Druze power struggle (1658–1667)
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Ma'ani Druze rebels | ||||||
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The Druze power struggle of 1658-1667 was one of the most violent episodes of tribal disputes during Ottoman rule in the Levant. The conflict erupted between rebel and pro-Ottoman Druze factions over succession of the Maani rule.
In 1624, when the Ottoman Sultan recognized Fakhr-al-Din II as Lord of Arabistan (from Aleppo to the borders of Egypt), the Druze leader made Tiberias his capital. Fakhr ad Din II, one of the most famous Druze Emirs, was succeeded in 1635 by his nephew Mulhim Ma'an, who ruled through his death in 1658. Fakhr ad Din II's only surviving son, Husayn, lived the rest of his life as a court official in Constantinople. Emir Mulhim exercised Iltizam taxation rights in the Shuf, Gharb, Jurd, Matn, and Kisrawan districts of Lebanon. Mulhim's forces battled and defeated those of Mustafa Pasha, Beylerbey of Damascus, in 1642, but he is reported by historians to have been otherwise loyal to Ottoman rule. Emir Mulhim Ma'an died in 1658, succeeded by two of his sons.
Following Mulhim's death in 1658, his sons Ahmad and Korkmaz (or Qurqmaz) entered into a power struggle with other Ottoman-backed Druze leaders.
In 1660, the Ottoman Empire moved to reorganize the region, placing the sanjaks (districts) of Sidon-Beirut and Safed in a newly formed province of Sidon, a move seen by local Druze as an attempt to assert control. An Ottoman expedition was dispatched to the area following the creation of the new administrative units, initially against the Shihabs and the Shia Hamades. The reformer - grand wazir Köprülü Mehmed Pasha came in person with the expedition. The Shihabs fled to the Hamades in the high Kisrawan, while the Ottoman troops pillaged Wadi al-Taym.
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