Khirbat Qais (Arabic: خربة قيس) is a Palestinian village in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank. In 2010 it became a suburb of Salfit, about 4 km south of Salfit.
Location Khirbat Qais is bordered by Salfit and Farkha to the north, Bani Zaid ash Sharqiya to the west, 'Arura village to the south, and Ammuriya village to the east.
History Sherds from the Iron Age II/Persian, Hellenistic/Roman, Byzantine, Byzantine/Umayyad, Umayyad/Abbasid, Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk eras have been found here.Finkelstein et al, 1997, pp. 467–468
Ottoman era In 1517 the village was included in the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in the 1596 tax-records the village appeared as Hirbat Qays, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. The population was 4 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 500 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 133 Sherds from the early Ottoman era have also been found here.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the village formed part of the highland region known as Jūrat ‘Amra or Bilād Jammā‘īn. Situated between Dayr Ghassāna in the south and the present Route 5 in the north, and between Majdal Yābā in the west and Jammā‘īn, Mardā and Kifl Ḥāris in the east, this area served, according to historian Roy Marom, "as a buffer zone between the political-economic-social units of the Jerusalem and the Nablus regions. On the political level, it suffered from instability due to the migration of the Bedouin tribes and the constant competition among local clans for the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Ottoman authorities."
In 1838 it was noted as a village ‘’Khirbet Keis’’, part of the Jurat Merda district, south of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 127
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village with a population of 28 households in the nahiya (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Awwal, subordinate to Nablus.
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Khurbet Keis as "a small village on the hillside."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 285
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kherbet Qais had a population of 94 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 25 increasing in the 1931 census to 114 Muslims in 30 occupied houses.Mills, 1932, p. 64
In the 1945 statistics the population was 170 MuslimsGovernment of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 18 while the total land area was 3,388 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 60 Of this, 1,480 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 572 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 106 while 8 dunams were classified as built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 156
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Khirbet Qeis came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 209 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 26
Post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Khirbet Qeis has been under Israeli occupation.
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Kh. Qeis Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: IAA, Wikimedia commons Salfit Municipality (including Khirbet Qeis Locality) (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Salfit City Profile (including Khirbet Qeis Locality), ARIJ