The Origins of the Druze People and Religion

The family's lineage traces back to a prince named Ma’n, who appeared in Lebanon during the reign of the Abbāsid Caliph al-Mustarshid The spiritual and political leader of the Islamic Caliphate from 1118–1135 AD. and died in 1149 during the reign of Sultan Nūr-al-Dīn of Damascus. The Ma’n family chose to settle in the Shūf district in the southern part of Western Lebanon, overlooking the coastal plain between Beirut and Sidon. They established their headquarters in Ba’aqlīn, which remains the leading Druze village to this day. They were granted feudal authority by Sultan Nūr-al-Dīn and provided significant military support to the Muslim armies in their struggle against the Crusaders.

After driving the Franks A general term for Western European Crusaders. out of Syria, the Mamlūk A dynasty of slave-soldiers who ruled Egypt and Syria from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Sultans of Egypt turned their attention to the schismatic Referring here to religious groups whose beliefs diverged from mainstream orthodoxy. Muslims of Syria. In the year 1305, the Sultan al-Malik al-Nāṣir inflicted a crushing defeat on the Druze at Kasrawān This region is today entirely occupied by Christians. and forced them to outwardly conform to orthodox (Sunnī) Islam. Later, under the rule of the Ottoman Turks in 1585, they were again severely punished at ‘Ayn-Ṣawfar. This was a retaliation for an attack near Tripoli on a group of Janizaries The elite infantry units of the Ottoman Sultan’s household. who were traveling to Constantinople carrying tax revenues collected from Egypt and Syria to the imperial treasury.

The Druze Power at its Height:

With the arrival of the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Selīm I's conquest of Syria in 1516, the Ma’n family aligned themselves with the conquering invaders. The new suzerain A sovereign or state having some control over another state that is internally autonomous. immediately recognized them as the feudal lords of southern Lebanon. Druze villages expanded and prospered in that region; under the leadership of the Ma’n family, the area flourished so much that it became known as Jabal Bayt-Ma’n original: "Jabal Bayt-Ma’n" (The Mountain of the Ma’n family) or Jabal al-Durūz original: "Jabal al-Durūz" (The Mountain of the Druze).. However, this latter title has since been taken over by the Hawrān region, which has served as a sanctuary for Druze emigrants from Lebanon since the middle of the nineteenth century and has become the center of Druze power.

Under the rule of Fakhr-al-Dīn ibn-Ma’n II (1585–1635), the Druze territory expanded until it included almost all of Syria, stretching from the edge of the Antioch plain in the north to Ṣafad in the south.