This is a new compelling historical reading of the Ottoman administration and the local society in the district of Jerusalem in the early 19th century (1799-1831). That period had witnessed significant events, starting with the French Expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt to Palestine in 1799 and ending with the expedition of Ibrahim Pasha, son of the governor of Egypt Muhammad Ali. This study sheds light on the structure of the society in Jerusalem and its surroundings, on the relationship of the local elites with the central Ottoman administration and the critical role of those elites in the local administration. The role of the Arab population in self-government during that period has called for the term self-government for the people, especially in the mountainous regions such as the districts of Nablus, Jerusalem, and Hebron. Originally, this book is a Ph.D. thesis submitted at the Hebrew University in 1986. It was translated and re-written for publication in Arabic.