Centre-periphery relations in the Ottoman Galilee: the case of Akil Agha al-Hasi, 1840-70

Abstract

ABSTRACT Akil Agha al-Hasi, a son of a Bedouin family, immigrated into Palestine from Egypt at the start of the 19th century. He was a dominant factor in the history of Galilee from the 1830s to the end of 1860s. His official job was commander of irregular soldiers in the service of the Ottoman governor, although in fact, his job and his status exceeded much, a job in the service of the authorities. Akil Agha knew how to take advantage of the power bases which stood at his disposal: units of irregular soldiers, alliances with Bedouin tribes, villages and townsmen, and the weakness of the Ottoman government in general, and in the region, in particular, in order to become a center of power, indeed a local one, but also worrying at a national level. Sometimes he would overcome this attempt and sometimes he failed, and then he would run rampage against order and security in order to force the authorities to understand that only he was the key to order and security in the region. For the lack of an alternative, they were forced to return him to his job, but not for a long time, and he was again dismissed.