Majdal Yaba - History - Ottoman Rule

Ottoman Rule

Majdal Yaba was apparently repopulated when Palestine was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century, and by 1596, it was a small village in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jabal Qubal, part of Sanjak Nablus. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, beehives and goats. The population consisted of 8 Muslim families. The castle fortress in Majdal Yaba that was abandoned in the 13th century, was rebuilt in 18th to 19th centuries.

On March 3, 1799, General Kleber, Commander in Chief of the invading French forces, received the order to push detachments after having taken up position to the south of the river Nahar-al-Ougeh, to watch enemy movements, and to prepare for the army to march to Acre. He instructed General Damas (Lannes), on March 6, to undertake a reconnaissance in the mountains inhabited by the Naplousains, who seemed to be hostile. Turks were firing from behind rocks and down precipices. The small column was obliged to retreat with heavy losses where sixty Franks were killed and more than double the number wonded, and Damas's arm was broken.

In the 19th century, the village was named Majdal al-Sadiq after Sheikh Muhammad al-Sadiq al-Jamma'ini, the chief of the village who hailed from the prominent Rayyan clan. The Rayyan were a branch of the Bedouin Bani Ghazi tribe that emigrated to Palestine from Jordan in the 17th century. According to Eli Smith, in 1843, the fortress (known as the "Rayyan Fortress") in the village was in ruins.

In Thursday, November 7, 1850 James Finn future British Consul to Jerusalem and Palestine, visited the village and found it and the castle in a very dilapidated condition, he met Sheikh Al Sadiq family, and slept in the castle for a night, he surveyed the church attached to the castle and saw the Greek inscription upon the lintel signifying "Martyr Memorial Church of the Holy Herald,

When Edward Robinson visited in 1852, he reported that the fortress had been rebuilt and also served as a palace for the ruling sheikh. Sheikh al-Sadiq, however, had been banished by the Ottomans. In the 1850s, the Rayyan controlled 22-25 villages in the nahiya of Jamma'in West in Sanjak Nablus, with Majdal Yaba being their main village, where they maintained a fortress and manor. During this time, however, they were embroiled in war with their rival clan, the Qasim — who controlled the Jamma'in East area and also belonged to the Bani Ghazi tribe.

In 1859, Sulayman Rayyan was in control of Majdal Yaba, and by 1860 the Rayyan clan had lost all of their influence in the sanjak after they were defeated by the Qasims. The Rayyan continued to live in and rule Majdal Yaba, but the village ceased to be a center of power. According to the Survey of Western Palestine, the Rayyan were "ruined by the Turkish Government." Members of the survey who visited in 1873 reported a large building of "massive masonry", probably a former church, with a side door inscribed in Greek "Memorial of Saint Cerycus".

In 1888, a school was founded in Majdal Yaba.