[35] I am indebted for some of the facts and dates in this chapter to Stevenson's The Crusaders in the East (Cambridge: at the University Press, 1907), and Dr. Meyer's History of the City of Gaza, Chap. IX.
CHAPTER XIV
THE PASHAS OF GAZA
Al Nadwan, and other Pashas, ruled Gaza and all Palestine for more than two hundred years. Under the Sultans of Turkey, these Pashas, seven in number, occupied the city after the crusading period. They began to rule from about a.d. 1510.
They possessed much property in many parts of the country. The present British Consular Agent's house belonged to one of these Pashas.
The old court (serai) belonged to them, and the present barracks.
All the existing fine buildings were erected by them.
The minaret at the Great Mosque, and two other minarets at the Sajaiah, were also constructed in their day.
They governed all Palestine and Syria, having their headquarters in Gaza. Consequently, in the middle of the seventeenth century Gaza once assumed somewhat of its former importance.