Ridwan dynasty
[4] The dynasty was founded by Kara Şahin Mustafa Pasha, who served as governor of a number of provinces and district, including Gaza, during his career.
[1] As part of the Ottoman devsirme system, Mustafa Pasha received his education from the inner service of the palace, gradually being promoted to high-ranking positions in the government.
[1] In 1524,[3] after having successively served as the governor of Erzerum and Diyarbekir and then as the personal tutor of Sultan Suleiman's son Shahzade Bayazit,[1] he was temporarily appointed the governorship of Gaza, capital of an eponymous sanjak retaining its importance from the previous Mamluk era.
[6] In 1565, Ridwan Pasha was promoted to beylerbey (governor-general) of Yemen for two years before returning to rule Gaza for a short period of time in 1567.
[7] Ahmad Pasha intermittently served as amir al-hajj, but struggled to gain further promotion by the Ottoman government, having to lobby several Istanbul-based viziers and bureaucrats with large sums of money and other gifts, unlike his predecessors.
Because he was able to guarantee the safety of the main roads and the countryside by securing and maintaining close relations with the local Bedouin tribes, Gaza and other cities in Palestine were able to prosper and develop extensively during Husayn Pasha's reign.
[8][9] Husayn Pasha also developed friendly relationships with the city's Christian and Jewish communities, allowing the former to construct new churches and restore existing ones.
[4] According to historian Dror Ze'evi, the Ottoman state become wary of the growing power of the Ridwans and believed that eliminating Husayn Pasha would enable them to "destroy the remnants of the extended dynasty.
Kiwan, another mamluk of the Ridwan dynasty, became a major aide to the governor of Damascus before his son gained the governorship and the office of amir al-hajj in the 1670s.
[15] The intermarriage and socio-political ties that the Ridwans maintained with the Turabays and the Circassian Farrukhs created a "new Bedouin-Ottoman hybrid culture" that was "evident in court life, dress and probably language as well", according to historian Dror Ze'evi.
In order to protect their districts from Bedouin raids, tax evasion and personal property damage, departing governors normally entrusted their authority with the rulers of the neighboring sanjak.
For example, in 1589, Ridwan Pasha requested Assaf ibn Turabay to temporarily replace him as governor of Damascus, beginning a tradition that lasted well into the 17th century.
[18] The mutual trust between the families developed into a firm military alliance in the early 17th century as a result of the increasing strength of Fakhr-al-Din II in Ottoman Syria.
Backed by the Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany, Fakhr-al-Din briefly repaired his relations with the Ottoman government and in 1622 gained control of the Safad and Ajlun sanjaks, became governor of Nablus and appointed mutasallim (tax collector) of Gaza.
Fakhr al-Din's moves threatened the rule of the three families who, after encouragement from the Sublime Porte in Istanbul, formed a coalition to stop his advance.
[18] Throughout their reign, the Ridwan dynasty accumulated vast wealth in Gaza, including agricultural lands and several real estate properties.
The family allocated a large part of that wealth to awqaf (religious trusts), which they used to fund the construction and maintenance of various public buildings.
[8] Some members of the dynasty were buried in Maqbarat al-Ridwan (Ridwan Family Graveyard) located just south of the Great Mosque of Gaza.
[8] During Ridwan rule, the Qaysariyyah Market in Gaza's al-Daraj quarter was reconstructed as was the Hamam al-Sammara bathhouse and the former Khan az-Zayt caravansary.
