DRUSES
900
DRUSES
Hakim himself was the real author of this impious assumption, and that the others became his agents of proeelytism by the promise of a royal reward. The sect grew in influence, until the cadi, when in the mcMque, was summoned to embrace the new faith ; but the attempt was &tal to the neophyte who made it, as he and his attendants were slain. The presump- tion of the caliph was equal to the credulity of his dis- ciples. When the divine name was ascribed to him, he willingly received it, and openly proclaimed him- self to be the creator and ruler of the beneficent Nile, from which the land received all its luxuriance, and the people all their prosperity*' (London Review, Jan. 1860, p. 159). He was slain at last ; but Hamsa, the apostle, survived, and wrote books wliich are still re- garded as the oracles of the Druses.
From the tenth century onward the Druses main- tained their separate religion and a quasi nationality. They lived under the orders of separate chieftains, or sheiks, without any supreme authority, and committed depredations on Uie neighboring Turkish countries. Frequent complaints were presented against them to the Porte for depredations committed, and Murad III finally sent an expedition against them in 1588, under the orders of Ibrahim Pacha. The Turks were success- ful, established one of their own emirs as king over the Druses, and exacted tribute from them. The emirs then united against the common enemy, and became dangerous to the Porte, particularly the emir Fakir Ed- din, who, in the 17th century, became so strong that the Porte determined on taking the most active measures against him. Fakir Eddin fled to Italy, leaving his son Ml as regent in his place. The latter drove the Turks away, and restored peace ; but Fakir Eddin having returned, after imbibing the love of splendor which distinguished the court of the Medici, laid such heavy taxes on the people that a revolution broke out. The Porte sent another expedition against him in 1682. His son All fell in battle, a second son was made pris- oner, and Fakir Eddin himself was obliged to flee to the mountains. He was betrayed by his own follow- ers in October, 1688, and was strangled at Constanti- nople in 1635. His descendants held their position as emirs in subjection to the Porte. After the extinc- tion of this family, that of the Schthabs, originally from Mecca, became emirs. The powerful Melhem (1740-1759) restored to the Druses some of the power they had lost after the downfall of Fakir Eddin. Emir Beschir, bom in 1768, is one of the most noted of the recent emirs. In 1819 he took part in the insurrection of Abdallah, and was deposed in consequence, but was pardoned by the Porte in 1823, through the influ- ence of Mehemet Ali. An insurrection of the Druses against the viceroy took place in 1884, but waa sub- dued by Ibrahim Pacha in 1885, and the Druses of Lebanon were disarmed. Emir Beschir then sided with the Eg^'ptians until 1840, when he waa deposed. After Ibrahim Pacha had retired from Syria, the land of the Druses passed again under the direct dominion of the Turks. At the same time bloody conflicts broke out between the Druses and the Christian Mar- onites. To put an end to these troubles, the emirs of both parties wore called to Constantinople in 1842, deposed, and Omar Pasha was appointed Turkish ad- ministrator in their place. He was sent to Lebanon to consult with the principal chiefs of the Druses and the Maronites, who were to form a permanent council of administration. But the two parties soon united against Omar Pasha, and open conflict speedily fol- lowed. The battle of Ehden, Oct. 13, 1842, proved a success for the malcontents. An edict of Dec. 7, 1842, granted to the Druses and Maronites the right of self- government, and the Mohammedan Eaimakam to re- side at the south, the Christian at the north. Yet, as the population are not thus geographically divided, but, on the contrary, rather mixed up, the edict did not satisfy either party. New troubles breaking out.
the Porte sent Hain Pacha and 1000 solfinaahj
land. An assembly of the mcMmtain dieAi
ing been called by Halll Pacha, an artnfa
made ; but hardly had HalU Pacha left ik es^'
when troubles broke out among the UmmteiA*
selves, arising ttom. religious differenon. A m^i
peasants drove the patriarch frtnn hk nsyaoL k
the same time, the old hatred of the Dnm i^
the Maronites was revived. The Porte tt hs n
12,000 men to Lebanon, where aome fbrtr ckie&dfl
Druses and Maronit^ were taken {fftsoaen. 0»i'
the principal Maronites, Zahle, was sndde&ly
Oct. 16, 1845, and the others followed vitbott ar 9.
cessful resistance being made. In the ifsiig tf 1*^
the Porte granted the conntiy a new Qm^tsaoL
whereby a permanent council was added t» od
the two Kaimakama. These councils sre t» k n»
posed of members of the difierent sedf ishf^
Lebanon (2 Maronites, 2 Dnues, 2 United Gmb j
Non-united Greeks, 2 Turks, and 1 Miteili}. Ti
strife between the Druses and the MarwiTtft taa
ued, however, and another appeal was nade it tii
European powers in 1847, yet without aajr nak c
account of the contending claims of the Bew@ CjSt