[p.291]
Remarks on the Inhabitants of the Haouran.
The Haouran is inhabited by Turks, Druses, Christians, and Arabs, and is
visited in spring and summer by several Arab tribes from the desert. The
whole country is under the government of the Pasha of Damascus, who
generally sends a governor to Mezareib, intituled Agat el Haouran.
The Pasha appoints also the Sheikh of every village, who collects the
Miri from both Turks and Christians. The Druses are not under the
control of the Agat el Haouran, but correspond directly with the Pasha.
They have a head Sheikh, whose office, though subject to the
confirmation of the Pasha, has been hereditary from a remote period, in
the family of Hamdan. The head Sheikh of the Druses nominates the Sheikh
of each village, and of these upwards of eight are his own relations:
the others are members of the great Druse families. The Pasha constantly
maintains a force in the Haouran of between five and six hundred men;
three hundred and fifty or four hundred of whom are at Boszra, and the
remainder at Mezareib, or patrolling the country. The Moggrebyns are
generally employed in this service. I compute the population of the
Haouran, exclusive of the Arabs who frequent the plain, the mountain
(Djebel Haouran), and the Ledja, at about fifty or sixty thousand, of
whom six or seven thousand are Druses; and about three thousand
Christians. The Turks and Christians have exactly the same modes of
life; but the Druses are distinguished from them in many respects. The
two former very nearly resemble the Arabs in their customs and manners;
their ordinary dress is precisely that of the Arabs; a coarse white
cotton stuff forms their Kombaz or gown, the Keffie round the head is
tied with a rope of camel's hair, they wear the Abba over the shoulder,
and have the breast and feet naked; they have also adopted, for the
greater
[p.292]part, the Bedouin dialect, gestures, and phraseology; according
to which most articles of housebold furniture have names different from
those in the towns; it requires little experience however to distinguish
the adults of the two nations from one another. The Arabs are generally
of short stature, with thin visage, scanty beard, and brilliant black
eyes; while the Fellahs are taller and stouter, with a strong beard, and
a less piercing look; but the difference seems chiefly to arise from
their mode of life; for the youth of both nations, to the age of
sixteen, have precisely the same appearance. The Turks and Christians of
the Haouran live and dress alike, and religion seems to occasion very
little difference in their respective conditions. When quarrels happen
the Christian fears not to strike the Turk, or to execrate his religion,
a liberty which in every town of Syria would expose the Christian to the
penalty of death, or to a very heavy pecuniary fine. Common sufferings
and dangers in the defence of their property may have given rise to the
toleration which the Christians enjoy from the Turks in the Haouran; and
which is further strengthened by the Druses, who shew equal respect to
both religions. Of the Christians four-fifths are Greeks; and the only
religious animosities which I witnessed during my tour, were between
them and the Catholics.
Among the Fellahs of the Haouran, the richest lives like the poorest,
and displays his superior wealth only on the arrival of strangers. The
ancient buildings afford spacious and convenient dwellings to many of
the modern inhabitants, and those who occupy them may have three or four
rooms for each family; but in newly built villages, the whole family,
with all its household furniture, cooking utensils, and provision
chests, is commonly huddled together in one apartment. Here also they
keep their wheat and barley in reservoirs formed of clay, called Kawara
[Arabic], which are about five feet high and two feet in diameter. The
chief articles
[p.293]of furniture are, a handmill, which is used in summer, when there
is no water in the Wadys to drive the mills; some copper kettles; and a
few mats; in the richer houses some woollen Lebaet are met with, which
are coarse woollen stuffs used for carpets, and in winter for horse-
cloths: real carpets or mattrasses are seldom seen, unless it be upon
the arrival of strangers of consequence. Their goat's hair sacks, and
horse and camel equipments, are of the same kind as those used by the
Bedouins, and are known by the same names. Each family has a large
earthen jar, of the manufacture of Rasheiat el Fukhar, which is filled
every morning by the females, from the Birket or spring, with water for
the day's consumption. In every house there is a room for the reception
of strangers, called from this circumstance Medhafe; it is usually that
in which the male part of the family sleeps; in the midst of it is a
fire place to boil coffee.
The most common dishes of these people are Burgoul and Keshk; in summer
they supply the place of the latter by milk, Leben, and fresh butter. Of
the Burgoul I have spoken on other occasions; there are two kinds of
Keshk, Keshk-hammer and Keskh-leben; the first is prepared by putting
leaven into the Burgoul, and pouring water over it; it is then left
until almost putrid, and afterwards spread out in the sun, to dry; after
which it is pounded, and when called for, served up mixed with oil, or
butter. The Keskh-leben is prepared by putting Leben into the Burgoul,
instead of leaven; in other respects the process is the same. Keskh and
bread are the common breakfast, and towards sunset a plate of Burgoul,
or some Arab dish, forms the dinner; in honour of strangers, it is usual
to serve up at breakfast melted butter and bread, or fried eggs, and in
the evening a fowl boiled in Burgoul, or a kid or lamb; but this does
not very often happen. The women and children eat up whatever the men
have left on
[p.294] their plates. The women dress in the Bedouin manner; they have a
veil over the head, but seldom veil their faces.
Hospitality to strangers is another characteristic common to the Arabs,
and to the people of Haouran. A traveller may alight at any house he
pleases; a mat will be immediately spread for him, coffee made, and a
breakfast or dinner set before him. In entering a village it has often
happened to me, that several persons presented themselves, each begging
that I would lodge at his house; and this hospitality is not confined to
the traveller himself, his horse or his camel is also fed, the first
with half or three quarters of a Moud[The Moud is about nineteen pounds
English.] of barley, the second with straw; with this part of their
hospitality, however, I had often reason to be dissatisfied, less than a
Moud being insufficient upon a journey for a horse, which is fed only in
the evening, according to the custom of these countries. As it would be
considered an affront to buy any corn, the horse must remain ill-fed,
unless the traveller has the precaution to carry a little barley in his
saddle-bag, to make up the deficiency in the host's allowance. On
returning to Aaere to the house of the Sheikh, after my tour through the
desert, one of my Druse guides insisted upon taking my horse to his
stables, instead of the Sheikh's; when I was about to depart, the Druse
brought my horse to the door, and when I complained that he had fallen
off greatly in the few days I had remained in the village, the Sheikh
said to me in the presence of several persons, "You are ignorant of the
ways of this country [Arabic]; if you see that your host does not feed
your horse, insist upon his giving him a Moud of barley daily; he dares
not refuse it." It is a point of honour with the host never to accept of
the smallest return from a guest; I once only ventured to give a few
piastres to the child of a very poor family at Zahouet, by whom we had
been most hospitably treated, and rode off without
[p.295] attending to the cries of the mother, who insisted upon my
taking back the money.
Besides the private habitations, which offer to every traveller a secure
night's shelter, there is in every village the Medhafe of the Sheikh,
where all strangers of decent appearance are received and entertained.
It is the duty of the Sheikh to maintain this Medhafe, which is like a
tavern, with the difference that the host himself pays the bill: the
Sheikh has a public allowance to defray these expenses, &c. and hence a
man of the Haouran, intending to travel about for a fortnight, never
thinks of putting a single para in his pocket; he is sure of being every
where well received, and of living better perhaps than at his own home.
A man remarkable for his hospitality and generosity enjoys the highest
consideration among them.
The inhabitant of the Haouran estimates his wealth by the number of
Fedhans,[The word Fedhan is applied both to the yoke of oxen and to the
quantity of land cultivated by them, which varies according to
circumstances. In some parts of Syria, chiefly about Homs, the Fedhan el
Roumy, or Greek Fedhan, is used, which means two pair of oxen.] or pairs
of cows or oxen which he employs in the cultivation of his fields. If it
is asked, whether such a one has piastres (Illou gheroush [ARABIC]), a
common mode of speaking, the answer is, "A great deal; he drives six
pair of oxen," (Kethiar bimashi sette fedhadhin [Arabic]); there are but
few, however, who have six pair of oxen; a man with two or three is
esteemed wealthy: and such a one has probably two camels, perhaps a
mare, or at least a Gedish (a gelding), or a couple of asses: and forty
or fifty sheep or goats.
The fertility of the soil in the Haouran depends entirely upon the water
applied to it. In districts where there is plenty of water for
irrigation, the peasants sow winter and summer seeds; but where they
have to depend entirely upon the rainy season
[p.296]for a supply, nothing can be cultivated in summer. The harvest in
the latter districts, therefore, is in proportion to the abundance of
the winter rains. The first harvest is that of horse-beans [Arabic] at
the end of April: of these there are vast tracts sown, the produce of
which serve as food for the cows and sheep. Camels are fed with the
flour made from these beans, mixed with barley meal, and made into a
paste. Next comes the barley harvest, and towards the end of May, the
wheat: in the interval between the two last, the peasants eat barley
bread. In abundant years, wheat sells at fifty piastres the
Gharara,[Three Rotola and a half make a Moud, and eighty Moud a Gharara.
A Rotola is equal to about five and a halfpounds English.] or about two
pounds ten shillings for fifteen cwt. English. In 1811, the Gharara rose
as high as to one hundred and ninety piastres. The wheat of the Haouran
is considered equal, if not superior to any other in Syria. Barley is
generally not more than half the price of wheat. When I was in the
Haouran, the price of an ox or cow was about seventy piastres, that of a
camel about one hundred and fifty piastres.
The lands which are not capable of artificial irrigation are generally
suffered to lie fallow one year; a part of them is sometimes sown in
spring with sesamum, cucumbers, melons, and pulse. But a large part of
the fruit and vegetables consumed in the Haouran is brought from
Damascus, or from the Arabs Menadhere, who cultivate gardens on the
banks of the Sheriat el Mandhour.
The peasants of Haouran are extremely shy in speaking of the produce of
their land, from an apprehension that the stranger's enquiries may lead
to new extortions. I have reason to believe, however, that in middling
years wheat yields twenty-five fold; in some parts of the Haouran, this
year, the barley has yielded fifty-fold, and even in some instances
eighty. A Sheikh, who formerly
[p.297]inhabited the small village of Boreika, on the southern borders
of the Ledja, assured me that from twenty Mouds of wheat-seed he once
obtained thirty Ghararas, or one hundred and twenty fold. Fields watered
by rain (the Arabs call them Boal, [Arabic]), yield more in proportion to
the seed sown, than those which are artificially watered; this is owing
to the seed being sown thinner in the former. The Haouran crops are
sometimes destroyed by mice [Arabic], though not so frequently as in the
neighbourhood of Homs and Hamah. Where abundance of water may be
conducted into the fields from neighbouring springs, the soil is again
sown, after the grain harvests, with vegetables, lentils, peas,
sesamums, &c.
The Fellahs who own Fedhans often cultivate one another's fields in
company: a Turk living in a Druse village often wishes to have a Druse
for his companion, to escape in some degree the vexations of the Druse
Sheikh. At the Druse Sheikhs, black slaves are frequently met with; but
the Turk and Christian proprietors cultivate their lands by hired native
labourers. Sometimes the labourer contracts with a townsman, and
receives from him oxen, ploughs, and seed. A labourer who has one Fedhan
or two oxen under his charge, usually receives at the time of sowing one
Gharara of corn. After the harvest he takes one-third of the produce of
the field; but among the Druses only a fourth. The master pays to the
government the tax called Miri, and the labourer pays ten piastres
annually. The rest of the agricultural population of the Haouran
consists of those who subsist by daily labour. They in general earn
their living very hardly. I once met with a young man who had served
eight years for his food only at the expiration of that period he
obtained in marriage the daughter of his master, for whom he would,
otherwise, have had to pay seven or eight hundred piastres. When I saw
him he had been married three years;
[p.298]but he complained bitterly of his father-in-law, who continued to
require of him the performance of the most servile offices, without
paying him any thing; and thus prevented him from setting up for himself
and family.
Daughters are paid for according to the respectability of their father,
sometimes as high as fifteen hundred piastres, and this custom prevails
amongst Druses, Turks, and Christians. If her family is rich the girl is
fitted out with clothes, and a string of zequins or of silver coin, to
tie round her head; after which she is delivered to her husband. I had
an opportunity of witnessing an espousal of two Christians at Aaere, in
the house of a Christian: the bride was brought with her female friends
and relations, from her native village, one day's journey distant, with
two camels decorated with tassels, bells, &c., and was lodged with her
relations in Aaere. They entered the village preceded by women beating
the tamborine, and by the village youths, firing off their musquets.
Soon afterwards the bridegroom retired to the spring, which was in a
field ten minutes from the village, where he washed, and dressed himself
in new clothes. He then entered the village mounted on a caparisoned
horse, surrounded by young men, two of whom beat tamborines, and the
others fired musquets. He alighted before the Sheikh's house, and was
carried for about a quarter of an hour by two men, on their arms, amidst
continued singing and huzzaing: the Sheikh then exclaimed, "Mebarek el
Aris" [Arabic], Blessed be the bridegroom! which was repeated by all
present, after which he was set down, and remained till sunset, exposed
to the jests of his friends; after this he was carried to the church,
where the Greek priest performed the marriage ceremony, and the young
couple retired to their dwelling. The bridegroom's father had
slaughtered several lambs and kids, a part of which was devoured by mid-
day; but the best pieces were brought in three
[p.299]enormous dishes of Bourgul to the Sheikh's Medhafe; two being for
the mob, and the third for the Sheikh, and principal men of the village.
In the evening paras were collected by one of the bridegroom's friends,
who sung verses in praise of all his acquaintance, every one of whom,
when named, was expected to make a present.
The oppressions of the government on one side, and those of the Bedouins
on the other, have reduced the Fellah of the Haouran to a state little
better than that of the wandering Arab. Few individuals either among the
Druses or Christians die in the same village in which they were born.
Families are continually moving from one place to another; in the first
year of their new settlement the Sheikh acts with moderation towards
them; but his vexations becoming in a few years insupportable, they fly
to some other place, where they have heard that their brethren are
better treated, but they soon find that the same system prevails over
the whole country. Sometimes it is not merely the pecuniary extortion,
but the personal enmity of the Sheikh, or of some of the head men of the
village, which drives a family from their home, for they are always
permitted to depart. This continued wandering is one of the principal
reasons why no village in the Haouran has either orchards, or fruit-
trees, or gardens for the growth of vegetables. "Shall we sow for
strangers?" was the answer of a Fellah, to whom I once spoke on the
subject, and who by the word strangers meant both the succeeding
inhabitants, and the Arabs who visit the Haouran in the spring and
summer.
The taxes which all classes of Fellahs in the Haouran pay, may be
classed under four heads: the Miri; the expense of feeding soldiers on
the march; the tribute to the Arabs; and extraordinary contributions.
The Miri is levied upon the Fedhan; thus if a village pay twelve purses
to the Miri, and there are thirty pair of
[p.300] oxen in it, the master of each pair pays a thirtieth. Every
village being rated for the Miri in the land-tax book of the Pasha, at a
fixed sum, that sum is levied as long as the village is at all
inhabited, however few may be its inhabitants. In the spring of every
year, or, if no strangers have arrived and settled, in every second or
third spring, the ground of the village is measured by long cords, when
every Fellah occupies as much of it as he pleases, there being always
more than sufficient; the amount of his tax is then fixed by the Sheikh,
at the ratio which his number of Fedhans bears to the whole number of
Fedhans cultivated that year. Whether the oxen be strong or weak, or
whether the quantity of seed sown or of land cultivated by the owner of
the oxen be more or less, is not taken into consideration; the Fellah is
supposed to keep strong cattle, and plough as much land as possible.
Some sow six Gharara of wheat or barley in the Fedhan, others five, and
others seven. The boundaries of the respective fields are marked by
large stones [Arabic]. The Miri is paid in kind, or in money, at the
will of the Pasha; the Fellahs prefer the latter, by which they are
always trifling gainers.
From what has been said, it is evidently impossible for the Fellah to
foresee the amount of Miri which he shall have to pay in any year; and
in addition to this vexation, the Miri for each village, though it is
never diminished upon a loss of inhabitants, is sometimes raised upon a
supposed increase of population, or upon some other pretext. It may,
generally, be remarked, that the villages inhabited by the Druses
usually pay more Miri than those in the plain, because some allowance is
made to the latter, in consideration of the tribute which they are
obliged to pay to the Arabs, and from which the former are exempt. At
Aaere, the year before my first visit, the Fedhan had paid one hundred
and fifty piastres, at Ezra, one hundred and eighty, and at some
villages in the plain,
[p.301]one hundred and twenty. In the year 1812, the Miri, including
some extra demands, amounted in general to five hundred piastres the
Fedhan.
The second tax upon the Fellahs is the expense of feeding soldiers on
the march; if the number is small they go to the Sheikh's Medhafe; but
if they are numerous, they are quartered, or rather quarter themselves,
upon the Fellahs: in the former case, barley only for their horses is
supplied by the peasant, while the Sheikh furnishes provisions for the
men, but the peasant is not much benefited by this regulation, for the
soldiers are in general little disposed to be satisfied with the frugal
fare of the Sheikh, and demand fowls, or butcher's meat; which must be
supplied by the village. On their departure, they often steal some
article belonging to the house. The proportion of barley to be furnished
by each individual to the soldiers horses, depends of course upon the
number of horses to be fed, and of Fedhans in the village: at Aaere, in
the year 1809, it amounted to fifty piastres per Fedhan. The Sheikh of
Aaere has six pair of oxen, for which he pays no taxes, but the presence
of strangers and troops is so frequent at his Medhafe, that this
exemption had not been thought a sufficient remuneration, and he is
entitled to levy, in addition, every year, two or three Gharara of corn,
each Gharara being in common years, worth eighty or one hundred
piastres. Some Sheikhs levy as much as ten Gharara, besides being
exempted from taxation for eight, ten, or twelve pair of oxen.
The third and most heavy contribution paid by the peasants, is the
tribute to the Arabs. The Fahely, Serdie, Beni Szakher, Serhhan, who are
constant residents in the Haouran, as well as most of the numerous
tribes of Aeneze, who visit the country only in the summer, are, from
remote times, entitled to certain tributes called Khone (brotherbood),
from every village in the Haouran. In return
[p.302]for this Khone, the Arabs abstain from touching the harvest of
the village, and from driving off its cattle and camels, when they meet
them in their way. Each village pays Khone to one Sheikh in every tribe;
the village is then known as his Ukhta [Arabic] or Sister, as the Arabs
term it, and he protects the inhabitants against all the members of his
own tribe. It may easily be imagined, however, that depredations are
often committed, without the possibility of redress, the depredator
being unknown, or flying immediately towards the desert. The amount of
the Khone is continually increasing; for the Arab Sheikh is not always
contented with the quantity of corn he received in the preceding year,
but asks something additional, as a present, which soon becomes a part
of his accustomed dues.
If the Pasha of Damascus were guided by sound policy, and a right view
of his own interests, he might soon put an end to the exactions of the
Arabs, by keeping a few thousand men, well paid, in garrison in the
principal places of the Haouran; but instead of this, his object is to
make the Khone an immediate source of income to himself; the chief
Sheikhs of the Fehely and Serdie receive yearly from the Pasha a present
of a pelisse, which entitles them to the tribute of the villages, out of
which the Fehely pays about twenty purses, and the Serdie twelve purses
into the Pasha's treasury. The Serdie generally regulate the amount of
the Khone which they levy, by that which the Fehely receive; and take
half as much; but the Khone paid to the Aeneze chiefs is quite
arbitrary, and the sum paid to a single Sheikh varies according to his
avidity; or the wealth of the Fellahs, from thirty and forty piastres up
to four hundred, which are generally paid in corn.
These various oppressive taxes, under which the poor Fellah groans, are
looked upon as things of course, and just contributions; and he
considers himself fortunate, if they form the whole of his
[p.303]sufferings: but it too often happens that the Pasha is a man who
sets no bounds to his rapacity, and extraordinary sums are levied upon
the village, by the simple command issued from the Hakim el Haouran to
the village Sheikh to levy three or four hundred piastres upon the
peasants of the place. On these occasions the women are sometimes
obliged to sell their ear-rings and bracelets, and the men their cattle,
to satisfy the demand, and have no other hope than that a rich harvest
in the following year shall make amends for their loss. The receipt of
the Miri of the whole Pashalik of Damascus is in the hands of the Jew
bankers, or Serafs of the Pasha, who have two and a half per cent. upon
his revenue, and as much upon his expenditure. They usually distribute
the villages amongst their creatures, who repair thither at the time of
harvest, to receive the Miri; and who generally extort, besides,
something for themselves.
The Druses who inhabit the villages in the Loehf, and those on the sides
of the Djebel Haouran, are to be classed with the Fellahs of the plain
with regard to their mode of living and their relations with the
government. Their dress is the same as that of the Fellahs to the W. of
Damascus; they seldom wear the Keffie, and the grown up men do not go
barefoot like the other Fellahs of the Haouran. I have already mentioned
that their chief resides at Soueida, of which village he is also the
Sheikh. On the death of the chief, the individual in his family who is
in the highest estimation from wealth or personal character succeeds to
the title, and is confirmed by the Pasha. It is known that on the death
of Wehebi el Hamdan, the present chief, who is upwards of eighty,
Shybely el Hamdan, the Sheikh of Aaere, will succeed him. The chief has
no income as such, it being derived from the village of which he is
Sheikh; and his authority over the others goes no further than to
communicate to them the orders of the Pasha. In manners these Druses
very much resemble those of the mountains of Kesrouan.
[p.304]The families form clans almost independent of each other; and
among whom there are frequent quarrels. Insults are studiously avenged
by the respective families, and the law of blood-revenge is in full
force among them, without being mitigated by the admission of any
pecuniary commutation. They all go armed, as do the Turks and Christians
of the Haouran in general. Few Druses have more than one wife; but she
may be divorced on very slight pretexts.
With respect to their religion, the Druses of the Haouran, like those in
Mount Libanus, have the class of men called Akoul (sing. Aakel), who are
distinguished from the rest by a white turban, and the peculiarity of
the folds in which they wear it. The Akoul are not permitted to smoke
tobacco; they never swear, and are very reserved in their manners and
conversation. I was informed that these were their only obligations; and
it appears probable, for I observed Akoul boys of eight or ten years of
age, from whom nothing more difficult could well be expected, and to
whom it is not likely that any important secret would be imparted. I
have seen Akouls of that age, whose fathers were not of the order,
because, as they told me, they could not abstain from smoking and
swearing. The Sheikhs are for the greater part Akouls. The Druses pray
in their chapels, but not at stated periods; these chapels are called
Khalawe [Arabic], i.e. an insulated place, and none but Druses are
allowed to enter them. They affect to follow the doctrines of Mohammed,
but few of them pray according to the Turkish forms: they fast during
Ramadan in the presence of strangers, but eat at their own homes, and
even of the flesh of the wild boar, which is frequently met with in
these districts. It is a singular belief both among the western Druses,
and those of the Haouran, that there are a great number of Druses in
England; an opinion founded perhaps upon the fanatical opinions of the
Christians of Syria, who deny the English to be followers of Christ,
because they neither confess nor fast. When I first arrived at the Druse
village of Aaere
[p.305]there was a large company in the Medhafe, and the Sheikh had no
opportunity of speaking to me in private; he therefore called for his
inkstand, and wrote upon a piece of paper the following questions, which
I answered as well as I could, and returned him the paper: "Where do the
five Wadys flow to, in your country?--Do you know the grain of the plant
Leiledj [Arabic]; and where is it sown?--What is the name of the Sultan
of China?--Are the towns of Hadjar and Nedjran in the Yemen known to
you?--Is Hadjar in ruins? and who will rebuild it?--Is the Moehdy (the
Saviour) yet come, or is he now upon the earth?".
I have not been able to obtain any information concerning the period at
which the Druses first settled in these parts. Min Kadim [Arabic], a
long time ago, was the general answer of all those whom I questioned on
the subject. During my stay at Aaere news arrived there, that a body of
one hundred and twenty Druses had left the western mountains, and were
coming to settle in Haouran.
The Pasha of Damascus has entrusted to the Druses of the Haouran, the
defence of the neighbouring villages against such of the Arabs as may be
at war with him; but the Druses perform this service very badly: they
are the secret friends of all the Arabs, to whom they abandon the
villages of the plain, on the condition that their own brethren are not
to be molested; and their Sheikhs receive from the Arabs presents in
horses, cattle, and butter. While at Aaere I witnessed an instance of
the good understanding between the Druses and the Arabs Serdie, whom I
have already mentioned as having been at war with the Pasha, at the time
of my visit to the Haouran: seeing in the evening some Arabs stealing
into the court-yard of the Sheikh's house, I enquired who they were, and
was told that they were Serdie, come in search of information, whether
any more troops were likely to be sent against them from Damascus. It is
for this kind of treachery that the Fellahs in the Haouran hate the
Druses.
[p.306] The authority both of the Druse and Turkish village Sheikh is
very limited, in consequence of the facility with which the Fellahs can
transport themselves and families to another village. I was present
during a dispute between a Christian Fellah and a Druse chief, who
wished to make the former pay for the ensuing year at the rate of the
same number of Fedhans that he had paid for the preceding year, though
he had now one pair of oxen less. After much wrangling, and high words
on both sides, the Christian said, "Very well, I shall not sow a single
grain, but retire to another village;" and by the next morning he had
made preparation for his departure; when the Sheikh having called upon
him, the affair was amicably settled, and a large dish of rice was
dressed in token of reconciliation. When disputes happen between Druses,
they are generally settled by the interference of mutual friends, or by
the Sheikhs or their respective families, or by the great chiefs; or
failing these, the two families of the two parties come to blows rather
than bring their differences before the court of justice at Damascus.
Among the Turks litigations are, in the last extremity, decided by the
Kadhi of Damascus, or by the Pasha in person. The Christians often bring
their differences before the tribunal of priests or that of the
Patriarch of Damascus, and before the Kadhi in times when it is known
that Christians can obtain justice, which is not the case under every
governor.
The Bedouins of the Haouran are of two classes; those who are resident,
and those who visit it in the spring and summer only. The resident Arabs
are the Fehily [Arabic], Serdie [Arabic], Beni Szakher [Arabic], Serhhan
[Arabic]; the Arabs of the mountain Haouran, or Ahl el Djebel [Arabic],
and those of the Ledja [Arabic]. By resident, I do not mean a fixed
residence in villages, but that their wanderings are confined to the
Haouran, or to some particular districts of it. Thus the four first
mentioned move through every part of the country from Zerka up to the
plains of Ard
[p.307]Zeikal, according to their relations with other tribes, their own
affairs, and the state of pasturage in the different districts. The Beni
Szakher generally encamp at the foot of the western mountains of Belka
and the Heish, the Serhhan near them, and the Fehily and Serdie in the
midst of the cultivated districts, or at a short distance from them,
according to the terms they are upon with the Pasha.[When I was in the
Haouran the Fehliy were encamped near the Szaffa, the Beni Szakher near
Fedhein, the Serhhan at the foot of the Belka, and the Serdie near Om
Eddjemal.] The Ahl el Djebel move about in the mountain; those of the
Ledja seldom venture to encamp beyond their usual limits in that
district. But I have spoken more largely of these tribes and their
mutual interests in another place. The Fehily and Serdie are called Ahl
el Dyrel, or national Arabs, and pay tribute to the Pasha, who, however,
is often at war with them for withholding it, or for plundering his
troops or the Fellahs.
If the Pasha happens to be at war with other tribes, they are bound to
join his troops; but in this they are guided entirely by the advantage
which they are likely to derive from the contest. They receive Khone
from all the villages of the Haouran, the Djolan, and many of those in
the Djebel Adjeloun.
The Ahl el Djebel and the Arabs el Ledja are kept in more strict
dependence upon the Pasha than the other tribes; both are subject to an
annual tribute, which is levied on each tent according to the wealth of
its owner; this is collected from the Arabs el Ledja by the Sheikh of
the Fellahs, and ascends from ten to sixty piastres for each tent. It
seldom happens that the Arabs el Djebel prove rebels, but those of the
Ledja often with-hold the tribute, in the confidence that the recesses
of their abode cannot he forced; in this case nothing makes them yield
but want of
[p.308]water, when their own springs failing, they are obliged to
approach the perennial sources of the Loehf.
The Arabs of the Djebel Haouran are the shepherds of the people of the
plains, who entrust to them in summer and winter their flocks of goats
and sheep, which they pasture during the latter season amongst the rocks
of the mountains. In spring the Arabs return the flocks to their owners,
who sell a part of them at Damascus, or make butter from the milk during
the spring months. The Arabs receive for their trouble one-fourth of the
lambs and kids, and a like proportion of the butter. Casual losses in
the flocks are borne equally by both parties.
The following are the different tribes of the Ahl el Djebel;
Esshenabele, El Hassan, El Haddie, Ghiath, Essherefat, Mezaid, El Kerad,
Beni Adhan, and Szammeral. Of those of the Ledja I have already spoken.
The Ahl el Djebel are always at peace with the other Arabs; but those of
the Ledja are often at war with the Fehily and Serdie. I come now to the
second class, or wandering Arabs.
In May the whole Haouran is coverered with swarms of wanderers from the
desert, who remain there till after September; these are at present
almost exclusively of the tribe of Aeneze. Formerly the Haouran was
often visited by the Sherarat, from the Mekka road, at fifteen stations
from Damascus; by the Shammor, from Djebel Shammor, and by the Dhofir
from the Irak country. On the arrival of the Aeneze, the resident Arabs
who may happen to be at war with them, conceal themselves in the
neighbourhood of the western mountain or in the Szaffa, or they retire
towards Mezareib and Szannamein. The Aeneze come for a two-fold purpose,
water and pasturage for the summer, and a provision of corn for the
winter. If they are at peace with the Pasha they encamp quietly among
the villages, near the springs or wells if at
[p.309]war with him, for their relations with the government of Damascus
are as uncertain as their own with each other, they keep in the district
to the S. of Boszra, towards Om Eddjemal and Fedhein, extending their
limits south as far as El Zerka. The Pasha generally permits them to
purchase corn from the Haouran, but in years when a scarcity is
apprehended, a restriction is put upon them.
Till within a few years the Aeneze were the constant carriers of the
Hadj, and made yearly contracts with the Pasha for several thousand
camels, by which they were considerable gainers, as well as by the fixed
tribute which many of their Sheikhs had made themselves entitled to from
the pilgrim caravan; and by their nightly plunder of stragglers, and
loaded camels during the march. These advantages have made the Aeneze
inclined to preserve friendly terms with the Pashalik of Damascus, and
to break allegiance to the Wahabi chief, notwithstanding they have been
for twelve years converts to his religious doctrines. If, however, they
shall become convinced that the Hadj is no longer practicable, they will
soon turn their arms against their former friends, an event which is
justly dreaded by the people of the Haouran.
The tribe of Aeneze which most usually visits the Haouran is the Would
Ali, under their chiefs Etteiar and Ibn Ismayr; the latter has at
present more interest than any other Arab Sheikh, with the Pasha, from
whom he occasionally receives considerable presents, as an
indemnification for his losses by the suspension of the Hadj, as well as
to induce him to keep his Arabs on good terms with the Turkish governors
of the Pashalik.
[p.311]