The Battle of Ain Dara took place in the town of Ain Dara

Ain Dara

Ain Dara is a village about 30 km from Beirut, in the governorate of Mount Lebanon, in the Aley District.Ain Dara Municipality has an area of 2,586 hectares , with a population of approximately 8000 persons...

 in 1711 between the Qaysi

Qais

Qais , also spelled Qays or Kais, were an Arabian tribe branched from the Mudhar Adnani groups.-Main branches of Qais:The main branches of the Qais tribes are the Banu Sulaym, Hawazin and the Banu Ghatafan. These three main groups remained in the Eastern Hejaz until the 7th century...

 and Yemeni Druze

Druze

The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...

, with the Qaysis victorious.

Background

Traditionally there had been two Druze socio-political branches living in the Jabal ash-Shuf region: the Yemeni were headed by the Harmouche and Alam ed-Din families and the Qaysi by the Jumblatt and Arslan families. This continued 1100 years of Yemeni-Qaysi conflict in Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

, Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 and Spain, which climaxed in the Battle of Ayn Dara.

In 1711, the Qaysis launched a surprise attack on the Yemenis, who were waiting for reinforcement from the Wali

Wali

Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...

 of Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

 and the wali of Akka

Acre, Israel

Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....

. They were able to diminish Yemeni power in Lebanon and force them to settle Jabal ad-Duruz in the Hauran

Hauran

Hauran, , also spelled Hawran or Houran, is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area and a people located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of Jordan. It gets its name from the Aramaic Hawran, meaning "cave land." In geographic and geomorphic terms, its boundaries...

 region of Syria

Greater Syria

Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....

.

Effects on the future of Lebanon

Until that time, Lebanon was a feudal region ruled by families that controlled tribes and maintained a power balance. After the defeat of the Yemenis and their banishment to Jabal ad-Duruz, they became more dependent on the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 for support. Conversely, the Qaysis became heavily dependent on their strategic alliance with the Maronite Christians to fight for the Qaysi cause.

The fall of the Ottomans

The Yemeni eventually lost power in the region with the Young Turks

Young Turks

The Young Turks , from French: Les Jeunes Turcs) were a coalition of various groups favouring reformation of the administration of the Ottoman Empire. The movement was against the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Sultan and favoured a re-installation of the short-lived Kanûn-ı Esâsî constitution...

 Revolt and World War I, paving the way for the creation of the concept of the Greater Lebanon and the complete influence of the Qaysi over the Lebanese Druze community.

Sources

• Almaqhafi, Awwad: Qabayl Wa Biton Al-Arab
• Almsaodi, Abdulaziz: Tarikh Qabayl Al-Arab

External links

Sources

• History and sites of the Druze
• Rise and fall of the Syrian Druze
• Institute of Druze Studies, San Diego, California
• Druzenet, English publications
• Druse, Druze, Mowahhidoon described at the OCRT site
• Arabic site about Druze with sample from their scriptures
• Druze Catechism
• 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
• "Druze" Encyclopædia Britannica Concise
• "Druze" Encyclopædia Britannica Concise: Longer article
• Druze by Pam Rohland
• SEMP - Who are the Druze?

Communities

• Druze Chat
• Druze News Druze News from Lebanon, Israel and the Druze world.
• Lebanese Druze Online Community
• American Druze Society - National
• American Druze Society - Michigan
• Canadian Druze Society
• Australian Druze Community
• South Australian Druze Community
• Israeli Druze Online - in Hebrew
• European Druze Society
• Meeting Druze from all over the world
• Druze Articles

Other links

• Druze: A small peace of Israel from hackwriters.com