Prince Fakhreddine II of the dynasty Maan ٱلْأُسْرَةُ ٱلْمَعْنِيَّةُ Fakhr al-Din II a precursor to the Lebanese Republic.

 

Fakhr al-Din II was precursor to the Lebanese Republic. Fakhr al-Din II, https://youtu.be/iMMsXKNp7TU. Fakhr al-Din ibn Qurqumaz Ma'n, commonly known as Fakhr al-Din II, was the paramount Druze emir of Mount Lebanon from the Ma'n dynasty, an Ottoman governor of Sidon-Beirut and Safed, and the strongman over much of the Levant from the 1620s to 1633. For uniting modern Lebanon's constituent parts and communities, especially the Druze and the Maronites, under a single authority for the first time in history, he is generally regarded as the country's founder. Although he ruled in the name of the Ottomans, he acted with considerable autonomy and developed close ties with European powers in defiance of the Ottoman imperial government.  Fakhr al-Din ibn Qurqumaz Ma'n Fakhreddine II's 3rd great-grandfather is Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn al-Hajj Yunis Ibn Ma'n.  Fakhr al-Din ibn Qurqumaz Ma`n Fakhreddine II father Qurqumaz ibn Yunus Ma`n father Yunus of the dynasty Maan father Qurqumaz of the dynasty Maan father Yunus of the dynasty Maan father Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn al-Hajj Yunis Ibn Ma`n.  

 

The Druze (دَرْزِيٌّ) is an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad and ancient Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Zeno of Citium. Adherents of the Druze religion call themselves "the Monotheists" or "the Unitarians" (al-Muwaḥḥidūn).

Fakhr al-Din succeeded his father Qurqumaz ibn Yunus Ma`n as the emir of the Chouf mountains in 1591. He was appointed over the sanjaks districts of Sidon-Beirut in 1593 and Safed in 1602. Despite joining the rebellion of Ali Janbulad in 1606, Fakhr al-Din remained in his post and the Ottomans recognized his takeover of the Keserwan mountains from his rival Yusuf Sayfa. Seven years later, an imperial campaign was launched against him for allying with Tuscany and garrisoning the strategic fortresses of Shaqif Arnun and Subayba. He escaped and became an exile in Tuscany and Sicily. Upon his return in 1618, he resumed control of his former domains and within three years took over northern Mount Lebanon, which was predominantly Maronite. After Fakhr al-Din routed the governor of Damascus at the Battle of Anjar in 1623, he extended his control to the Beqaa Valley, the stronghold of his rivals, the Harfush dynasty. Fakhr al-Din proceeded to capture fortresses across central Syria, gained practical control of Tripoli and its eyalet, and acquired tax farms as far north as Latakia. Although he frequently attained government favor by timely forwarding tax revenue, bribing officials, and using opportunities of mutual interest to eliminate local rivals, his outsized power and autonomy were considered a rebellion by the imperial government. 

 

A historian remarked that "the only thing left for him to do was to claim the Sultanate". He surrendered to the Ottomans during a siege of his Chouf hideout in 1633 and was executed in Constantinople two years later. In 1697 Fakhr al-Din's grandnephew was awarded a tax farm spanning southern Mount Lebanon. It was gradually expanded by the Ma'ns' marital relatives, the Shihabs, in 1711, and was a precursor to the Lebanese Republic. Marked by a history of multiple internal conflicts and external interventions, the Lebanese Republic is the result of past decisions that were fundamental in determining its current dilemmas. The creation of the Emirate of Mount Lebanon in the Ottoman Empire by the Druze emirs of the Maan dynasty can be considered one of the key factors for the development of the future Lebanese nation. In this sense, the form of how the Empire controlled its territorial possessions and religious minorities, allowed the organization of local political and social forces, which contributes to the formation process of future Lebanon.   

 

The Emirate of Mount Lebanon was occupied mostly by Maronite Christians and Druses, as well as other Christian and Muslim minorities. Until the year 1841, the Emirate was ruled by Druze emirs, Muslim Sunnis, and on one occasion, by an Emir of Sunni descent but converted to Christianity Maronite. However, there were two Emirs that most influenced the creation of Lebanon's modern-day Prince Fakhreddine II of the dynasty Maan (1572-1635), and Emir Bashir Shihab II (1767-1850).  

 

Fakhreddine II was responsible for the largest integration of Mount Lebanon because in addition to its strong control over the region, stimulated the development of silk production and the participation of Maronite communities in this activity. In addition, Fakhreddine II also encouraged the displacement of Maronite Christians to other regions of Mount Lebanon, mainly areas close to the Békaa valley and the Shouf, the southern portion of the territory, occupied mostly by Druze, for the development of activity with silk.

 

The Ma'n dynasty (ٱلْأُسْرَةُ ٱلْمَعْنِيَّةُ), also known as the Ma'nids; (ٱلْمَعْنِيُّونَ), were a family of Druze chiefs of Arab stock based in the rugged Chouf area of southern Mount Lebanon who was politically prominent in the 15th–17th centuries. Traditional Lebanese histories date the family's arrival in the Chouf to the 12th century when they were held to have struggled against the Crusader lords of Beirut and Sidon alongside their Druze allies, the Tanukh Buhturids. They may have been part of a wider movement by the Muslim rulers of Damascus to settle militarized Arab tribesmen in Mount Lebanon as a buffer against the Crusader strongholds along the Levantine coast. Fakhr al-Din Uthman ibn Yunus Ma'n (d. 1506), the first member of the family whose historicity is certain, was the "emir of the Chouf", according to contemporary sources and, despite the non-use of mosques by the Druze, founded the Fakhreddine Mosque in the family's stronghold of Deir al-Qamar.   

 

Despite being banned from entering the country for several decades, by the mid-20th century the Lebanese community in Costa Rica had been successfully consolidated. An example of its cohesion was the foundation, in 1976, of the National Stock Exchange, promoted by some Lebanese-descendants such as Miguel Barzuna Sauma (1929-1992).  

 

Notable people with Lebanese ancestry:  Richard Neily Jop, founder of Neily City.  Sandra Yamuni Jiménez, businesswoman and former president of the Lebanese House.  Alberto Sauma Feris, merchant and former president of the Lebanese House.

 

Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah  طارق زيدان العيسمي مداح; born 12 November 1974 is a Venezuelan politician, who served as the vice president of Venezuela from 2017 to 2018. He currently serves as Minister of Industries and National Production since 14 June 2018, and as Minister of Petroleum since 27 April 2020. He previously was Minister of the Interior and Justice from 2008 to 2012, Governor of Aragua from 2012 to 2017 and the vice president of Venezuela from 2017 to 2018. While holding that office, El Aissami faced allegations of participating in corruption, money laundering and drug trafficking. In 2019, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) added El Aissami to the ICE Most Wanted List, listed by the Homeland Security Investigations unit.

 

San José, Costa Rica, February 4th, 2023, rafaelvilagut@gmail.com Rafael A. Vilagut-Vega, is an engineer and magister, and since recent years historian, writer, and professional genealogist.