Table Of ContentPOLITICS AND CHANGE
IN A TRADITIONAL SOCIETY
LEBANON, 1711-1845
POLITICS AND CHANGE
IN A TRADITIONAL SOCIETY
LEBANON, 1711-1845
I L I Y A F. H A R I K
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
PRINCETON U N IVERSITY PRESS
1968
Copyright © 1968 by Princeton University Press
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-21024
Publication of this book has been aided by
the Whitney Darrow Publication Reserve Fund
of Princeton University Press
Printed in the United States of America
by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton Legacy Library edition 2017
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-691-62272-9
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-691-62858-5
Acknowledgments
The writer is indebted to many people who
helped in making this study possible and
gratefully acknowledges their support. In
particular I wish to thank Mr. Albert Hou-
rani, Mr. Leonard Binder, and Mr. Marshall
Hodgson for the interest they have taken in
this work and for their advice and criticisms.
While I am very indebted to them, I alone
take responsibility for shortcomings in this
work.
I would also like to acknowledge with
gratitude the Committee for the Comparative
Study of New Nations, in the University of
Chicago, for the financial support and in
tellectual stimulation when I was a Carnegie
Fellow with the Committee from 1962 to
1964, during which period this book was
prepared. I am also grateful to Indiana Uni
versity for Faculty Research grants which
have enabled me to prepare this manuscript
for publication.
My wife has shared with me the burden
of putting this manuscript into shape. She
has my gratitude for the work and moral
encouragement which she has offered gen
erously.
Contents
PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v
GLOSSARY ix
ABBREVIATIONS 2
I. INTRODUCTION: PROBLEM AND
METHOD 3
IL THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE 12
III. THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE
SHIHABI IMARAH 37
IV. THE TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATION OF
THE MARONITE CHURCH 74
V. THE REFORM MOVEMENT AND THE
CHURCH BUREAUCRACY 96
VI. IDEOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION 127
VII. THE OFFICE OF MUDABBIR 167
VIII. CLERGYMEN, PEASANTS, AND
MUQATPJIS : THE FIRST PHASE 200
IX. CLERGYMEN, PEASANTS, AND
MUQATPJIS : THE SECOND PHASE 229
CONTENTS
APPENDICES
I. The Maronite Imarah: The Church Plan for the
Political Reorganization of Lebanon 290
II. A Covenant Between the Hakim, Amir Mansur
Shihab, and Shaykh Kin‘an Nakad
(ll77 H., 1761 A.D.) 294
III. Dioceses of the Maronite Church 296
BIBLIOGRAPHY 297
INDEX 319
List of Illustrations
Fig. i (map) The Feudal Provinces of Mount Lebanon
and Its Immediate Neighborhood 14
Fig. 2 Genealogy and Line of Succession of the Shihabi
Dynasty 56-57
Table i Chronology of Shihabi Hakims 58
Glossary
Amir—highest noble title in Mount Lebanon, equivalent to
prince.
‘Ammiyyah—commoners ; also the name given to the peasant
uprisings of 1820, 1821.
*Aqil—a Druze initiated in the tenets of his religion.
‘Awayid—benefits received by original owners of a monastery.
A‘yan—nobles.
A1 Dawlah—refers to the Ottoman state or government.
Dhimmah (Ahl al)—in Muslim law are the people of the
revealed religions like Christians and Jews, who are also
under Muslim protection.
Divan (also Diwan)—administrative council.
Gharad—faction.
Hakim—literally ruler; in Mount Lebanon it was the name
by which a Shihabi overlord was known.
Huwalah—retainers of the Hakim who were similar in certain
respects to gendarmes.
‘Idiyyah—presents and gifts received by a muqatip from his
subjects on feast days and special occasions.
Iltizam—tax farming system associated with Ottoman pro
vincial administration particularly in Syria and Egypt.
Imarah—principality.
Iqta—feudal, feudalism.
Ismiyyah—loyalty of the subject to his lord and lord’s house.
Literally, it means taking another person’s name for one’s
own.
Jabal—mountain
Kabir ismiyyah"!
—paramount head of a clan.
Kabir ‘uhdah J
Kakhya—same as mudabbir.
KhuFah—usually a fur coat sent as a symbol of investiture by
ix
GLOSSARY
Ottoman authorities to lords under Ottoman suzerainty
like the one sent customarily by the Vali of Sayda to
the Hakim of Mount Lebanon*
Manasib—the muqati‘jis in their general capacity as political
leaders in the Imarah. Used when the emphasis is on
political role rather than the day-to-day administration of
‘uhdahs.
Maydan—a court where sports and military practices were
exercised.
Miri—the annual tax on land and produce.
Mudabbir—adviser and administrator in the Hakim’s service.
Muqaddam—a noble title next in rank to amir.
Muqata‘ah—fief in the name of a clan*
Muqati‘ji—a hereditary chief who is also a fief holder.
Naf—a discount from the miri collected by a muqatfji left
to him by the Hakim for his personal use.
Pasha—noble and military rank in the Ottoman Empire. Valis
held this title.
Qadi—judge.
Ra'aya—subjects.
Ra’s—-head, chief.
Sharakah—tenant farming.
Sharik—a tenant farmer.
Shaykh—noble title next to muqaddam in Lebanese usage.
Shurtah—same as huwalah.
Tawa’if—powerful commoner clans known in Mount Lebanon
during the iqta‘ period. Not to be confused with the cur
rent meaning of the term as religious sect.
‘Uhdah—-the fief of a particular muqati‘ji.
‘Uqqal—plural of ‘aqil.
‘Uzwah—belonging to the clan, faction, usually in reference
to the following of a muqati'ji.
Vali—Ottoman governor of a province, vilayet.
x
