Fakhr-al-Din II

Fakhr-al-Din II also the Great or Fakhreddine II (1572–April 13, 1635) ( _ar. فخر الدين الثاني بن قرقماز) was a Lebanese prince, son of Prince Qurqumaz from the Maan Druze dynasty and Princess Nassab. Fakhr-al-Din is considered one of the most powerful sovereigns to rule Mount Lebanon in the Early Modern period.

Biography

Born in Baakline, after the assassination of his father by the Ottomans, he was raised in the Lebanese village of Ballouneh by Sheikh Ibrahim Abou Sakr, a prominent Christian (Maronite Catholic) from the feudal Khazen clan. His childhoold in Ballouneh fostered his belief in the diversity and pluralism of Lebanon.

Fakhr-al-Din worked on freeing Lebanon from Ottoman occupation, by uniting the different Lebanese lords behind him (Chehab, Harfouch, Hobeiche, Khazen…etc) and crushing all those in opposition (Sifa, Freich, etc.), and taking control of their land, uniting by that Lebanon's different regions under his authority.

In 1608 Fakhr-al-Din forged an alliance with the Italian of Tuscany. The alliance holding a public economic section and another secret military one.

Fakhr-al-Din's popularity and nationalist ideology scared the Ottomans who gave authority for Ahmad El-Hafez, lord of Damascus, and an enemy of Fakhr-al-Din, to mount an attack on Lebanon in 1613, in collaboration with Youssif Sifa, in order to reduce Fakhr-el-din's growing power.

Facing Hafez's army of 50,000 men, and with his Lebanese allies unfit for fighting, Fakhr-al-Din chose exile to Italy where in Tuscany he was received by the Medici Family, leaving the state in the hands of his brother Younes and his son Ali. Yet Fakhr-al-Din's exile did not prevent the Lebanese army from refusing surrender to Hafez's army, thus maintaining its positions while the military operations raged. Until Prince Younes managed through negotiations and persuasion to bring an end to the killings, securing Hafez's army's retreat.

In Tuscany, Fakhr-al-Din was welcomed by the grand duke Cosimo II, who housed him through his stay. Fakhr-al-Din had wished to plan military operations with Tuscan cooperation to free Lebanon, but was met with a refusal since Tuscany was unable to afford such an expedition, and the prince soon gave up that idea, realizing eventually that such cooperation would only subject Lebanon to new occupation. His stay in Italy at the time though allowed him to explore the era of European cultural revival in the 17th century.

In 1618, political changes in the Ottoman sultanate had resulted in the removal of many enemies of Fakhr-al-Din from power, signaling the prince's triumphant return to Lebanon soon afterwards, upon which he was able quickly to reunite all the lands of Lebanon beyond the boundaries of its mountains; and having revenge from Youssif Sifa, attacking his stronghold in Akkar, destroying his palaces and taking control of his lands, and regaining the territories he had to give up in 1613 in Saida, Tripoli, Bekaa among others, and creating the greater Lebanon which prospered economically and culturally. Under his rule, printing presses were introduced and Jesuit priests and Catholic nuns encouraged to open schools throughout the land.In 1623, the prince was betrayed by the harfouch lords who made arrangements with Mustapha Pacha, Lord of Damascus, to launch an attack against him, resulting in the battle at Majdel Anjar where Fakhr-El-Din's forces although outnumbered managed to capture Pacha and secure the Lebanese prince and his allies a much needed military victory.

In 1624, Fakhr-al-Din earned his nickname "Sultan Al Bar" ("Emperor of Land"), given to him by the Turkish sultan who also gave him authority to control large regions of western levant, extending from Alep in the north to Jerusalem in the south. The incident would not have occurred if it was not for the prince's developed diplomatic skills in his relation with the sultan.

However, as time passed, the Ottomans seemed uncomfortable with the prince's increasing powers and extended relations with Europe. The promise they had made to the Medici family, regarding the Prince of Lebanon, was ignored. In 1632, Ahmad Koujak was named Lord of Damascus, being a rival of Fakhr-al-Din and a friend of the bloody sultan Murad IV, who ordered koujak and the sultanat navy to attack Lebanon and depose Fakhr-El-Din.This time, the prince had decided to remain in Lebanon and resist the offensive, but the death of his son Ali in Wadi el-Taym was the beginning of his defeat. He later took refuge in Jezzine's grotto, closely followed by koujak who caught eventually with him and his family.

Fakhr-al-Din finally traveled to Turkey, appearing before the sultan, defending himself so skillfully that the sultan gave him permission to return to Lebanon.

Later though, the sultan changed orders and had Fakhr-al-Din and his family killed on 13 April 1635, in Istanbul, the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, bringing an end to possibly one of the greatest eras in the history of Lebanon, a country which would not regain its natural and current boundaries that Fakhr-al-Din once ruled until Lebanon was proclaimed a republic in 1920.

External links

* [http://countrystudies.us/lebanon/16.htm The Maans]