Ismail al-Atrash (Arabic: إسماعيل الأطرش) (died November 1869) was the preeminent Druze sheikh (chieftain) of Jabal Hauran, a mountainous region southeast of Damascus, in the mid-19th century.
As relative newcomers, they lacked influence in their new home, but Ismail gradually established himself as a power in the village of al-Qurayya and maintained virtual independence from the prominent Druze clans.
He was a patron of Druze newcomers from Mount Lebanon and with their support he supplanted the Al Hamdan clan as the major force in Jabal Hauran.
[3] Between then and 1857, he undertook significant efforts to expand his sheikhdom into territory controlled by the Hamdan clan, who up until Ismail's rise were the most powerful Druze family in Jabal Hauran.
[5] According to Churchill, a British diplomat, Ismail and his men "sprung like tigers from their lairs" in response to Jumblatt's call.
[5] Ismail launched surprise and rapid forays against Christian villages and forces in Wadi al-Taym, Zahle and the Beqaa Valley.
[7] In November 1866, Rashid Pasha, the wali (governor) of Syria Vilayet, which included Jabal Hauran, invited Ismail to Damascus.
[7] In effect, the Ottomans recognized Ismail's de jure authority in Jabal Hauran, and the official appointment further antagonized the Hamdan and Bani Amer clans, who formed an alliance with the Muslim villagers of the Hauran plain and local Bedouin tribes to curtail Ismail's authority.
[7] Husayn al-Hajari, the Druze shaykh al-aql (spiritual leader), mediated the dispute and oversaw a reconciliation agreement whereby the Bani al-Atrash would control 18 villages, while the other prominent families were accorded their own, smaller districts.
[9] Rashid Pasha sought to avert a further deterioration in the province and invited the Druze sheikhs for reconciliation talks in Damascus.