- State of Aleppo
Infobox Former Country
native_name = دولة حلب
conventional_long_name = State of Aleppo / État d'Alep
common_name = Aleppo|
continent = moved from Category:Asia to the Middle East
region = Middle East
country = Syria
era = Interwar period
status = League of Nations Mandate
empire = France
year_start = 1920
year_end = 1925|
event_start = Mandate granted
date_start =April 25 ,1920
event_end = Unification ofAleppo andDamascus
date_end =December 1 ,1924
event1 = Federation established
date_event1 = June, 1922|
p1 = Ottoman Empire
flag_p1 = Ottoman Flag.svg
s1 = French Mandate of Syria
flag_s1 = Flag of Syria French mandate.svg
capital = Aleppo
currency =
common_languages = Arabic, FrenchThe State of Aleppo (1920-1925) ( _fr. État d'Alep) ( _ar. دولة حلب) was one of the five states that were established by the French High Commissioner in Syria and Lebanon General Henri Gouraud in the
French Mandate of Syria which followed theSan Remo conference and the collapse ofKing Faisal 's short-lived monarchy in Syria.The other states were the
State of Damascus (1920), theState of Alawites (1920) and theState of Jabal Druze (1921). TheState of Greater Lebanon (1920) became later the modern country ofLebanon . The capital of the State of Aleppo was the northern Syrian city ofAleppo .Establishment
The State of Aleppo was declared by the French General Henri Gouraud in September 1920, with Aleppo as its capital.
The state included in addition to the wealthy Aleppo region the autonomous
Sanjak of Alexandretta and the entire fertile basin of riverEuphrates , including the regions ofDeir ez Zor ,Ar Raqqah , andAl Hasakah . The state contained much of the agricultural and mineral wealth of Syria.The majority in the Aleppo state were
Sunni Muslims , they were mainlyArabs but alsoKurds , especially in the eastern regions, and other diverse ethnicities relocated during the Ottoman period, most notablyCircassians ,Adyghe ,Albanians ,Bosnians ,Bulgars , Turks,Kabardins ,Chechens , and others). SignificantShiite populations lived in Aleppo too, in towns such as Nebbol, Fu'a, Az Zahra', Kefrayya, and M'art Misrin. While theAlawites concentrated particularly in the autonomousSanjak of Alexandretta .Aleppo was also a home to one of the richest and most diversified
Christian communities of theOrient . Christians belonging to a dozen different congregations (with prevalence of the Armenian andSyriac Orthodox Church and otherOrthodox denominations) represented about a third of the population of Aleppo city, making it the city with the largest Christian community in theMiddle East outsideLebanon . Many Christians inhabited the eastern districts of the state too, mainlySyriac andAssyrian Christians.Aleppo city had also a large
Jewish community of about 10,000 people.Governors
* 1920 - 1922 General
Kamil Pasha Al Qudsi (b. 1845 - d. 1926)
* 1923Mustafa Bey Barmada (b. 1883 - d. 1953)
* 1924 - 1925Mar'i Pasha Al Mallah (b. 1856 - d. 1930)French Delegates
* 1920 - 1922 General de Lamothe
* 1922 - 1925 General Billotte (b. 1875 - d. 1940)The Council of Directors
A Council of Directors was created in 1920 to complement the governor general. The four members of the Council were:
Mar'i Pasha Al Mallah (Interior),Subhi Bey Al Nayyal (Justice),Nasri Effendi Bakhash (Commerce and Agriculture) andVictor Effendi 'Ajouri (Finance). On Al Mallah's resignation in 1921, he was succeeded by Al Nayyal as Director of the Interior andZaki Bey Al Gorani was selected to succeed Al Nayyal as Director of Justice. In 1923 the Council of Directors was abolished following the establishment of the Syrian Federation.The Representative Council
The legislature was the Representative Council, and the majority of its members were pro-French. Some of the prominent deputies were
Subhi Bey Barakat who later served as President of the Syrian Federation, Aleppo's mayor Ghaleb Bey Ibrahim Pasha, the head of the Chamber of Commerce Salim Janbarat, the lawyer Michel Janadri andFakhir Al Jabiri , elder brother of nationalist leaderSaadallah Al Jabiri .The Revolt of Hanano
Ibrahim Hanano was a native of Aleppo and a prominent member of the Syrian Congress which was elected in 1919, and which refused the French mandate of Syria. Supported by the Turkish nationalist leaderMustafa Kemal Atatürk , Hanano started an armed insurgency against the French that lasted until he was arrested in 1921. Hanano was tried in the same year in an Aleppo court, but he was found not guilty by the judges by three votes to two; probably the verdict was influenced by the crowds of supporters who gathered around the courthouse in that day.Hanano moved to political opposition afterwards, and in 1926, he played a major role in preventing the secession of Aleppo from the State of Syria established in December 1924. He died in 1935.
The Syrian Federation and the State of Syria
In 1923, General Gouraud announced the Syrian Federation (la Fédération syrienne) which included the states of Damascus, Aleppo, and the Alawite State. In 1924, the Alawite State was separated again. The Syrian Federation became the State of
Syria in December 1, 1924. With the centralization of the new Syrian state in 1925, Aleppo lost its autonomy and restored its provincial status. The incumbent governor general of the state of AleppoMar'i Pasha Al Mallah was named governor (vali) of the province of Aleppo (with a rank of minister).See also
*
French Mandate of Syria
*State of Alawites
*Jabal el Druze (state)
*Alexandretta /Hatay
*State of Damascus Sources
* al-Ghazzi, Kamil, Nahr al-dhahab fi tarikh halab, (History of Aleppo), 3 vols., Aleppo, 1922-1926.
* L'indicateur Libano-Syrienne. Eds. E & G. Gédéon. Beirut, 1923, 1928-1929.
* Recueil des Actes Administratifs du Haut-Commissariat de la République Française en Syrie et au Liban. Beirut, 1919-1920, 1921-1939.
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