In 1596 Tulkarm appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the "nahiya" (subdistrict) of Qaqun, which was a part of the "sanjak" (district) of Nablus. The largest village in the "nahiya", Tulkarm had a population of 176 Muslim households (roughly 968 persons) and paid taxes on wheat, barley, summer crops, olives, goats, beehives and a press for olives or grapes. During this early period of Ottoman rule, there were five neighborhoods (pl. "harat") centered around the Shaykh Ali al-Jazri al-Mughrabi Mosque, today referred to simply as the "Old Mosque." The population was overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, and most residents were "fellahin" (peasants who worked the land.) The elite families during that time were the Zaydan and the Lajjun-based Tarabay, the latter belonging to the Bani Harith tribe. Because of the decentralized nature of the Ottoman state, these families and their successors in later centuries ruled the area with a high degree of autonomy. The Zaydan had particular authority over Tulkarm, being appointed as the "mutassalim" (tax collectors or enforcers) on behalf of the central authorities.