The so-called Dieppe Maps, copied by spies…

The Shihabs succeed the Maans as the emirs of Mount Lebanon in 1697.

They originally lived in the Hawran region of southwestern Syria and settled in Wadi at Taim in southern Lebanon.

The most prominent among them is Bashir II, who is much like his predecessor, Fakhr ad Din II.

His ability as a statesman is first tested in 1799, when Napoleon besieges Acre, a well-fortified coastal city in Palestine, about forty kilometers south of Tyre.

Both Napoleon and Al Jazzar, the governor of Acre, request assistance from the Shihab leader; Bashir, however, remains neutral, declining to assist either combatant.

Unable to conquer Acre, Napoleon returns to Egypt, and the death of Al Jazzar in 1804 removes Bashir's principal opponent in the area.

Ali Bey flees to Acre to shelter under Daher's protection when Abu al-Dhahab and his mutinous troops return from Syria to Egypt.

Daher is left without any outside support in 1774, when the war between Russia and the Ottomans comes to an end.

The Ottomans order Abu al-Dhahab to attack Daher from Egypt, but Abu al-Dhahab dies suddenly before this can happen, so the Ottomans launch a mainly naval invasion instead, besieging Daher's capital city, Acre, and capturing it in August 1774.

Dahir al-'Umar, the Ottoman governor of Acre, had dominated the political life of northern Palestine for nearly forty years.

Following Dahir's death, the Ottoman Porte had in 1776 appointed Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar (Arabic: The Butcher) as Wali (ruler) of Sidon, but he has made Acre his capital and enlarged its harbor, thus enabling it to receive the large ships that contribute to prosperous trade.

The notorious Jazzar has gained control of most of Palestine and dominates Ottoman Syria.

The Siege of Acre ends on May 21, 1799, after two months; Napoleon's attempt to widen his Middle Eastern campaign into Syria is frustrated by Ottoman forces, and he withdraws to Egypt, during which more than two thousand French troops die of disease.

Bashir II of Mount Lebanon, deciding to break away from the Ottoman Empire, allies himself with Muhammad Ali, the founder of modern Egypt, and assists Muhammad Ali's son, Ibrahim Pasha, in another siege of Acre.

This siege lasts seven months, the city falling on May 27, 1832.

The Egyptian army, with assistance from Bashir's troops, also attacks and conquers Damascus on June 14, 1832.

Palestine under the Ottomans had continued to be linked administratively to Damascus until 1830, when it had been placed under Sidon.

In 1824, the Ottoman Sultan had requested aid from Muhammad Ali Pasha, the ethnically Albanian Wali of Egypt and Sudan, to help suppress the serious rebellion in the Greek provinces of the Ottoman Empire.

Muhammad Ali had sent his fleet and seventeen thousand troops under command of his eldest son, Ibrahim Pasha, but Britain, France and Russia had intervened to protect the Greeks.

The European Allied fleet had sunk the entire Egyptian navy, which was under Ottoman command, at Navarino in October 1827.

If the Porte had not in the least prepared for this confrontation, Muhammad Ali had been even less prepared for the loss of his highly competent and expensively assembled and maintained navy.

In compensation for this loss, Muhammad Ali has asked the Porte for the territory of Syria.

The Ottomans are indifferent to the request; the Sultan himself has asked blandly what would happen if Syria was given over and Muhammad Ali later deposed.

Could he not then use Syria and then attack the suddenly unprotected Egypt?

However, Muhammad Ali is no longer willing to tolerate Ottoman indifference.

To compensate for his and Egypt's losses, the wheels for the conquest of Syria are set in motion.

Muhammad Ali Pasha, like other rulers of Egypt before him, desires to control Bilad al-Sham (the Levant), both for its strategic value and for its rich natural resources; nor is this a sudden, vindictive decision on the part of the Wali since he has had this goal since his early years as Egypt's unofficial ruler.

For not only has Syria abundant natural resources, it also has a thriving international trading community with well developed markets throughout the Levant; in addition, it would be a captive market for the goods now being produced in Egypt.

Yet, Syria is desirable perhaps most of all because it is a buffer state between Egypt and the Ottoman Sultan.

A new fleet is built, a new French-trained army raised, and on October 31, 1831, under Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian invasion of Syria initiates the First Turko-Egyptian War.

For the sake of appearance on the world stage, a pretext for the invasion is vital.

Ultimately, excuse for the expedition is a quarrel with Abdullah Pasha of Acre.

The Wali alleges that six thousand fellahin have fled to Acre to escape the draft, corvée, and taxes, and he wants them back.

The Egyptians have overrun Syria easily with little resistance.

Acre is captured on May 27, 1832, after a six-month siege, aided by Maronites, which has lasted from November 3, 1831; having reduced the town, Muhammad Ali destroys many of its buildings.

The Peasants' Revolt against Egyptian conscription and taxation policies in Palestine is a collective reaction to the gradual elimination of the unofficial rights and privileges previously enjoyed by the various societal groups in the region under Ottoman rule.

While the local peasantry constitute the bulk of the rebel forces, urban notables and Bedouin tribes also form an integral part of the revolt.

Its suppression will devastate many of Palestine's villages and major towns.