# Mazari an-Nubani

Mazari an-Nubani (Arabic: مزارع النوباني) is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located 25 kilometers North of Ramallah in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,436 inhabitants in 2017.

## History

Mazari al-Nubani was by earlier scholars (Röhricht, Prawer and Benvenisti) identified with the Crusader village called Mezera, but newer scholars (Finkelstein et al.) disputes this.

### Ottoman era

In 1596 the village, under the name of Mazra'at al-'Abbas, appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 60 households and 21 bachelors, all Muslim. Taxes were paid on wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards and fruit trees, goats and/or beehives; a total of 6,910 akçe. 1/3 of the revenue went to a Waqf.
In 1838 el-Mezari'a was noted as a Muslim village, part of the Beni Zeid area, located north of Jerusalem.
When Guérin passed by the village in 1870, he estimated it had a population of about 600. An Ottoman village list from about the same year showed Mazari with a population of 560, in 163 houses, though the population count included men only. It was also noted it was located east of Qarawat Bani Zeid.
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village, then called Mezrah, as being of moderate size, on high ground.
In 1896 the population of Mezra‘a was estimated to be about 1,008 persons.

### British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mazarie' al-Nubani had a population of 611 Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 864 Muslims, in 193 houses.
The 1945 statistics found 1,090 Muslim inhabitants with a total of 9,631 dunam of land. Of this, 7,399 were used for plantations and irrigable land, 445 for cereals, while 59 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

### Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Mazari Nubani came under Jordanian rule.
In 1961, the population of Mazari al-Nubani was 1,358.

### Post 1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Mazari al-Nuban has been under Israeli occupation.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of approximately 2,510 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.

## Folklore

The local a-Nubani hamula claims to descend from Abdul Qadir Gilani, a Sufi leader who founded the Qadiri order.

## Footnotes

* 1 2 Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
* 1 2 meaning "The sown land", according to Palmer, 1881, p. 239
* ↑ Röhricht, 1887, p. 200, Prawer and Benvenisti, 1970; both cited in Finkelstein, 1997, p. 464. Finkelstein found no old pottery here.
* ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 114
* ↑ Toledano, 1984, p. 296, has Mazari at location 35°09′35″E 32°03′00″N.
* ↑ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 125
* ↑ Guérin, 1875, p. 170
* ↑ Socin, 1879, p. 157
* ↑ Hartmann, 1883, p. 107, noted 103 houses
* ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 291
* ↑ Schick, 1896, p. 124
* ↑ Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p. 17
* ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 50.
* ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 26
* ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 65
* ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 112
* ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 162
* ↑ Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 24
* ↑ Projected Mid -Year Population for Ramallah & Al Bireh Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
* ↑ Tal, Uri (2023). Muslim Shrines in Eretz Israel: History, Religion, Traditions, Folklore (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi. p. 185. ISBN 978-965-217-452-9.