Damascus came under Ottoman Rule in 1516. The empire lasted for a period of four long centuries and witnessed the rise and fall of several powerful rulers. The Ottoman Empire in Damascus came to an end in 1918.
Damascus was under Ottoman rule from the period between 1516 and 1918. The Ottoman Empire was founded in 1299 at Turkey. The Ottoman rulers aimed to expand their kingdom and in the process acquired the territories that were less powerful and plagued by internal strife. These included Syria too and within the middle of the 16th century, they succeeded in conquering portions of the Empire in the east.
Beginning of the Ottoman Empire in Damascus
Janbirdi al-Ghazali became the very first governor of the Ottoman Empire in Damascus. He acquired the position of the Governor by rendering help to Sultan Selim in his efforts to capture the city. After the demise of Selim, Ghazali declared himself to be the Sultan of the state of Syria. But he was restricted in his ambitions by Suleiman the Magnificent. Suleiman was the one who sought to divide the land into three distinct provinces or vilayets namely Damascus, Aleppo and Tripoli. Each of the provinces comprised of smaller states. These were called sanjaks. Damascus was made the administrative capital of a particular province that comprised of Palmyra, Gaza, Beirut, Nablus,
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Sido and Jerusalem.
However, the Ottoman rule in Damascus was not without interruptions. They had to withdraw their troops from Syria for a short period of time in the face of an attack by Fakhr Eddin el-Ma'ni, a chieftain from Mount Lebanon. However, Ottoman autonomy was restored within a short span.
Downfall of the Ottoman Empire in Damascus
The Ottoman rule in Damascus began to disintegrate from 19th century onwards. The first blow to the rule came in the form of the death of Selim Pasha, who served as the Governor of Damascus. The following year, the Empire passed on to the hands of Ibrahim Pasha. He was, however, stopped with assistance from British troops and Damascus was again brought under Ottoman rule.
The period saw the influx of foreign traders in large numbers as it provided them with a rich resource base for procuring raw materials. With the beginning of the First World War, the Ottoman rulers formed an alliance with Germany. As a result Syria automatically became a part of the conflict. The Arabs in the meantime managed to enter Damascus led by Faisal, son of Sherfi Hussein, in 1918. This attack was carried out along with the British troops. It proved to be the end of the Ottoman control over Damascus, a rule which had lasted over four centuries.
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