Karya monumental Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth dan Kamal Abdulfattah (1977) tentang Geografi Historis Palestina, Transyordania dan Suriah Selatan pada Akhir Abad ke-16, yang didasarkan pada daftar pajak Utsmani terperinci (mufassal defter), menggambarkan wilayah-wilayah tersebut sebagai "zona perbatasan" di bawah kekuasaan Utsmani. Pada abad ke-18, pasyalik Safad (provinsi Safad) dan Galilea secara keseluruhan merupakan contoh "provinsi perbatasan" dan basis kekuasaan bagi kekuatan lokal Palestina yang sedang bangkit, dengan kekuasaan Utsmani yang hanya bersifat nominal.

Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth and Kamal Abdulfattah’s (1977) seminal work on the Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century, based on a detailed Ottoman register (mufassal defter), describes these regions as ‘frontier zones’ under Ottoman rule. In 18th century Palestine, the pashalik of Safad (province of Safad) and Galilee as a whole were a case of ‘frontier province’ and a power base for a rising Palestinian local power under nominal Ottoman rule.

Iltizam, sistem perpajakan yang pertama kali muncul di bawah Mamluk, dilembagakan oleh Ottoman pada abad ke-15 dan dijalankan melalui penarikan pajak negara secara borongan (iltizam). Negara Ottoman menyerahkan pemungutan pajak kepada pihak lain dengan melelang hak pemungutan pajak kepada penawar tertinggi (multazim). Multazim kemudian mengambil keuntungan, yang sering kali berlebihan, dari pemungutan pajak di daerahnya, sambil membayar kepada negara dalam cicilan tetap dan tetap mengantongi keuntungan tersebut. Outsourcing sistem pajak iltizam ini mencakup penarikan pajak tanah dan pajak kota, produksi barang tertentu seperti anggur dan garam, bahkan penyediaan layanan publik tertentu. Penyerahan pajak tanah iltizam di bawah Ottoman, yang menyerupai sistem iqta'a di bawah Fatimiyah, melahirkan elit lokal yang kaya dan kepala suku lokal yang berkuasa di Palestina dan di seluruh kawasan. Sistem iltizam secara formal dihapuskan dalam rangkaian reformasi (Tanzimat) tahun 1856, tetapi dalam kenyataannya terus berlangsung hingga berakhirnya kekuasaan Ottoman di Palestina (Yazbak 1998: 72‒73). Sistem iltizam sangat menguntungkan dan sangat eksploitatif, dan selama berabad-abad memberi keuntungan besar bagi elit lokal yang berkuasa di bawah Mamluk dan Ottoman (Abdul Rahmam dan Nagata 1977).

Appearing first under the Mamluks, the Iltizam taxation system was institutionalised by the Ottomans in the 15th century and was carried out by the farming of public tax revenues. The Ottoman state would outsource tax collection by auctioning taxation rights to the highest bidder (multazim), who would then profit, often profligately, from collecting the taxes locally, make payments to the state in fixed instalments, while keeping the profit. This outsourcing of the Iltizam tax system included the farming of land taxes and urban taxes, the production of certain goods such as wine and salt, and even the provision of certain public services. The outsourcing of the land Iltizam tax under the Ottomans, which resembled the iqta’a system under the Fatimids, gave rise to rich local elites and powerful local chieftains in Palestine and throughout the region. Formally abolished in the course of the reforms (Tanzimat) of 1856, but, in reality, continuing until the end of Ottoman rule in Palestine (Yazbak 1998: 72‒73), the ltizam system was very profitable and highly exploitative and was for many centuries of great benefit to powerful local elites under the Mamluks and Ottomans (Abdul Rahmam and Nagata 1977).

Aspek-aspek tertentu dari dampak sistem pemungutan pajak (tax farming) Utsmani, dengan tumbuhnya otonomi lokal dan munculnya kepala-kepala suku yang berkuasa di Palestina, terutama dalam konteks "provinsi perbatasan" (frontier provinces), juga dapat dilihat pada munculnya sebelumnya raja-raja federasi Arab Ghassaniyah (supreme phylarchs).

Certain aspects of the impact of the Ottoman tax farming system, with the growth of local autonomy and rise of powerful chiefs in Palestine especially within the context of ‘frontier provinces’, can also be seen in the previous rise of the Ghassanid Arab federate kings (supreme phylarchs)

dari "provinsi perbatasan" Palaestina Secunda dan Palaestina Tertia pada abad ke-6 dan awal abad ke-7, serta munculnya para pemimpin Jarrah dari suku Badui Banu Tayy di bawah kekuasaan Fatimiyah, hingga kekalahan militer mereka oleh Anushtakin al-Dizbari, Gubernur Militer Palestina, pada tahun 1029 M.

of the ‘frontier provinces’ of Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Tertia in the 6th and early 7th centuries and in the rise of the Jarrah leaders of the Bedouin tribes of Banu Tayy under the Fatimids, until their military defeat by Anushtakin al-Dizbari, the Military Governor of Palestine, in 1029 AD.

Kebangkitan Dhaher al-ʿUmar yang luar biasa di Galilea pada abad ke-18 juga merupakan contoh yang relevan. Kemampuannya memungut pajak secara efisien, menggalang dan memimpin pasukan secara efektif, membangun aliansi dengan berhasil, serta menegakkan hukum dan ketertiban, dalam konteks "provinsi perbatasan" Galilea, semuanya menjadi bagian dari faktor yang menjelaskan kenaikannya ke tampuk kekuasaan di Palestina abad ke-18.

The spectacular rise of Dhaher al-ʿUmar in Galilee in the 18th century is also a case in point. His ability to collect taxes efficiently, raise and command an army effectively, forge alliances successfully and enforce law and order, within the context of the ‘frontier province’ of the Galilee, were all part of the mix which explains his rise to power in 18th century Palestine.

Palestina paling dekat dengan kemerdekaan negara modern awal sebagai hasil dari dinamisme komersial Palestina dan pemimpinnya yang legendaris, Dhaher al-ʿUmar, serta terus berlanjutnya pengabaian dari pihak Utsmaniyah. Klan (hamulah) Zaydani milik Dhaher al-ʿUmar muncul dari pedesaan Palestina dan wilayah pinggiran negeri, dari pashalik Safad, sebuah 'provinsi perbatasan' di bawah Mamluk dan Utsmaniyah, bukan dari pusat-pusat kota utama negeri itu atau dari elite sosial perkotaan Palestina yang umumnya pro-Utsmaniyah. Lahir di desa ʿArrabah di Galilea tengah, al-ʿUmar tidak berasal dari aristokrasi pemilik tanah perkotaan tradisional Palestina dan, tidak seperti para notabel lokal (ʿayan), ia tidak berutang legitimasinya kepada otoritas pusat Utsmaniyah. Anggota keluarga al-ʿUmar pernah menjabat sebagai multazim (pemungut pajak) lokal di kota-kota provinsi Tiberias dan Safad di pashalik Safad, dan ia sendiri memulai kariernya sebagai pedagang dan penarik pajak di bawah sistem iltizam Utsmaniyah (Krämer 2011:

The closest Palestine got to early modern independent statehood was a result of both commercial dynamism of Palestine and its legendary leader Dhaher al-ʿUmar and the continued neglect of the Ottomans. The Zaydani clan (hamulah) of Dhaher al-ʿUmar emerged from the Palestinian countryside and periphery of the country, from the pashalik of Safad, a ‘frontier province’ under both the Mamluks and Ottomans, not from the traditional major urban centres of the country or the generally pro-Ottoman urban social elites of Palestine. Born in the village of ‘Arrabah in central Galilee, al-ʿUmar did not come from the traditional urban landowning aristocracy of Palestine and, unlike the local notables (‘ayan), he did not owe his legitimacy to the central Ottoman authorities. Al-ʿUmar’s family members had served as local multazims (tax collectors) in the provincial towns of Tiberias and Safad in the pashalik of Safad and he himself had begun his career as a trader and tax farmer under the Ottoman Iltizam system (Krämer 2011:

60). Namun sistem pajak tanah Iltizam Utsmani di Palestina sangat eksploitatif dan menindas kaum petani, dan seperti akan kita lihat di bawah, sistem perpajakan baru Al-ʿUmar serta rezim yang tercerahkan secara sosial itu jelas populer di kalangan petani Palestina. Ia secara substansial mengurangi kekuasaan para notabel perkotaan dan 'kelas predator' yang selama ini memangsa kelompok-kelompok sosial yang rentan, terutama para petani. Al-ʿUmar pernah menerima pendidikan formal, tetapi ia tampaknya sebagian besar otodidak, dan kompetensi keuangan awal serta pengalaman praktisnya sebagai penarik pajak yang cakap sangat berharga. Namun kecakapan politik, militer, ekonomi, diplomatik, dan perpajakannyalah yang menjadikannya mungkin pemimpin paling berkuasa dalam sejarah modern Palestina. Kebangkitannya ke tampuk kekuasaan dimulai di pedesaan Galilea, dan markas pertamanya adalah Tiberias di Galilea Timur, bukan pusat-pusat perkotaan tradisional negeri itu: Nablus, Yerusalem, dan Gaza. Setelah berhasil memberontak terhadap negara Utsmani dan mengonsolidasikan rezimnya, Al-ʿUmar menjadi penguasa berdaulat yang efektif atas sebagian besar wilayah Palestina. Menyusul kemenangan militernya di Marj ibn ‘Amer pada 1735, ribuan penduduk setempat, termasuk banyak warga Nazareth, bergabung dengan pasukannya. Di antara para pendukungnya di Galilea tampaknya terdapat banyak orang Kristen setempat, termasuk perempuan Kristen dari Nazareth yang menyediakan makanan dan air bagi pasukannya (Joudah 1987: 28‒31). ‘Selama tiga dekade berikutnya, kedudukan Zahir al-Umar menjadi sedemikian rupa sehingga ia mendapati dirinya mampu membentuk aliansi sementara dengan pemerintah Rusia dan bekerja sama dengan kaum Mamluk di Mesir’ (Doumani 1995: 42).

60). But the Ottoman Iltizam land tax system in Palestine had been highly exploitative and oppressive towards the peasantry and, as we shall see below, al-ʿUmar’s new taxation system and his socially enlightened regime were evidently popular among the Palestinian peasantry. He substantially reduced the power of the urban notables and ‘predatory classes’ that had fed upon vulnerable social groups, especially the peasants. Al-ʿUmar had received some formal education but he appears to have been largely selftaught and his early career, financial competence and practical experience as an efficient tax farmer were of critical value. But it was his political, military, economic, diplomatic and taxation skills which made him perhaps the most powerful leader in modern Palestinian history. His rise to power began in the Galilee countryside and his first headquarters was Tiberias in Eastern Galilee, not the traditional urban centres of the country: Nablus, Jerusalem and Gaza. After rebelling successfully against the Ottoman state and consolidating his regime, al-ʿUmar became effectively the sovereign ruler of much of Palestine. Following his military victory at Marj ibn ‘Amer in 1735, thousands of local people, including many residents of Nazareth, joined his forces. Apparently among his Galilee supporters were many local Christians, including Christian women from Nazareth who provided his troops with food and water (Joudah 1987: 28‒31). ‘Over the next three decades Zahir al-Umar’s stature became such that he found it possible to forge temporary alliances with the Russian government and to cooperate with the Mamluks in Egypt’ (Doumani 1995: 42).