Gaza Sanjak سنجق غزة
sanjak of theOttoman Empire
1516–1916
Coat of arms
Capital	Gaza
History
• Ottoman Empire capturedSyria	1516
• Sykes–Picot Agreement	16 May

Gaza Sanjak (Arabic:سنجق غزة), known in Arabic as Bilād Ghazza (the Land of Gaza), was asanjak of theDamascus Eyalet of theOttoman Empire centered inGaza, and spread northwards up to theYarkon River. In the 16th century it was divided intonawahi (singular:nahiya; third-level subdivisions): Gaza in the south andRamla in the north along the Nahr Rūbīn/Wādī al-Ṣarār.^[1]

Gaza Sanjak "formed a passageway connectingEgypt and theLevant, precipitating bi-directional trade, conquest andpopulation movements". Situated in the southern part of the Levantine coastal plain, Gaza Sanjak received lessprecipitation and was more prone to drought andnomadic incursion than more northerly regions.^[2]

Marom andTaxel have shown that during the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, nomadic economic and security pressures led to settlement abandonment around Majdal ‘Asqalān, and the southern coastal plain in general. The population of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, while the lands of abandoned settlements continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages.^[2] Overall, during the 17th century, about half of all inhabited sites in the District of Gaza were abandoned.^[3]

By 1800 settlement in the district expanded again. Migrations from Egypt, improved transportation and security conditions, and land reform led to the repopulation of deserted villages with the encouragement of the Ottoman authorities.^[3]

The Ottoman census of 1871 (1288 AH) documented the Gaza District as consisting of 55settlements, including villages andtowns. These were organized into the sub-districts ofal-Majdal, Gaza, andKhan Yunis. The rural population throughout this district was uniformlySunniMuslim, adhering to theShafi'i school ofIslamic jurisprudence.^[4]

In the 1596daftar, the sanjak contained the followingnahiyah and villages/town

• Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya,^[5]Bayt Tima,^[5]Hamama,^[5]Al-Tina,^[6]Yibna,^[6]Isdud,^[6]Arab Suqrir,^[6]Deir al-Balah,^[7]Burayr,^[7]Jabalia,^[7]Beit Lahia,^[7]Al-Majdal, Askalan,^[7]Bayt 'Affa,^[7]Najd,^[7]Ni'ilya,^[7]Bayt Jirja,^[8]Hiribya,^[8]Qatra,^[8]Iraq Suwaydan,^[8]Kawkaba,^[8]Beit Jimal Monastery,^[8]Al-Batani al-Sharqi,^[8]Al-Qubayba,^[9]Al-Faluja,^[9]Bayt Daras,^[9]Al-Maghar,^[9]Hatta,^[10]Jusayr,^[10]Zikrin,^[10]Zayta,^[10]Barqa,^[10]Beit Hanoun,^[10]Dayr Sunayd,^[10]Simsim,^[10]Al-Jaladiyya,^[11]'Ajjur,^[11]Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya,^[12]Julis,^[12]Karatiyya,^[12]Bayt Jibrin,^[12]Iraq al-Manshiyya,^[12]Qastina,^[12]Ibdis,^[12]Idnibba,^[13]Jilya,^[13]Rafah,^[13]Al-Jura,^[13]Tell es-Safi,^[13]Abasan al-Kabera,^[13]Al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya,^[14]Summil,^[14]Barbara,^[14]Al-Muharraqa,^[14]Mughallis,^[14]Yasur^[14]

• Qula,^[14]Dayr Tarif,^[14]Jaffa,^[14]Jimzu,^[15]Kharruba,^[15]Barfiliya,^[15]Sarafand al-Amar,^[15]Artuf,^[15]Bayt Susin,^[15]Islin,^[15]Al-Khayriyya,^[16]Khulda,^[16]Al-Tira,^[16]Dayr Ayyub,^[16]Qibya,^[16]Bayt Nabala,^[16]Budrus,^[16]Bnei Brak,^[16]Imwas,^[16]Aqir,^[16]Deir Qaddis,^[17]Yalo,^[17]al-Midya,^[17]Shuqba,^[17]Salama,^[17]Sar'a,^[17]Saqiya,^[17]Lod,^[17]Jisr Jindas,^[18]Bayt Dajan,^[18]Al-Safiriyya,^[18]Al-'Abbasiyya,^[18]Yazur,^[18]Innaba,^[18]Rantiya,^[18]Bir Ma'in,^[18]Bayt Shanna,^[18]Ni'lin,^[18]Kharbatha Bani Harith,^[18]Kasla,^[18]Aboud,^[19]Beit Sira,^[19]Kafr 'Ana^[19]

• States and territories established in 1516
• States and territories disestablished in 1916
• States and territories established in 1549
• Ottoman Palestine
• 1516 establishments in the Ottoman Empire
• 1916 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire
• 1549 establishments in the Ottoman Empire
• Sanjaks of Damascus Eyalet
• History of the Gaza Strip

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