The Hauran is a volcanic plateau, located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of modern-day Jordan.

With the advent of the Ottoman Turks and the conquest of Syria by Sultan Selim I in 1516, the Druze Ma'ans were acknowledged by the new rulers as the feudal lords of southern Mount Lebanon.

Following the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, the spread of taxation, elections and conscription, to areas already undergoing economic change caused by the construction of new railroads, provoked large revolts, particularly among the Druzes of the Hauran.

Sami Pasha al-Farouqi arrived in Damascus in August 1910, leading an Ottoman expeditionary force of some 35 battalions,[2] and began advancing on Druze positions on 18 or 19 September.

Zuqan al-Atrash led a fierce battle against the Ottomans near al-Kafr, where he faced the forces of Sami Pasha al-Farouqi.

The Druze campaign of 1910 became a starting point to cancel a "policy of exceptions" in Ottoman Syria, later implementing similar measures in Jabal Ajlun, as well as during the Karak revolt in Transjordan.

In 1920, al-Atrash family was supporting the short-living Arab Kingdom of Syria, which was re-occupied by France after the Battle of Maysalun on July 24, 1920.