Fakhr al Din II

Life and Reign

Fakhr-al-Din was born in Baakline to Qorqmaz (Arabic: الامير قرقماز بن معن‎‎), the Emir of Lebanon and Sit Nasab (Arabic: الست نسب‎‎) of the Tanukhi family. He was thirteen years of age when his father died, after which a civil war erupted between the predominant factions, the Kaysīs, of which Fakhr-al-Din belonged, and the Yamanis, a war which he won sometime in 1591. He then set out to unite the perpetually warring Maronite and Druze districts of Ottoman Lebanon, which was realized after he defeated the local ruler Yūsuf Sayfā in 1607.

In order to cement his position, Fakhr-al-Din forged an alliance with the Italian Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1608. Fakhr-al-Din's ambitions, popularity and unauthorized foreign contacts alarmed the Ottomans who authorized Hafiz Ahmed Pasha, Muhafiz of Damascus, to mount an attack on Lebanon in 1613 in order to reduce Fakhr-al-Din's growing power. Faced with Hafiz's army of 50,000 men, Fakhr-al-Din chose exile in Tuscany, leaving affairs in the hands of his brother Yunis and his son Ali Beg. They succeeded in maintaining most of the forts such as in Banias (Subayba) and in Niha which were a mainstay of Fakhr-al-Din's power. Before leaving, Fakhr-al-Din paid his standing army of soqbans (mercenaries) two years wages in order to secure their loyalty.

Hosted in Tuscany by the Medici Family, Fakhr-al-Din was welcomed by the grand duke Cosimo II, who was his host and sponsor for the two years he spent at the court of the Medici. He spent a further three years as guest of the Spanish Viceroy of Sicily and then Naples, Pedro Téllez-Girón. Fakhr-al-Din had wished to enlist Tuscan or other European assistance in a "Crusade" to free his homeland from Ottoman domination, but was met with a refusal as Tuscany was unable to afford such an expedition. The emir eventually gave up the idea, realizing that Europe was more interested in trade with the Ottomans than in taking back the Holy Land. His stay nevertheless allowed him to witness Europe's cultural revival in the 17th century, and bring back some Renaissance ideas and architectural features.

By 1618, political changes in the Ottoman sultanate had resulted in the removal of many of Fakhr-al-Din's enemies from power, allowing his return to Lebanon, whereupon he was able quickly to reunite all the lands of Lebanon beyond the boundaries of its mountains; and having revenge from Emir Yusuf Pasha ibn Siyfa, attacking his stronghold in Akkar, destroying his palaces and taking control of his lands, and regaining the territories he had to give up in 1613 in Sidon, Tripoli, Bekaa among others. Under his rule, printing presses were introduced and Jesuit priests and Catholic nuns encouraged to open schools throughout the land.

In 1623, the prince angered the Ottomans by refusing to allow an army on its way back from the Persian front to winter in the Bekaa. This (and instigation by the powerful Janissariy garrison in Damascus) led Mustafa Pasha, Governor of Damascus, to launch an attack against him, resulting in the battle at Majdel Anjar where the Emir's forces although outnumbered managed to capture the Pasha and secure the Lebanese prince and his allies a much needed military victory. By 1631, he had dominated most of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

However, as time passed, the Ottomans grew increasingly uncomfortable with the Emir's increasing powers and extended relations with Europe. In 1632, Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha was named Muhafiz of Damascus, being a rival of Fakhr-al-Din and a friend of Sultan Murad IV, who ordered the new Muhafiz and the sultanate's navy to attack Lebanon and depose Fakhr-al-Din.

This time, the Emir had decided to remain in Lebanon and resist the offensive, but the death of his son Ali Beg in Wadi el-Taym was the beginning of his defeat. He later took refuge in Niha's grotto, closely followed by Kuchuk Ahmed Pasha. He surrendered to the Ottoman general Jaafar Pasha, whom he knew well, under circumstances that are not clear.

Conversion and Death

The Emir fell very sick to an unknown disease in 1633. Upon his sickness Capuchin father "Adrien de la Brose" was summoned and convinced the Emir to convert to Christianity. The Emir hesitated and was afraid of the Ottoman state reaction. Later he converted after father Adrien assurance to keep the Emir baptism and conversion confidential.

Fakhr-al-Din was taken to Constantinople and kept in the Yedikule (Seven Towers) prison for two years. Fakhr-al-Din, and one or two of his sons, were accused of treason and "denial of Islam and sympathy toward Christians". He was then summoned before the sultan. After the Sultan declared the death sentence, Fakhr-al-din requested fifteen minutes of reconciliation to prepare to meet his God. He was granted his request. The Emir knelled facing the Orient, performing the sign of the cross and proceeded praying in christian manner. The Sultan went furious and shouted "strangle that Christian". Fakhr-al-Din was executed there on 13 April 1635 and upon stripping him a Rosary was found around his neck. There are unsubstantiated rumors that the younger of the two boys was spared and raised in the harem, later becoming Ottoman ambassadors to India.

After his death, his nephew Mulhim ruled the Shouf heartland of Fakhr-al-Din's former domains until his death in 1658 after which a power struggle erupted between his sons which was eventually won by Ahmad, who ruled until 1697. After his death the Shihab family succeeded the Ma'ans as "Emirs of Mount Lebanon".