History of Kfarsghab
Encyclopedia
Kfarsghab
Kfarsghab is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon...
in Zgharta District
Zgharta District
Zgharta District is a district of the North Governorate, Lebanon.The administrative center is the town of Zgharta. The district has 57 populated areas with 30 municipalities covering 37 villages. Some areas share the same municipality such as Ehden/Zgharta, Kfarsghab/Morh Kfarsghab or...
in the Mount Lebanon Governorate
Mount Lebanon Governorate
Mount Lebanon is one of the Governorates of Lebanon. Its capital is Baabda. The overwhelming majority of its population is Maronites, Greek Orthodox, and Melkite Greek Catholic Christians...
of Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
predates Christianity. However, like most villages in the Qadisha valley, Kfarsghab's history began with the settlement of the Maronites
Maronites
Maronites , is an ethnoreligious group in the Middle East that have been historically tied with Lebanon. They derive their name from the Syriac saint Mar Maron whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria establishing the Maronite Church....
in Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon , as a geographic designation, is a Lebanese mountain range, averaging above 2,200 meters in height and receiving a substantial amount of precipitation, including snow, which averages around four meters deep. It extends across the whole country along about , parallel to the...
during the 10th Century. According to the popular tradition, the church of Saint Awtel
Awtel
Saint Awtel, also known as Mar Awtel, Mar Awtilios, Saint Aoutel, Saint Autel is a monk of the 1st centuries of Christianity venerated in the Middle East. He is celebrated on the 3rd of November , and on the 9th of October...
was built on the ruins of a pagan temple. Pagan temples existed in this region as attested in the Greek inscription mentioning the date 272 AD found in the Mar Mama church in Ehden
Ehden
Ehden is a mountainous town situated in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal and Kornet el Sawda, the highest peak in Lebanon...
. Other temples may have existed in the region, such as the monastery of Mar Sarkis and Bakhos
Mar Sarkis, Ehden
The Monastery of Mar Sarkis, Ehden is a monastery located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated in the Qozhaya valley, the northern branch of the valley of Qadisha, to the east of Ehden.It overlooks Ehden, Kfarsghab, Bane and Hadath El Jebbeh...
in Ehden, which may have been built atop ruins. Given the exceptional location of Saint Awtel's Church built on a promontory, the popular tradition about the existence of a pagan temple in Kfarsghab is plausible.
Around 1000 AD
A possible reference to Kfarsghab may appear in a letter of the Cairo Geniza dating between 1011 and 1037 AD.The Mamluk period – 1252–1517
Maronite historians mention Kfarsghab in connection with events of 1283 at the end of the crusadingCrusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
period. It is related to the invasion of Jebbet Bsharri
Bsharri
Bsharri , is a Lebanese town at about 1,450 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at , in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate. Bsharri is the town of the only remaining Original Cedars of Lebanon...
by the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
army and the collaboration of Ibn Al Sabha from Kfarsghab with the Mamluks. Here's what El Douaihy in Tarikh Al-Azminah says about the role of Ibn Al Sabha during this invasion:
And it was related that the fort that was in HawqaHawqaHawqa is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated in the valley of Qozhaya, the northern branch of the Valley of Qadisha....
could not be taken by the Army, which was then advised by Ibn Al Şabĥa from Kfarşghab to divert the water source of Bcherray and direct it against the fort. They thus took it (the fort of Hawqa) by the force of water and brought it to the ground. For that reason, they (the armies) authorized Ibn Al Şabĥa to dress in white Bash Yanis (White clothes reserved to the only Muslims) and the rest of the slaves served him (Ibn Al Şabĥa) and he was very powerful with them. Then, he (Ibn Al Şabĥa) repented of his bad actions and returned and constructed the Monastery of Hawqa close to the fort for the housing of the monks. And the waterway [used to destroy the fort] became reserved since those times and till our days for the usage of the Monasteries in turns, thus on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays for the Monastery of Qannubine, on Wednesdays for the Monastery of Hawqa Blawza, and on the rest of the days (of the week) for the town of Hadshit and its WaqfWaqfA waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
s.
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
: the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, and the Ayyubid Sultans in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Each power had its allies in the region. The failure of the Seventh Crusade
Seventh Crusade
The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya...
and the defeat of the Mongols
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
announced the rise of a new power, the Mamluks of Egypt. From 1250 AD, the Mamluks entered actively into the political scene of the Middle East. After securing their rule and in need of legitimacy in the eyes of the Muslim world, the Sultan Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
started attacking the Franks, seizing Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
in 1268. From that date, the pre-existing divisions of the native Christians of Lebanon between Pro and Anti-Franks became more marked; especially that the anti-Frankish party finally found in the Mamluks the strong allies it was missing since the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
in 1099. After a first limited Mamluk incursion in Jebbet Bsharri
Bsharri
Bsharri , is a Lebanese town at about 1,450 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at , in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate. Bsharri is the town of the only remaining Original Cedars of Lebanon...
against the village of Hadath in 1268, the Mamluk armies came back to the region in 1283 in a more organized manner, and probably also returned in 1290 after the fall of the Frankish city of Tripoli
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...
in 1289. These campaigns were mainly directed against the allies of the Franks in Jebbet Bsharri according to the text of El Douaihy. Their success reinforced the position of the anti-Frankish party to which Ibn Al Sabha belonged.
During the following Mamluk period in Lebanon (1290–1517), few mentions of the village are found.
In 1470 Kfarsghab is mentioned, in conjunction with the construction of Saint Awtel's Church. It is the only church in Lebanon dedicated to this Saint whose tradition is shared by the Maronite, Orthodox and Jacobite churches.
Another mention, though indirect, stems from the end of the conflict between the Jacobites and Maronites. Profiting from the troubles in Jebbet Bsharri (or maybe called upon for help by the Jacobites), the Muslim Muqaddam
Muqaddam
Muqaddam is an Arabic title, adopted in other Islamic cultures, for any of various civil or religious officials. The literal meaning is something like "expediter", "facilitator", or "assistant"....
s of the neighbouring region of Ďanniyeh
Dinniyeh
Dinniyeh is a region located in Miniyeh-Danniyeh District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. The region lies east of Tripoli, extends north as far as Akkar District, south to Bsharri District and Zgharta District and as far east as Baalbek and Hermel...
attacked Ehden in 1489 hoping for a quick victory. The inhabitants of Ehden and of the neighbouring villages, including Kfarşghab, despairing of the help of the Muqaddam of Bsharri, ‘Abdel Mon‘em, pushed back the attackers.
The Ottoman period – 1517–1918
Following the conquest of ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1453, 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...
entered a long period of conquest and expansion. By defeating the Mamluks in 1517, it achieved control over the Middle East. Jebbet Bsharri entered 4 long centuries under the Ottoman rule.
The 16th century
The first Ottoman Census of 1519 credited Kfarsghab with 14 male adults (of more than 15 years old), all Christians and married. This figure allowed historians to estimate the total population by using an average of 6.6 inhabitants / male, which gave about 92 inhabitants. The tax money amounted to 1,600 AkçeAkçe
thumb|250px|AkçeA silver coin, the akçe was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word "akçe" is derived from the Greek "" , the name of a Byzantine silver or billon coin, current in the region that eventually became the Ottoman Empire. The akçe is hence often called asper in English...
s and its payment reserved to the Waqf of the heirs of Saad Al Moulouk.
The second census of 1571 recorded 12 males in Kfarsghab. The tax amount was of 2,892 Akçes paid to the Waqf of the Two Holy Mosques. There was an amount of 1,068 Akçes paid as Jizya
Jizya
Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah is a per capita tax levied on a section of an Islamic state's non-Muslim citizens, who meet certain criteria...
.
Bane, Lebanon
Bane is a village located in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated in north of Lebanon as a very holy and spiritually dearly held location – The Valley of Qadisha.There are approximately 15,000 Bane descendants living in Australia,...
, Hadshit and Bsharri
Bsharri
Bsharri , is a Lebanese town at about 1,450 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at , in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate. Bsharri is the town of the only remaining Original Cedars of Lebanon...
. It is supposed that some Jacobites were living in Kfarsghab and were obliged to flee the region after they lost the support of Bsharri's Muqaddams near 1550. Both censuses show that Kfarsghab was inhabited by Christians with no indication as to whether they were Jacobites or Maronites. Around 1600, the Kfarsghab population merged with that of the neighboring extinct village of Day’at Moussa or Qaryat Moussa.
This merger occurred due to religious disputes. The inhabitants of the village of Qaryat Moussa were accused of being Jacobites since the end of the 14th Century. The struggle between Maronites and Jacobites in the region started at the beginning of the 15th Century and lasted till around the mid-16th Century. It ended, with the advantage going to the Maronites. This might have economically and demographically weakened the Jacobite population of Qaryat Moussa. Moreover, the heavy snows which are advanced as the cause behind the disappearance of the neighboring Jacobite village of Bqoufa around 1600 might have given the last stroke to the existence of Qaryat Moussa as an independent agglomeration obliging its surviving population to take refuge in Kfarsghab.
Historical references of Qaryat Moussa exist till the end of the 16th century. The village seems to disappear from the records afterwards. In the Ottoman Censuses cited previously, Qaryat Moussa is credited with 9 males in 1519, all Christians and only 7 of them are married. In the second census, 12 males were recorded in 1571. This demographic vitality is somewhat intriguing, especially considering the weakening of Kfarsghab's demography over the same period. Another reference concerns a Maronite Synod that took place in 1598 in Saint Moura
Saint Moura
Saint Moura, also known as Mart Moura, is a martyr of the 1st centuries of Christianity honored in the Middle East. Her feast is celebrated on the 3rd of May and on the 25th of September. Several churches are dedicated to her especially in North Lebanon and a Monastery in Ehden.-Life:Father Youakim...
, the church of Qaryat Moussa. The priest, Ibrahim of Qaryat Moussa, at the time of the 1598 Synod was an important aide of the then Patriarch Youssef AlRizzi (1596–1608). AinTourini attributes another Synod in this church in 1644.
Another point of view of the merge and the location of the Synod comes from Father Youakim Moubarac
Youakim Moubarac
Youakim Moubarac was a Lebanese French erudite. He was an Islamologist, an Arabist and a disciple of the Orientalist Louis Massignon and of philosopher Louis Gardet...
introducing his translation to French of the canons of the Synod:
We put into this translation a particular care because Day`at Moussa overlooks by some hundred meters the village where we were born. However, we cannot help to have some doubt as to the precise location of this Synod. Mart Moura's church, the generally assumed location for that synod celebration, is well known and its patronal saint's day is still celebrated every year with the fervent participation of the faithful from our village Kfarsghab, on September 24. Also, we think that there lies our village of origin, before unknown reasons to the local memory made us go down.
But my family acquired in the time of my father a plot of land upper than Mart Moura. It is called Marg el-Dayr and it belonged to the family Mousa. Its conversion into an orchard caused the cleaning of an oratory in decline devoted to Saint Augustine. Would it be rather there the place of celebration of the synod? I prefer to believe it because the place in question is on the border of the famous village of Bqoufa, also ruined, but from which we know that the prelates of the family Rizzi are originated, prelates who led our Church in those times with three successive patriarchs.
The modern Kfarsghab results from a merge between Kfarsghab and Qaryat Moussa around 1600.
The 17th century
At the end of the 16th century, the emergence of a first autonomous Lebanese EmirateEmirate
An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic Muslim monarch styled emir.-Etymology:Etymologically emirate or amirate is the quality, dignity, office or territorial competence of any emir ....
in the southern Mount Lebanon had important impacts in Jebbet Bsharri
Bsharri
Bsharri , is a Lebanese town at about 1,450 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at , in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate. Bsharri is the town of the only remaining Original Cedars of Lebanon...
. In political terms, it ended in 1621 the role of the Muqaddams of Bsharri as the traditional lords of the region being the official representatives of the Ottoman Governor of Tripoli. In economical terms, the southern Mount Lebanon under the stable rule of the Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
Fakhreddine
Fakhr-al-Din II
Emir Fakhr-al-Din ibn Maan was the 1st prince of the State of Lebanon which has self-governed under the Ottoman Empire between the 17th and 19th centuries. Son of Prince Qorqmaz ibn Maan and Sit Nasab of the Tanukhi family, he was given the title "Emir" or Prince in Arabic because the Maan...
attracted many families who were encouraged by the Emir to establish there. An important migration took place from Jebbet Bsharri to the south but also to Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
.
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
s as joint governors of Jebbet Bsharri: the Sheikh Abi Karam Yaaqoub from Hadath (1635–1640) and the Sheikh Abi Gebrayel Youssef Karam from Ehden (1635–1641). The period that opened up when those two sheikhs disappeared was full of exactions and violence. Given the instability, the people of Jebbet Bsharri insisted in 1654, on the Governor of Tripoli to appoint as governor of their region, Sheikh Ahmad Hamadeh, a member of the powerful Shiite Hamadeh family, rulers of the Jbeil District
Jbeil District
Byblos /Jbeil is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
and Batroun District
Batroun District
Batroun District is a district in the North Governorate, Lebanon, south of Tripoli. The capital is Batroun.-Cities and towns:* Abrine* Assia*Batroun* Bazbina* Bchaaleh* Beit Kassab* Bijdarfil* Billa* Deir Billa* Bqosmaya* Chatine...
regions. The Hamadeh did not succeed in establishing stability before the end of the century as they were continuously challenged by the local sheikhs and by members of their own clan.
For Kfarsghab, an important event of this century will take place in 1695 when the Lebanese Maronite Order was founded by three young Maronites from Aleppo, Syria. The Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy encouraged the founders and established them in the Monastery of Mart Moura in Ehden. As the Order grew quickly, they established in Mar Lishaa, Bsharri
Bsharri
Bsharri , is a Lebanese town at about 1,450 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at , in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate. Bsharri is the town of the only remaining Original Cedars of Lebanon...
(1696) and in Qozhaya
Qozhaya
Qozhaya is located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It belongs to the Lebanese Maronite Order, known as Baladites.-Monastery of Saint Anthony of Qozhaya:...
(1708). In the coming two centuries, the Order will represent a major attraction for the young people of Kfarsghab who will join massively its ranks.
Among the first members of the new Order was Abdallah Habqouq from Kfarsghab. He joined the Lebanese Maronite Order very early in the pioneering days and became administrator (Mudabbir) of the Order in 1698. The family of Father Abdallah Habqouq established in the region in the second part of the 17th century and acquired the monastery of Qozhaya from the Gilwan family, owners of Qozhaya since 1567. The Habqouq family, and specifically Bishop Youhanna Habqouq, surrendered Qozhaya to the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1708.
The 18th century
In the beginning of the 18th century, the Jebbet Bsharri region was in a very poor state following the conflicts that had taken place in the past 70 years. Many villages were depopulated, land was abandoned. After 1677 the Hamadeh encouraged people from their fiefdoms of Jbeil DistrictJbeil District
Byblos /Jbeil is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
and Batroun District to migrate to Jebbet Bsharri in order to populate the area, as requested of them by the Governor of Tripoli. But only in 1704 did the Hamadeh succeed in securing their rule of Jebbet Bsharri and in showing some results in their repopulation efforts, especially as the situation in the south Mount Lebanon was plagued by the Qaissites / Yamanites conflict and then by the succession conflicts triggered by the fall of the house of Maans in 1697. For Kfarsghab, it is supposed that the main four families that compose the today's Kfarsghab came to the region from 1677 to 1704.
The Abou Mansour family
It is between 1677 and 1704 that the family Abou Mansour Al Bahri arrived in Jebbet Bsharri from the coast of the Batroun District. They established themselves in Kfarsghab merging slowly with the few surviving natives, possibly from the Saliba family as recorded by the tradition.
The new-comers helped the Hamadeh in the administration of the region as it is shown in the records of the Court of Tripoli.
Those records show that,
- in 1737 the Sheikh of Kfarsghab, Mansour son of Hanna, vouched for the settlement of the Kfarsghab taxes by the Sheikh Hussein bin Moussa Hamadeh,
- in 1748, the Sheikh of Kfarsghab, Hanna Abou Mansour, did the same for the Sheikh Assaad bin Moussa Hamadeh,
- in 1752, the records of the Court show that Sheikh Hanna Son of Mansour from Kfarsghab was guarantor of Assaad Hamadeh.
Another reference to Sheikh Hanna is found on a religious book copy stating that Deacon Hanna son of Father Youssef Al Bahri finished copying the Reesh Qoryan with Fr Ibrahim Jilwan AlSamrani on July 3, 1754. Most of the sheikhs of that time were ordained deacons allowing them to have religious as well as political power.
The Abou Youssef family
The Abou Youssef Elias family came to the Jebbet Bsharri region in the beginning of 17th Century from Smar Jbeil
Smar Jbeil
Smar Jbeil is a village located in the Batroun District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is located on a hill facing the Mediterranean sea at 500 m elevation. It is one of the oldest villages in Lebanon...
, the village of the Gilwan family, ex-owners of the Monastery of Qozhaya. In another documented version, This family could have come originally from Benta‘el in the Jbeil region. This family was encouraged to settle in the region by the Gilwan's and maybe the Hamadeh sheikhs. They settled first in Tourza and Arbet Qozhaya, working as sharecroppers of the Monastery of Qozhaya. After Qozhaya was handed down to the Lebanese Maronite Order
Lebanese Maronite Order
The Lebanese Maronite Order , is a monastic order among the Levantine Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church...
in 1708, they moved to Kfarsghab between 1710 and 1720.
The first inhabitant ever recorded was Deeb El Bahri. Deeb came from the coast of Batroun and established himself in the district. He married Maureena El Saliba and had three Sons that are the origins of the three families - Abou Mansour, Khoury Youssef and Abou Abraham. The family of Abou Youssef was a descendant of Elias who came to Kfarsghab from the Coast and married a granddaughter of Deeb El Bahri …
In 1748, Abou Youssef Elias from Kfarsghab bought from Sheikh Assaad Hamadeh the land that will become later the village of Morh Kfarsghab. In the property deed established between the two men, Assaad Hamadeh referred to Abou Youssef Elias as our beloved and not with the title Sheikh. This personal reference could imply that Abou Youssef Elias was close to Assaad Hamadeh.
In 1755, the guarantor of Assaad Hamadeh at the Court of Tripoli was the Sheikh Elias Abou Youssef son of Bahri or Al Bahri. In spite of the name Al Bahri added to the name of this last sheikh, this sheikh is Abou Youssef Elias, married to a daughter of Al Bahri family.It seems that, between 1748 and 1755, Abou Youssef Elias became powerful enough to claim the sheikhdom of Kfarsghab and take it from his relatives by his wife, the Abou Mansour Al Bahri.
The Sheikh and his descendants will play an important role in the history of Kfarsghab and of Jebbet Bsharri.
The Habqouq family
This family arrived in Kfarsghab in the beginning of the 18th Century. Like the Abou Youssef Elias family, the Habqouq have bought the Monastery of Qozhaya from the Gilwan family in the second half of the 17th Century. The family came from Bsheeleh in the Batroun region and before that from Bikfaya
Bikfaya
Bikfaya is a town in the Matn District region of Mount Lebanon. Its stone houses with red-tiled roofs resting amidst pine and oak forests make Bikfaya one of the most sought-after suburbs of Beirut and one of Lebanon's most popular summer resorts.-Culture:...
in Metn and Jeita
Jeita
Jeita is a Lebanese town located in the Keserwan District in the Mount Lebanon Governorate. The town is about north of Beirut. It is famous for the Jeita Grotto which is a popular tourist attraction, as well as the Nahr al-Kalb, a river that runs from a spring near the grotto emptying into the...
in Keserwan District
Keserwan District
Keserwan is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
. The priests of the family settled in the Monastery of Qozhaya and their families in Arbet Qozhaya and in Bane
Bane, Lebanon
Bane is a village located in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated in north of Lebanon as a very holy and spiritually dearly held location – The Valley of Qadisha.There are approximately 15,000 Bane descendants living in Australia,...
. It is this family that gave Qozhaya to the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1708. It is probably after this event that part of the family moved from Arbet Qozhaya to Kfarsghab, the other part stayed in Bane.
This family gave the Maronite Church several illustrious sons, like Abdallah Habqouq (1670–1758). Abdallah Habqouq from Kfarsghab joined the Lebanese Maronite Order very early in the pioneering days. He was administrator (Mudabbir) of the Order between 1698 and 1732 and then between 1738 and 1742. From 1729 to 1735 and then from 1742 to 1743, he was superior of the Monastery of Our Lady of Tamish, an important Monastery that became in 1744 the siege of the Baladites Order (after the split of the Order into two Orders: Baladites and Halabites
Mariamite Maronite Order
The Mariamite Maronite Order , is a monastic order in the Levantine Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church...
).
Father Abdallah was consecrated Bishop on 20 May 1742 by the Bishop Tubiya Al Khazin ( future Patriarch 1756–1766). This consecration was done in a context of conflict over the succession of Patriarch Yusuf Dargham Al Khazin between Tubiya Al Khazin and Ilyas Muhasib. This conflict was eventually settled by the Vatican by the election of Simaan Awwad and the confirmation of the consecration of Bishop Abdallah Habqouq. Bishop Abdallah is mentioned as a signatory of a legal document in his capaity of bishop in 1744, next to the name of the Patriarch Simaan Awwad.
Apparently Bishop Abdallah sided with the Halabites faction of the Order as no records for his death are found in the Baladites faction archives.
Bishop Abdallah died on 7 August 1758 in Kfarsghab and is buried in Saint Awtel Church.
The Khouriyyeh family
Allied to the Abou Mansour family, the origin of this family could be traced to Aqoura, in the mountains of Jbeil. Its date of arrival in Kfarsghab is difficult to estimate. But given the fact that a Sheikh Hanna son of Rizk (from the Khourriyeh family) is cited in the records of the Court of Tripoli for the year 1761, this family had been settled in Kfarsghab for some time, most probably in the first part of the 18th Century.
The bourgeois Sheikhs rise (1761–1772)
The major event of the eighteenth century for Jebbet BsharriBsharri
Bsharri , is a Lebanese town at about 1,450 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at , in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate. Bsharri is the town of the only remaining Original Cedars of Lebanon...
happened in 1761 when Abou Youssef Elias from Kfarsghab, along with Hanna Al Daher from Bsharri
Bsharri
Bsharri , is a Lebanese town at about 1,450 m of altitude, near the Kadisha Valley. It is located at , in the Bsharri District of the North Governorate. Bsharri is the town of the only remaining Original Cedars of Lebanon...
, Gerges Boulos El Douaihy from Ehden and Abou Sleimane Aouad from Hasroun
Hasroun
Hasroun is a village located in the Bsharri District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated in the Valley of Qadisha, overlooking the southern branch of this valley, the Qannoubine Valley....
, took all together the direct collection of the taxes of Jebbet Bsharri from the Governor of Tripoli, Osman Pacha the Georgian. They were helped by some of the traditional Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
s who guaranteed at the Court of Tripoli the payment of the taxes. It was the first serious defeat of the Hamadeh in this century and the rise of a new generation of local Maronite Sheikhs, called here Bourgeois Sheikhs.
But the Hamadeh counter-attacked, helped most probably by local people from Bsharri and Hasroun. In their struggle against the Hamadeh that lasted from 1760 till 1772, the bourgeois Sheikhs of Jebbet Bsharri got the support of the Governors of Tripoli, Osman Pasha and his son Mohammad Pasha, of the Sunnite Sheikhs of Danniyeh
Dinniyeh
Dinniyeh is a region located in Miniyeh-Danniyeh District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. The region lies east of Tripoli, extends north as far as Akkar District, south to Bsharri District and Zgharta District and as far east as Baalbek and Hermel...
and of the Sheikhs of Zawiyeh. In 1763, the ambitious Emir Youssef Al Shihabi (ruled afterwards Mount Lebanon from 1770 to 1789) installed in the Jbeil region and being himself in conflict with the Hamadeh, profited from the difficulties of the Bourgeois Sheikhs and maneuvered to take from them the collection of taxes in Jebbet Bsharri. He contracted an alliance with the Bourgeois Sheikhs and confirmed their privileges in the tax collection of their districts as well as their right to claim the abandoned properties of the Hamadeh (Baklik). The fight with the Hamadeh will continue for 12 years. It will lead to their eviction from the whole region and to their final defeat in 1772. The Emir Youssef Al Shihabi, and his Shihabis successors, will have the direct rule of Jebbet Bsharri for almost one century from 1763 till 1844, helped by the new generation of Bourgeois Village Sheiks of Jebbet Bsharri: El Douaihy, Estephane, Awwad and Daher, but also Khattar and Issa Al Khoury.
In 1761, the guarantor of Abou Youssef Elias was a certain Sheikh Hanna son of Rizk from Kfarsghab. This family appeared as sheikhs of Kfarsghab for the first time. Apparently, Abou Youssef Elias was representing by marriage the Abou Mansour family as witnessed by the last name Al Bahri added to his own name in the records of the Court. In taking a guarantor from the Rizk family, he ensured the loyalty and support of other families of Kfarsghab.
The development of Kfarsghab (1772–1799)
From 1755, the Sheikhs of Kfarsghab will be from the Abou Youssef Elias family, and specifically from the Estephane branch of the family. This family ran the administration of the villages of Kfarsghab, Toula, half of Karmsaddeh
Karmsaddeh
Karmsaddeh is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. Its population is predominantly Maronite Catholic. Within the village centre is Saint John's Church...
and half of Raskifa
Raskifa
Raskifa is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. Its population is Maronite Catholic and Greek Orthodox....
. For those two last villages, they shared the administration with another Bourgeois Sheikhs family, the Aouad from Hasroun. In fact, the Estephane family ruled exactly the same domain (Oktaa) as Sheikh Assaad Hamadeh, who ruled Kfarsghab in the previous period.
This century would have witnessed the beginning of an important movement for Kfarsghab that will be at its apogee in the following century; that is to say the massive monastic vows among the natives of Kfarsghab. During the 18th century, more than 12 young men joined the ranks of the Lebanese Maronite Order. The demographic weakness of Kfarsghab in the first half of the century, the purchase of the winter village of Morh Kfarsghab and its development starting in 1748 and possibly the conflict inside the Order that started in 1748 between the Aleppine monks and the Lebanese ones and that eventually led to the splitting of the order into two in 1768, could be behind this modest number of monks from Kfarsghab. It will have a major impact on Kfarsghab.
The 19th century
The 19th Century was a much contrasted century for Lebanon. It witnessed the evolution from a traditional peasant society tightly governed by the Sheikhs to a more modern dynamic society opened to the outside world.The monastic orders (1840–1870)
The first major evolution for Kfarsghab was the massive attraction of the monastic orders especially that of the Lebanese Maronite OrderLebanese Maronite Order
The Lebanese Maronite Order , is a monastic order among the Levantine Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church...
solidly installed in the neighbouring Monastery of Qozhaya. The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed a doubling in the vocations from Kfarsghab. Between 1800 and 1850, the Order received 8 to 10 monks from Kfarsghab. Between 1850 and 1875, things changed dramatically. In this period, more than 23 monks from Kfarsghab took their vows.
The baby-boomers of the 1830–1840's started joining massively the Monk Orders. One major factor was the decline in the revenues derived from silk in Jebbet Bsharri region that started around 1845. In 1844–1845, silk revenues were covering 72% of the economic needs decreasing to 25% in 1851–1852 and further to 15% in 1857. Along with an increased centralization of the administration under the new regime of Qaym-maqiyamatayn (1842–1860), it contributed to the weakening of the political and economical powers of the sheikhs in the region in general leaving no economic perspectives to the young people. Also, the opening of a school in the neighbouring village of Bane in 1806 by the Lebanese Maronite Order for the basic instruction of the children of Kfarsghab and Bane served as a channel of detection and recruitment of talents and workforce for the Order. The effect was a reduction in the Kfarsghab population. According to a recent study, 344 males lived in Kfarsghab in 1862, that is to say 1,720 inhabitants.
The emigration (1870–1899)
In the 1870s, vocations among the natives of Kfarsghab started to decrease. Between 1875 and 1900, only 3 vocations were recorded for Kfarsghab. Vocations from Kfarsghab ceased on 17 December 1898 when Br Ephraim Saliba Abboud II joined. Brother Ephraim died on 9 April 1947. Overall, the Lebanese Maronite Order attracted 43 young people from Kfarsghab, making this village the 15th most important contributor to the Order, among the 382 villages that counted monks among their sons. Still in 1900, Kfarsghab counted 13 monks among its sons, representing 4% of the adult male population compared to 0.8% for the average of the region of Jebbet Bsharri.
The special status of Mount Lebanon during the Regime of Mutasarrifiah (1861–1914) changed the administration of Kfarsghab which was attached to the distant district of Batroun. The collapse of the prices of silk from the 1870s and onward deteriorated the economic situation. Politically and economically, the Sheikhs of Kfarsghab were weakened. Finally, the loss of interest in the monks order was replaced soon by the emigration to the USA and to Australia.
Emigration from Kfarsghab to the United States started in 1885, followed by an emigration to Australia in 1887. It resulted in a dramatic decrease in the Kfarsghab population. In 1889, the number of inhabitants was estimated to 1,100. For Year 1900,it is reported 330 male adults, 950 inhabitants and 150 emigrants for Kfarsghab. Kfarsghab lost to the emigration 20% of its population in less than 15 years. This trend will continue in the 20th Century.