Dhaher al-Omar

Dhaher al-Omar

Dhaher al-Omar (also Hence, or el-Omar, el-Amr; Arabic ظاهر آل عمر الزيداني, DMG Ẓāhir āl-ʿUmar az-Zaidānī , * approx. 1690 in the area of Tiberias ; † August 21, 1775 on the run from Ottoman imprisonment) was the Arab ruler in northern Palestine in the middle of the 18th century.

origin

Dhaher was the fourth son of Sheikh Omar āl-Zaydani, the governor of the Safed area . After Omar's death in 1703, the four sons followed as rulers of Safed. In the following time Dhaher was confronted with the greed and corruption of the Ottoman governors in Sidon , as well as encroachments by Bedouin tribes on his family's sphere of influence.

Ascent

Around 1730 Dhaher āl-ʿOmar settled in Tiberias, fortified the city against the resistance of the rulers in Damascus , and negotiated agreements with the surrounding Bedouin tribes. Dhaher cleverly sealed the agreements by marrying the various tribes. At the same time he promoted and favored the settlement of Jewish families in Tiberias, and ensured friendly relations with the Greek Orthodox Church in Nazareth and Akko . All these acts of Dhahers aroused great admiration among the population. However, the Ottoman Empire did not accept such local leaders who ignored the Ottoman claim to power. Therefore, in September 1742 Sulayman Pasha al-ʿAzem, the governor of Damascus, was ordered to militarily end the rule of Dhaher. Tiberias was besieged by al-ʿAzem's troops, but after 83 days the siege for Hajj was relaxed. In July 1743 the siege was resumed with reinforced troops, and broken off a month after the death of al-ʿAzem.

Heyday

In the period that followed, Dhaher was able to further expand his sphere of influence, which he expanded particularly to the west, thereby gaining control of several crusader fortresses . Akko was also taken, fortified by walls and a citadel on the old Johanniterkommende , and made the capital of Dhahers dominion. Around 1750 he built his seraglio as the representative seat of government in Akko. The fishing village of Haifa on the Carmel Cape was demolished and rebuilt as a fortified city with a new port. Dhaher thus controlled the most important ports in the region.

Dhaher recognized the importance of a functioning economy as the basis of his rule. He refrained from levying stifling taxes on the small farmers. Instead, he placed the production and export of cotton under a state monopoly .

In 1768 his de facto rule over Galilee was partially recognized and legalized by the Ottoman Empire. Dhaher received the title " Sheikh of Akko, Emir of Nazareth, Tiberias and Safed, Sheikh of all Galilee".

Decline

Egypt and Syria during the Ali Bey and Abu Dahab campaigns

From 1769 to 1774 Dhaher was embroiled in a war that caused its downfall: his friend Ali Bey al-Kabir, who had been appointed governor of Egypt by the Ottoman rulers since 1750 , got into a dispute with the Ottoman Empire. Since an open revolt against the Ottoman rule was feared, assassins were assigned to Ali Bey. In response, Ali Bey declared Egypt's independence from the Ottoman Empire. Dhaher intervened on the side of his friend in the dispute and blocked Ottoman troops on the way to Egypt. By 1771 the Egyptian troops conquered or subjugated large parts of Palestine (including Ramla , Lydda and Jerusalem ) with the help of Dhaher and even Damascus in 1772 . The allied troops of Dhahers, Ali, the Emir of Tire and Russia (which at that time was at war with the Ottoman Empire) wrested almost all of northern Palestine and southern Lebanon from Ottoman rule. Dhaher was able to temporarily expand its sphere of influence along the Mediterranean coast from Sidon to Jaffa.

In 1773, Ali Bey was defeated near Cairo by rival Mamluks under Muhammad Bey Abu Dahab. In 1774 the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire ended, leaving Dhaher without an alliance partner. Instead, Abu Dahab was now advancing against Dhaher on behalf of the Ottoman Empire. After the withdrawal of the Russian fleet , Akko was besieged by Ottoman troops and warships and captured in August 1774. Dhaher was imprisoned and died trying to escape a year later.

meaning

Many Arabs regard Dhaher as a pioneer in the liberation from foreign rule. His grandson is Enderûnlu Fâzıl .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Islam : Ẓāhir al- ʿUmar al-Zaydānī

Web links

Commons : Hence el-Omar  - collection of images, videos and audio files