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THE KARAK PLATEAU IN THE OTTOMAN PERIOD
 Note: Make yourself familiar with the names of
places and regions on the map before reading the text.
For more detailed information on the geographical extent of the
Ottoman empire, see the historical atlases cited in the
bibliography. All dates are according to the Common Era. The
Political History of the Karak plateau in the Ottoman Period This period can be defined as lasting from
the end of Mamluk occupation of Syria in 1516 to the departure
of Ottoman troops from the north of Jordan at the end of
September 1918. It is important to recognize, however, that the
use of the term ‘Ottoman’ to describe this historical period
does not mean that Karak, and the surrounding lands were always
under the direct control of officials of the Ottoman empire. For
much of the time, southern Jordan was a largely autonomous
region governed by powerful local families. Some of the phases
within this long time period remain poorly understood due to the
uneven quality of the historical record. The latter part of the
Ottoman period is, however, of considerable importance for it is
during this time that many aspects of the economy, demography
and material culture of the modern Karak plateau were defined.
In 1516 the forces
of the Ottoman sultan Selim I defeated the Mamluk army at the
battle of Marj Dābiq in northern Syria. In the aftermath of this
victory, the Ottoman sultan was able extend his control over the
province of Syria (that is, the region covered by the modern
states of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestine
Authority), and in the following year Cairo, the capital of the
Mamluk sultanate, was taken. The Karak plateau, and the
remainder of southern Jordan thus became part of the expanding
Ottoman empire that was governed from the city of Istanbul in
modern Turkey. It would seem that this momentous political
change had little immediate impact upon the region of Karak, but
to understand the reasons for this it is necessary to review
some of the events of the last few decades of Mamluk rule in the
region [
Photo]
From what we know
of the history of this period, Karak and the other regions of
southern Jordan had become very difficult to govern in the
fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Although these areas
remained relatively fertile, it was proving very difficult for
the central government in Cairo to ensure the safety of the
region. In part, this difficulty can be attributed to the lack
of investment in the area by the Mamluk sultans, but it was also
due to the growth in power of the tribal factions in Jordan at
this time. There were numerous incidents of bedouin tribes
raiding merchants passing through the region, as well as the
annual pilgrimage (Arabic: hajj) caravan that went south
from Damascus to the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina in the
Hijāz. At times it was necessary for the governor of Damascus
to bribe the tribes of southern Jordan with purses of gold to
persuade them not to attack the pilgrims. The town of Karak also
contained a governor appointed by the Mamluk sultan in Cairo,
and answerable to the governor of Damascus, but he had
insufficient troops at his command to deal with the outbreaks of
lawlessness. In 1506-1507 even the governor of Karak was forced
to flee the town because of a rebellion (Mamluk control over the
town was only re-imposed in 1512). There appears to have been an
acknowledgement by the sultans, and their officials in Damascus,
that there was little hope of ever bringing the region under
control and of taking advantage of the tax revenues from the
productive agricultural lands and livestock. Mamluk intervention
on the Karak plateau became limited to occasional punitive
military expeditions by the governor of Damascus following local
insurrections in Karak and attacks on the pilgrim caravans.
This was the
troubled situation inherited by the Turkish officials and
soldiers of the new Ottoman province of Damascus. The initial
policy of the Ottomans was to employ high-ranking members of the
Mamluk system to run the conquered territories. The first man to
be named as the governor of Damascus was a Mamluk called
Janbirdī al-Ghazālī. Before 1516 he had served as governor of
Jerusalem and Karak in 1509, the Palestinian town of Safad in
1511, and the Syrian city of Hamā in 1513. With this extensive
experience he was in a good position to understand the workings
of the administration, and one of his major objectives during
his brief rule was to secure the passage of the annual hajj
caravan from Damascus. Using captured bedouin prisoners as a
bargaining tool, he was able to conclude a peace treaty with the
Jughaymān tribe in 1519-20, and in the same year the largest
pilgrimage caravan in seventy years set out from Damascus for
the journey south to Mecca and Medina. Unfortunately for
Janbirdī, his political ambitions were not matched by sufficient
military resources, and he was killed following a failed bid to
make himself independent of central Ottoman rule.
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