Shihab family

The "Shihabs", or "Chehabs" (Arabic: شهاب) are a prominent Lebanese noble family. The Chehabs were the traditional princes of the Wadi al-Taym, who traced their lineage to the ancient Quraysh tribe from Mecca. The Chehabs descended from the Maans through the female line. The Chehabs were originally Sunni Moslems, not Druse, eventhough they intermarried with Druse families such as the Maans and the Arslans. The ruling class of the Chehab family eventually converted to Maronite Christians at the end of the 18th century when the ottoman empire split Mount Lebanon between Druze and Maronites. The Chehab princes area of rule was in the Maronite section of Mount Lebanon and they converted to preserve their hold on power. The Chehabs worked methodically to encourage Christian immigration to Lebanon with the sole purpose of strengthening the family's economic status. They also strove to introduce Western European culture, particularly French culture into this region.

The Chehabs succeeded the Maans in 1697.^[1] They originally lived in the Hawran region of southwestern Syria and settled in Wadi at Taim in southern Lebanon. The most prominent among them was Prince Bashir Chehab II, who was much like his predecessor, Fakhr ad Din II. His ability as a statesman was first tested in 1799, when Napoleon besieged Acre, a well-fortified coastal city in Palestine, about forty kilometers south of Tyre. Both Napoleon and Al Jazzar, the governor of Acre, requested assistance from the Chehab princes; Bashir, however, remained neutral, declining to assist either combatant. Unable to conquer Acre, Napoleon returned to Egypt, and the death of Al Jazzar in 1804 removed Bashir's principal opponent in the area.^[2]

When Bashir II decided to break away from the Ottoman Empire, he allied himself with Muhammad Ali Pacha, the founder of modern Egypt, and assisted Muhammad Ali's son, Ibrahim Pasha, in another siege of Acre. This siege lasted seven months, the city falling on May 27, 1832. The Egyptian army, with assistance from Bashir's troops, also attacked and conquered Damascus on June 14, 1832.^[2]

In 1840, the principal European powers (Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia), opposing the pro-Egyptian policy of the French, signed the London Treaty with the Sublime Porte (the Ottoman ruler) on July 15, 1840. ^[2]

According to the terms of this treaty, Muhammad Ali was asked to leave Syria; when he rejected this request, Ottoman and British troops landed on the Lebanese coast on September 10, 1840. Faced with this combined force, Muhammad Ali retreated, and on October 14, 1840, Bashir II surrendered to the British and went into exile.^[2] Bashir Chehab III was then appointed. On January 13, 1842, the sultan deposed Bashir III and appointed Omar Pasha as governor of Mount Lebanon. This event marked the end of the rule of the Chehabs.

Today, the Chehabs are still one of the most prominent families in Lebanon, and the third president of Lebanon after independence, Fuad Chehab, was a member of this family, as was former Prime Minister Khaled Chehab. The Chehabs bear the title of Amirs (or Princes). Today, a group of them are Sunni Muslims, and others are Maronite Catholics, though they have common family roots. The 11th century citadel in Hasbaya, South Lebanon, is still a private property of the Chehabs, many of them still living in it. Interestingly, a branch of the family, directly descended from Bashir II, resides in Turkey, known as the Paksoy family, due to Turkish restrictions on non-Turkish surnames.

List of Rulers

References