James A. Reilly - Fragile Nation, Shattered Land: The Modern History of Syria

Table of Contents

(definite article al- ignored for alphabetizing surnames)

Abdulhamid II (r. 18761909), Ottoman sultan who revived the office of caliphate

Abdullah of Transjordan (d. 1951), son of Sharif Hussein and British-installed ruler of Transjordan, later Jordan

Abdulmejid I (r. 183961), Ottoman sultan who initiated the Tanzimat reforms

al-Abid, Ahmad Izzat (d. 1924), Abdulhamid loyalist who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Ottoman Damascus

al-Abid, Nazik (d. 1959), pioneer of Syrias twentieth-century womens movement

Abu Bakr b. Abi al-Wafa (d. 1583), a celebrated Sufi of Aleppo

Abu Risha, Omar (d. 1990), Syrian poet of the mid-twentieth century

Adwan, Mamdouh (d. 2004), playwright who explored sociopolitical issues

Aflaq, Michel (d. 1989), a Damascene and co-founder of the Baath party

al-Ajluni, Ismail (d. 1749), a conservative jurist of Damascus

al-Ali, Saleh (d. 1950), Alawite sheikh who led resistance campaign against French in 1920

Ali Bey al-Kabir (d. 1773), independence-minded Mamluk ruler of Egypt, 176072

Alloush, Zahran (d. 2015), opposition militia leader in the post-2011 civil war

Amer, Abdel Hakim (d. 1967), Egyptian military associate of Nassers who wielded authority in Syria during the last months of the union with Egypt

Amiralay, Omar (d. 2011), Syrias preeminent documentary filmmaker

al-Antaki, Abd al-Masih (d. 1923), Aleppo intellectual and journalist of the 1890s who saw modern Europe and France as social models for Syria

Arar, Maher (b. 1970), CanadianSyrian engineer arrested in the US and sent to Syria for interrogation under torture

al-Arsuzi, Zaki (d. 1968), prominent Arab activist in Iskanderun during the 1930s

al-Assad, Anisa (ne Makhlouf) (d. 2016), wife of Hafez al-Assad

al-Assad, Asma (ne Akhras) (b. 1975), wife of Bashar and Syrias First Lady (2001)

al-Assad, Bashar (b. 1965), president of Syria from 2000 onward

al-Assad, Basil (d. 1994), oldest son and heir-apparent of Hafez al-Assad

al-Assad, Hafez (d. 2000), Alawite air force general who ruled Syria from 1970 until his death

al-Assad, Rifaat (b. 1937), Hafezs younger brother who commanded praetorian guard units until stripped of his military power in 1984

al-Atassi, Hashim (d. 1960), senior nationalist from Homs, and Syrias president during intervals from 1936 to 1955

al-Atassi, Nureddin (d. 1992), Sunni ally of Salah Jadid who was figurehead president of Syria, 196670

al-Atrash, Sultan (d. 1982), Druze leader of the Syrian revolt against France, 19257

al-Azm, Abdallah Pasha (d. 1809), last Azm governor of Damascus who held office in intervals, 17951807

al-Azm, Asaad Pasha (d. 1758), third and most illustrious Azm governor of Damascus, 174257

al-Azm, Ibrahim Bey, a local military commander active in the region between Hama and Aleppo in the seventeenth century, founder of the Azm family of Ottoman governors

al-Azm, Khalid (d. 1965), industrialist and independent politician who as premier was twice overthrown in military coups

al-Azmeh, Yusuf (d. 1920), commander of the Arab forces who fought the advancing French at Maysaloun in 1920

al-Bakri, Nasib (d. 1966), one of the few landowning notables of Damascus to participate in the anti-French revolt of 19257

Barakat, Halim (b. 1936), Syrian-born novelist from the coastal mountains

Barakat, Subhi (d. 1939), a pro-French politician from Antioch

al-Barazi, Muhammad Agha (d. 1891), a military figure who in 1880 became a major landowner around Hama

al-Barazi, Najib (d. 1967), landowning notable of Hama who frustrated efforts to extend the anti-French revolt to the city in 1925

Barbar Agha (d. 1835), local Janissary and military strongman of Tripoli

Bashir II al-Shihab (d. 1850), emir of Mount Lebanon (17891840) who allied with the Egyptians in the 1830s and became identified with local Christian rule

Ben Ali, Zine El Abidine (b. 1936), president of Tunisia, 19872011

Beyhum, Muhammad Jamil (d. 1978), Beirut feminist, husband of Nazik al-Abid

al-Bouti, Mohamed Said Ramadan (d. 2013), prominent Sunni religious scholar and ally of Hafez al-Assad

al-Bukhari, Muhammad Murad (d. ca. 1720), a Central Asian scholar who established the Muradi family of ulama in Damascus

Burayk, Mikhail (fl. 1782), Christian chronicler of Damascus

Bush, George H. W. (b. 1924), US president, 198993

Bush, George W. (b. 1946), US president, 20019

al-Bustani, Salim (d. 1884), Beirut pioneer of the Arabic novel whose Zenobia (1871) lionized the Roman-era queen of Palmyra

Carbillet, Gabriel (d. 1940), a French officer whose ham-handed administration helped to spark the anti-French revolt in the Jabal Druze in 1925

Clinton, Bill (b. 1946), US president, 19932001

Darwish Pasha, governor of Damascus in 1574

de Gaulle, Charles (d. 1970), during World War II, leader of the Free French who ceded Syrian independence; later became president of France

al-Dimashqi, Zayn al-Din Muflih, one of the Damascus ulama in the sixteenth century

Erdoan, Recep Tayyip (b. 1954), Turkish prime minister (200314) and president (2014)

Faisal, son of Sharif Hussein (d. 1933), who established an Arab administration in Damascus from 1918 to 1920, then was made king of Iraq, 192133

Fakhr al-Din Ibn Maan (d. 1635), a Druze strongman of Mount Lebanon

Farhi, Haim (d. 1820), Jewish banker and administrator for Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar and Suleiman Pasha

Farzat, Ali (b. 1951), the preeminent cartoonist in the Assads Syria

Gaddafi, Muammar (d. 2011), leader of Libya, 19692011

Ghalioun, Burhan (b. 1945), exiled Syrian academic and early head (201112) of the opposition Syrian National Council

al-Ghawri, Qansuh (d. 1516), last Mamluk sultan of Syria (r. 150116)

al-Ghazali, Janbardi (d. 1521), former Mamluk official who rebelled against Sultan Suleiman

Ghul Aghasi, Mahmud Abu Qaqa (d. 2007), populist preacher in Aleppo

al-Hafez, Amin (d. 2009), Sunni Baathist president of Syria from 1963 to 1966, aligned with the Baaths civilian leadership in the National Command

Hamadas, a Shiite military clan who administered parts of the Lebanon region as Ottoman tax farmers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Hananu, Ibrahim (d. 1935), leading nationalist from Aleppo in the early years of French rule

al-Hariri, Rafiq (d. 2005), Sunni Lebanese politician and former prime minister, killed by a car bomb

Harfushes, a Shiite military clan who administered parts of rural Syria under Ottoman auspices from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries

al-Hasani, Taj al-Din (d. 1943), a pro-French Damascene politician during the Mandate

al-Hasibi, Abul-Suud, Muslim notable of Damascus who witnessed the 1860 massacres

Hinnawi, Sami (d. 1950), colonel who led the second of three military coups in 1949

al-Hourani, Akram (d. 1996), socialist organizer from Hama whose agrarian party merged with the Baath in 1952

Hussein, King of Jordan (d. 1999), reigned from 1952 until his death

Hussein, Saddam (d. 2006), Baath dictator and president of Iraq, 19792003

Ibn Arabi (d. 1240), theosophist and saint who emphasized search for inner truths

Ibn Budayr (fl. 1762), a barber-chronicler of Damascus

Ibn Kannan, Muhammad (d. 17401), prolific writer and member of Damascene ulama

Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), celebrated late medieval Arab Muslim thinker

Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), medieval thinker who emphasized literal and outward forms of scriptural understanding (contra Ibn Arabi)

Ibn Tulun, Muhammad (d. 1546), eyewitness to Ottoman conquest of Damascus

Ibrahim Pasha (d. 1848), Muhammad Ali Pashas son and heir-apparent who governed Syria for his father in the 1830s