SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to investigate the Anglo-Druze relations between 1840 and 1861, and their hearing on British policy towards the Lebanon. The study consists of seven chapters, an introduction and an epilogue. The background against which a connection was constructed between the British Government and Druzes in Syria is treated in the introduction. The connection itself, the first civil war in the Lebanon and the end of the Shihab dynasty are investigated in Chapter I. The contribution of the British to restore to the Mountain its national administration is treated in Chapter II. The British part in establishing the Kaymakamate system, and consequently the regulations of Sekib Efendi, are the subject of Chapters III and IV. In Chapter V, the change of British attitude to the Lebanon is investigated. Chapter VI deals with the Civil War in 1860-61, its consequences, and the British help for the Druzes on the occasion. The last Chapter, VII, deals with the arrangement of the Reglement Organique for the Lebanon. In the epilogue an attempt is made to survey the Anglo-Druze relations up to the beginning of the 20th century, pointing out their decline and the lack of interest on the British part in Druze affairs.