Ramadan al-Shallash
Ramaḍān Pāshā al-Shallāsh (Arabic: رمضان شلاش; 1879– 1962) was a prominent rebel commander of the 1925 Great Syrian Revolt and, prior to that, a military officer in the Ottoman and Sharifian armies.
Three years later, he led efforts to ensure Deir ez-Zor and its environs become part of Syria; to that end, he and his Bedouin fighters expelled the British from the city without apparent sanction from Hussein's son, Emir Faisal.
He served as the intermediary between that country's emir and Faisal's brother, Abdullah, and the northern Syrian revolt leader Ibrahim Hananu.
[2] His father was the sheikh (chieftain) of the Al Bu Saraya (also spelled "Albu Saray"), a Bedouin tribe that inhabited the area around Deir ez-Zor.
[4] Historian Michael Provence holds that due to his older age and other factors, Shallash would have needed the specialized remedial curriculum of the Tribal School".
[4] It was at the military academy that he likely met Yasin al-Hashimi, Fawzi al-Qawuqji, Sa'id al-'As and Ja'far al-Askari, later his associates.
[5] Sharif Husayn's son, Emir Faisal set up a rudimentary government in Damascus in October–November 1918 with the support of the allied and clandestine Arab nationalist societies, al-Fatat and al-Ahd.
[6] In late May 1919, Shallash returned to Deir ez-Zor to rally support for the Arab government in Damascus and stir opposition to British forces among the largest Bedouin tribes in the Jazira region, the Shammar and `Anazzah.
[6] He went as far north as Turkish-held Urfa to gather tribal allegiance for the Arab government and support for Damascus's annexation of the regions near British-held Iraq.
[6] He received the support of several tribal sheikhs, but none agreed to accompany him back to Damascus to demonstrate their allegiance to Faisal, and many favored their regions becoming part of Iraq.
[7] Al-Hashimi tasked Shallash with taking over the city, transferring to him some Iraqi officers and funds to gain the support of local Bedouin tribes.
As Shallash prepared for his assault on Deir ez-Zor, he spurned tribal leaders in the vicinity to oppose the British and handed them a letter signed by Emir Zayd, Faisal's brother and placeholder while he was in Europe, that asked for them to assist Shallash, the "military governor of the qadaʿ [district] of the Raqqa region, the Khabur river, and the Euphrates".
[8] On 11 December, at 3:00 am, between 500 and 2,000 Bedouin tribesmen raided Deir ez-Zor, entering from its southern entrance, i.e. from the desert instead of the population centers to the east, west and north.
[10] The British ultimately refused him assistance, and Faisal, having been informed of events, directed Emir Zayd to dissociate the Arab government from Shallash's actions and order his arrest.
[11] The following day, the Arab government ordered Shallash's dismissal, whilst protesting Albu Kamal's exclusion from Syria.
[17] According to Provence, He [Shallash] fought in the revolt and mobilized peasants, nomads, and villagers throughout Syria with a complicated and apparently potent mix of nationalism, popular religious fervor, evocations of Arab honor, Kemalist enthusiasm, and class warfare against big landlords aligned with the French Mandatory government.
[16] Meanwhile, rebels in the Ghouta led by Hasan al-Kharrat and Nasib al-Bakri were poised to attack and capture Damascus from the French and requested backing from Qawuqji and the Druze warriors of Sultan al-Atrash.
[20] After Kharrat captured al-Shaghour, he was joined by Shallash and twenty of his Bedouin horsemen; the combined force then seized the Azm Palace, headquarters of High-Commissioner Maurice Sarrail, who was absent at the time.
If General Sarrail is a stupid idiot, is it not your duty to warn him of the damage you would suffer and the ill reputation which would result for France in the Orient?
[22]By November, Shallash and his tribal fighters joined forces with Jum'a Sawsaq; the latter was the former mukhtar (headman) of Rankus and led a rebel band whose area of operations extended from an-Nabk southward to Zabadani.
[23] Their combined forces numbered between 600 and 1,000 Bedouin and peasant fighters, and both Shallash and Sawsaq declared themselves, with al-Atrash's sanction, joint commanders of a "National Army" brigade.
[23] According to Provence, "the French viewed this development with horror" since the formation had the potential to attract a much larger following of nationalists and gain funding from pan-Arab associations.
[23] Throughout November, Shallash secretly entered the villages of the Qalamoun Mountains at night to recruit fighters, attack gendarmes, plunder local Mandate headquarters and the homes of French-friendly individuals.
[23] One historian even suggests that he "had become a kind of Robin Hood figure of the insurgency" given his blend of "patriotism and nationalism with a mix of social justice, popular religious fervor, and class warfare.
