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The Nusayri and Druze Minorities in Syria in the Nineteenth Century: The Revolt against the Egyptian Occupation as a Case Study

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 48; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00263206.2012.723624

1743-7881

Yvette Talhamy,

Families in Therapy and Culture

Abstract In October 1831 Muhammad Ali Pasha's army under the command of his son, Ibrahim Pasha, attacked Greater Syria, where he faced little resistance. By May 1832 Muhammad Ali and the Sultan signed the K¨tahya peace treaty, and the region of Greater Syria became formally part of Muhammad Ali's domains, in which he decided to implement several reforms. One of these reforms was disarmament and conscription. As a result several revolts erupted in the region of Greater Syria; the two most important revolts were those of the Nusayris and the Druze, two heterodox religious minorities. The Nusayri revolt erupted in September 1834 and lasted for nine months until the rebels were fiercely subdued, disarmed and conscripted. After subduing the Nusayris in October 1835, the Egyptians conscripted the Druze of Mount Lebanon. Although the Druze resisted the orders, they lacked leadership and thus were easily disarmed and conscripted. The main revolt of the Druze was in November 1837 in the Hawran region, where the Druze put up a fierce fight against the Egyptians. Even though the Druze were subdued after almost nine months, they obtained a lenient agreement in which they were released from conscription and only partly disarmed. Notes A. al-Latif Tibawi, A Modern History of Syria – Including Lebanon and Palestine (London: Macmillan, 1969), p.65. K. Fahmy, All the Pasha's Men: Mehmed Ali, his Army, and the Making of Modern Egypt (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp.48–9. According to Fahmy (ibid., p.38): 'In 1825 in a frank and candid interview with one of his French military advisors Mehmed Ali is reported to have said: "I am the most important man in the entire Ottoman Empire … My right hand, my son Ibrahim, will conquer Morea and the moment his mission is crowned with success, I shall call him back and return these lands to their legitimate master. I will call back my forces, raise [new] conscripts, complete my regiments and then grab the pashaliks of Damascus and Acre … I will organize une grande armée and I shall not stop except at the Tigris and Euphrates".' Ibid., p.49. F.A.A. Saigh, Al-Mughtarib fi hawadith al-hadar wa-l-'Arab, MS. Paris (Bibliothèque Nationale), Fonds Arabe 1658, pp.71–3. J. Bowring, Report on the Commercial Statistics of Syria [1840] (New York: Arno Press, 1973), p.118. C. Bazili, Zikhrunut mi-Livanon 1839–1847 (1862) (Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Bin Tzvi, 1983), p.97; Bowring, Report, p.121. C.G. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra: A Journey to the East (Philadelphia: E.L. Carey & A. Hart, 1838), Vol.II, p.19. John Barker (1771–1849) was a well-known diplomat and horticulturist. From 1799 to 1825 he was consul of the Levant Company in Aleppo. During 1826 he was appointed consul in Alexandria and in 1829–33 he acted as the British consul-general in Egypt. J. Barker, Syria and Egypt under the Last Five Sultans of Turkey (1876) (New York: Arno Press, 1973), Vol.2, p.204. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, Vol.II, p.19. Ibid., p.253. A.A. Paton, A History of the Egyptian Revolution from the Period of the Mamelukes to the Death of Mohammed Ali (London: Trubner and Co., 1870), Vol.2, pp.121–2. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, Vol.II, p.253. N.L. Zion, Ha-Islam (Tel Aviv: Open University Press, 2003–08), p.167. M.G.S. Hodgson, 'Duruz', Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol.III (1965), pp.631–7. Ibid., p.633. K.M. Firro, A History of the Druzes (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1992), pp.24–25. Ibid., pp.24–5. A.A. Paton, The Modern Syrians or Native Society in Damascus Aleppo and the Mountains of the Druses (New York: Elibron Classics; replica of London: Longman, Brown and Longmans, 1844), p.88. N.N. Lewis, Nomads and Settlers in Syria and Jordan 1800–1980 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), pp.74–8. Ibid., p.76. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.178. Ibid., p.179. For more about the Nusayri religion see M. Bar-Asher and A. Kofsky, The Nusayri–Alawi Religion (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2002). See ibid., pp.111–51. S. Lyde, The Asian Mystery: Illustrated in the History, Religion and Present State of the Ansaireeh or Nusairis of Syria (London: Longman and Roberts, 1860), pp.166–75, 182. M. Ma'oz, Ottoman Reform in Syria and Palestine 1840–1861 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), pp.4–6. Lyde, The Asian Mystery, p.214. K.L. Mendenhall, Class, Cult and Tribe: The Politics of Alawi Separatism in French Mandate Syria (Austin: University of Texas, 1991), pp.88–90. Ma'oz, Ottoman Reform, pp.4–6. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, Vol.II, pp.252–3. Ibid., Vol.II, p.252. Ibid. A. Rustum, Al-Mahfuzat al-malikiyya al-Misriyya (Beirut: al-Matba'a al Amrikiyya, 1941), Vol.2, p.457. Bowring, Report, p.129. Dar al-Wath'iq al-Qawmiyya (Egyptian National Archives; Henceforth: DWQ) File 250, doc.52, 12 Jumadi al-Akhir, 1250, From Salim Bik to Ibrahim Pasha [15 Oct. 1834]. DWQ File 249, doc.350, 28 Jumadi al- Awal, 1250, From Salim Bik to Ibrahim Pasha [1 Oct. 1834]. Saigh, Al-Mughtarib, p.61. Ibid., p.62. According to Saigh the name of the mutasalim was Asad Agha al-Intabli. DWQ File 249, doc.358, 29 Jumadi al-Awal, 1250; doc.359, 29 Jumadi al-Awal, 1250, From Salim Pasha to Ibrahim Pasha [2 Oct. 1834]. DWQ File 249, doc.350, 28 Jumadi al-Awal, 1250, From Salim Bik to Salim Pasha [1 Oct. 1834]. DWQ File 249, doc.350, 28 Jumadi al-Awal, 1250, From Salim Bik to Ibrahim Pasha; doc.361, Salakh Jumadi al-Awal, 1250, From Salim Bik to Ibrahim Pasha [1 Oct. 1834]. DWQ File 249, doc.350, 28 Jumadi al-Awal, 1250, From Salim Bik to Salim Pasha [1 Oct. 1834]. DWQ File 250, doc.52, 12 Jumadi al-Akhar, 1250, From Salim Bik to Ibrahim Pasha [15 Oct. 1834]. DWQ File 249, doc.350, 28 Jumadi al-Awal, 1250, from Salim Bik to Salim Pasha [1 Oct. 1834]. A. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques et Consulaires Relatifs a l'Histoire du Liban (Beyrouth: Éditions des Oeuvres Politiques et Historique, 1976), p.311. Ibid., p.312. Barker, Syria and Egypt, Vol.2, p.206. Ibid., pp.213–14. Ibid., pp.214–15. Arab al-Hanady is a Bedouin tribe who were volunteer soldiers in the army of Ibrahim Pasha. When the Egyptians left Syria the soldiers of Arab al-Hanady stayed in Syria and settled in the surroundings of Aleppo, Jisr al-Shughur and Ma'arat al Nu'man. Rustum, Al-Mahfuzat, Vol.2, p.477; Saigh, Al-Mughtarib, p.63. DWQ File 250, doc.148, 26 Jumadi al-Akhir, 1250, From Ali Bik to Salim Pasha [29 Oct. 1834]. DWQ File 250, doc.188, 7 Rajab, 1250, From Salim Bik to Salim Pasha [7 Nov. 1834]. DWQ File 250, doc.198 and 201, 12 Rajab, 1250, From Salim Pasha to Ibrahim Pasha [15 Nov. 1834]. Bowring, Report, p.129. Ibid. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.315. DWQ File 250, doc.188, 7 Rajab, 1250, From Salim Bik to Salim Pasha [7 Nov. 1834]. S. Lyde, Ansyreeh and Ismaeleeh: A Visit to the Secret Sects of Northern Syria (London: Hurst and Blackett Publishers, 1853), p.157. DWQ File 250, doc.224, 22 Rajab, 1250, From Salim Bik to Ibrahim Pasha [23 Nov. 1834]. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.321. F. Walpole, The Ansayrii and the Assassins, Vol.3 (London: Richard Bentley, 1851), p.353. Firro, A History of the Druzes, pp.57–8. Ibid., pp.58–9. Ibid., p.59. Ibid., p.61. A. Rustum, Bashir bayna al-Sultan wa-l-aziz (Beirut: Manshurat al-Jami'ah al-Lubnaniyya, 1966), p.127. T. al-Shidyaq, Akhbar al-a'yan fi jabal Lubnan (1859) (Beirut: Manshurat al-Jami'ah al-Lubnaniyya, 1970), Vol.2, p.288. R. Baz, Mudhakarat Rustum Baz (Beirut: Manshurat al-Jami'ah al-Lubnaniyya, 1955), p.30. W. Polk, The Opening of South Lebanon, 1788–1840: A Study of the Impact of the West on the Middle East (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963), p.97. H.A. al-Shihaby, Lubnan fi 'ahd al-'umara' al-Shihabiyen (Beirut: Manshurat al-Jami'ah al-Lubnaniyya, 1969), p.832. N.M. Abu-Izzeddin, The Druzes: A New Study of their History, Faith and Society (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1993), p.216. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.62. Ibid., p.63. Polk, The Opening of South Lebanon, p.101. Ibid., p.103. Bowring, Report, p.129. Ibid. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, Vol.II, pp.19–20. I.I. al-Ma'luf, 'Duruz Hawran wa Ibrahim Basha', al-Muqtataf (Dec. 1925), p.398. Rustum, Bashir bayna al-Sultan wa-l-aziz, p.130. Fahmy, All the Pasha's Men, pp.50–51. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, Vol.II, p.23. Polk, The Opening of South Lebanon, p.121. A. Rustum, 'Min ta'rikh al-thawrah al-Durziya 1834–1838', al-Mashriq, Vol.35 (1937), p.484. Ibid., p.485. Abu-Izzeddin, The Druzes, pp.216–17. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.326. Bowring, Report, p.117. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.326. 'Vous connaissez Ibrahim Pacha, ajouta-t-il, et vous savez de quoi il est capable. Le sultan lui-même en a été humilié. Gardez-vous donc d'exciter sa colère ou bien remlez à l'idèe des maux que vous allez vous attire.' Polk, The Opening of South Lebanon, p.121. The number of the troops varies in the different sources; some put it at 15,000, 16,000 or 18,000 soldiers. Bowring, Report, p.117. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, Vol.II, p.27. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.64. Bowring, Report, p.117. Abu-Izzeddin, The Druzes, p.217. According to other sources 1,200 were drafted (see ibid., p.217), and according to Asad Rustum 1,000 were conscripted (see Rustum, Bashir bayna al-Sultan wa-l-aziz, p.131). Bowring, Report, p.117. Ibid., p.127. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, Vol.II, p.254. Bowring, Report, p.129. Rustum, Bashir Bayna al-Sultanwa-l-aziz, p.136. Bazili, Zikhrunut mi-Livanon, p.97. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.369. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.67. Rustum, 'Min ta'rikh al-thawrah al-Durziya', p.479. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.55. Rustum, Bashir bayna al-Sultan wa-l-aziz, p.136. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.69. Abu-Izzeddin, The Druzes, p.217. C. Napier, The War in Syria (London: Harrison and Co., 1842), Vol.I, p.XXXI. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.69. Ibid., p.70. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.385. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.70. Polk, The Opening of South Lebanon, p.139. Rustum, Al-Mahfuzat, Vol.3, p.340; Polk, The Opening of South Lebanon, p.139. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.70. Tibawi A Modern History of Syria, p.78. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.383. Ibid., p.385. Rustum, Al-Mahfuzat, Vol.3, pp.334–6. Firro, A History of the Druzes, pp.72–3; Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.388. Rustum, Bashir bayan al-Sultan wa-l-aziz, p.141. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.392. Rustum, Bashir bayna al-Sultan wa-laziz, p.141. Rustum, al-Mahfuzat, Vol.3, p.367. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.74. Ibid., p.75. Ismail, Documents Diplomatiques, p.384. M. Mishaqa, Kitab mashhad al-'ayan bi-hawadith Suriya wa Lubnan (Egypt: Mansha'at Khalil Abdo wa Hanna Andraws Shakhasiri, 1908), pp.119–20. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.75. Baz, Mudhakarat Rustum Baz, p.33. Firro, A History of the Druzes, p.74. Ibid., p.75. Ibid., p.76. Ibid., p.77. Ibid. A.B. Cunningham, The Early Correspondence of Richard Wood 1831–1841 (London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1966), Vol. 3, p.137. Ibid. Ibid., p.157.