Safed Sanjak
[12] Travelers' accounts from the 15th century describe a general decline of the region around Safed precipitated by famine, plagues, natural disasters and political chaos, and the flight of peasants from their villages to the main towns or their adoption of nomadism.
The second survey shows substantial increases in the population and tax revenues, possibly a result of peasants returning to their villages and the stability brought by the early Ottoman rulers.
[17] The native chronicler and Hanafi mufti of Safed, al-Khalidi al-Safadi (d. 1625), indicated in his writings that the closing years of the 16th century in the sanjak were marked by devastation and desolation, which is generally reflected in Ottoman government records.
[19] Three years after Fakhr al-Din's appointment, the Ottomans commended him for "guarding the country, keeping the Bedouins in check, ensuring the welfare and tranquility of the population, promoting agriculture and increasing prosperity".
[21] Around the same time, in 1617, the Shia Muslim clan of Munkar and the house of El Assaad Family of Ali Al-Saghir emerged, along with Al Shukr, as opponents of the Ma'ns in Bilad Bishara.
[9] After a five-year exile in Tuscany, Fakhr al-Din reestablished his position in the region, his power reaching its apex in the 1630s until he was killed by imperial Ottoman troops in 1635.
[23] The following year, the Ali al-Saghir clan irked the authorities for not forwarding revenues from Tyre earmarked for a waqf (religious trust) in Damascus.
[9] Less powerful Shia clans, such as the Zayn of Bint Jbeil, filled the local leadership void in the aftermath, though the Ali al-Saghir regrouped toward the end of the century and may have maintained tacit support from the Ma'n.
[21] The Shihabi emir, Bashir I, Haydar's uncle and the effective leader of the Shihab dynasty, launched a punitive campaign against the Ali al-Saghirs in Bilad Bishara in 1698, capturing Mushrif and his son Muhammad and transferring them to the custody of Sidon's governor Kaplan Pasha, brother of Tripoli Eyalet's governor and Shihab ally Arslan Mehmed Pasha.
[26] By the late 17th century, the Bedouin Banu Saqr tribe practically dominated the area west of Tiberias between Safed and Nablus.
[28] The governor of Sidon Eyalet, backed by local forces from Nablus, resolved to subjugate the Saqr, who had developed a reputation for raiding villages, endangering travelers and commerce, and evading taxes.
[30] After twenty-five years of clashes and cooperation, Zahir and the Shia Muslim clans of Jabal Amil led by Nassif al-Nassar of the Ali al-Saghir clan agreed a formal alliance making Zahir their official representative with the authorities in Sidon, overseeing their tax payments and agreeing to defend them against the Druze led by Mulhim Shihab in exchange for their military backing.
