Agriculture in Bilad Al sham (Levant) in the Seventeenth Century through the Book of Gahan-Nama by Kateb Chalabi

The Ottoman literature is an important source in studying the various aspects of modern Arab history (social, economic and political). These sources ranged from documents and records of Sharia courts to land titles and Salnamat books. Among the historical and geographical literature, the importance of these sources lies in the fact that most of them were close to the historical event and were eyewitnesses to the developments that took place in the Arab states over the course of four centuries. In fact, the researcher may extract important information from one historical source on which he can base himself in forming the picture of the historical event and its dimensions within the period that that source addresses. The Levant aroused the interest of one of the most important Ottoman historians and geographers, Kateb elebi (1608 - 1656), who is considered the most important Ottoman author during the seventeenth century. Our study on this topic came from the translation of texts related to agriculture in the Levant from the ancient Ottoman language into the Arabic language, analyzing them through his book (Jahan Nama), and then studying these texts to find out agricultural patterns, land divisions, taxes imposed on them, and the associated agricultural crops and their types during the seventh century.