Английская Википедия:Hasan al-Kharrat
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Featured article Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Infobox person Abu Muhammad Hasan al-Kharrat (Шаблон:Lang-ar Ḥassan al-Kharrāṭ; 1861[note 1] – 25 December 1925) was one of the principal Syrian rebel commanders of the Great Syrian Revolt against the French Mandate. His main area of operations was in Damascus and its Ghouta countryside. He was killed in the struggle and is considered a hero by Syrians.Шаблон:Sfn
As the qabaday (local youths boss) of the al-Shaghour quarter of Damascus, al-Kharrat was connected with Nasib al-Bakri, a nationalist from the quarter's most influential family. At al-Bakri's invitation, al-Kharrat joined the revolt in August 1925 and formed a group of fighters from al-Shaghour and other neighborhoods in the vicinity. He led the rebel assault against Damascus, briefly capturing the residence of French High Commissioner of the Levant Maurice Sarrail before withdrawing amid heavy French bombardment.
Towards the end of 1925, relations grew tense between al-Kharrat and other rebel leaders, particularly Sa'id al-'As and Ramadan al-Shallash, as they traded accusations of plundering villages or extorting local inhabitants. Al-Kharrat continued to lead operations in the Ghouta, where he was ultimately killed in a French ambush. The revolt dissipated by 1927, but he gained a lasting reputation as a martyr of the Syrian resistance to French rule.
Early life and career
Al-Kharrat was born to a Sunni Muslim family in Damascus in 1861, during Ottoman rule in Syria.[1]Шаблон:Sfn He served as the night watchman of the city's al-Shaghour quarter and as a guard for the neighborhood's orchards.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Damascus was captured by Arab rebels during World War I in October 1918. Afterward, the Arab Club, an Arab nationalist organization, emerged in the city to raise support for the rebels.Шаблон:Sfn The club assisted the rebels' leader, Emir Faisal, who formed a rudimentary government.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Kharrat became an affiliate of the Arab Club and raised support for Faisal in al-Shaghour.Шаблон:Sfn In July 1920, Faisal's government collapsed after its motley forces were defeated by the French at the Battle of Maysalun.Шаблон:Sfn Afterward, the French ruled Syria under the aegis of their League of Nations mandate.
In the early years of French rule, al-Kharrat was al-Shaghour's qabaday (pl. qabadayat),Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn the traditional leader of a neighborhood's local toughs.Шаблон:Sfn The qabaday was informally charged with redressing grievances and defending a neighborhood's honor against local criminals or the encroachments of qabadayat from other neighborhoods.Шаблон:Sfn He was popularly characterized as an honorable man, noted for his personal strength,Шаблон:Sfn and protection of minorities and the poor.Шаблон:Sfn The qabaday was considered an "upholder of Arab traditions and customs, the guardian of popular culture", according to historian Philip S. Khoury.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Khoury asserts that al-Kharrat was "probably the most respected and esteemed qabaday of his day".Шаблон:Sfn Qabadayat normally shunned formal education,Шаблон:Sfn and historian Michael Provence maintains that al-Kharrat was likely illiterate.Шаблон:Sfn Qabadayat were normally linked with particular city notables and could secure them political support in their neighborhoods.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Kharrat was allied with Nasib al-Bakri, a Damascene politician and landowner.Шаблон:Sfn The al-Bakri family was the most influential in al-Shaghour, and al-Kharrat served as the family's principal connection and enforcer in the quarter.Шаблон:Sfn
Commander in the Great Syrian Revolt
Recruitment and early confrontations
A revolt against French rule was launched in mid-1925 by the Druze sheikh (chieftain), Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, in the southern mountains of Jabal al-Druze.Шаблон:Sfn As al-Atrash's men scored decisive victories against the French Army of the Levant, Syrian nationalists were inspired and the revolt spread northward to the countryside of Damascus and beyond.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Bakri was the chief liaison between al-Atrash and the emerging rebel movement in Damascus and the Ghouta.Шаблон:Sfn The Ghouta is the fertile plain surrounding Damascus,Шаблон:Sfn[2] and its orchard groves and extensive waterways provided cover for the rebels and a base from which they could raid Damascus.[3] In August, al-Bakri convinced al-Kharrat to join the uprising.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Provence, al-Kharrat was "ideal" for the job, possessing "a local following of young men, notoriety outside the quarter, good connections and a reputation for toughness".Шаблон:Sfn The group of fighters he commanded was known as ′isabat al-Shawaghirah (the band of al-Shaghour).Шаблон:Sfn Though named after al-Kharrat's quarter, the band included twenty qabadayat and their armed retinues from other Damascus neighborhoods and nearby villages.Шаблон:Sfn[note 2] His main areas of operation were in the vicinity of al-Shaghour and the al-Zur forest in the eastern Ghouta.Шаблон:Sfn Through his alliance with a Sufi religious leader, al-Kharrat brought an Islamic holy war dimension to the largely secular revolt, something that was not welcomed by some involved.Шаблон:Sfn
Al-Kharrat commenced guerrilla operations in September, targeting French forces posted in the eastern and southern Ghouta.Шаблон:Sfn His prominence rose as he led nighttime raids against the French in Damascus, during which he disarmed army patrols and took soldiers hostage.Шаблон:Sfn In al-Shaghour, Souk Saruja and Jazmatiyya, al-Kharrat and his band burnt down all French-held buildings.Шаблон:Sfn In the first week of October, sixty French gendarmes were dispatched to the Ghouta to apprehend al-Kharrat and his fighters.Шаблон:Sfn The gendarmes were quartered in the home of al-Malihah's mukhtar (village headman).Шаблон:Sfn In the evening, the rebels attacked the residence, killing one gendarme and capturing the rest; the prisoners were eventually all returned unharmed.Шаблон:Sfn
On 12 October, French troops backed by tanks, artillery and aerial support launched an operation to surround and eliminate al-Kharrat's rebels in the al-Zur forest.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Kharrat's men were forewarned of the French deployment by the peasants of al-Malihah.Шаблон:Sfn Positioned among the trees, the rebels used sniper fire against the French troops.Шаблон:Sfn The latter were unable to lure the rebels out and retreated.Шаблон:Sfn
As the French withdrew toward al-Malihah, they looted the village and set it on fire.Шаблон:Sfn French intelligence officials justified the collective punishment of al-Malihah as retaliation for the rebels' capture and humiliation of the gendarmes during the previous week; the French claimed a young boy from al-Malihah had notified al-Kharrat's men of the French presence in the village.Шаблон:Sfn Though they were unable to engage al-Kharrat and his forces directly, French troops executed around 100 civilians from Ghouta villages.Шаблон:Sfn Their corpses were brought to Damascus, and the bodies of sixteen men described by the French as "brigands" were put on display.Шаблон:Sfn
Battle of Damascus and operations in Ghouta
Spurred by French army actions in the Ghouta, al-Bakri planned to capture the Citadel of Damascus, where French forces were concentrated, and the Azm Palace, where General Maurice Sarrail, the French high commissioner of Syria, would be residing on 17–18 October (Sarrail was typically headquartered in Beirut).Шаблон:Sfn The high commissioner functioned as the overall administrator of Syria on behalf of France and exercised practically absolute power.[4] The rebel units active in Damascus at the time were al-Kharrat's ′isabat and a mixed force of Druze fighters and rebels from the al-Midan quarter and the Ghouta.Шаблон:Sfn To compensate for the lack of rebel strength, al-Bakri sent a letter to Sultan al-Atrash requesting reinforcements.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Atrash replied that he was currently occupied with operations in the Hauran, but would dispatch his entire force to back the Damascus rebels as soon as affairs there were settled.Шаблон:Sfn Before he received al-Atrash's reply, al-Bakri decided to move ahead with the operation.Шаблон:Sfn
On 18 October, al-Kharrat led forty rebels into al-Shaghour from the old cemeteries adjacent to the southern gate of Damascus, announcing that the Druze had arrived to relieve the city from French occupation.Шаблон:Sfn Crowds of residents enthusiastically welcomed the rebels, and many took up arms alongside them. Al-Kharrat's men captured the quarter's police station, disarming its garrison.Шаблон:Sfn They were joined by Ramadan al-Shallash, a rebel commander from Deir ez-Zor, and twenty of his Bedouin fighters. The joint forces proceeded to the Hamidiyya Market and captured the Azm Palace,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn but Sarrail was not present, having already left to attend a meeting in the Hauran town of Daraa.Шаблон:Sfn The rebels plundered the palace and set it on fire.Шаблон:Sfn Provence asserts that capturing the palace without Sarrail "held no tactical importance" but was a highly symbolic achievement for the rebels because of the Azm Palace's "importance as the historical seat of economic and political power in Damascus, now usurped by the French and totally undefended".Шаблон:Sfn
While al-Kharrat captured the Azm Palace, al-Bakri and 200 rebels under his command rode through the city and were joined by civilians in increasing numbers.Шаблон:Sfn After sealing the Old City to prevent the entry of enemy reinforcements, al-Kharrat issued an order to kill anyone linked to the French army.Шаблон:Sfn About 180 French soldiers were killed.Шаблон:Sfn Sarrail ordered the shelling and aerial bombardment of the city, which lasted two days and killed about 1,500 people.Шаблон:Sfn Chaos and scattered fighting ensued as whole neighborhoods, mosques and churches were leveled, French forces moved in, and hundreds of leading figures in the Syrian national movement were arrested,Шаблон:Sfn including al-Kharrat's son Fakhri.Шаблон:Sfn The latter was captured on 22 October during a botched nighttime raid by the rebels against the French, who had by then retaken Damascus.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Kharrat was offered the release of his son in exchange for his own surrender, but refused.[5]
The rebels withdrew from Damascus as a meeting was held between French army commander Maurice Gamelin and a delegation of Damascene notables.Шаблон:Sfn As a result of the meeting, the French agreed to end their bombardment in return for a payment of 100,000 Turkish gold liras by 24 October.Шаблон:Sfn The fine was not paid by the French deadline, but the bombardment was not renewed, likely as a result of orders from the French government in Paris.Шаблон:Sfn International condemnation of Sarrail's bombardment of Damascus and growing criticism in France of his mishandling of the revolt led to his dismissal on 30 October.Шаблон:Sfn He was replaced by politician Henry de Jouvenel,Шаблон:Sfn who arrived in Syria in December.Шаблон:Sfn On 22 November, al-Kharrat commanded 700 rebels in a battle with about 500 French soldiers outside of Damascus.[6] Al-Kharrat's men inflicted "trifling" losses on the French, but experienced heavy casualties themselves, with thirty dead and forty wounded according to Reuters.[6] On 5 December, al-Kharrat was one of the commanders of a 2,000-strong force uniting rebels from disparate backgrounds, which assaulted the French Army barracks in al-Qadam, south of Damascus. The French claimed to have inflicted significant casualties, but rebel activity continued.Шаблон:Sfn
Tensions with rebel leaders
Centralized order and oversight among the revolt's armed participants was difficult to establish because of the diversity and independence of the rebel factions. A meeting of rebel leaders was held in the Ghouta village of Saqba on 26 November.Шаблон:Sfn Sa'id al-'As accused al-Kharrat and others of plundering in the Ghouta,Шаблон:Sfn while al-Kharrat alleged that al-Shallash extorted the residents of al-Midan and the Ghouta town of Douma.Шаблон:Sfn The meeting concluded with an agreement to elect a government to replace the French authorities, increase recruitment of the Ghouta's inhabitants, coordinate military operations under a central command, and establish a revolutionary court to execute spies.Шаблон:Sfn The meeting also designated the area between the village of Zabdin and north of the Douma-Damascus road as being part of al-Kharrat's zone of operations.Шаблон:Sfn Despite his leading role in the rebels' military efforts, al-Kharrat was not included in the newly formed rebel leadership council, nor were any of al-Bakri's allies.Шаблон:Sfn Instead, al-'As served as the rebels' overall head.Шаблон:Sfn
Sharp divisions among rebel factions became apparent during a second meeting in Saqba on 5 December. According to Syrian journalist Munir al-Rayyes, hostility between al-Kharrat and al-Shallash was well known among the rebels.Шаблон:Sfn Because al-Shallash had levied war taxes on the major landlords and city elites of the Ghouta, al-Kharrat's benefactor al-Bakri viewed him as a threat to the traditional landowning class to which al-Bakri belonged.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Rayyis claimed the meeting was called for by al-Kharrat,Шаблон:Sfn who ordered his fighters to capture and bring al-Shallash to Saqba.Шаблон:Sfn However, according to al-'As, the summit was called by al-Shallash, and once the latter arrived in the village, al-Kharrat personally detained him and confiscated his horse, weapons and money.Шаблон:Sfn
After his detention, al-Shallash was given a brief trial during which al-Kharrat accused him of making "impositions and ransoms and financial collections in the name of the revolt", while al-Bakri condemned him specifically for extorting the residents of Douma for 1,000 giney (Ottoman pounds),Шаблон:Sfn and imposing large fines on the inhabitants of Harran al-Awamid, al-Qisa and Maydaa for his own personal enrichment.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Kharrat and al-Bakri decided al-Shallash's verdict, and dismissed him from the revolt.Шаблон:Sfn While many rebels with officer backgrounds similar to al-Shallash disapproved of the judgement, they did not intervene.Шаблон:Sfn In his account of the meeting, al-Rayyis condemned the rebel commanders for complacency in the "ridiculous trial" and accused al-Kharrat of being motivated solely by personal animosity.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Shallash was able to escape—or was released by al-'As—when French planes bombed the meeting.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Shallash would later surrender to Jouvenel and collaborate with French authorities.Шаблон:Sfn
Death and legacy
Al-Kharrat was killed in an ambush by French troops in the Ghouta on 25 December 1925.Шаблон:Sfn He was succeeded as qabaday of al-Shaghour and commander of the ′isabat al-Shawaghirah by Mahmud Khaddam al-Srija.Шаблон:Sfn Al-Kharrat's men continued to fight the French until the revolt ended in 1927,Шаблон:Sfn though historian Thomas Philipp states that al-Kharrat's group dissipated after his death.[7] In January 1926, al-Kharrat's son Fakhri was sentenced to death and publicly executed with two other rebels in Marjeh Square, Damascus.Шаблон:Sfn The French had previously implored Fakhri to persuade his father to surrender in return for his release, but Fakhri refused.Шаблон:Sfn
Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar, a prominent Syrian nationalist leader, described al-Kharrat as having played "the preeminent role" in the battle against the French in the Ghouta and Damascus.Шаблон:Sfn Historian Daniel Neep wrote that al-Kharrat was the "best-known" of all of the Damascus-based rebel leaders,Шаблон:Sfn although other leaders of the rebel movement attributed the publicity and praise of al-Kharrat to the efforts of the Cairo-based Syrian-Palestinian Committee, with which al-Bakri was closely affiliated. Al-Kharrat and his son Fakhri are today considered "martyred heroes" by Syrians for their nationalist efforts and their deaths in the Syrian struggle for independence from France.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
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