Al-Malkiyya


Al-Malikiyya was a Lebanese village located in the Jabal Amil region. In a 1920s census, the village was registered as part of Greater Lebanon. It was later placed under the British Mandate of Palestine. Its population was mostly Metawali Shiite.
In a 1930s census, the village was registered as Palestinian and part of the Safed District. The village was depopulated as a result of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

History

According to the Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi, the people of al-Malikiyya had a wooden platter that they believed was originally owned by the prophet Mohammed.

Ottoman era

In 1596, al-Malikiyya was a village in the Ottoman nahiya of Tibnin under the liwa' of Safad, with a population of 369. It paid taxes on a number of crops, such as wheat, barley, as well as goats and beehives.
Victor Guérin visited in 1875, and noted that Al-Malkiyya had 300 Metawali inhabitants. He further noted that the village, which stood upon a lofty summit, was remarkable for possessing neither well nor cistern; the women fetched their water from the spring at Kades. But a birkeh was placed on the map close to the village.
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Al-Malkiyya as being built of stone and adobe, lying on a plain to the east of a valley. Well supplied with water from a nearby wadi, the village's 200-300 inhabitants cultivated olives.

British Mandate era

In the 1931 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, El Malikiya had a population of 254, all Muslims, in 48 houses.
The population was 360 Muslims in the 1945 statistics, with a total of 7,328 dunams of land. A total of 4,225 dunums were allocated to cereals, while 55 dunams were classifies as built-up land.

1948 Arab-Israeli war, aftermath

Al-Malikiyya changed hands no fewer than five times between May and October 1948.
A battle was fought in the village on 5–6 June 1948. Combatants were Israelis and the Lebanese army commanded by then Lebanese minister of defense, Emir Majid Arslan II. The Lebanese army would occupy the village for a month. This was the only time Lebanon directly participated in the war.
As a result of the war, the village was depopulated.
In 1949, a kibbutz, Malkiya, was set up on village lands.