Touqan
Encyclopedia
Touqan is a prominent Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 & Jordanian family based in Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...

 and Al-Salt. During Ottoman times they were the only household that ever came close to centralizing all of the District of Nablus
District of Nablus
The District of Nablus also known as Sanjak Nablus is a historical administrative area that existed throughout Ottoman rule of Palestine and to a lesser extent during British rule. It exists today as the Nablus Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority...

 under their rule, and their members held the post of district chief longer than did any other local family in the 18th and 19th centuries, albeit inconsistently.

Origins

Palestinian historian Muhammad Muslih states the Tuqan family traces its own descent to an ancient Arab tribe in northern Arabia. For centuries, they settled in Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

, particularly in Ma'an
Ma'an
Ma'an is a town in southern Jordan 218 km away from the capital Amman. It is the capital of Ma'an Governorate. Ma'an has a population of around 50,000. The city had a population of 22,989 in the 1992 census and is estimated as being about 50,000 as of 2007 according to the Ma'an Municipality...

 and the eastern Jordan Valley area. They claim to have settled in Nablus during the 12th century CE. From then until the 19th century, they headed the Qais
Qais
Qais , also spelled Qays or Kais, were an Arabian tribe branched from the Mudhar Adnani groups.-Main branches of Qais:The main branches of the Qais tribes are the Banu Sulaym, Hawazin and the Banu Ghatafan. These three main groups remained in the Eastern Hejaz until the 7th century...

 tribal federation. The Qais and the Yamani federation had a history of rivalry and warfare. According to Palestinian historian Beshara Doumani, the Touqan family is originally from northern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, although their members ruled other parts of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 at various periods of time.

Power in Nablus

They served in the Ottoman army as officers during a military campaign into Palestine in 1657 which was meant to pacify the Jabal Nablus region. The Touqan settled in the city of Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...

 and later in the 18th-century contended control of it with the Nimr family, who also served in the 1657 campaign. Their most prominent member at that time was Salih Pasha al-Touqan. Salih Pasha and his descendant intermarried with the Nimrs, but internecine competition, exacerbated by the provincial authorities in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

 caused a serious rift between the families.

In 1766, Mustafa Bey Touqan maneuvered himself to be appointed the chief of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Sa'b, driving out the powerful Jarrar family from their post. This put the family on a collision course with the Jarrars and Dhaher al-Omar, the ruler of Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....

, who rebelled against the Ottoman authorities. This threat was magnified when the governor of Damascus, Muhammad Pasha al-Azm, appointed Mustafa Bey as the sub-district chief of Nablus as well. The Jarrars' fears induced them to let the forces of Dhaher al-Omar pass unimpeded through their territories on their way to lay siege to Nablus. Meanwhile, Mustafa Bey received help from the Nimrs and prepared the city's defenses. This turn of events cast the Touqans as loyal servants of the Ottoman sultan.

Mustafa Bey accelerated the Touqans' drive for internal hegemony in Jabal Nablus through violence and intimidation, eventually embroiling Jabal Nablus in a civil war (1817–1823). With the blessing of the Ottoman government, the Touqans imported mercenary soldiers and stationed them in a hastily built fortress in the village of Junayd
Junayd
Junayd is a male given name which means soldier or warrior.-Given name:*Mohammed Junaid Babar, Pakistani-American terrorist*Junayd Baghdadi, a 9th-century Sufi*Junaid Ismail Dockrat, South African Dentist...

, on the outskirts of Nablus. This move increased local opposition and after a series of bloody clashes, some inside the city itself, the Touqans were defeated by the combined forces of the Jarrars and the Qasim family (chiefs of Jamma'in
Jamma'in
Jamma'in is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located southwest of Nablus, northwest of Salfit and north of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,227 in 2007.-History:...

); Mustafa Bey was poisoned on November 20, 1823.

Musa Bey Touqan, who became the most powerful and longest-reigning chief of Nablus since at least the late 17th-century, strove for political centralization and to dominate Nabulsi soap
Nabulsi soap
Nabulsi soap is a type of castile soap produced only in Nablus in the West Bank, Palestine. An olive oil-based soap, it is made up of three primary ingredients: virgin olive oil, water, and a sodium compound...

 production by acquiring soap factories. In September 1798, the Touqan family had arranged the purchase of part of the Rukabiyya soap factory by one of its followers, who then turned it over to them. A few months later, in early January 1799, they consolidated their hold over the Uthmaniyya factory through a waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

 exchange with a less wealthy branch of their family. Muhammad ibn Ali Touqan forced a waqf exchange of the entire Shafi'iyya soap factory from Qasim Shafi'i for the low sum of 150 piasters in 1801. In February 1807, Musa Bey gained control of the Ya'ishiyya factory from the Hanbalis after the leading member of that family died indebted. In mid-December 1811, the Touqans endowed two-thirds of the Shaytaniyya as a private family waqf, the implication being that this share was newly acquired. In another instance, Musa Bey "persuaded" Muhammad ibn Isma‘il Qadi-Shwayka to invalidate a previous sale of his right of use of one-quarter of the Bashawiyya soap factory to Muhammad Sa'id Bustami in December 1815-January 1816 and to sell it to him instead. Finally, in April 1817, Musa Bey purchased the allegedly damaged Gharzaniyya after another waqf exchange within his own extended family.

Musa Bey was assassinated by his rivals on December 20, 1823, putting an end to a prolonged period of conflict, during which his family's material base had been seriously eroded. Many of the Touqans' key properties, including those that were endowed as family waqfs, were confiscated after Musa Bey's death. Soon after their occupation of the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...

 in 1831, the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ians deported the leading figures of the Touqan family to Egypt and promoted the Abd al-Hadi family of Arrabah
Arrabah
Arraba, , a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank located 13 kilometers southwest of Jenin. The village is 350 meters above sea level and lies near Sahl Arrabah, a plain that lies between Mount Carmel and Nablus...

 instead. The only remaining leader of the family, Yusuf ibn Ahmad Touqan continued a small number of factories.

Today, the Touqan 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.

Influence in Salt

In the last quarter of the 19th-century, Dawud Effendi Tuqan, a Palestinian scion of the Touqan family, settled in Salt
Salt, Jordan
Salt is an ancient agricultural town and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa highland, about 790–1100 metres above sea level, the town is built in the crook of three hills, close to the Jordan River...

 in the Balqa
Balqa
Balqa is one of the governorates of Jordan. It is located northwest of Amman, Jordan's capital.The governorate has the fourth largest population of the 12 governorates of Jordan, and is ranked 10th by Area...

 region of Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

 as a merchant. He soon took advantage of the increased Ottoman presence in the area, buying and building shops and warehouses for the sale and storage of commercial goods. Namely, his business was centered on selling products manufactured in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

 to the local market and in turn reselling pastoral and agricultural products from Transjordan in Palestinian towns.

Building on the commercial advantages of the Touqan family's trade network, Dawud Effendi soon diversified his activities to include monetary loans. At a time when Transjordanians faced a need for cash, he was in a place to satisfy those needs. Between both businesses, the Touqan family in Salt had established a vast network of contacts with hundreds of herders and farmers in the Balqa district. With the new found wealth of the Touqan (as well as the Nabulsi and Miyari families from Nablus) 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 major Nablus families.

List of notable Touqan members

  • Ahmad Toukan
    Ahmad Toukan
    Ahmad Toukan was a Palestinian political leader who was Prime Minister of Jordan from 26 September 1970 to 28 October 1970.- Overview :Toukan was born on 15 August 1903 in Nablus, Palestine....

     - Former Prime Minister of Jordan
  • Alia Touqan al-Hussein – Former Queen of Jordan
  • Fadwa Tuqan – Palestinian contemporary poet.
  • Fawwaz Tuqan
    Fawwaz Tuqan
    Fawwaz Tuqan is a Jordanian-Palestinian poet, novelist and professor. Born on 6 September 1940 to a notable Palestinian family in Jordan. His father is Ahmad Abdul Fattah Tuqan, former Prime Minister of Jordan....

     – Poet, novelist, writer and university professor in Jordan
    Jordan
    Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

    .
  • Ibrahim Tuqan – Palestinian contemporary poet.
  • Jafar Tukan – Award-winning architect in Jordan
    Jordan
    Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

    .
  • Nael Toukan - Contemporary translator arabic-swedish in Sweden
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