Christians and Druzes clash in Damascus, Syria.…

1860 CE

Christians and Druzes clash in Damascus, Syria.

Under Ottoman rule, Christians and Jews are considered dhimmis and are allowed to practice their religious precepts.

During the Damascus affair of 1840, the false accusation of ritual murder had been brought against members of the Jewish community of Damascus.

In addition, the massacre of Christians in 1860 is also one of the most notorious incidents of these centuries, when fighting between Druze and Maronites in Mount Lebanon spills over into the city.

Over three thousand Christians are killed by local Druze, with many more being saved through the intervention of the Algerian exile Abdelkader and his soldiers (three days after the massacre had started), who brings them to safety in Abdelkader's residence and the citadel.

Abdelkader had previously warned the French consul as well as the Council of Damascus that violence was imminent; when it finally breaks out, he shelters large numbers of Christians, including the heads of several foreign consulates as well as religious groups such as the Sisters of Mercy, in the safety of his house.

His eldest sons are sent into the streets to offer any Christians under threat shelter under his protection, and Abdelkader himself is said by many survivors to have played an instrumental part in saving them.

The Christian quarter of the old city (mostly inhabited by Catholics), including a number of churches, is burnt down.

The Christian inhabitants of the notoriously poor and refractory Midan district outside the walls (mostly Orthodox) are, however, protected by their Muslim neighbors.

Locations
Damascus > Dimashq Dimashq Syria View →

People
Abdelkader ibn Muhieddine View →

Groups
Jews View → Christians, Maronite View → Muslims, Sunni View → Muslims, Shi'a View → Syrian people View → Druze, or Druse, the View → Christians, Eastern Orthodox View → Christians, Roman Catholic View → Ottoman Empire View → Mount Lebanon Emirate View → Damascus Eyalet View → Prussia, Kingdom of View → Britain (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) View → Austrian Empire View → France, Second Empire of View →

Topics
1860 Mount Lebanon civil war View →

Subjects
Conflict View → Mayhem View → Faith View → Government View → Custom and Law View →

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