Zgharta Zawie Online Magazine

Not much is written about the economic history of the district of Zgharta – Zawieh. According to Patriarch Stephane Douaihy (1630 – 1704), who was the first to mention the nature of the economic structure in the region, most of the people in the district used to grow olive trees, vineyards, some fruits and work mostly in silk production. Wheat and other cereals were grown for local consumption. The community was a rural one and agriculture was the backbone of the economy in the district.

By the beginning of the 17^th century, a new generation of wealthy "Sheikhs" was taking over the "Jebbet Besharreh". These people concern was to get near to the "Wali" of Tripoli in order to be nominated Governor to a number of villages. By that time the word governor meant a person that collects taxes for the authorities and in return he gets all the favors as a "governor" of the places assigned to him as a tax collector. The "Sheikh", now tax collector, then governor paid the taxes imposed by the Ottomans to the "Wali" from his own money and recollected it later from the peasants with the interest. Sometimes when some peasant couldn't afford to pay his own dues for two or three consecutive years, the "Sheikh" took his land in return. That is how were born the first wealthy generation and the ones that owned vast and many land parcels.

In the 1733, Jebbet Besharreh was partitioned among the following Sheikhs as in the table below.

Sheikh	The governorate	The Taxes (Turkish Piasters)	%
Sheikh Issa El-Khoury & Sheikh Hanna Al-Daher	Besharreh, Aitou, Baz'oun, Deir Qannoubine	2850	24.78%
Sheikh Gerges Boulos Douaihy	Ehden, Hadshit, Bekaakafra, Deir Qozhaya, Hawka, Ser'el	4166	36.22%
Sheikh Abou Youssef Elias	Kfarsghab, Toula, Blawza, half of Karmsaddeh, half of Raskifa	1400	12.17%
Sheikh Abou Sleiman Youssef Awwad	Hasroun, half of Karmsaddeh, half of Raskifa	1500	13.04%
Sheikh Mikhaiil Shidiac	Aintourine, Ejbe'e, Bnashii	844	7.33%
Kharbana	Deir Hantoura, Qnat, Berhalioun, Kfarsaroun, Bane	739	6.42%

In the year1810, most of the cultivated lands belonged to a few: Sheikh Antonios Al Shidiac from Aintourine was the wealthiest among all the Sheikh for he was the main producer of silk and the third in grapes production. Sheikh Boutros Karam was the second in the row.

In the early 19 century, most of the peasants became workers in the lands of the Sheikhs. They were given the 4^th of the production (half the production by the end of the century) and they were called "partners" and that system was called "muraba'a" from the number four. For example, in 1829 there were more then 125 partners working in the lands of the Estephane family. The main production in the district was silk and the Zawieh was famous as it produced the best silkworm eggs in the country.

In the first half 19^th century, the main traders from the Zawieh were: Habib Torbey from Seb'el, Toubiah Torbey from Seb'el, Badawi Ibrahim from Kfarshakhna, Hajj Bou Abboud Raffoul from Ejbe', Tannous Raffoul from Ejbe', Father Maroun Saliba from Miziara, Tannous Khoury Youssef Al-Daher, Nkoula Raffoul from Ejbe', Sheikh Youssef Al Daher, Sheikh Shahine Al Daher, Tannous Mikhaiil Bakhos from Ehden, Shedid Ghaleb from Ardeh.

Most of the peasants lost their lands in 1850's because of new and higher taxes and low prices of silk. They could not pay their dues and the few tax collectors were now owning much of the land in the district. These facts paved the way to emigration which in turn made labor hand less available and resulted in higher wages. The silk production was the most effected by the rise in wages that caused some cocoon treatment facilities to close. By that time olive oil production became as important as silk.

Of the major producers of silkworm eggs and cocoons in the Zawieh in 1890 were: Sheikh Kabalan Shdid Ghaleb from Ardeh, Amine Torbey from Ehden, Assaad Bey Karam, Nassif Torbey, Antoine Seb'eli.

By the end of the 19^th century some of the wealthy families in Zawieh turned to banking activities like the Torbey family and the Estephane family. They were encouraged by the emigrants sending back money to their homeland and trying to buy parcels of lands they lost once. Land prices were up and landlords had to sell some of their properties.

The district of Zgharta Zawieh remained an agricultural society throughout the 20^th century and no attempts were made to introduce industry. The district suffered from high rate of emigration which in return was a major cause in incoming cash flow through the past century. The district suffered also from differences between major factions in the town of Zgharta and differences between politicians from Zgharta and others from Zawieh, which resulted in bloodshed. Zgharta – Zawieh, in the second and third quarters of the 20^th century, was not a safe haven for investments. The civil war period (1975 – 1990) had also a negative impact on the economic status of the district.