Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon
| Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı |
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| Mutasarrifate of the Ottoman Empire | |||||
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| Capital | Deir el Qamar | ||||
| History | |||||
| • | Established | 1861 | |||
| • | French occupation | 1918 | |||
| Population | |||||
| • | 1870 | 110,000 | |||
| Today part of |
 Lebanon
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The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (Arabic: متصرفية جبل لبنان ; Turkish: Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı) was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the Tanzimat reform. After 1861 there existed an autonomous Mount Lebanon with a Christian mutasarrıf, which had been created as a homeland for the Maronites under European diplomatic pressure following the 1860 massacres.
As the Ottoman Empire began to decline, the administrative structure came under pressure. Following continued animosity and fighting between the Maronites and the Druze, representatives of the European powers proposed to Sultan Abdülmecid I that the Lebanon be partitioned into Christian and Druze sections. The Sublime Porte was finally compelled to relinquish its plans for the direct rule of the Lebanon, and on December 7, 1842, the sultan adopted prince Metternich's proposal and asked Assad Pasha, the governor (wali) of Beirut, to divide the Mount Lebanon, into two districts: a northern district under a Christian Kaymakam and a southern district under a Druze Kaymakam, both chosen among tribal leaders. Both officials were to report to the governor of Sidon, who resided in Beirut.
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Wikipedia