In a unique study of rural administration in the Ottoman empire, Amy
Singer explores the relationship between Palestinian peasants and
Ottoman officials in mid-sixteenth-century Jerusalem. Using court
records, the author describes the mechanisms of tax collection and other
aspects of local administration. The book emphasizes the interactive
nature of Ottoman officialdom, which, while obliged to extract revenues
from the peasants and impress them with its imperial authority, was
profoundly influenced by local conditions and traditional practices.