Qira, Salfit

In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman empire with the rest of Palestine, and it appeared in the 1596 tax-records as Qira, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. The population was 8 households and 1 bachelor, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives and a press for olive oil or grape syrup, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 2,000 akçe.[9] Sherds from the early Ottoman era have been found here.[4]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as a village, Kireh, in the Jurat Merda district, south of Nablus.[10]

In 1870, Victor Guérin noted Kireh on a hill partly covered with olives, and having "barely a hundred and forty inhabitants".[11]

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Kireh as: "A moderate village on high ground, with a chapel venerated by the Moslems, but named after the Virgin Mary. The water supply is from a pool.[12]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Qireh had a population of 87 Muslims,[13] increasing in the 1931 census to 102 Muslims in 28 occupied houses.[14]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 140 Muslims[15] while the total land area was 2,249 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[16] Of this, 475 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,145 for cereals,[17] while 14 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[18]

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Qira came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 259 inhabitants.[19]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Qira has been under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 97.6 % of village land is defined as Area B land, while the remaining 2.4 % is Area C. The Segregation Wall established around Ariel settlement isolates Qira from Salfit and neighboring villages, leading Qira residents to take alternative longer routes to reach Salfit.[20]