Yaqut noted about Ein Yabrud and
Yabrud: "A village lying north of Jerusalem, on the road from the Holy City to
Nabulus, between which and Yabrud is Kafar Natha. It possesses orchards and vineyards, and olives and
Sumach trees."[6]
Ottoman era
Ein Yabrud, like the rest of
Palestine, was incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the
census of 1596, the village was noted in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of
Quds under the name of 'Ayn Ibrud. The population was 24 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 8,700
akçe.[7][8]
In 1838,
Edward Robinson noted Ein Yabrud "on the top of a hill".[9] It was further noted as Muslim village, located in the Beni Murrah region, north of Jerusalem.[10]
In 1863
Victor Guérin found it to have 800 inhabitants. He further noted that a number of houses were built with antique materials.[11]
Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that the village had 66 houses and a population of 282, though the population count only included men. It was further noted that it was located one hour north of
Beitin.[12][13]
In 1882 the
PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described 'Ain Yebrud as: "A village of moderate size on the top of a hill, well built, surrounded with fine groves of olives, with a
well on the north-east."[14]
In 1896 the population of 'Ain jabrud was estimated to be about 573 persons.[15]
In the
1945 statistics Ein Yabrud had a population of 930 Muslims,[18] and a total land area of 11,488
dunams.[19] 3,151 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 3,632 for cereals,[20] while 88 dunams were built-up areas.[21]
The Jordanian buildings formed the initial basis of the Israeli settlement of Ofra founded in 1975.[22] Plans for further expansion of Ofra in this land in 2011 resulted in legal challenges and public dispute.[22] Land belonging to the residents of the village has been used to construct hundreds of structures in the neighbouring Israeli settlement of Ofra.[26]
Ein Yabrud is the home village of
Hamas military commander Maher Udda.[27]