themselves direct heirs to Byzantium and would have been aware of Byzantine and Arab histories of the Near East and Palestine.

Bayan duk wannan, Cocin Orthodox na 'All Palestine' mai cin gashin kansa kuma mai zaman kansa, wanda ke tushe a Cocin Urushalima, ya yi aiki tsawon ƙarni a ƙarƙashin Daular Usmaniyya, kuma gwamnatin Usmaniyya ta amince da Patriarchs ɗinsa a hukumance. Amma daga mahangar daular Birtaniya ko mulkin mallaka, za mu iya ganin irin misalin 'Uku cikin Ɗaya' a yadda Birtaniya ta kafa Iraki ta zamani bayan Yaƙin Duniya na Farko, tana gina ta daga lardunan Usmaniyya uku na Baghdad, Basra da Mosul, inda babban birnin Baghdad ya zama cibiyar Iraki ta zamani da kuma alaƙar tarihi da babban birnin musulmi na Abbasiyawa. A batun Falasdinu kuwa, ga Birtaniya (da kuma ga dukkan ƙasashen Turai a ƙarni na 19), Urushalima ita ce ta samar da alaƙar tarihi da cibiyar tunanin zamani na Falasdinu.

After all, the autocephalous and independent ‘All Palestine’ Orthodox Church, based on the Church of Jerusalem, operated for centuries under the Ottomans and its Patriarchs were officially approved by the Ottoman government. But from British imperial or colonial perspectives, we can also see the ‘Three in One’ analogy in the way modern Iraq was constituted by the British after the First World War, and constructed from the three Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Basra and Mosul, with the capital Baghdad providing the focal point for modern Iraq as well as the historical reference to the great Muslim capital under the Abbasids. In the case of Palestine, for the British (as well as for all European powers in the 19th century) Jerusalem provided the historical reference and focal point for the modern conception of Palestine.

Abubuwa shida masu muhimmanci da ke da alaƙa da juna a rabin na biyu na karni na 19 da farkon karni na 20 sun taimaka wajen samar da abubuwan haɗin kai na 'Eyalet Uku a Ɗaya (Filastin)'. Waɗannan ci gaban da suka shafi Filastin/Ƙasa Mai Tsarki sun yi tasiri sosai a kan sake tsara daular Usmaniyya da kuma gudanarwar Filastin a zahiri. Waɗannan ci gaban sun kasance kamar haka:

Six important and closely related developments in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries contributed towards the ‘unifying’ factors of ‘Three in One (Palestine) Eyalet’. These Palestine/Holy Land developments deeply affected the Ottoman reorganisation and actual administration of Palestine. These developments were:

• Hajji da yawon buɗe ido na jama'a a Falasɗin.

• Large-scale pilgrimage and mass tourism in Palestine.

• Gina sabbin hanyoyi domin ɗaukar yawan maziyartan Kiristoci da ke zuwa.

• The construction of new road systems to accommodate the influx of Christian pilgrims.

Kafa-kafar ofisoshin jakadanci da na addini na Falasdinu/Ƙasar Mai Tsarki.

• The establishment of Palestine/Holy Land missions, both diplomatic and ecclesiastical.

Hotunan Falasdinu/Ƙasar Alfarma na zamani sun samar da tarin hotuna masu yawa, kuma sun taka rawa wajen haɗa kan mutane.

• The new Palestine/Holy Land photography produced mountains of images and played a unifying factor.

• Ilimin samar da bayanai game da Ƙasar Mai Tsarki (taswirar nassoshi, binciken ƙasa da tono kayan tarihi).

• Holy Land knowledge production (scriptural mapping, ordinance surveys and archaeological excavations).

• Ilimin kayan tarihi na Falasdinu da sanannun binciken kayan tarihi masu alaƙa da girma da darajar Palaestina ta zamanin Byzantine, kamar Taswirar Benen Ƙasa ta Madaba, wadda aka gano a shekarar 1884.

• Palestine archaeology and famous archaeological discoveries related to the extent and splendour of Byzantine Palaestina, such as the Madaba Mosaic Floor Map, discovered in 1884.

Garin Nazarat ya zama mai muhimmanci sosai a ƙarshen karni na 19, yayin da aka gina manyan hanyoyin mota na zamani don biyan buƙatar masu hajjin Kirista da ke ta shigowa, aka kuma gina babbar hanya a ƙasan Galili don haɗa wuraren ibadar Kiristoci na Nazarat, Kafr Kanna da Tiberias (Karmon 1960: 251). Yawan masu hajjin Kirista da masu yawon buɗe ido na Turai da ke zuwa Falasdinu ya haɗa Galili sosai da sauran sassan Falasdinu. Wannan kuma ana iya gani a ginin hasumiyoyin agogo guda bakwai irin na Turai a tsakiyar wuraren jama'a na manyan biranen Falasdinu a ƙarshen zamanin Ottoman (Jaffa, Haifa, Akka, Nazarat, Safad, al-Quds da Nablus), waɗanda aka gina tsakanin 1900 zuwa 1903 bisa shawarwarin mazauna yankin, daga duwatsun da aka haƙo a Falasdinu.

The town of Nazareth became very important at the end of the 19th century as the first modern carriage roads were built to serve the influx of Christian pilgrims and the main road was constructed in lower Galilee to connect the Christian holy places of Nazareth, Kafr Kanna and Tiberias (Karmon 1960: 251). The influx of Christian pilgrims and European tourists to Palestine linked the Galilee very closely with the rest of Palestine. And this can be seen in the construction of seven European-style clock towers at the heart of the public spaces of key cities of late Ottoman Palestine (Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Nazareth, Safad, al-Quds and Nablus), built between 1900 and 1903 at local initiatives and from stones quarried in Palestine.

An wallafa wannan ne domin tunawa da bikin cika shekaru ashirin da biyar na mulkin Sarkin Daular Usmaniyya ‘Abd al-Hamid II, hasumiyoyin agogo sun zama sabbin alamomin kiyaye lokaci na zamani da zamani gaba ɗaya. Sai dai hasumiyar agogo ta al-Quds — wadda Burtaniya ta tarwatsa a shekarar 1922 — waɗannan hasumiyoyin agogo sun ci gaba da zama muhimman alamomin zamanin Falasɗinawa. Tasirin hajjin ɗimbin jama’a da yawon buɗe ido na zamani a kan gudanar da mulkin Falasɗinu a ƙarshen zamani ba zai misaltu ba. Saboda haka, kuma watakila ba abin mamaki ba ne, a shekarar 1906 aka haɗa gundumomin Nazareth da Tiberias a yankin Galilee da Mutasarrifate na Jerusalem mai daraja, galibi domin a ɗauki sabon hajjin jama’a da yawon buɗe ido daga Rasha, Turai da Amurka, da kuma sauƙaƙa bayar da takardar izinin yawon buɗe ido guda ɗaya ga maziyartan Kiristoci da matafiya a Falasɗinu (Bussow 2011: 70; Kark 1994: 131).

Designed to commemorate the silver Jubilee of the reign of the Ottoman Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid II, the clock towers served as new symbols of modern time-keeping and modernity. With the exception of the clock tower of al-Quds — which was blown up by the British in 1922 — these clock towers have remained key landmarks of Palestinian modernity. The impact of the industrial-scale pilgrimage and modern mass tourism on the administration of late Palestine can hardly be overstated. Consequently, and, perhaps not surprisingly, in 1906 the two districts of Nazareth and Tiberias in the Galilee were attached to the Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem, mainly in order to accommodate the new mass pilgrimage and tourism from Russia, Europe and the US and facilitate the issuance of a single tourist visa to Christian pilgrims and travellers in Palestine (Bussow 2011: 70; Kark 1994: 131).

Ba wai kawai sun ƙarfafa alaƙoƙi tsakanin, da kuma 'haɗin kai' na, wuraren ibada na Kiristoci a Urushalima da waɗanda ke Galili (ciki har da Nazarat da Tiberiya ba). Sun kuma fara yin tasiri sosai a kan tattalin arzikin siyasa da sabbin fahimtar yanki na ƙasar – fahimtar da, kamar yadda za mu gani a ƙasa, jami'an Turai da na Usmaniyya a Filistin tare da Falasdinawan gida suka raba.

Not only had they reinforced the links between, and ‘unity’ of, the Christian holy sites of Jerusalem and those of the Galilee (Nazareth and Tiberias included). They also began to have a major impact on the political economy and the new geographical perceptions of the country – perceptions, as we shall see below, shared by European and Ottoman officials in Palestine as well as local Palestinians.

Hakika, a tsawon rabin karni na biyu na karni na 19, jami'an Daular Usmaniyya a Filastinu sun kudurce hana tsoma bakin Turawan Yamma a Ƙasa Mai Tsarki, duk da cewa sun yi wasu sassauci ga kasashen Turai ko dai saboda matsin lamba mai tsanani ko kuma saboda canjin kawance tsakanin Daular Usmaniyya da kasashen Turai. Daga mahangar sauye-sauyen Filastinu a karshen zamanin Usmaniyya, fahimtar sake tsara gudanarwar Filastinu a matsayin lardi na "Uku cikin Daya", wanda ya kunshi sanjaki biyu da mutasarrifiyya, kuma aka mayar da hankali a kan Mutasarrifiyyar Alkuds Mai Daraja, a fili ya yi babban tasiri a tunanin daular Ingila a lokacin Yakin Duniya na Ɗaya, musamman bayan 1918. Misali, a shekarar 1921, babban kwamishinan Ingila na farko a Filastinu, Sir Herbert Samuel, ya kafa Majalisar Musulmi ta Koli wadda ta kunshi shugaba da mambobi hudu, biyu daga cikinsu za su wakilci tsohuwar Mutasarrifiyyar Alkuds Mai Daraja, sauran biyun kuma za su wakilci tsoffin sanjakan Nablus da Akka.

Of course, throughout the second half of the 19th century Ottoman officials in Palestine were determined to resist European intervention in the Holy Land, while making concessions to European powers either under intense pressures or due to shifting Ottoman alliances with European powers. From the perspective of the changes in late Ottoman Palestine, the perception of the Ottoman administrative rearrangement of Palestine as a ‘Three in One’ province, consisting of two administrative sanjaks and mutasarriflik and centred on the Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem, evidently had a major impact on British imperial thinking during the First World War but especially after 1918. For instance, in 1921 the first British High Commissioner for Palestine, Sir Herbert Samuel, established the Supreme Muslim Council which consisted of a president and four members, two of whom were to represent the former Mutasarrifate of Noble Jerusalem and the remaining two to represent the former sanjaks of Nablus and Acre.

Waɗannan sanjaks guda biyu da mutasarriflik guda ɗaya sun yi daidai da gundumomi uku na gudanarwa na ƙarshen mulkin Daular Usmaniyya a Falasɗinu (Dumper 1994).

These two sanjaks and one mutasarriflik corresponded to the three administrative districts of late Ottoman Palestine (Dumper 1994).

Babban abin da ya haifar da sauyin tunani a Falasdinu ta ƙarshen zamanin Daular Usmaniyya shi ne ra'ayin da ya yaɗu a ƙarshen karni na sha tara cewa Mutasarrifiyyar Ƙudus, tare da sanjakan Nablus da Akka, sun haɗa tsohuwar 'Falasdinu', ko Ƙasar Alkawari, zuwa wata ƙasa ta musamman. Wannan ra'ayi ba a iyakance shi ga marubutan Turai da na Falasɗinawa kawai ba. Ta fuskar siyasa da dabarun yaƙi, an kuma ga wannan tunani a cikin wata muhimmiyar takarda ta Daular Usmaniyya, Filastin Risalesi, littafin jagoran soja da aka bayar da iyaka ga jami'an Rundunar Soja ta Takwas a Falasdinu a farkon Yaƙin Duniya na Ɗaya. Wannan littafi, wanda ya ƙunshi binciken yawan jama'a da ƙasa na lardin Falasdinu, ya haɗa da taswirorin ƙasa, teburan ƙididdiga da kuma binciken ƙasa da kabilu na Falasdinu. Haka kuma yana ɗauke da babbar taswirar ƙasar da iyakokin Falasdinu suka wuce nesa fiye da iyakokin Mutasarrifiyyar Ƙudus. A shekarar 1872, iyakokin wannan mutasarriflik, da gundumominsa guda biyar (qadas) na Ƙudus, Jaffa, Gaza, Beersheba da al-Khalil, suna da kamanni da tsarin Palaestina Prima na Byzantine da kuma tsarin Jund Filastin na farkon zamanin Musulunci na Larabawa. Iyakokin arewa a taswirar Filastin Risalesi sun haɗa da Kogin Litani da birnin Taya. Taswirar ta ƙunshi dukkan Galili da wasu sassan kudancin Lebanon, da kuma sanjakan Nablus da Akka (Tamari 2011).

Central to the paradigm shift in late Ottoman Palestine was the perception throughout the late 19th century that the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, together with the sanjaks of Nablus and Acre, unified historic ‘Palestine’, or the Holy Land, into a distinct country. This was not confined to European and Palestinian authors. Politically and strategically this conception was also evident from an important Ottoman document, Filastin Risalesi, a military handbook issued for limited distribution to the officers of the Eighth Army Corps in Palestine at the beginning of the First World War. A demographic and geographic survey of the Palestine province, the manual included topographic maps, statistical tables and a geo-ethnography of Palestine. It also contained a general map of the country in which the boundaries of Palestine extended far beyond the frontiers of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem. In 1872 the boundaries of this mutasarriflik, with its five districts (qadas) of Jerusalem, Jafa, Gaza, Beersheba and al-Khalil, had analogies to both the Byzantine delineation of Palaestina Prima and the early Arab Islamic delineation of Jund Filastin. The northern borders of the Filastin Risalesi map included the Litani River and the city of Tyre. The map encompassed all of the Galilee and parts of southern Lebanon, as well as the sanjaks of Nablus and Acre (Tamari 2011).