Palestinian Peasants and Ottoman Officials: Rural Administration around Sixteenth-Century Jerusalem

In a unique study of rural administration in the Ottoman Empire, Amy Singer explores the relationship between Palestinian peasants and Ottoman provincial officials around Jerusalem in the mid-sixteenth century. With the use of court records, the author provides a detailed account of local conditions of production, the mechanisms for assessing and collecting taxes, and the strategies that were evolved in evading them. The book emphasises the complex, colourful and interactive nature of Ottoman provincial administration, which, while obliged to extract revenues from the peasants and impress them with the power of imperial authority, was nevertheless profoundly influenced by local conditions and traditional practices in its dealings with the populace.

Amy Singer is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Middle East and African History, Tel Aviv University