Jerusalem 1517: The Ottoman Conquest That Redrew the City

In 1517, the Ottoman sultan Selim the Grim marched into Jerusalem, ending centuries of Mamluk rule and reshaping the city's religious and political landscape for the next 400 years. This episode traces the conquest itself—the Battle of Marj Dabiq, the fall of Cairo, and Selim's dramatic entry into Jerusalem—then explores how the Ottomans rebuilt the city's walls under Suleiman the Magnificent, reorganized its four quarters (Muslim, Christian, Armenian, Jewish), and codified the relationship between the state and the city's diverse religious communities. We look at the Kanunname, the legal code that defined dhimmi rights and prohibited new churches, and the role of the Qadi of Jerusalem as the sultan's eyes on the ground. We also examine how the Ottoman system created what one historian called 'a stable equilibrium of inequality'—a framework that lasted until the British mandate. Featuring details from the Tahrir defters (tax registers), the Süleymaniye complex, and the little-known story of the Buraq Wall dispute in the 1520s.

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