Jabal ad-Druze (state)

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جبل الدروز
Jabal ad-Druze
Mandate of France

1921 – 1936

Flag of Jabal ad-Druze

Flag

Location of Jabal ad-Druze
Jabal ad-Druze (turquoise) in the Mandate of Syria.
Capital As Suwayda
Language(s) Arabic
Religion Druze
Political structure League of Nations Mandate
Governor
 - 1921-1923 Amir Salim Basha al-Atrash
 - 1925-1936 Tarit
Historical era Interwar period
 - Established 1921
 - Named State of Souaida March 4, 1922
 - Named Jabal ad-Druze 1927
 - Disestablished 1936

Jabal ad-Druze (Arabic:جبل الدروز) was an autonomous state in the French Mandate of Syria from 1921 to 1936, created for the local Druze population.

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[edit] Nomenclature

On March 4, 1922 it was proclaimed as the State of Souaida, after the capital As Suwayda, but in 1927 it was renamed Jabal ad-Druze or Jebel Druze State, after the Jabal ad-Duruz mountain.

[edit] History

Druze celebrating their independence in 1925.
Druze celebrating their independence in 1925.

Formed on May 1, 1921 in former Ottoman territory, Jabal ad-Druze was home to about 50,000 Arab Druze. It was the first, and remains the only atonomous entity to be populated and governed by Arab Druze. The 1927 Syrian Revolution began in Jabal ad-Druze under the leadership of Sultan al-Atrash. Under the Franco-Syrian Treaty of 1936, it ceased to exist as an autonomous entity and was incorporated into Syria.

[edit] Allon Plan for a Druze state in the Golan/Quneitra

During the 1970'ies, Israeli politician Yigal Allon proposed as part of the so-called Allon Plan that a Druze state (Jabal Druze) be established in Syria's Quneitra Governorate, including the Israeli-held Golan Heights[1]. Allon died in 1980, and in the following year the Israeli government passed the Golan Heights Law, effectively annexing most of the Governorate.


[edit] Governors

  • Amir Salim Basha al-Atrash (May 1, 1921 - September 15, 1923)
  • Trenga (provisional) (September 1923 - March 6, 1924)
  • Gabriel Marie Victor Carbillet (March 6, 1924 - October 14, 1925)
  • Charles Andréa (October 15, 1925-1927)
  • Marie Joseph Léon Augustin Henry (1927)
  • Abel Jean Ernest Clément-Grancourt (1927-1932)
  • Renaud Massiet (February 3, 1932 - January 28, 1934)
  • Devicq (1934-1935)
  • Tarit (1935 - December 2, 1936)

[edit] Sources and external links

[edit] See also

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