Jabal al-Druze ( ar, جبل الدروز, french: Djebel Druze) was an autonomous state in the
French Mandate of Syria from 1921 to 1936, designed to function as a government for the local
Druze population under French oversight.
Nomenclature
On 4 March 1922, it was proclaimed as the State of Souaida, after the capital
As-Suwayda, but in 1927 it was renamed Jabal al-Druze or Jabal Druze State. The name comes from the
Jabal al-Druze mountain.
History
The Druze state was formed on 1 May 1921 in former
Ottoman territory, while other statelets were installed in other parts of the Syrian mandate (e.g. the
Alawite State in the
Lattakia
Latakia or Lattakia ( ar, ٱللَّاذْقِيَّة/ ٱللَّاذِقِيَّة, '; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Hi ...
region). Jabal al-Druze was home to about 50,000 Druze. It was the first, and remains the only, autonomous entity to be populated and governed by Druze. The 1925
Syrian Revolution
The Syrian revolution, also known as the Syrian Revolution of Dignity, was the series of mass protests and uprisings– with subsequent violent reaction by the Syrian Arab Republic – lasting from March 2011 to June 2012, as part of the wider Ar ...
began in Jabal al-Druze under the leadership of
Sultan al-Atrash
Sultan al-Atrash, (March 5, 1891 – March 26, 1982) ( ar, سلطان الأطرش), commonly known as Sultan Pasha al-Atrash ( ar, سلطان باشا الأطرش, links=no) was a prominent Arab Druze leader, Syrian nationalist and Commander Ge ...
, and quickly spread to
Damascus and other non-Druze areas outside the
Jabal al-Druze region. Protests against the division of Syrian territory into statelets were a main theme of Syrian
anti-colonial
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
nationalism, which eventually won the victory to reunite the entire French-mandated territory, except
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
(which had become independent) and
Alexandretta, which was annexed to Turkey as the
Hatay Province.
As a result of
Syrian nationalist pressure, under the
Franco-Syrian Treaty of 1936, Jabal al-Druze ceased to exist as an autonomous entity and was incorporated into
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country lo ...
.
File:Druzeindependance1925.jpg, Druze celebrating their independence in 1925
Governors
*Amir Salim Pasha al-Atrash (1 May 1921 – 15 September 1923)
*Trenga (provisional) (September 1923 – 6 March 1924)
*Gabriel Marie Victor Carbillet (6 March 1924 – 14 October 1925), provisional to 1 October 1924
*
Sultan Pasha al-Atrash (18 July 1925 – 1 June 1927), chief of state; in dissidence
*Charles Andréa (15 October 1925 – 1927)
*Marie Joseph Léon Augustin Henry (1927)
*Abel Jean Ernest Clément-Grancourt (1927–1932)
*Claude-Gabriel-Renaud Massiet (3 February 1932 – 28 January 1934)
*Justin-Antoine Devicq (1934–1935)
*Pierre-Joseph-François Tarrit (1935 – 2 December 1936)
Jabal Druze: Heads of State: 1921–1936
/ref>
See also
* Druze in Syria
* Jaysh al-Muwahhideen
References
External links
Syria
at WorldStatesmen.org.
Map
at unimaps.com.
{{Druze footer
French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
Former countries in the Middle East
Former protectorates
History of the Druze
States and territories established in 1921
States and territories disestablished in 1936
Former countries of the interwar period
1936 disestablishments in Asia
1921 establishments in Asia
Druze in Syria