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AYYUBIDS AND MAMLUKS
The Muslim Ayyubids got their claws into Syria, Egypt,
western Arabia and parts of Yemen until they were overthrown by the strange
soldier-slave kings known as Mamlukes, who ruled Lebanon from the end of the
13th century for the best part of 300 years. The Mamluks faded with the rise
of the Ottoman Empire and Lebanon's tribal leaders - the Tanukhid emirs
(Druze) of central Lebanon and the Maronites - formed conflicting alliances
with various local factions.
Ottomans
The Ottoman Sultan Selim I conquered Lebanon in 1516-17 but was temporarily
undermined by Fakhreddine (Fakhr ad-Din II) (1586-1635). Fakhreddine was not
only ambitious, he was also wily and politically smart, talents that allowed
him to unite, for the first time, the area that became known as modern
Lebanon. In fact he was a little too smart for his own good, and his
paymasters executed him. Fakhreddine was followed by his nephew Ahmad Maan,
who was not quite the talent his uncle was although he did play the game
well enough to be 'awarded' an emirate by the Ottomans. When Ahmad Maan
died, power passed to the Chehab family, who reigned until 1840, when
internal power struggles brought the age of emirs to an end.
In 1842, the Ottomans divided Mount Lebanon into two administrative regions,
one Druze and the other Maronite. That they immediately set to squabbling
was anticipated and encouraged by the Ottomans, who practiced a 'divide and
rule' policy. By 1845, there was open war, not only between Druze and
Maronite, but also between peasants and their supposed feudal leaders. The
Ottomans, under pressure from Europe, created a single Lebanese
administrative unit under an Ottoman Christian governor and the feudal
system was abolished. The system worked, producing stability and economic
prosperity until WWI, when Lebanon came under Turkish military rule and
suffered a serious famine.
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