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Jindās: a History of Lydda's Rural Hinterland in the 15th to the 20th Centuries CE

Dr. Roy Marom, The Department of History, University of California (Berkeley)
ISSN 2788-5151
Open Access Journal
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Abstract

English
עברית
العربية

Jindās was the nearest village to Lydda, situated by the town’s northern entrance. Although Lydda remained, to a large extent, an agricultural town until 1948, its rural hinterland has received little scholarly attention thus far. In this article, I sought to redress this disparity by reconstructing the history of Jindās, based on Ottoman tax records, waqf endowment deeds, registers of the Sharia courts and even oral testimonies. Jindās is mentioned in the 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries as a flourishing village whose lands belonged to different religious endowments. In the 18th and 19th centuries the village was abandoned several times. The desertion of Jindās, as well as of its neighbors Sibtāra, Kafr Jinnis, Beit Qūfa, and Shīhā, reflects the unsettled conditions around Lydda as a result from the migrations of nomadic groups and local manifestations of the Qays and Yaman rivalry.

From a broader historiographical perspective, the article underlines a key point: the abandonment of villages did not necessarily result in an overall demographic decline. Just as the inhabitants of Jindās were scattered throughout Palestine’s central hill country, residents of other abandoned villages relocated, for the most part, to other regions, expanding and changing their existing patterns of settlement. In addition, the lands of these villages were not left abandoned, but continued to be cultivated by other populations. Thus, the lands of Jindās were cultivated by the inhabitants of Beit Nabālā and Lydda, and while they became the target of early Zionist settlement initiatives starting in the late 19th century, Ottoman reassertion of Jindās’ status as a waqf estate forestalled the land acquisition initiatives.

הכפר גִ’נְדאס, היה הכפר הקרוב ביותר ללוד, והיווה שער לעיר לבאים אליה מצפון. עד לשנת 1948 נותרה העיר לוד חקלאית ברובה. המרחב הכפרי של העיר, המהווה את העורף החקלאי שלה, טרם זכה לתשומת לב מחקרית מספקת. ביקשנו לגשר על הפער הזה בבחינת תולדות הכפר. המאמר מתבסס על מגוון רחב של מקורות מקומיים, כגון: מרשמי מס, כתבי הקדשות, פרוטוקולים של בתי הדין השרעיים ואף עדויות בעל-פה. הכפר גִ’נְדַאס נזכר במאות ה-15, ה-16 וגם בראשית ה-17 כהקדש דתי וכמקום יישוב פורח. במאות ה-18 וה-19 ניטש הכפר פעמים אחדות. חורבנו החוזר של הכפר, כמו גם סופו, מבטאים את חוסר היציבות היישובית באזור לוד, עקב חדירת נוודים וסכסוכי הקיס והימן, עליהם יסופר להלן, ובגינם נעזבו גם הכפרים השכנים: סבטארה, כפר ג’נס, בית קופא ושיחא. עם זאת, המאמר מדגים כי אין בעצם נטישת כפרים להעיד בהכרח על דעיכה דמוגרפית כוללת. תושבי הכפר גִ’נְדַאס ובני הכפרים השכנים התפזרו במרחב הכפרי של הרי יהודה ושומרון. אוכלוסייתם של הכפרים שניטשו לא נעלמה, אלא עברה להתגורר, על פי רוב, במרחבים גיאוגרפיים אחרים, בהרחיבּה ובעבותּה את המערך ההתיישבותי בהם. כמו כן אדמות הכפרים המשיכו להיות מעובדות בידי אוכלוסיות אחרות. בנסיבות אלה הכפר גִ’נְדַאס הפך לנחלה חקלאית, בעיבודם של תושבי בית נבאלא ולוד, והכפר אף נקשר ביוזמות מוקדמות להתיישבות ציונית בעמק לוד, יוזמות שסוכלו, בין היתר, עקב היות אדמותיו בבעלות הווקף.

كانت جِنداس أقرب قرية إلى اللد، وبوابة المدينة للقادمين إليها من الشمال. أما اللد فظلت مدينةً زراعيةً إلى حدٍ كبيرٍ حتى حرب 1948. مع الأسف، لم تنال المناطق الريفية حول المدينة باهتمام بحثي كافٍ بعد. في إطار بحثنا هذا قد طلبنا سدّ هذه الفجوة بمناقشة تاريخ قرية جنداس. تستند المقالة إلى مجموعة متنّوعة ونوعية من المصادر الاولية المحليّة، بما فيها دفاتر ضرائب عثمانية، وقفيات، سجلات المحاكم الشرعية والرواية الشفوية. ذكرت قرية جنداس في القرون ال - 15 – 17 ميلادي كوقف صحيح لمؤسسات دينية مختلفة وكضيعةٍ زراعيةٍ مزدهرةٍ. أما خلال القرنين الثامن عشر والتاسع عشر ميلادي فاندثرت جنداس متكررًا أثناء غزوات بدوية ونزاعات القيس واليمن في البلاد. أدى عدم الاستقرار السكني في ناحية الرملة إلى خراب قرى مجاورة لجنداس واللد مثل سِبتارة/سبطارة وكفر جِنِّس وبيت قوفا وشِيحة.

من منظور جغرافي تاريخي أوسع، تؤكد المقالة على نقطة رئيسية: لم يكن من الضروري أن يؤدي اندثار قرى إلى تدهورٍ ديموغرافيٍّ شاملٍ. قد أثبتنا أن تشتت سكان جنداس في قرى متعددة في جبال فلسطين. هناك أدلّة كثيرة تؤكّد انتقال سكان القرى المندثرة إلى مناطق أخرى ونتج عن ذلك تغيير توزيع السكان وتعمير قرى جديدة لهم فيها. كذلك، قد تبيّن إن أراضي القرى المندثرة لم تبق غير مفتلحة، بل تمّ زراعتها من قِبل مجموعات من القرى المحيطة بها. مثلاً، تم زراعة أراضي جنداس من قبل فلاحي بيت نبالا واللد، وبينما أصبحت أراضي جنداس هدفًا لمبادرات الاستيطان الصهيونية المبكّرة، التي بدأت في أواخر القرن التاسع عشر، تم إعادة تأكيد الدولة العثمانية لجنداس كأرض وقفية فباتت مبادرات الاستحواذ الصهيونية بالفشل.

الكلمات الدالة: القرية العربية، وقف، تاريخ محلي، جغرافية تاريخية، الفترة العثمانية

Key Words

historical geographylocal historyOttoman Periodthe Arab villagewaqf
The article

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