Druze power struggle ( 1658 – 67 ) The Druze power struggle of 1658 - 1667 was one of the most violent episodes of tribal disputes during Ottoman rule in the Levant . The conflict erupted between rebel and pro - Ottoman Druze factions over succession of the Maani rule . Background . In 1624 , when the Ottoman Sultan recognized Fakhr - al - Din II as Lord of Arabistan ( from Aleppo to the borders of Egypt ) , the Druze leader made Tiberias his capital . Fakhr ad Din II , one of the most famous Druze Emirs , was succeeded in 1635 by his nephew Mulhim Ma ' an , who ruled through his death in 1658 . Fakhr ad Din II ' s only surviving son , Husayn , lived the rest of his life as a court official in Constantinople . Emir Mulhim exercised Iltizam taxation rights in the Shuf , Gharb , Jurd , Matn , and Kisrawan districts of Lebanon . Mulhim ' s forces battled and defeated those of Mustafa Pasha , Beylerbey of Damascus , in 1642 , but he is reported by historians to have been otherwise loyal to Ottoman rule . Emir Mulhim Ma ' an died in 1658 , succeeded by two of his sons . The conflict . Early tensions . Following Mulhim ' s death in 1658 , his sons Ahmad and Korkmaz ( or Qurqmaz ) entered into a power struggle with other Ottoman - backed Druze leaders . Lebanon and Galilee campaign . In 1660 , the Ottoman empire moved to reorganize the region , placing the sanjaks ( districts ) of Sidon - Beirut and Safed in a newly formed province of Sidon , a move seen by local Druze as an attempt to assert control . An Ottoman expedition was dispatched to the area following the creation of the new administrative units , initially against the Shihabs and the Shia Hamades . The reformer - grand wazir Köprülü Mehmed Pasha came in person with the expedition . The Shihabs fled to the Hamades in the high Kisrawan , while the Ottoman troops pillaged Wadi al - Taym . Claiming that the Shihabs allied with the Ma ' anis , the Ottomans demanded Ahmad and Korkmuz Ma ' an to hand over the Shihabs and provide money for the Ottoman army , but the Ma ' anis refused and fled to the Kisrawan as well . The Ma ' anis lost control and the Druze of the Galilee lost their protection . Ottoman troops pillaged the area , seeking for the lords of Shihabs , Hamades and Ma ' anis , causing " misery " to the peasants . As a result , the pro - Ottoman Druze overran much of the Galilee , most notably destroying the cities of Safed and Tiberias . Political plotting . Alternative pro - Ottoman sheikhs - Sirhal Imad and Ali Alam al - Din were briefly installed to rule the Druze country . Contemporary historian Istifan al - Duwayhi reports that Korkmaz was killed in act of treachery by the Beylerbey of Damascus in 1662 . His brother Ahmad Ma ' an apparently escaped the plotting . In 1666 , according to al - Safa , local Shia repulsed the governor of Sidon and a Ma ' an force near Nabatya . Admad ' s victory . In 1667 , Ahmad Ma ' an and his supporters defeated the pro - Ottoman Alam al - Din , al - Sawaf and others , and termed Yamanis near Beirut . Ahmad Ma ' an emerged victorious in the power struggle among the Druze in 1667 , but the Maʿnīs lost control of Safad and retreated to controlling the iltizam of the Shuf mountains and Kisrawan , answerable to the Ottoman governor of Sidon . According to Abu - Husayn , after 1667 Ahmad Ma ' an resumed correspondence with the Tuscans . Aftermath . Ahmad continued as local ruler through his death from natural causes , without heir , in 1697 . During the Ottoman - Hapsburg war of 1683 to 1699 , Ahmad Ma ' n collaborated in a rebellion against the Ottomans which extended beyond his death . Iltizam rights in Shuf and Kisrawan passed to the rising Shihab family through female - line inheritance . Despite conflicts in the 1660s , the Maan family " played the leading role in the management of the internal affairs of this eyalet until the closing years of the 17th century , perhaps because it was not possible to manage the province - certainly not in the sanjak of Sidon - Beirut - without them . "