Hauran Druze Rebellion The Hauran Druze Rebellion was a violent Druze uprising against Ottoman authority in the Syrian province , which erupted in 1909 . The rebellion was led by the al - Atrash family , in an aim to gain independence , but ended in brutal suppression of the Druze , significant depopulation of the Hauran region and execution of the Druze leaders . Background . The Hauran is a volcanic plateau , located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of modern - day Jordan . The area includes the Golan Heights on the west , and is bounded there by the Jordan Rift Valley ; it also includes Jabal ad - Duruz area in the east , and is bounded there by more arid steppe and desert terrains . With the advent of the Ottoman Turks and the conquest of Syria by Sultan Selim I in 1516 , the Druze Ma ' ans were acknowledged by the new rulers as the feudal lords of southern mount Lebanon . Druze villages spread and prospered in that region , which under Ma ' an leadership so flourished that it acquired the generic term of " Jabal Bayt - Ma ' an " ( the mountain of the Ma ' an family ) or " Jabal al - Druze " . The latter title has since been usurped by the Hauran region , which since the middle of the 19th century has proven a haven of refuge to Druze emigrants from Mount Lebanon , and has become the headquarters of Druze power The Druze family of Al - Atrash had nominally governed the region of Suwayda since 1879 . Following the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 , the spread of taxation , elections and conscription , to areas already undergoing economic change caused by the construction of new railroads , provoked large revolts , particularly among the Druzes and the Hauran . Rebellion . The rebellion in Hauran erupted in May 1909 , when a business dispute between Druze chief Yahia bey Atrash in the village of Basr al - Harir escalated into a clash of arms between the Druze and Ottoman - backed local villagers . A year of truce attempts followed , but failed to achieve any stability in the area and prompting an Ottoman response . Sami Pasha al - Farouqi arrived in Damascus in August 2010 , leading an Ottoman expeditionary force of some 35 battalions . Though the Druze recognized their inferiority against such a force , several clashes followed . Zuqan al - Atrash led a fierce battle against the Ottomans near Al - Kefr , where he faced the forces of Sami Pasha al - Farouqi . After engaging Ottoman troops in two villages the Druze resistance collapsed . Sami Pasha used military force and trickery and succeeded in occupying the whole Jabal el - Druze . The rebellion ended with massive casualties among the Druze inhabitants of the Hauran , reaching as much as 10 % of the population . The number of killed is put at 2 , 000 with a similar number of wounded and hundreds of imprisoned , taken into custody in Damascus and Acre . This led to significant depopulation of entire areas within the region . Zuqan , the leader of the revolt , was captured and later executed in 1911 ( some sources place his execution in 1910 ) . Aftermath . Following the collapse of the Druze revolt , al - Farouqi launched a campaign to disarm the Druze population - some 10 , 000 rifles were collected . Al - Farouqi also performed a census of the Hauran area , ordering 200 , 000 cards from Istanbul for the purpose . Taxes were collected and arrears in cattle extracted when taxation was not available . Furthermore , one thousand Druze were conscripted into the Ottoman army and scattered throughout the empire . The Druze campaign of 1910 became a starting point to cancel a " policy of exceptions " in Ottoman Syria , later implementing similar measures in Jabal Ajlun , as well as Karak in Transjordan . During the First World War , the Ottomans left Jabal al - Druze in peace as they feared rebellion . Sultan al - Atrash , son of Zuqan al - Atrash , was then able to get in touch with Pan - Arab movements and especially with the Arab Revolt in Hijaz . When Arab forces reached Aqaba , he sent a thousand men to join the revolt . He joined them himself with another 300 men , when they reached Bosra . His forces were the first to enter Damascus and raise the Arab flag on the government house on September 29 , 1918 . Sultan al - Atrash was in good relations with the Hashemite Emir Faisal , leader of the Arab forces in the revolt . Sultan was awarded the title of Emir and the rank of a General in the Syrian army , the equivalent of the title of Pasha . In 1920 , al - Atrash family was supporting the short - living Arab Kingdom of Syria , which was re - occupied by France after the Battle of Maysalun on July 24 , 1920 . Sultan al - Atrash was gathering his men to fight the French , but the quick succession of events cut his efforts short , as French forces entered Damascus and the country was divided into five states , State of Souaida ( later Jabal al - Druze state ) being one of them . Sultan al - Atrash would later become the rebel commander of the Druze War against the French Mandate between 1925 and 1927 , and would remain a prominent figure in Syrian politics , despite the utter defeat of the Druze War .