Shihab (Chehab) dynasty الشهابيون
Emirs of Mount Lebanon
Flag of the Shihab dynasty
Country	Mount Lebanon Emirate,Ottoman Empire
Founded	1697
Founder	Bashir I Haydar I
Final ruler	Bashir III
Deposition	1842

Historical Arab states and dynasties
Ancient Arab states Kingdom of Qedar 800 BC–300 BC Kingdom of Lihyan 600 BC–100 BC Nabataean Kingdom 400 BC–106 AD Kingdom of Osroene 132 BC–244 AD Emesene Dynasty 64 BC–300s AD Kingdom of Hatra 100s–241 AD Tanukhids 196–1100 AD Ghassanids 220–638 AD Salihids 300s–500s AD Lakhmids 300s–602 AD Kingdom of Kinda 450 AD–550 AD
Arab empires and caliphates Rashidun 632–661 Umayyads 661–750 Abbasids 750–1258 Fatimids 909–1171
Eastern dynasties Emirate of Armenia 654–884 Emirate of Tbilisi 736–1122 Emirate of Crete 824–961 Dulafids 840–897 Habbarids 854–1011 Kaysites 860–964 Shirvanshah 861–1538 Alavids 864–928 Hashimids 869–1075 Hamdanids 890–1004 Rawadids 955–1071 Mazyadids 961–1150 Jarrahids 970–1107 Uqaylids 990–1096 Numayrids 990–1081 Mirdasids 1024–1080 Munqidhites 1025–1157 Ma'nids 1517–1697 Turabays 1480–1677 Harfushs 1517–1865 Shihabs 1697–1842
Western dynasties and caliphates Salihids 710–1019 Fihrid Emirate 745-757 Umayyad state of Córdoba 756–1031 Muhallabids 771–793 Idrisids 788–974 Aghlabids 800–909 Sulaymanids 814–922 Muslim Sicily 831–1091 Kanzids 1004–1412 Bakrids 1012–1051 Tujibids 1013–1039 Amirids 1020–1086 Abbadids 1023–1091 Yahsubids 1023–1062 Hammudids 1026–1057 Muzaynids 1027–1063 Jawharids 1031–1091 Hudids 1039–1110 Sumadihids 1041–1091 Tahirids 1049–1078 Nasrids 1230–1492 Saadids 1554–1659 Senussids 1837–1969
Arabian Peninsula Imamate of Oman 751–1970 Ziyadids 819–1138 Yufirids 847–997 Ukhaidhirds 865–1066 Rassids 897–1962 Qarmatians 899–1077 Wajihids 926–965 Sharifate of Mecca 968–1925 Sulayhids 1047–1138 Sulaymanids 1063–1174 Uyunids 1076–1253 Zurayids 1083–1174 Nabhanids 1154–1624 Mahdids 1159–1174 Rasulids 1229–1454 Usfurids 1253–1320 Jarwanids 1305–1487 Kathirids 1395–1967 Tahirids 1454–1526 Jabrids 1463–1521 Kingdom of Khaza'il 1534–1921 Qasimids 1597–1872 Ya'arubids 1624–1742 Upper Yafa 1800–1967 Muscat and Oman 1820–1970 Rashidids 1836–1921 Qu'aitids 1858–1967 Emirate of Beihan 1903–1967 Idrisids 1906–1934 Mutawakkilite Kingdom 1926–1970
East Africa Makhzumi dynasty (Shewa) 896–1279 Nabahani dynasty (Pate Island) 1203–1894 Mahdali dynasty (Kilwa) 1277–1495 Mazrui dynasty (Mombasa) 1746–1828 Sultanate of Zanzibar 1856–1964 Nabahani dynasty (Wituland) 1858–1895 Tippu Tip's State 1860–1887
Current monarchies 'Alawis (Morocco) 1631–present Al Qasimi (Ras al Khaymah) 1727–present Al Qasimi (Sharjah) 1727–present Al Saud (Saudi Arabia) 1744–present Al Said (Oman) 1749–present Al Sabah (Kuwait) 1752–present Al Nahyan (Abu Dhabi) 1761–present Al Mualla (Umm al-Quwain) 1775–present Al Khalifa (Bahrain) 1783–present Al Nuaimi (Ajman) 1810–present Al Maktoum (Dubai) 1833–present Al Thani (Qatar) 1868–present Al Sharqi (Fujairah) 1900–present Hashemites (Jordan) 1921–present
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TheShihab dynasty (alternatively spelledChehab;Arabic:الشهابيون,ALA-LC:al-Shihābiyūn) is an Arab family whose members served as the paramount tax farmers and emirs ofMount Lebanon from the early 18th to mid-19th century, duringOttoman rule (1517–1918). Before then, the family had been in control of theWadi al-Taym region, purportedly as early as the 12th century. During early Ottoman rule, they maintained an alliance and marital ties with theMa'n dynasty, theChouf-based, paramountDruze emirs and tax farmers of Mount Lebanon. When thelast Ma'nid emir died without male progeny in 1697, the chiefs of the Druze in Mount Lebanon appointed the Shihab emir, Bashir, whose mother belonged to the Ma'n, as his successor. Bashir was succeeded by another Shihab emir with a Ma'nid mother, Haydar, after his death.

Under Haydar, the Shihabs crushed their main rivals for paramountcy amongst the Druze at theBattle of Ain Dara in 1711, consolidating their dominance of Mount Lebanon through the mid-19th century. The family's most prominent emir,Bashir II, centralized control in the region, destroying the feudal power of the mostly Druze lords and cultivating theMaronite clergy as an alternative power base in their emirate. In 1831, he allied withMuhammad Ali ofEgypt during his occupation ofSyria, but was deposed in 1840 when the Egyptians were driven out by an Ottoman-European alliance, leading soon after to the dissolution of the Shihab emirate. Despite losing territorial control, the family remains influential in modernLebanon, with some members having reached high political office.

The Banu Shihab were purportedly anArab tribe originally from theHejaz.^[1] According to the 19th-century historianMikhail Mishaqa, they were descendants of theBanu Makhzum clan of theQuraysh tribe to which the leader of the 7th-centuryMuslim conquest of Syria,Khalid ibn al-Walid, belonged. Mishaqa held the family's ancestor was a commander in the conquest, Harith, who fell in battle at theBab Sharqi gate ofDamascus during the Muslimsiege of that city in 634.^[2] At some later point, the tribe settled in theHauran region south of Damascus.^[1][3] In 1172, the Banu Shihab migrated from their home village ofShahba inJabal Hauran westward toWadi al-Taym, a plain at the foot ofMount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh).^[3][4]

The 19th-century family histories of the Shihabs by Haydar al-Shihabi and his associateTannus al-Shidyaq claim that the clan's leader during its migration toWadi al-Taym was Munqidh ibn Amr (d. 1193), who defeated theCrusaders in an engagement there the following year. The same sources note that he was appointed governor of Wadi al-Taym in 1174 by theZengid ruler of Damascus,Nur al-Din. Munqidh was succeeded by his son Najm (d. 1224), who was in turn succeeded by his son Amir (d. 1260). The latter allied with theMa'n family, aDruze clan based in theChouf region ofMount Lebanon, and defeated the Crusaders in an engagement in 1244.^[5] Amir's son and successor, Qurqumaz, took refuge with the Ma'ns in the Chouf during aMongol invasion in 1280. After his death in 1284, his son Sa'd succeeded him as governor of Wadi al-Taym.^[6] The Shihabs continued to govern Wadi al-Taym throughoutMamluk rule (1260–1516), according to the family histories.^[7] Their chief, Ali ibn Ahmad, was mentioned by the local Druze chroniclerIbn Sibat (d. 1520) as the governor of Wadi al-Taym in 1478. Ali's son Yunus was mentioned by the contemporary Damascene chroniclers al-Busrawi and Ibn al-Himsi as being involved in a rebellion in Damascus in the late 1490s.^[8]

TheOttoman Empire conquered the Mamluk Levant in 1516 and an Ottoman government record from August 1574 directs the governor of Damascus to confiscate the rifle stockpiles of Qasim Shihab,^[9] identified by the Shihab family histories as Qasim ibn Mulhim ibn Mansur, a great-grandson of the above-mentioned Yunus ibn Ali.^[10] Qasim's son Ahmad was themultazim (limited-term tax farmer) of Wadi al-Taym and neighboring Arqoub in 1592–1600, 1602, 1606, 1610–1615, 1618–1621 and 1628–1630.^[11] Ahmad fought alongside the Ma'nid emirFakhr al-Din II and the Kurdish rebelAli Janbulad in a revolt against the Ottomans in the Levant in 1606, which was stamped out the following year.^[12] When the forces of the Ottoman governor of DamascusHafiz Ahmed Pasha moved against Ahmad in Wadi al-Taym in 1612, Fakhr al-Din's forces repulsed them.^[13] When, in the following year, Hafiz Ahmed Pasha launched an imperial-backed campaign against Fakhr al-Din, Ahmad, his brother Ali and many other local allies of the Ma'ns joined the Ottoman forces.^[14] He held the fort ofHasbaya and later that year attacked his brother Ali in the latter's fort ofRashaya.^[10] Fakhr al-Din escaped to Europe and returned to Mount Lebanon in 1618, after which Ahmad sent his son Sulayman to welcome his return.^[15] By then the Ma'ns had been restored to their tax farms and the governorships ofSidon-Beirut andSafad. Fakhr al-Din reconciled Ahmad and Ali in 1619. Ahmad and his men fought in Fakhr al-Din's army against the governor of Damascus Mustafa Pasha in the decisiveBattle of Anjar in 1623,^[15] which sealed Fakhr al-Din's growing power in Mount Lebanon. In 1629, Husayn Shihab of Rashaya married the daughter of EmirMulhim Ma'n.^[16][17] In 1650, the Ma'n and Shihab clans defeated a mercenary army of the Druze emirAli Alam al-Din (Ali's troops were loaned to him by the Ottoman governor of Damascus, who was opposed to Fakhr al-Din).^[16]

In 1660, the Ottomans, created theSidon Eyalet, which included Mount Lebanon and Wadi al-Taym, and under the command of Grand VizierKoprulu Mehmed Pasha, launched an expedition targeting the Shihabs of Wadi al-Taym and theShia Muslim Hamade clan of Keserwan.^[16] As Ottoman troops raided Wadi al-Taym, the Shihabs fled to theKeserwan region in northern Mount Lebanon seeking Hamade protection.^[18] Koprulu Mehmed Pasha issued orders to EmirAhmad Ma'n to hand over the Shihab emirs, but Emir Ahmad rejected the demand and instead fled to the Keserwan, losing his tax farms in Mount Lebanon in the process.^[19] The peasantry of the abandoned regions suffered at the hands of Ottoman troops pursuing the Shihab and Ma'n leaders.^[19] The Shihabs fled further north into Syria, taking up shelter atJabal A'la south ofAleppo until 1663.^[19] Four years later, the Ma'ns and their Qaysi coalition defeated the Yamani coalition led by theAlam al-Din family outside the port town ofBeirut.^[19] Consequently, Emir Ahmad Ma'n regained control of the Mount Lebanon tax farms.^[19] The Shihabs further solidified their alliance with the Ma'ns when, in 1674, Musa Shihab married the daughter of Emir Ahmad Ma'n.^[16] In 1680, Emir Ahmad mediated a conflict between the Shihabs and the Shia MuslimHarfush clan of theBeqaa Valley, after the latter killed Faris Shihab in 1680 (Faris had recently displaced the Harfush fromBaalbek), prompting an armed mobilization by the Shihabs.^[20]

In 1693, the Ottoman authorities launched a major military expedition, consisting of 18,500 troops, against Emir Ahmad when he declined a request to suppress the Hamade sheikhs after they raidedByblos, killing forty Ottoman soldiers, including the garrison commander, Ahmad Qalawun, a descendant of Mamluk sultanQalawun.^[21] Emir Ahmad fled and had his tax farms confiscated and transferred toMusa Alam al-Din, who also commandeered the Ma'n palace inDeir al-Qamar.^[21] The following year, Emir Ahmad and his Shihab allies mobilized their forces in Wadi al-Taym and conquered the Chouf, forcing Musa Alam al-Din to flee toSidon. Emir Ahmad was restored his tax farms in 1695.^[21]

When Emir Ahmad Ma'n died without a male heir in 1697, the sheikhs of the Qaysi Druze faction of Mount Lebanon, including theJumblatt clan, convened inSemqaniyeh and chose Bashir Shihab I to succeed Ahmad as emir of Mountain Lebanon.^[3][21] Bashir was related to the Ma'ns through his mother,^[3][17] who was the sister of Ahmad Ma'n and the wife of Bashir's father, Husayn Shihab.^[17] Due to the influence of Husayn Ma'n, the youngest of Fakhr ad-Din's sons, who was a high-ranking official in the Ottoman imperial government, the Ottoman authorities declined to confirm Bashir's authority over the tax farms of Mount Lebanon; Husayn Ma'n forsake his hereditary claim to the Ma'n emirate in favor of his career as the Ottoman ambassador to India.^[22] Instead, the Ottoman authorities appointed Husayn Ma'n's choice, Haydar Shihab, the son of Musa Shihab and Ahmad Ma'n's daughter.^[23] Haydar's appointment was confirmed by the governor of Sidon,^[24] and agreed upon by the Druze sheikhs, but because Haydar was still a minor, Bashir was kept on as regent.^[22]

The transfer of the Ma'n emirate to the Shihabs made the family's chief the holder of a large tax farm that included the Chouf, Gharb,Matn and Keserwan areas of Mount Lebanon.^[25] However, the tax farm was not owned by the Shihabi emir and was subject to annual renewal by the Ottoman authorities, who made the ultimate decision to confirm the existing holder or assign the tax farm to another holder, often another Shihab emir or a member of the rival Alam al-Din clan.^[24] The Qaysi Druze were motivated to appoint the Shihabs because the Wadi al-Taym-based Shihabs were not involved in the intertribal machinations of the Chouf, their military strength, and their marital ties to the Ma'ns.^[21] Other clans, including the Druze Jumblatts and theMaroniteKhazens were subsidiary tax farmers, known asmuqata'jis, who paid the Ottoman government via the Shihabs. A branch of the Shihab family continued to control Wadi al-Taym, while the Shihabs in Mount Lebanon made Deir al-Qamar their headquarters. The Shihab emir was also formally at the military service of the Ottoman authorities and was required to mobilize forces upon request. The Shihabs' new status made them the preeminent social, fiscal, military, judicial and political power in Mount Lebanon.^[25]

In 1698, Bashir gave protection to the Hamade sheikhs when they were sought out by the authorities and successfully mediated between the two sides. He also captured the rebel Mushrif ibn Ali al-Saghir, sheikh of the Shia Muslim Wa'il clan ofBilad Bishara inJabal Amil (modernSouth Lebanon), and delivered him and his partisans to the governor of Sidon, who requested Bashir's assistance in the matter. As a result, Bashir was officially endowed with responsibility for the "safekeeping of Sidon Province" between the region of Safad to Keserwan. At the turn of the 18th century, the new governor of Sidon,Arslan Mataraci Pasha, continued the good relationship with Bashir, who by then had appointed a fellow Sunni Muslim Qaysi,Umar al-Zaydani, as the subsidiary tax farmer ofSafad. He also secured the allegiance of the Shia Muslim Munkir andSa'b clans to the Qaysi faction. Bashir was poisoned and died in 1705. The 17th-century Maronite Patriarch and historian,Istifan al-Duwayhi, asserts Haydar, who had since reached adulthood, was responsible for Bashir's death.^[24]

Emir Haydar's coming to power brought about an immediate effort on the part of Sidon's governor, Bashir Pasha, a relative of Arlsan Mehmed Pasha, to roll back Shihab authority in the province.^[24] To that end, the governor directly appointedZahir al-Umar, Umar al-Zaydani's son, as the tax farmer of Safad, and directly appointed members of the Wa'il, Munkir and Sa'ab clans as tax farmers of Jabal Amil's subdistricts.^[24] The latter two clans thereafter joined the Wa'il's and their pro-Yamani faction.^[24] The situation worsened for Emir Haydar when he was ousted by the order of Bashir Pasha and replaced with his Choufi Druze enforcer-turned enemy, Mahmoud Abi Harmoush in 1709.^[26] Emir Haydar and his Qaysi allies then fled to the Keserwani village ofGhazir, where they were given protection by the Maronite Hubaysh clan, while Mount Lebanon was overrun by a Yamani coalition led by the Alam al-Din clan.^[27] Emir Haydar fled further north toHermel when Abi Harmoush's forces pursued him to Ghazir, which was plundered.^[27]

In 1711, the Qaysi Druze clans mobilized to restore their predominance in Mount Lebanon, and invited Emir Haydar to return and lead their forces.^[27] Emir Haydar and the Abu'l Lama family mobilized atRas al-Matn and were joined by the Jumblatt, Talhuq, Imad, Nakad and Abd al-Malik clans, while the Yamani faction led by Abi Harmoush mobilized atAin Dara.^[27] The Yaman received backing from the governors of Damascus and Sidon, but before the governors' forces joined the Yaman to launch a pincer attack against the Qaysi camp at Ras al-Matn, Emir Haydar launched a preemptive assault against Ain Dara.^[27] In the ensuingBattle of Ain Dara, the Yamani forces were routed, the Alam al-Din sheikhs were slain, Abi Harmoush was captured and the Ottoman governors withdrew their forces from Mount Lebanon.^[27] Emir Haydar's victory consolidated Shihab political power and the Yamani Druze were eliminated as a rival force; they were forced to leave Mount Lebanon for the Hauran.^[28]

Emir Haydar confirmed his Qaysi allies as the tax farmers of Mount Lebanon's tax districts. His victory in Ain Dara also contributed to the rise of the Maronite population in the area, as the newcomers from Tripoli's hinterland replaced the Yamani Druze and Druze numbers decreased due to the Yamani exodus. Thus, an increasing number of Maronite peasants became tenants of the mostly Druze landlords of Mount Lebanon.^[28] The Shihabs became the paramount force in Mount Lebanon's social and political configuration as they were the supreme landlords of the area and the principal intermediaries between the local sheikhs and the Ottoman authorities.^[28] This arrangement was embraced by the Ottoman governors of Sidon, Tripoli and Damascus. In addition to Mount Lebanon, the Shihabs exercised influence and maintained alliances with the various local powers of the mountain's environs, such as with the Shia Muslim clans of Jabal Amil and the Beqaa Valley, the Maronite-dominated countryside of Tripoli, and the Ottoman administrators of the port cities of Sidon, Beirut and Tripoli.^[28]

Emir Haydar died in 1732 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Mulhim.^[29] One of Emir Mulhim's early actions was a punitive expedition against the Wa'il clan of Jabal Amil. The Wa'il kinsmen had painted their horses' tails green in celebration of Emir Haydar's death (Emir Haydar's relations with the Wa'il clan had been poor) and Emir Mulhim took it as a grave insult.^[30] In the ensuing campaign, the Wa'ili sheikh,Nasif al-Nassar, was captured, albeit briefly. Emir Mulhim had the support of Sidon's governor in his actions in Jabal Amil.^[30]

Beginning in the 1740s, a new factionalism developed among the Druze clans.^[31] One faction was led by the Jumblatt clan and was known as the Jumblatti faction, while the Imad, Talhuq and Abd al-Malik clans formed the Imad-led Yazbak faction.^[31] Thus Qaysi-Yamani politics had been replaced with the Jumblatti-Yazbaki rivalry.^[32] In 1748, Emir Mulhim, under the orders of the governor of Damascus, burned properties belonging to the Talhuq and Abd al-Malik clans as punishment for the Yazbaki harboring of a fugitive from Damascus Eyalet. Afterward, Emir Mulhim compensated the Talhuqs.^[31] In 1749, he succeeded in adding the tax farm of Beirut to his domain, after persuading Sidon's governor to transfer the tax farm. He accomplished this by having the Talhuq clan raid the city and demonstrate the ineffectiveness of its deputy governor.^[31]

Emir Mulhim became ill and was forced to resign in 1753 by his brothers, emirsMansur and Ahmad, who were backed by the Druze sheikhs.^[31] Emir Mulhim retired in Beirut, but he and his son Qasim attempted to wrest back control of the emirate using his relationship with an imperial official.^[31] They were unsuccessful and Emir Mulhim died in 1759.^[31] The following year, Emir Qasim was appointed in place of Emir Mansur by the governor of Sidon.^[31] However, soon after, emirs Mansur and Ahmad bribed the governor and regained the Shihabi tax farm.^[31] Relations between the brothers soured as each sought paramountcy. Emir Ahmad rallied the support of the Yazbaki Druze,^[31] and was able to briefly oust Emir Mansur from the Shihabi headquarters in Deir al-Qamar.^[32] Emir Mansur, meanwhile, relied on the Jumblatti faction and the governor of Sidon, who mobilized his troops in Beirut in support of Emir Mansur.^[31] With this support, Emir Mansur retook Deir al-Qamar and Emir Ahmad fled.^[32] Sheikh Ali Jumblatt and Sheikh Yazbak Imad managed to reconcile emirs Ahmad and Mansur, with the former relinquishing his claim on the emirate and was permitted to reside in Deir al-Qamar.^[32]

Another son of Emir Mulhim, EmirYusuf, had backed Emir Ahmad in his struggle and had his properties in Chouf confiscated by Emir Mansur.^[31] Emir Yusuf, who was raised as aMaronite Catholic but publicly presented himself as a Sunni Muslim, gained protection from Sheikh Ali Jumblatt inMoukhtara, and the latter attempted to reconcile Emir Yusuf with his uncle.^[31] Emir Mansur declined Sheikh Ali's mediation. Sa'ad al-Khuri, Emir Yusuf'smudabbir (manager), managed to persuade Sheikh Ali to withdraw his backing of Emir Mansur, while Emir Yusuf gained the support ofUthman Pasha al-Kurji, the governor of Damascus. The latter directed his son Mehmed Pasha al-Kurji, governor of Tripoli, to transfer the tax farms ofByblos andBatroun to Emir Yusuf in 1764.^[31] With the latter two tax farms, Emir Yusuf formed a power base in Tripoli's hinterland. Under al-Khuri's guidance and with Druze allies from Chouf, Emir Yusuf led a campaign against the Hamade sheikhs in support of the Maronite clans ofDahdah, Karam and Dahir and Maronite and Sunni Muslim peasants who, since 1759, were all revolting against the Hamade clan.^[31] Emir Yusuf defeated the Hamade sheikhs and appropriated their tax farms.^[33] This not only empowered Emir Yusuf in his conflict with Emir Mansur, but it also initiated Shihabi patronage over the Maronite bishops and monks who had resented Khazen influence over church affairs and been patronized by the Hamade sheikhs, the Shihab clan's erstwhile allies.^[33]

In 1770, Emir Mansur resigned in favor of Emir Yusuf after being compelled to step down by the Druze sheikhs.^[32][33] The transition was held at the village ofBarouk, where the Shihabi emirs, Druze sheikhs and religious leaders met and drew up a petition to the governors of Damascus and Sidon, confirming Emir Yusuf's ascendancy.^[34] Emir Mansur's resignation was precipitated by his alliance with SheikhZahir al-Umar, the Zaydani strongman of northernPalestine, and Sheikh Nasif al-Nassar of Jabal Amil in their revolt against the Ottoman governors ofSyria. Sheikh Zahir and the forces ofAli Bey al-Kabir of Egypt had occupied Damascus, but withdrew after Ali Bey's leading commander,Abu al-Dhahab, who was bribed by the Ottomans. Their defeat by the Ottomans made Emir Mansur a liability to the Druze sheikhs vis-a-vis their relations with the Ottoman authorities, so they decided to depose him.^[33] Emir Yusuf cultivated ties with Uthman Pasha and his sons in Tripoli and Sidon, and with their backing, sought to challenge the autonomous power of sheikhs Zahir and Nasif.^[33] However, Emir Yusuf experienced a series of major setbacks in his cause in 1771.^[33] His ally, Uthman Pasha, was routed in theBattle of Lake Hula by Sheikh Zahir's forces. Afterward, Emir Yusuf's large Druze force from Wadi al-Taym and Chouf was routed by Sheikh Nasif's Shia cavalrymen atNabatieh.^[33] Druze casualties during the battle amounted to some 1,500 killed, a loss similar to that suffered by the Yamani coalition at Ain Dara.^[33] Furthermore, the forces of sheikhs Zahir and Nasif captured the town of Sidon after Sheikh Ali Jumblatt withdrew.^[33] Emir Yusuf's forces were again routed when they attempt oust sheikhs Zahir and Nasif, who had key backing from theRussian fleet, which bombarded Emir Yusuf's camp.^[35]

Uthman Pasha, seeking to prevent Beirut's fall to Sheikh Zahir, appointedAhmad Pasha al-Jazzar, who was formerly in Emir Yusuf's service, as garrison commander of the city.^[36] Emir Yusuf, as tax farmer of Beirut, agreed to the appointment and declined a bounty on al-Jazzar by Abu al-Dhahab (al-Jazzar was wanted by the Mamluk strongmen ofOttoman Egypt).^[36] However, al-Jazzar soon began acting independently after organizing the fortifications of Beirut, and Emir Yusuf appealed to Sheikh Zahir through Emir Mansur's liaising to request Russian bombardment of Beirut and oust al-Jazzar.^[36] Sheikh Zahir and the Russians acceded to Emir Yusuf's request after a large bribe was paid to them.^[36] After a four-month siege, al-Jazzar withdrew from Beirut in 1772, and Emir Yusuf penalized his Yazbaki allies, sheikhs Abd al-Salam Imad and Husayn Talhuq to compensate for the bribe he paid to the Russians.^[36] The following year, Emir Yusuf's brother, Emir Sayyid-Ahmad, took control ofQabb Ilyas and robbed a group of Damascene merchants passing through the village. Emir Yusuf subsequently captured Qabb Ilyas from his brother, and was transferred the tax farm for the Beqaa Valley by the governor of Damascus,Muhammad Pasha al-Azm.^[36]

In 1775, Sheikh Zahir was defeated and killed in an Ottoman campaign, and al-Jazzar was installed in Sheikh Zahir'sAcre headquarters, and soon after, was appointed governor of Sidon.^[36] Among al-Jazzar's principal goals was to centralize authority in Sidon Eyalet and assert control over the Shihabi emirate in Mount Lebanon. To that end, he succeeded in ousting Emir Yusuf from Beirut and removing it from the Shihabi tax farm. Moreover, al-Jazzar took advantage and manipulated divisions among the Shihab emirs in order to break up the Shihabi emirate into weaker entities that he could more easily exploit for revenue.^[37] In 1778 he agreed to sell the Chouf tax farm to Emir Yusuf's brothers, emirs Sayyid-Ahmad and Effendi after the latter two gained the support of the Jumblatt and Nakad clans (Emir Yusuf's ally Sheikh Ali Jumblatt died that year).^[38] Emir Yusuf, thereafter, based himself in Ghazir and mobilized the support of his Sunni Muslim allies, the Ra'ad and Mir'ibi clans fromAkkar.^[38] Al-Jazzar restored the Chouf to Emir Yusuf after he paid a large bribe, but his brothers again challenged him 1780.^[38] That time they mobilized the support of both the Jumblatti and Yazbaki factions, but their attempt to kill Sa'ad al-Khuri failed, and Effendi was killed.^[38] In addition, Emir Yusuf paid al-Jazzar to loan him troops, bribed the Yazbaki faction to defect from his Sayyid-Ahmad's forces and once again secured control of the Shihabi emirate.^[38]

The most prominent among the Shihabi emirs was EmirBashir Shihab II, who was comparable to Fakhr ad-Din II. His ability as a statesman was first tested in 1799, whenNapoleon besiegedAcre, a well-fortified coastal city inPalestine, about forty kilometers south ofTyre. Both Napoleon andAhmad Pasha al-Jazzar, the governor of Sidon, requested assistance from Bashir, who remained neutral, declining to assist either combatant. Unable to conquer Acre, Napoleon returned toEgypt, and the death of Al-Jazzar in 1804 removed Bashir's principal opponent in the area.^[39] When Bashir II decided to break away from the Ottoman Empire, he allied himself withMuhammad Ali Pasha, the founder of modern Egypt, and assisted Muhammad Ali's son,Ibrahim Pasha, in another siege ofAcre. This siege lasted seven months, the city falling on May 27, 1832. The Egyptian army, with assistance from Bashir's troops, also attacked and conqueredDamascus on June 14, 1832.^[39]

In 1840, four of 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.^[39] 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.^[39]Bashir Shihab III was then appointed. On January 13, 1842, the sultan deposed Bashir III and appointedOmar Pasha as governor of Mount Lebanon. This event marked the end of the rule of the Shihabs.

Today, the Shihabs 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 (descending from the line of Emir Hasan, Emir Bashir II's brother^[40]) as was former Prime MinisterKhaled Chehab. The Shihabs bear the title of "emir". Descendants of Bashir II live in Turkey and are known as the Paksoy family due to Turkish restrictions on non-Turkish surnames.^[41] Today, a group of them are Sunni, 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 Shihabs, with many of the family's members still residing in it.Mustafa al-Shihabi, who was born in Hasbaya, served the governor ofAleppo, Syria in 1936-1939.

• Shihab family
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