The Karak Plateau in the Ottoman Period

Instructor Helps

Relevant Courses
Islamic/Middle East History, Economic History, Archaeology, Architectural History

Ways to Use the Website

1. The website can be read by the student outside of the class. The student should also read the other VKRP sites relating to the architecture of Karak castle and the history of the Islamic and Crusader periods on the Karak plateau.

2. Require the students to compose answers to the review questions or use the same questions in class.

Discussion and Review Questions
(To answer some of these questions you may also wish to consult sections dealing with the history of the Karak plateau in the Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods)

1. How did the change from Mamluk to Ottoman rule affect the administration of the Karak plateau in the sixteenth century?

2. What were the main priorities of Ottoman central government policy in southern Jordan from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth century?

3. How did the Ottoman authorities seek to protect the annual hajj (pilgrimage) caravan as it passed through southern Jordan?

4. How did the policy of the Ottoman government toward southern Jordan change in the second half of the nineteenth century?

5. What were the main events on the Karak plateau in the period, 1900-1918?

6. What were the economic resources of the Karak plateau in the Ottoman period?

7. What is the historical value of a document like the daftar-i mufas‛sal?

8. Discuss the design and functions of traditional housing on the Karak plateau.