His career began under the Mamluks in the late 15th century and continued under the Ottomans who kept him in his post as commander of the roads connecting Damascus with Cairo and Jerusalem in 1516 and soon after appointed him governor of Safad.
By 1538, he had been granted tax farms in Marj Ibn Amer, Qaqun and in the Ajlun region east of the Jordan River.
During the late Mamluk period in the 15th century, the Banu Haritha were semi-nomadic Bedouin and inhabited the rural hinterlands of Nablus in northern Palestine.
[1] Turabay's father, Qaraja, was appointed by the Mamluks as chieftain of the Marj Ibn Amer plain north of Nablus.
[6] By 1559, however, the clan's circumstances stabilized, and Turabay's son Ali was appointed sanjak-bey of Lajjun Sanjak, which consisted of the Marj Ibn Amer, lower Galilee and the hills around Jenin.