1585 Ottoman expedition against the Druze
1585 Ottoman expedition against the Druze | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ottoman Empire | Druze rebels | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ibrahim Pasha Mansur ibn Furaykh | Qurqumaz Ma'n † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~20,000 | 15,000 to 30,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Hundreds | ||||||
The 1585 Ottoman expedition against the Druze, also called the 1585 Ottoman invasion of the Shuf, was an
In 1523–1524 dozens of Druze villages were burned in the
Ibrahim Pasha was appointed to "rectify the situation" in the Levant in 1583 and launched the expedition against the Druze of Mount Lebanon in the summer of 1585 as a Porte-ordered diversion for his Constantinople-bound caravan. He mobilised about 20,000 soldiers, including the
The following year the governor of Damascus,
Sources
The source used for the 1585 expedition by 19th-century chroniclers from
Modern research by the historian Abdul-Rahim Abu-Husayn in the 1980s suggests that the Jun Akkar raid did not occur and that successive government–Druze hostilities from the 1520s onward culminated with the 1585 government expedition. Abu-Husayn based his reassessment of the events on contemporary and near contemporary sources, namely
Background
The Ottoman Empire conquered the
The area of Mount Lebanon and the port towns of
The Druze were officially considered Muslims by the Ottomans for taxation purposes, though they were not viewed as genuine Muslims by the authorities or the Sunni Muslim
Druze–Ottoman hostilities before 1585
The first known government action against the Druze occurred in 1518 during the rebellion of Nasir al-Din, the Hanash chieftain and the sanjak-bey of Sidon-Beirut, against Selim.[11][12] The rebellion was suppressed by Janbirdi, who arrested and executed Nasir al-Din and captured the latter's Druze allies, the chiefs Qurqumaz, Zayn al-Din and Alam al-Din Sulayman from the Chouf-based Ma'n family and Sharaf al-Din Yahya of the Gharb-based Tanukh-Buhtur family. The four Druze chiefs were released after paying a heavy fine.[12][13]
The beylerbey of Damascus,
Tensions between the Druze and the Porte rose considerably as the Druze, along with other tribal and sectarian groups in Syria, acquired firearms which were at times superior to the firearms used by the Ottoman armies.
In an order by the Porte to the beylerbey of Damascus in August 1574, it is mentioned that the villagers of the Gharb, Jurd, Chouf and Matn owed tax arrears dating over twenty years and that the muqaddams (chieftains) of the Druze possessed large quantities of muskets; the muqaddams named in the order were the Ma'nid Qurqumaz, possibly the grandson of the above-mentioned Qurqumaz, the Tanukhid Sharaf al-Din and the non-Druze chieftains Mansur ibn Hasan of the Keserwan-based Assaf family and Qasim of the Wadi al-Taym-based Shihab family. The beylerbey was ordered to collect at least 6,000 muskets from the named chieftains and more from each household of the named subdistricts.[19] The combined forces of the beylerbey of Damascus, the imperial Damascene Janissaries, the sanjak-bey of Tripoli, and an Ottoman fleet launched an expedition against the Druze that year, but they were unable to subdue and disarm them.[18]
The imperial order from 1574 was renewed in February 1576, but the beylerbey of Damascus was again unable to execute the order rather complaining that the inhabitants of the Gharb, Jurd, Chouf and Matn remained in a state of rebellion, that no multazim was willing to accept the tax farm for the subdistricts and appointed
Prelude
Al-Qaramani wrote that the vizier Ibrahim Pasha was sent to Egypt and Syria in 1583 to "rectify the situation [there]".[23] On 12 February 1585 an imperial order issued to the beylerbey of Damascus, Uveys Pasha, reaffirmed that Qurqumaz was "a rebellious chieftain ... who has gathered [around him] miscreants in the Druze community and done harm and mischief in the sanjak of Safad".[24] Ibrahim Pasha arrived in Damascus with a tribute caravan from Egypt and a large military escort in June. He was instructed by the Porte to subdue the Druze of Mount Lebanon.[25] On 31 August Uveys Pasha was ordered by the Porte to cooperate with Ibrahim Pasha against the Bedouin and the Druze who had rebelled throughout Damascus Eyalet, causing damage and attacking highways.[24] Abu-Husayn views the constant state of rebellion by the Druze and the general insubordination of chieftains in parts of Syria where the government had been unable to exercise authority as the direct cause of Ibrahim Pasha's expedition.[23][26]
Expedition and follow up campaigns
Ibrahim Pasha's army consisted of the Janissaries of Egypt and Damascus,
Ibrahim Pasha used
After the expedition, in the same year, the Sidon-Beirut Sanjak was detached from Damascus Eyalet and became part of
Aftermath
The 1585–1586 events marked a turning point in the history of Mount Lebanon and the Levant in general under Ottoman rule.[38][39] The Ottomans began to entrust local chieftains with the policing and taxation of the region by appointing them over the sanjaks of the region and granting them the title of bey (Turkish equivalent to the Arabic emir).[39] Qurqumaz's son Fakhr al-Din II was appointed sanjak-bey of Sidon-Beirut in the early 1590s and was additionally assigned Safad Sanjak in 1602.[40] Fakhr al-Din combined lucrative commercial ties with the Italians, a privately funded army of sekbans (musketeers), and support from Ottoman officialdom, which he guaranteed through bribes and prompt payment of taxes, to establish himself as the most powerful chieftain of the Levant until his downfall in 1633.[39] Ali al-Harfush, who had been appointed sanjak-bey of Homs in 1585, was kept in his post during his exile in Constantinople and returned to his Baalbek headquarters by 1589. He was executed c. 1590 but his son Musa succeeded him in Baalbek and was appointed sanjak-bey of Homs in 1592.[41]
The historian
See also
References
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, pp. 13–15.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, pp. 14, 15 note 7.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, p. 13, note 1.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, pp. 13, 15, 16, 20, 21.
- ^ a b c Winter 2010, p. 36.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1992, p. 666.
- ^ Winter 2010, pp. 36–37.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1992, pp. 666–667.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1992, p. 667.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, p. 16.
- ^ a b Abu-Husayn 1992, pp. 667–668.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985b, p. 66.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, p. 17.
- ^ a b Abu-Husayn 1985b, p. 77.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, p. 17, note 21.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985b, p. 78, note 52.
- ^ a b Abu-Husayn 1985b, p. 78.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 2004, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985b, pp. 78–79.
- ^ a b Abu-Husayn 1985b, p. 79.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 2004, p. 30.
- ^ a b Abu-Husayn 1985b, p. 20.
- ^ a b Abu-Husayn 2004, p. 34.
- ^ a b Harris 2012, p. 91.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, p. 19.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, pp. 14–15.
- ^ a b Bakhit 1972, p. 191.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 2004, p. 35.
- ^ a b c Abu-Husayn 1985b, p. 80.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985b, p. 154.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 2004, p. 13.
- ^ a b Abu-Husayn 1985a, p. 15.
- ^ a b Abu-Husayn 1992, p. 670.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, pp. 18–19.
- ^ Salibi 1967, p. 164, note 6.
- ^ Salibi 1967, p. 164.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1985a, p. 13.
- ^ a b c Winter 2010, p. 37.
- ^ Abu-Husayn 1992, pp. 671–672.
- ^ Winter 2010, p. 48.
- ^ Winter 2010, p. 38.
Bibliography
- Abu-Husayn, Abdul-Rahim (1985a). "The Ottoman Invasion of the Shūf in 1585: A Reconsideration". Al-Abhath. 32: 13–21.
- Abu-Husayn, Abdul-Rahim (1985b). Provincial Leaderships in Syria, 1575-1650. Beirut: American University of Beirut. ISBN 9780815660729.
- Abu-Husayn, Abdul-Rahim (November 1992). "Problems in the Ottoman Administration in Syria during the 16th and 17th Centuries: The Case of the Sanjak of Sidon-Beirut". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 24 (4): 665–675. S2CID 159670509.
- Abu-Husayn, Abdul-Rahim (2004). The View from Istanbul: Lebanon and the Druze Emirate in the Ottoman Chancery Documents, 1546–1711. Oxford and New York: The Centre for Lebanese Studies and I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-856-8.
- Bakhit, Muhammad Adnan Salamah (February 1972). The Ottoman Province of Damascus in the Sixteenth Century (PhD). School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
- Harris, William (2012). Lebanon: A History, 600–2011. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-518-111-1.
- Salibi, Kamal (June 1967). "Northern Lebanon under the Dominance of Ġazīr (1517–1591)". Arabica. 14 (2): 144–166. JSTOR 4055631.
- Winter, Stefan (2010). The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule, 1516–1788. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139486811.