Bulletin of Palestine Studies

Abstract

Jerusalem, which had the status of a sanjak for many years within the administrative division of the Ottoman State, was directly connected to the center with the regulation made in 1871 and the name of the Jerusalem Sanjak was changed to Jerusalem Mutasarrıflık. Considering the sensitive situation of Jerusalem, administrators who would best represent the state were appointed as governors. One of these administrators was Ahmed Macid Bey, who served between 1913 and 1915. The Governor of Jerusalem, Ahmed Macid Bey, organized an inspection travel to examine the general situation of the districts and townships under his administrative responsibility and presented his impressions during this travel in the form of a report to the Minister of the Interior, Talat Bey. Ahmed Macid Bey gave detailed information about Hebron, Birusseeb, Gaza, Jaffa, Lud, Ramla, Majdal and Hafir in his report. He stated the geographical features, demographic and social structure, administrative and civil architecture, agricultural potential, transportation networks, places of worship, the status of educational institutions, tax collection and accessibility to water of the places he visited. He also included the complaints of the local people and suggestions for the development of the region in his report. In this article; after giving general information about Governor Ahmed Macid Bey, the way the inspection travel was carried out, the routes used, the characteristics of the places visited, the expectations of the local people from the state are discussed through the report that Ahmed Macid Bey presented to the Minister of the Interior Talat Bey. Thus, it was aimed to present both the state-society relations from the perspective of an administrator and the general image of the Governorship of Jerusalem shortly before it ceased to be under Ottoman rule.