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Alawites (Syria): Difference between revisions
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→The Conditions of the Alawites in the Period of the Ottoman Empire
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After the fatwa, the army of Mamluks attacked the residential areas of the Alawites in [[Muharram]], [[705]]/August 1305 under the commandership of the regent, Aqrash Afram, killing the Alawites and plundered their residences. The event is referred to in the Alawite sources as the “slaughter of the Alawites”. The Alawites underwent most tragedies after the invasion of the territories of the Mamluks by [[Timur]], the founder of the [[Timurid]] dynasty. In these attacks, 20,000 people were killed in Aleppo in 802/1399 and the areas in the north of Syria were ruined and the decline of the Alawites was thus accomplished. | After the fatwa, the army of Mamluks attacked the residential areas of the Alawites in [[Muharram]], [[705]]/August 1305 under the commandership of the regent, Aqrash Afram, killing the Alawites and plundered their residences. The event is referred to in the Alawite sources as the “slaughter of the Alawites”. The Alawites underwent most tragedies after the invasion of the territories of the Mamluks by [[Timur]], the founder of the [[Timurid]] dynasty. In these attacks, 20,000 people were killed in Aleppo in 802/1399 and the areas in the north of Syria were ruined and the decline of the Alawites was thus accomplished. | ||
== | ==In the Period of the Ottoman Empire== | ||
The conditions of the Alawites under the | The conditions of the Alawites under the Ottoman empire should be considered both in the period of "Selim I" and in the period in which the Ottomans slowed down their conquests in Europe and focused on eastern Anatolia and the southern parts of their empire. The Ottomans decided to topple the Mamluk dynasty and conquer Syria and Egypt because of the increasing tension between them and their neighboring rival, the [[Safavids]], which culminated in the [[Battle of Chaldiran]] and a remarkable defeat of the Safavids and the suspicious supports of the Safavids by heads of the Mamluks. | ||
===The Mass Murder of the Alawites by Selim I=== | ===The Mass Murder of the Alawites by Selim I=== | ||
Selim I attached | "Selim I" attached Syria in 1516 and toppled down the Mamluk dynasty and then he soon conquered the whole Syria and Egypt. Before his conquest of Egypt, he resided in Aleppo for a while. In that period, a remarkable minority of Alawites lived in Aleppo. Selim believed that the existence of the Alawites was a threat to his power in Syria and worried that they support, and cooperate with, the Safavids. Thus, he committed a violent mass murder of the Alawites on the basis of fatwas issued by Sunni scholars of Aleppo according to which the Alawites were unbelievers and thus it was obligatory to fight them. | ||
Before the mass murder, he gathered about 9400 Alawite seniors and prominent figures under the pretext of negotiations. He then beheaded all of them on the basis of the fatwa, and then he issued the order of the mass murder of all the Alawites in the whole | Before the mass murder, he gathered about 9400 Alawite seniors and prominent figures under the pretext of negotiations. He then beheaded all of them on the basis of the fatwa, and then he issued the order of the mass murder of all the Alawites in the whole Syria. According to some historical accounts, 40,000 Alawites were killed at the command of Selim I. Many Alawites fled to mountains of Nusayriyya and lived in total isolation, cultural and social decline, and poverty for about 4 centuries. | ||
===Midhat Pasha and the End of the Long-Term Decline of the Alawites=== | ===Midhat Pasha and the End of the Long-Term Decline of the Alawites=== | ||
The period of the Alawite decline continued until the late 19th century. However, their condition began to improve after the emergence of [[Midhat Pasha]], the prime minister of two Ottoman kings, Abdulaziz I and Abdulhamid II, who was an Ottoman enlightened intellectual. The Alawites who underwent intense deprivations for centuries attracted the attention of Midhat Pasha. He tried to help the Alawites out of their isolations and give back the rights they were denied. Although Midhat Pasha could not fulfil all his promises in less than two years of his rule over Syria, his actions reawakened the Alawites and made them aware of their social and human rights. | The period of the Alawite decline continued until the late 19th century. However, their condition began to improve after the emergence of [[Midhat Pasha]], the prime minister of two Ottoman kings, "Abdulaziz I" and "Abdulhamid II", who was an Ottoman enlightened intellectual. The Alawites who underwent intense deprivations for centuries attracted the attention of Midhat Pasha. He tried to help the Alawites out of their isolations and give back the rights they were denied. Although Midhat Pasha could not fulfil all his promises in less than two years of his rule over Syria, his actions reawakened the Alawites and made them aware of their social and human rights. | ||
==The Alawites in the 20th and 21st Centuries== | ==The Alawites in the 20th and 21st Centuries== | ||