Jabal Druze State

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Jabal al-Druze (Arabic:جبل الدروز,French:Djebel Druze) was an autonomous state in theFrench Mandate of Syria from 1921 to 1936, designed to function as a government for the localDruze population under French oversight.^[1]^[2]

State of Jabal al-Druze

Djebel Druze
جبل الدروز

1 May 1921–9 September 1936

Flag

Location of Jabal al-Druze (blue) in theMandate for Syria and the Lebanon

Status

Mandate of France

Capital

As-Suwayda

Common languages

Religion

Governor

• 1921–1923

Prince Salim Basha al-Atrash

• 1935–1936

Pierre Tarit

Historical era

Interwar period

• Established

1 May 1921

• Named "State of Souaida"

4 March 1922

• Named "Jabal al-Druze"

1 June 1927

• Disestablished

9 September 1936

Preceded by

Succeeded by

State of Damascus

First Syrian Republic

Nomenclature

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Arrete No. 1343, which laid out the borders of the State of Jebel Druze, March 1922

Statut Organique of the State of Jebel Druze, 14 May 1930

On 4 March 1922, it was proclaimed as theState of Souaida, after the capitalAs-Suwayda, but in 1927 it was renamedJabal al-Druze orJabal Druze State. The name comes from theJabal al-Druze mountain.^[2]

History

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TheDruze state was formed on 1 May 1921 in formerOttoman territory, while other statelets were installed in other parts of the Syrian mandate (e.g. theAlawite State in theLattakia region). Jabal al-Druze was home to about 50,000 Druze.^[1]^[2] It was the first, and remains the only, autonomous entity to be populated and governed by Druze. The 1925Syrian Revolution began in Jabal al-Druze under the leadership ofSultan al-Atrash, and quickly spread toDamascus and other non-Druze areas outside theJabal al-Druze region. Protests against the division of Syrian territory into statelets were a main theme of Syriananti-colonial nationalism, which eventually won the victory to reunite the entire French-mandated territory, exceptLebanon (which had become independent) and theSanjak of Alexandretta, which was annexed to Turkey as theHatay Province.

As a result ofSyrian nationalist pressure, under theFranco-Syrian Treaty of 1936, Jabal al-Druze ceased to exist as an autonomous entity and was incorporated intoSyria.

General distribution of population in the State of Jabal Druze according to the French census in 1921–22^[3]
Religion	Inhabitants	Percentage
Druze	43,000	84.8%
Christians	7,000	13.8%
Sunni	700	1.4%
Total	50,700	100%

Druze celebrating their independence in 1925

Governors

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Amir Salim Pasha al-Atrash (1 May 1921 – 15 September 1923)
Trenga (provisional) (September 1923 – 6 March 1924)
Gabriel Marie Victor Carbillet (6 March 1924 – 14 October 1925), provisional to 1 October 1924
Sultan Pasha al-Atrash (18 July 1925 – 1 June 1927), chief of state; in dissidence
Charles Andréa (15 October 1925 – 1927)
Marie Joseph Léon Augustin Henry (1927)
Abel Jean Ernest Clément-Grancourt (1927–1932)
Claude-Gabriel-Renaud Massiet (3 February 1932 – 28 January 1934)
Justin-Antoine Devicq (1934–1935)
Pierre-Joseph-François Tarrit (1935 – 2 December 1936)^[4]