Summary
The annual tax-collection tour of Ottoman Palestine: every year starting in the early eighteenth century, the governor of Damascus Province or his deputy, a few weeks before Ramadan, personally led a contingent of troops to predetermined points as an aggressive physical reminder of the inhabitants’ annual fiscal obligations to the Ottoman state (Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, lines 381-409).
Details
- The practice arose because the Ottoman authorities had such a troublesome time collecting taxes in Palestine; even with the dawra, taxes were rarely paid fully or on time (Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, lines 381-409).
- The dawra’s timing was determined by the departure of the annual pilgrimage caravan to Mecca and Medina (Chapter 1, note 5) (Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, lines 677-843).
Related pages
Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, Jabal Nablus, Nablus