1838 Druze revolt

Part of Campaigns of Muhammad Ali of Egypt

Date

1838

Location

Ottoman Syria (Hauran, Galilee and Mount Lebanon)

Result

Revolt suppressed

Peace agreement signed
Egyptian rule restored
Druze exempted from conscriptions

Belligerents

Egypt Eyalet

Emir Bashir's Christian forces

supported by:

Anaza tribe
Wuld Ali tribe
Sulut tribe of Laja (since March 1838)

Druze clans
supported by:

Sulut tribe of Laja (until March 1838)
Maydan quarter of Damascus

Commanders and leaders

Ibrahim Pasha

Muhammad Pasha

Minikly Pasha

Sharif Pasha
Emir Bashir

Shibly al-Aryan
Hasan Junbalat
Nasir ad-Din al-Imad

Strength

15,000

8,000

Casualties and losses

unknown

Revolt suppressed

Egypt Eyalet

supported by:

Druze clans
supported by:

The 1838 Druze revolt was a Druze uprising in Syria against the authority of Ibrahim Pasha and effectively against the Khedivate of Egypt, ruled by Muhammad Ali. The rebellion was led by Druze clans of Mount Lebanon, with an aim to expel the Egyptian forces, under Ibrahim Pasha considering them as infidels. The revolt was suppressed with a bitter campaign by Pasha, after a major Druze defeat in the Wadi al-Taym, and the Egyptian rule effectively restored in Galilee and Mount Lebanon, with a peace agreement signed between the Egyptians and Druze leaders on July 23, 1838. Among the major sites of violence was the city of Safed, where the Jewish community was attacked by Druze rebels in early July 1838.

The tensions between the Druze and the Egyptians had been mounting since the 1834 Peasants' revolt in Palestine, which resulted in several deaths in Jerusalem, Hebron, Nablus and Safed. The ruling classes of the region resented Egyptian authority and the Druze in particular resisted the rule of Ibrahim Pasha, who personally considered the Druze as heretics and oppressed them. What sparked the revolt itself, however, was the conscription decree of the Egyptian army.

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Wikipedia