Among the Druzes of Lebanon and Bashan

AMONG THE DRUZES OF LEBANON AND BASHAN

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The Chief of the Hadrah Druzes [Froniispiect

AMONG THE DRUZES OF LEBANON AND BASHAN

JOSEPH

T.

PARFIT, M.A.

CHAPLAIN IN BEYROUT AND LEBANON; CANON OF ST. GEORGE'S, JERUSALEM FORMERLY MISSIONARY IN BAGHDAD AND JERUSALEM AUTHOR OF "TWENTY YEARS IN BAGHDAD AND SYRIA," "SERBIA TO KUT," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

HUNTER & LONGHURST, 9

PATERNOSTER ROW LONDON, 1917

E.C. 4

Ltd.

—

"

Go up

"Is

it

to

Lebanon

:

not yet a very

into a fruitful field?"

and

lift

little

up thy voice

wbile,

in Basb.au."

—Jeremiah

xxii. 23.

and Lebanon shall be turned

Isaiah xxix. 17.

" Son of man put forth a riddle and say, Thus saith the Lord God, a great eagle with great wings, long winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar." Ezekiel xvii. 3.

v

,D8r3

PKEFACE. At of

the outbreak of war in 1914 the whole

my

personal belongings, including a valu-

able library of 2000 books with a quantity of

notes and photographs, were left at Beyrout in Syria.

I

to reproduce

records at

our

of

leen

J.

disposal the following account

seven

years'

of

work I

Syria.

and E.M.,

Mission and the

of

from memory and the imperfect

my

Secret Sects the

have been compelled, therefore,

the the

information

am

the

to

Baak-

for

some

illustrations

con-

Near East

my

the

indebted

S.P.G.,

and

tained therein, and in

amongst

effort

to explain

the nature of the Druze religion I have been greatly assisted by the invaluable writings of

the Kev. Dr. Sell. bian

The quotations from Ara-

Wisdom by my esteemed

friend the late

Dr. Wortabet, of Beyrout, are sayings that

were current

in the

Christmas, 1917.

Lebanon

villages.

CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.

II.

III.

Britain's

Debt

to the

Druzes

The Origin and Growth

A Euin

of the

Eestored

IV. Expansion of the Educational V.

VI.

" Scholaritis "

Dogs

of

Druzes

Work

.

War and

Heralds of Peace

VII. Storms that Shake the Lebanon VIII. Caterpillars and

Cankerworms

.

IX. The Bishop of London in Lebanon X. XI.

A

Hauran

Visit to the

Abd

'1

Messieh

Servant of Christ

:

XII. Visiting the Villages XIII.

A

Journey's

.

End

XIV. A Eemarkable Druze Doctor

XV. The

Secret Sects of Syria

XVI. The Eeligion

of the

.

Druzes

XVII. Present Day Beliefs and Customs

XVIII. Methods and Aims Bibliography

Index

.

....

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The Chief

of the

Hauran Druzes

Frontispiece

.

.

TO FACE PAGE

Gate

of Governor-General's Palace at

Specimen

View View

Giant Cedars in the Lebanon

of

of the

Ain Anub School and Village

of the

Pupils of the Ain

.

.

14

.

.

14

.

.

.... .

.

Anub School

of Scouts at

Boy

.

30

Ain Anub School Grounds from the

Playground

Squad

Bteddin

Ain Anub.

The

Scouts formed in the Turkish

.

first

30 40

corps of

Empire

.

....

40

Hotel at Ain-za-Halta, near the Cedars, in the Druze District of Southern

Deir

Lebanon

'1 Kamar. The largest Maronite town in the Druze District, near Baakleen and Bteddin .

Scout Boys of the Ain

Bishop

The Bishop

of of

London

Anub School at the

The

Village School at

Benneh

52

saluting the

School Gates

.

.

....

London amongst the Druzes Anub

School Grounds at Ain

52

84

in the

102 114

viii

List of Illustrations TO FACE PAGE

ine Teacher's House of Village School at Bathir, built on the edge of a protruding rock overlooking a deep valley 2000 feet below

The School Children

of

Missioner by singing "

Canon

"

.132

.

God

save our gracious

.

1

Eeception of the Canon Missioner

The

.

Ainab greeting the Canon

Hospital,

Dispensary, and

Buildings at Baakleen

at

Beshimoon

Medical

...

.

150

Mission

174

Dr. Ali Alamuddin, the Medical Officer of the Baakleen Mission, with his Family .

k^.

.

290

A

Deraa.

junction on the Hedjaz Railway, showing a heap of Hauran wheat waiting to be sent to

...

Damascus

,q n

The Baakleen Medical Mission Hospital and P ensar y

The Druze

View of

the

Dis-

.204

•

Girls'

School at Baakleen

.

2 04

.

Lebanon from Ain Anub School Grounds

The Christian Town

of

Zahleh

216 216

Lebanon

Soldiers conducting an Insane Prisoner to the British Asylum for Lunatics at

Mount Lebanon

Asfuriyeh

226 Initiated

Druzes

Group

Druzes

Druze

of

Women

of

Mount Lebanon

in Village

of the

near

226

Mount Carmel

Lebanon baking bread

.

.

.

239 239

CHAPTER BBITAIN'S

I.

DEBT TO THE DBUZES.

CHAPTEE BEITAIN'S

On

I.

DEBT TO THE DEUZES. Lebanon

the sunny slopes of the beautiful

mountains, in the Galilee,

and

in

hill

country to the north of

the ancient hills of Bashan,

there lives a very interesting race of hardy

mountaineers

known

nearly eighty years

as

For

Druzes.

the

they have enjoyed the

special

protection and

Britain,

and for more than half a century they

have accorded a

friendship

hearty

welcome

was

Great

of

to

many

1860 that the

British missionaries.

It

Lebanon was

with an awful massacre

of

Maronite

were under Government. the of

Turks,

afflicted

Koman the

in

Catholic Christians

protection

of

the

who

French

The massacre was instigated by

who roused

the

Damascus, and succeeded (3)

Mohammedans in enlisting the

4

The Druzes

Lebanon and Bashan

of

some

co-operation of

the more fanatical

of

elements amongst the Druzes.

The Maronites

live chiefly in the

portion of the Lebanon, and vastly

whom

the Druzes, with at

outnumber

they were constantly

enmity, on account of political rivalries

that have been

fostered in

for centuries past. in

northern

1861

at

these mountains

French troops were landed

Beyrout on the Syrian coast to

punish the Druzes for participating massacre,

and

imminent,

when Great

interfered

on

their

their

extermination

the

seemed

once

more

and sent

Lord

Britain

behalf

in

Dufferin to see that justice was done to this little

race of warriors, and that only those

were guilty should be punished

The great majority to fall

were

upon

their

of the

who

for their crimes.

Druzes had no wish

Maronite neighbours, who

just as fanatical

and as turbulent as the

Druzes themselves, and who frequently provoked quarrels with their

rivals.

Druzes

5

in bringing

about a

Britain's Debt to the

Lord Dufferin succeeded

peaceful settlement after the terrible slaughter

and destruction that had ravaged the

and

the

Turks

to

European

Powers

villages,

compelled

the

grant autonomy to the Lebanon

which was henceforth to be governed by a Christian Governor, appointed by the Sultan

and approved by the

Concert

The Druzes have always

of

gratefully

Europe.

remem-

bered the intervention of Great Britain, and

have ever since been ready to serve the terests of our nation, relying

upon us

in-

for the

support and protection which they naturally

supposed they might need.

A large

section of this sturdy race lives in

the mountains of the Hauran, south of Da-

mascus, the ancient land of Bashan. they enjoy

much

There

greater freedom and indepen-

dence than their brethren of the Lebanon in

;

but

1909 the Turks decided to bring the Druzes

into complete subjection to

Ottoman

authority.

6

The Druzes

They

resisted,

them

of

Lebanon and Bashan

however,

of their rights

all

and

attempts to deprive liberties, so

a large

Turkish army was gathered around their mountains under

Sami Pasha, and

for

some months

warfare was waged against the Druzes with very

little

success, on account of the guerilla

warfare which the

Hauran were

Turkish armies.

these wild mountaineers

able to carry on against the

Sami Pasha,

sorted to other methods.

therefore, re-

He sent

to the leading chiefs of the

ried letters

of

messengers

Hauran, who

car-

from the Turkish General with

guarantees of security and safe conduct to the chiefs

if

they would come to the General's

tent for the purpose of conferring about terms of peace.

The Druze

leaders were eventually

persuaded to accept the General's invitation,

and then, with characteristic treachery, Sami

Pasha placed them

all

under arrest as soon

as they arrived at the Turkish encampment.

The

eldest brother of the great ruling Atrash

Britain's

family was

Debt to the Druzes

executed in Damascus, and the life

by sending

his villages,

and getting

second chief only saved his

back messengers to his

7

aged mother to collect and bring £3500

This

gold as a bribe to the Turkish General.

man, Yehia Atrash, was condemned

ment and sent

to the Island of

in

to banish-

Rhodes, where

The

he was kept a prisoner under guard.

following year, however, the Italian war broke

out with Turkey, and

when

the Italians cap-

tured Rhodes they released the Druze chief.

He embarked

on a British

mail

steamer,

Beyrout and Jaffa on

which touched

at

way

The Turks made strenuous

to Egypt.

efforts

to

recapture their prisoner

British captain defended to

produce

official

;

its

but the

him, and was able

documents

to

show that

Yehia Atrash was not a criminal as the Turks maintained, but only a political prisoner

who

could not be given up to the Turks whilst travelling

upon a British steamer.

Upon

The Druzes

8

arrival in

of

Lebanon and Bashan

Egypt the Turks made further

Druze

to imprison the

ener protected him

;

but Lord Kitch-

chief,

after prolonged ne-

and

gotiations succeeded in compelling the to allow this

man

efforts

Turks

to return to his people in the

mountains of the Hauran. It

was there that

I

met him nearly four years

afterwards in his wonderful mediaeval

He

took

me

away from

castle.

aside into the women's quarters,

numerous

his

retainers, in order

that he might whisper into

owed everything

my

to the justice

the British authorities

;

ears that he

and goodness

of

that he was ready to

Lord Kitchener, and that there were

die for

50,000 warriors in the Hauran and 15,000 in the

Lebanon who were prepared

blow for

justice

moment

logical

and freedom when the psychoarrived.

this great giant of

:

"

Why

Deeply

Bashan,

seven feet high, shook said

to strike a

me

who

in earnest,

stood nearly

by the shoulders and

don't you hurry

up and estab-

Britain's

the

lish in

9

Debt to the Druzes

Hauran the same kind

of schools

Lebanon

that you have already opened in the

amongst our people

?

"

You

"

making a

are

great mistake," he said, " for whilst you are delaying, the

are

We

forging ahead.

ready to welcome the people of Great

all

Britain, but oil

Germans are

you

will find nearly

500 German

We

engines as you go around the villages.

used to deal with British merchants only their agents are far away,

not

know how to read

and

or write.

my

people do

The Germans

have sent engineers who continually villages

the

it

;

a

British engines

were

pivot, for very all

to

were introduced into our money,"' he said, "for

soon the

put out of action, and

gradually these hundreds of

will

German came

when he brought a new screw he

must have broken a

you

our

visit

and when anything went wrong with

;

English machinery,

repair

but

;

German machines

villages."

"Here

three schools,

send us teachers at once

if

to

is

only the

The Druzes

10

villages

Lebanon and Bashan

of

where our leading chiefs dwell, so

that our children

may

be brought up in British

schools."

The Lebanon has once again

in

1916 and

1917 been devastated >and ravaged by war, pestilence,

raged furiously in locusts

many

destroyed

robbed them of the

were the

Typhus and typhoid

and famine.

of the cities of Syria,

the

people's

fruits

their chief support.

Lebanon

of its

cordon around but for the

it

first

and the

crops, olives

and

which

The Turks deprived

independence and placed a

to starve out the inhabitants,

time in history the Maronites

and the Druzes, who have always been such bitter rivals, united in their efforts to preserve

the liberties of the Lebonese.

They

refused,

as well as they were able, to be enrolled in the

Turkish armies

;

and

in

hampering the Turkish

operations throughout Syria and to the south of

Damascus, they doubtless rendered a most valuable service to Great Britain and her Allies.

•

11

Debt to the Druzes

Britain's

In the summer of 1916 the Turkish Govern-

ment sent a Turkish

battalion to the Nosairi

Mountains, ostensibly for the purpose of tracking deserters, but really for taking over the

new

The brutal conduct

harvest.

provoked the Nosairi to open battle ensued

which ended

revolt,

casualties

fifty

amounted

and wounded, while

about 200 killed

and

and a

the defeat of

in

the Turkish force, whose losses

Nosairi's

of the troops

wounded.

to

the

were only twenty killed

The

remnant

troops was then ordered back to

of

Hama

the to

await reinforcements, that they might return to the

mountains with a mountain battery to

inflict

condign

punishment

on

the

rebels.

This punitive expedition, however, had to be

abandoned

;

for,

meanwhile, news arrived that

the Druzes of the give

Hauran had

also refused to

up their crops to the Turkish force which

had been sent

for the purpose.

this refusal, a battle,

As a

which lasted

result of

fifteen days,

12

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

took place between the

and the Druzes.

In

five

Turkish battalions

this case, too, the

Turks

to the strong help re-

were defeated, thanks

ceived by the Druzes from the neighbouring

Arab

The Turkish

tribes.

timated at about

losses

were

es-

500 killed and wounded,

while those of the Druzes and Arabs were

about 300.

Smarting under their defeat

in the

Hauran,

the Turks, to satisfy their desire for revenge,

began to persecute some of the Druzes of the

Lebanon, accusing them

Hauran

revolt.

Druzes

to the

of complicity in the

The emigration

Hauran

of

some young

in quest of food

taken as a pretext by the Government to crease the rigour of of the

Druze

its

revengeful acts.

chieftains

of their leading

was in-

Some

were arrested, and two

men were brought up

for trial

before the court-martial at Damascus, which

condemned one to death

by

to forced labour

crucifixion.

and the other

Britain's

When Syria,

it

Debt to the Druzes

the time will

of

deliverance comes

to

be our paramount duty to render

substantial aid, at the earliest possible to these faithful friends of Britain.

endeavour to discharge our debt for the risks they

they have

13

behalf,

We

to the

have run and the

made on our

moment,

and

must

Druzes

sacrifices

for their

staunch adherence to the Allies' cause in our desperate time of need.

We

therefore venture to

publish a brief

account of the Druzes and our work amongst them, in the hope that the people of the British Isles

may

take some interest in the needs and

claims of these attractive races of Syria.

\

To recompense good

Neglect

If

a

of

man

for

recompense

good

is

is

a duty.

contemptible.

do you a favour recompense him, and him.

if

you are unable

to do so, pray for

The worst kind

Reproach

There

is

faults

of

recompense

is

to requite evil for good.

by kindness, and requite

evil

by good.

no glory in revenge.

—From " Arabian

Wisdom," by Dr. Wortabst.

1

"'";».