The
capture of Salkhad
refers to the clash between the
Druze
rebel forces of
Sultan Pasha al-Atrash
and a unit of the
French Mandate
based in
Salkhad
on 20 July 1825. It would become the first confrontation of the
Great Syrian Revolt
. Preceding the battle, on 19 July, al-Atrash's forces shot down a French reconnaissance plane, the first shots of the revolt,
[1]
and captured its injured pilots. The next day, rebels captured Salkhad and its French garrison without facing significant resistance.
Background
[
edit
]
In 1918, at the end of
World War I
,
Ottoman
rule in Syria came to end when their
army
was driven out by
British
forces and their
Hashemite Arab
allies during the
Arab Revolt
. Between 1918 and 1920 the
Hashemite
king
Faisal
ruled nominally from
Damascus
, but
France
was granted a mandate over Syria by the
League of Nations
in 1920. Britain and France had previously agreed to divide the Ottoman Empire's Arab territories between themselves in the 1916
Sykes-Picot Agreement
. After Faisal's army was defeated in the
Battle of Maysalun
, French forces gained control of Syria, later dividing into several autonomous entities, including
Jabal Druze State
based on the southeastern, mainly
Druze
-inhabited
Jabal al-Arab
mountain region. Tensions grew between the French authorities and the Druze leadership, as the latter viewed the former as encroaching on their territory and not respecting their traditions.
[2]
In early July 1925 five Druze leaders were summoned to Damascus by the French High Commissioner
Maurice Sarrail
, ostensibly to decrease tensions between the Mandate and the Druze community. However, the Druze leaders, three of whom actually showed up, were instead arrested and incarcerated in the
desert prison
of
Palmyra
. Upon learning of their imprisonment,
Sultan Pasha al-Atrash
, one of the two summoned leaders who chose not meet Sarrail, began to rally his forces in preparation for a revolt against French rule in all of Syria.
[3]
French garrison surrender
[
edit
]
In mid-July Sultan and his cousin Mit'ib, the other summoned Druze leader who did not leave for Damascus, began an expedition to assemble their troops, beginning with their kinsmen in
Rasas
and
al-Qurayya
, and then onto the
al-Kafr
,
Baka
,
Umm al-Rumman
,
al-Ghariyah
,
Malah
and
Orman
, all satellite villages of
Salkhad
,
[4]
the second largest town of the Jabal. In Orman, on 19 July, the first shots of what would become the
Great Syrian Revolt
were fired as al-Atrash's forces gunned down a French reconnaissance plane surveilling their ground force, which numbered 250, all cavalry. The plane crashed, but its two pilots survived, albeit wounded. They were captured by the Ali Mustafa al-Atrash, then being a young teenager, and sheltered in his family's home, while others from Orman set the plane on fire.
[5]
On 20 July al-Atrash's forces entered and occupied Salkhad, calling its men to arms in the central square, to which many responded. They laid siege to the French garrison, but no resistance was encountered. The garrison, which consisted of 40 officers and government employees surrendered and the rebels proceeded to set on fire and reclaim all French-governmental buildings in the town, including the library of Salkhad's French delegation and the police station.
[6]
Aftermath
[
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]
The following day al-Atrash and his rebels departed further up the Jabal and more people from al-Kafr and
Muslim
members of the region's principal
Bedouin
tribes, Sulut and Sardiyya, joined the rebels.
[7]
On the orders of High-Commissioner
Maurice Sarrail
,
[8]
commandant Tommy Martin, the French commander in
al-Suwayda
, the capital of Jabal Druze State,
[9]
dispatched 160 French soldiers under the command of Captain Normand to retrieve the French pilots and restore governmental over Salkhad and its vicinity.
[8]
Al-Atrash's forces intercepted the French column at al-Kafr, killing most of the entire force, including Normand in a half-hour-long battle. Afterward, most Druze leaders of the Jabal joined al-Atrash's efforts and
Syrian nationalists
throughout the country were inspired to partake in the revolt.
[9]
[8]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Provence, 2005, p. 27.
- ^
Betts, 1990, pp. 84?85.
- ^
Provence, pp. 27?29.
- ^
Provence, 2005, p. 57.
- ^
Provence, 2005, p. 58.
- ^
Provence, 2005, p. 59.
- ^
Provence, 2005, p. 60.
- ^
a
b
c
Barr, p. 126.
- ^
a
b
Provence, pp. 59?60.
Bibliography
[
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]
32°29′38″N
36°42′38″E
/
32.49389°N 36.71056°E
/
32.49389; 36.71056
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