Tuqan family
The Tuqan clan (
History
Origins
According to Palestinian historian Muhammad Muslih, the Tuqan family traces their ancestry to an ancient
In Jabal Nablus the Tuqans formed part of the
Peak of power
Like his father Ibrahim Agha, Hajj Salih Pasha started his military career with the Ottomans by leading a military contingent protecting the annual Hajj pilgrim caravan alongside the amir al-hajj. He was appointed
In 1766, Mustafa Bey Tuqan gained appointment as chief of the Bani Sa'b
The Jarrars' fears of Tuqan dominance compelled them to allow the forces of Zahir al-Umar, whom the Jarrars had been at war with since the 1730s, to pass through their territories around Jenin to attack the Tuqans in Nablus.[4] Prior to Zahir's march to Nablus, he captured Jaffa in August 1771[6] and drove out its mutasallim and Mustafa Bey's brother, Ahmad Bey Tuqan. Not long after, Zahir captured the Bani Sa'b subdistrict and forced Mustafa Bey to retreat to Nablus. Mustafa Bey received help from the Nimrs and the two families prepared the city's defenses. The Tuqans positioned themselves to the west of Khan al-Tujjar, while the Nimrs positioned themselves to the east. Their combined forces totaled about 12,000 riflemen, whose composition included many of their peasant loyalists. Zahir besieged the town for nine days, but after several skirmishes and one major confrontation, Zahir withdrew to avoid a bloody stalemate. His forces proceeded to cut off the roads leading to Damascus and plundered caravans leaving Nablus to punish the Tuqans and the Nimrs.[7] This turn of events cast the Tuqans as the loyal servants of the Ottoman Empire defending its authority in the face of Zahir's rebellious forces.[4] In May 1772, the Tuqans recaptured Jaffa from Zahir's forces, but Zahir took it back after a nine-month siege.[8]
Musa Bey Tuqan, (the longest reigning mutasallim of Nablus since the late 17th-century) strove to establish centralized rule over Jabal Nablus. To finance his drive for power, he sought to dominate
Decline
Soon after their conquest of Ottoman Syria in 1831, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt deported the leading figures of the Tuqan family to Egypt and promoted the Abd al-Hadi family of Arraba instead.[9] The only remaining leader of the family, Yusuf ibn Ahmad Tuqan continued to own a small number of soap factories.
Today, the Tuqan family still operates one of the two remaining soap factories in Nablus. The industry has been severely damaged by the circumstances of the Second Intifada, the Israeli occupation and checkpoints.[10]
Influence in Salt
In the last quarter of the 19th century, Dawud Effendi Tuqan, a Palestinian scion of the Tuqan family, settled in
Building on the commercial advantages of the Tuqan family's trade network, Dawud Effendi soon diversified his activities to include monetary loans. He provided funding at a time when Transjordanians faced a need for monetary liquidity due to infrastructural developments. Between both businesses, the Tuqan family in Salt had established a vast network of contacts with hundreds of herders and farmers in the Balqa District. With the newfound wealth of the Tuqan family in Salt, a new commercial quarter developed in the city known as the Nabulsi Quarter. Dawud Effendi commissioned the construction of a large estate in the quarter alongside the manors of other prominent Nablus families.[11]
List of notable Tuqan members
- Baha Toukan - Ambassador of Jordan
- Ahmad Toukan - former Prime Minister of Jordan
- Alia Toukan Al-Hussein– former Queen of Jordan
- Fadwa Tuqan – Palestinian contemporary poet
- Fawwaz Tuqan – poet, novelist, writer and university professor in Jordan.
- Ibrahim Tuqan – Palestinian contemporary poet
- Ja'afar Tuqan – award-winning architect in Jordan
- Khaled Toukan - former Minister of Education (2000-2008) and current Minister of Energy (2011) in Jordan
- Haya bint Hussein - former wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
- Dana Firas- the wife of HRH Prince Firas bin Ra'ad
- Umayya Toukan -Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Economic Affairs in Jordan
References
- ^ a b c d e Muslih, p.29.
- ^ a b c d e Doumani, 1995, pp. 37-38.
- ^ a b c d Doumani, 1995, p. 272.
- ^ a b c d e Doumani, 1995, pp. 42-43.
- ^ Joudah, 1987, pp. 87-88.
- ^ Philipp, 2013, p. 41.
- ^ Doumani, 1995, pp. 95-96.
- ^ Philipp, 2013, p. 42.
- ^ a b c Doumani, 1995, p.186.
- ^ Michael Phillips (March 11, 2008). "Nablus' olive oil soap: a Palestinian tradition lives on". Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU). Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ a b Rogan, pp.95-97.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-520-08895-6.
- Joudah, Ahmad Hasan (1987). Revolt in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century: The Era of Shaykh Zahir Al-ʻUmar. Kingston Press. ISBN 9780940670112.
- Muslih, Muhammad Y. (1989). The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism. Columbia University Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-231-06509-2.
Izzat Darwaza.