History of the ‘Alawis

Stefan Winter is associate professor of history at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM). He is the author of The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule.

• List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Classical Perceptions of 'Alawism, Nomenclaturism, and Dissimulation * Sources and Argument 1 The Nusayris in Medieval Syria: From Religious Sect to Confessional Community (Tenth-Twelfth Centuries CE ) 11 Ghulat Shi'i Origins * The Nusayri (Khasibi) Da'wa * The Conversion of the Syrian Highlands * Between the Ismailis and the Crusaders * Makzun al-Sinjari * Conclusion: The Birth of a Minority 2 Beyond the Mountain Refuge: 'Alawism and the Sunni State (Thirteenth-FFifteenth Centuries) 43 The Defeat of the Ishaqis and the Hululi-Thamina Controversy * Relations with the State Authorities and the Ismailis * Ibn Taymiyya and the Politics of Persecution * The Uprising of 1318 * Mamluk Fiscal Policies toward the 'Alawis * Conclusion: The Persecution Syndrome 3 Survey and Punish: The 'Alawis' Integration into the Ottoman Empire (1516-1645) 74 The Ottoman Conquest * The 'Alawi Rebellion * The Dirhemu'r-Rical and the Tax Districts of the Coastal Highlands * The Province of Jabala under Ottoman Rule * Conclusion: From Rebels to Reaya 4 The Age of Autonomy: 'Alawi Notables as Ottoman Tax Farmers (1667-1808) 119 'Alawi Tribalism, Tribalization, and Gentry * The Shamsins and the Mukataa of Safita * The Bayt al-Shillif * The Rise of Latakia * Population Pressure and Migration toward Antioch * The Townships (Hillas) of Safita and the Barakat and Raslan Families * Saqr ibn Mahfuz * The War with the Ismailis * conclusion: The Economics of Anarchy 5 Imperial Reform and Internal Colonization: 'Alawi Society in the Face of Modernity (1808-1888) 161 The Disappearance of Ottoman Tripoli * Conversion and Sectarianization * Shaykh al-Moghrabi * The Egyptian Occupation, 1831-1841 * A World Restored * The Struggle over Schooling * The Plight of the Minorities * Administrative Modernity * Conclusion: 'Alawi Ottomanism and Compatriotism 6 Not Yet Nationals: Arabism, Kemalism, and the Alaouites (1888-1936) 218 Hamidian Reeducation * Loyalty and Control * The 'Alawi Awakening * Salih al-'Ali and the Guney Cephesi (Southern Front) * Mandate vs. Republic * Conclusion: The Double Disservice Conclusion 269 From the Sectarian to the Local Bibliography 275 Index 295

"Winter has produced a timely and informative history of the Alawis, an important religious minority located in today's Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey... Unlike most existing literature, Winter uses the vast and largely untouched sources from the Ottoman period to show the existence of a normalized rapport between the state and the Alawis."--Choice