سعد عنتر سعد
مراقب
الجنس : 
عدد المساهمات : 2517
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العمر : 32
 | | موضوع: بالصور تاريخ فلسطين فى العهد العثمانى الأربعاء 12 يناير 2011 - 3:01 | |
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Ottoman Sultan Selim captured peacefully Jerusalem on
28 December 1516 from Mamluks, and they possessed the Holy City
until 9 December 1917 more than 400 years. Palestine was a peace
country during this ages.. Muslims, Jews, Greek Orthodox, Armenian
Catholics, Assyrians, Coptics, Russian Orthodox, Protestants,
Samaritans and Latins lived in
peace together in this holy lands under the Muslim Rule.
Ottomans built the Walls and Citadel of Jerusalem and
they decorated the Muslim holy Aqsa Mosque and the Qubbat as-Sakhra
(Dome of the Rock) with tiles. The Mawlawi and Naqshibandi dervishes
from Turkey and Central Asia built their lodges. These are all
visible proof that there was a Ottoman Jerusalem.
Famous Turkish world traveller Evliya Çelebi describes this event as
follows:
"All the Ulama and pious men went out to meet Selim Shah. They
handed him the keys of the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. He
then made presents to all the notable people, exempted them from the
onerous taxes and confirmed them Sultan Selim prostrated himself and
exclaimed “Alhamdulillah I am the possessor of the first Qiblah".
This cry of Selim the possessor of the first Qiblah (praying
direction) is characteristic of the relation between the Turkish
Sultans and Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a holy city for all, and
therefore the people were exempted from taxes and received
subventions (Surra) from Istanbul every year. The Ottoman Sultan was
servant of the holy places of Mecca and Medina and also of the 3rd
Haram and the first Qiblah (Jerusalem).
The relation between the High Porte (as Istanbul was called) and
Jerusalem was also important because Jerusalem was not only a Holy
city for the Muslims (like Mecca and Medina) but it was also the
Holy city of Christians and Jews. This multi-Holiness made otherwise
strategically unimportant city very important for Turkish Rulers.
Despite this importance only one Ottoman Sultan, Sultan Selim
visited Jerusalem. But this was not uncommon. Because of power
balances Sultans could not leave the capital. Even Sultan Selim did
not visit the other two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. So it was
only Jerusalem that was honoured with a Royal Visit of Turkish
Sultan.
The First and only royal visit after Sultan Selim was by a Westerner
and that was Kaiser Wilhelm II from Germany who visited it in 1898.
Until 9 December 1917 for more 400 years the city and Palestine
lived peacefully under Pax Ottomana. Despite this 400 year long rule
of Turks in Jerusalem there are not many visible Turkish
Architectural Works. No slender minarets or Royal Mosque as in
Balkans was build. The reason for this was respect for the local
traditions and because there was a congregational Mosque of Masjid
el-Aqsa. No other Mosque could be built that could surpass the holy
shrine. Never the less, the City of Jerusalem has still a visible
Turkish Presence.
One of the best methods to mark a ruler’s sovereignty over a city is
by putting inscription on places where people gather. Inscription is
a visible stamp of the ruler. There are also many inscriptions in
the city’s strategic and prominent places.
Preservation of old City of Jerusalem as it survives today is the
work of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent as called by Westerners and
Kanuni by Turks. He undertook great infrastructural works to make
the city more secure. Most important of his works is the rebuilding
of the walls of the city. Jerusalem had in Mamluk times no walls.
Suleiman the Magnificent remade the citadel and also he undertook
efforts to bring water to the city where 6 Sabils are still witness
of this. He decorated his infrastructural works with inscriptions.
There are/were 35 inscriptions in Jerusalem bearing the name of
Sultan Suleiman. That is abundant compared to other cities even to
the capital Istanbul, Jerusalem comes in the first place for
containing so many well-preserved inscriptions of Sultan Suleiman.
Suleiman had a special relationship with Jerusalem. Evliya Çelebi
describes Sultan Suleiman’s special relationship with Jerusalem as
follows:
"In the year 926/1520 Sultan Suleiman acceded to the throne and
conquered the fortress of Belgrade 927/1521 and later on the island
of Rhodes 928/1522 and accumulated thereby intense wealth. The
Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w) appeared to him in a blessed night and told
him: “O Suleiman you will make many conquests You should spend these
spoils on embellishing Mecca and Medina, and for the fortification
of the citadel of Jerusalem in order to repulse the unbelievers,
when they attempt to take possession during the reign of your
followers. You should also embellish its sanctuary with a water
basin and offer annual money gift to the dervishes there, and also
embellish the Rock of Allah and rebuild Jerusalem."
"Such being the order of the prophet Suleiman sends from his spoils
one thousand purses to Medina and another thousand purses to
Jerusalem. Together with required material he dispatched the master
architect Koca Sinan and transferred Lala Mustafa Pasha from the
governorship of Egypt to that of Syria, this latter having been
ordered to carry out the restoration of Jerusalem, gathered all the
master builders, architects and sculptors available in Cairo,
Damascus and Aleppo and send them to Jerusalem to rebuild it and to
embellish the Holy Rock."
Suleiman never visited the city but the works he implemented in the
city and the inscriptions set on his behalf are proof of this
relationship. Thanks to his imperial patronage the city has
preserved its character and integrity. It is still a living city.
Old City of Jerusalem could be without any doubt called his city,
Suleiman city.
After these immense works of Sultan Suleiman, the city became less
of a point of interest for the later Sultans. In the 18th and 19th.
century when the western (mainly) christian powers showed interest
in Jerusalem the city attracted again the attention of Ottoman
Sultans.
To call a few examples of later works: There is the restoration of
the Citadel by Sultan Mahmud I., and Abdülhamid II., renovation of
Tile works of the Dome of The Rock in 1874 by Sultan Abdülaziz.
In later times Sultan Abdülhamid II was active in
modernizing the Arab provinces and trying to integrate the holy
cities to the capital Istanbul; by building railways, and telegraph
lines. His 25th year of accession was overall celebrated with
building of clock towers in ottoman cities.
The British demolished the Jerusalem Clock tower and sabil in 1922.
In 9 December 1917 Turkish army withdraw from the city which became
a scene of change, violence, war and struggle that it never had seen
in the thousand years before.
When one nowadays walks in the streets of Jerusalem one can hear the
voice of the city desiring for the peaceful times of Pax Ottomana.
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