Europe, Cotton and the Emergence of Nazareth in 18th-Century Palestine

By the late 17th century Nazareth was no more than a sleepy little hamlet. Within the next five decades, it emerged as an important urban centre. This change was prompted by major economic and political processes that affected the whole of Palestine. In the following I will outline the three main factors that combined to put Nazareth on the map: Europe's growing interest in the region, and the weakness of the Ottoman Central government, with local chiefs taking advantage of both and acquiring near autonomous status.