Recruitment and early confrontations A
revolt against French rule was launched in mid-1925 by the
Druze sheikh (chieftain),
Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, in the southern mountains of
Jabal al-Druze. As al-Atrash's men scored decisive victories against the French
Army of the Levant,
Syrian nationalists were inspired and the revolt spread northward to the countryside of Damascus and beyond. Al-Bakri was the chief liaison between al-Atrash and the emerging rebel movement in Damascus and the
Ghouta. The Ghouta is the fertile plain surrounding Damascus, and its orchard groves and extensive waterways provided cover for the rebels and a base from which they could raid Damascus. In August, al-Bakri convinced al-Kharrat to join the uprising. According to Provence, al-Kharrat was "ideal" for the job, possessing "a local following of young men, notoriety outside the quarter, good connections and a reputation for toughness". The group of fighters he commanded was known as
′isabat al-Shawaghirah (the band of al-Shaghour). Though named after al-Kharrat's quarter, the band included twenty
qabadayat and their armed retinues from other Damascus neighborhoods and nearby villages. His main areas of operation were in the vicinity of al-Shaghour and the al-Zur forest in the eastern Ghouta. Through his alliance with a
Sufi religious leader, al-Kharrat brought an
Islamic holy war dimension to the largely secular revolt, something that was not welcomed by some involved. commanded by
Druze sheikh Izz al-Din al-Halabi (standing fifth from left), 1925. Al-Kharrat's rebels mainly operated in the Ghouta.|alt=A group of rebels in traditional Arab dress posing with rifles with date palms in the background Al-Kharrat commenced guerrilla operations in September, targeting French forces posted in the eastern and southern Ghouta. His prominence rose as he led nighttime raids against the French in Damascus, during which he disarmed army patrols and took soldiers hostage. In al-Shaghour,
Souk Saruja and Jazmatiyya, al-Kharrat and his band burnt down all French-held buildings. In the first week of October, sixty French
gendarmes were dispatched to the Ghouta to apprehend al-Kharrat and his fighters. The gendarmes were quartered in the home of
al-Malihah's
mukhtar (village headman). In the evening, the rebels attacked the residence, killing one gendarme and capturing the rest; the prisoners were eventually all returned unharmed. On 12 October, French troops backed by tanks, artillery and aerial support launched an operation to surround and eliminate al-Kharrat's rebels in the al-Zur forest. Al-Kharrat's men were forewarned of the French deployment by the peasants of al-Malihah. Positioned among the trees, the rebels used sniper fire against the French troops. The latter were unable to lure the rebels out and retreated. As the French withdrew toward al-Malihah, they looted the village and set it on fire. French intelligence officials justified the collective punishment of al-Malihah as retaliation for the rebels' capture and humiliation of the gendarmes during the previous week; the French claimed a young boy from al-Malihah had notified al-Kharrat's men of the French presence in the village. Though they were unable to engage al-Kharrat and his forces directly, French troops executed around 100 civilians from Ghouta villages. Their corpses were brought to Damascus, and the bodies of sixteen men described by the French as "
brigands" were put on display.
Battle of Damascus and operations in Ghouta , the High Commissioner of the
French Mandate of Syria|alt=Close-up of the French High Commissioner of Syria, Maurice Sarrail Spurred by French army actions in the Ghouta, al-Bakri planned to capture the
Citadel of Damascus, where French forces were concentrated, and the
Azm Palace, where General
Maurice Sarrail, the French
high commissioner of Syria, would be residing on 17–18 October (Sarrail was typically headquartered in
Beirut). The high commissioner functioned as the overall administrator of Syria on behalf of France and exercised practically absolute power. The rebel units active in Damascus at the time were al-Kharrat's
′isabat and a mixed force of Druze fighters and rebels from the
al-Midan quarter and the Ghouta. To compensate for the lack of rebel strength, al-Bakri sent a letter to Sultan al-Atrash requesting reinforcements. Al-Atrash replied that he was currently occupied with operations in the
Hauran, but would dispatch his entire force to back the Damascus rebels as soon as affairs there were settled. Before he received al-Atrash's reply, al-Bakri decided to move ahead with the operation. On 18 October, al-Kharrat led forty rebels into al-Shaghour from the old cemeteries adjacent to the
southern gate of Damascus, announcing that the Druze had arrived to relieve the city from French occupation. Crowds of residents enthusiastically welcomed the rebels, and many took up arms alongside them. Al-Kharrat's men captured the quarter's police station, disarming its garrison. They were joined by
Ramadan al-Shallash, a rebel commander from
Deir ez-Zor, and twenty of his
Bedouin fighters. The joint forces proceeded to the
Hamidiyya Market and captured the Azm Palace, but Sarrail was not present, having already left to attend a meeting in the Hauran town of
Daraa. The rebels plundered the palace and set it on fire. Provence asserts that capturing the palace without Sarrail "held no tactical importance" but was a highly symbolic achievement for the rebels because of the Azm Palace's "importance as the historical seat of economic and political power in Damascus, now usurped by the French and totally undefended". While al-Kharrat captured the Azm Palace, al-Bakri and 200 rebels under his command rode through the city and were joined by civilians in increasing numbers. After sealing the Old City to prevent the entry of enemy reinforcements, al-Kharrat issued an order to kill anyone linked to the French army. About 180 French soldiers were killed. Sarrail ordered the shelling and
aerial bombardment of the city, which lasted two days and killed about 1,500 people. Chaos and scattered fighting ensued as whole neighborhoods, mosques and churches were leveled, French forces moved in, and hundreds of leading figures in the Syrian national movement were arrested, including al-Kharrat's son Fakhri. The latter was captured on 22 October during a botched nighttime raid by the rebels against the French, who had by then retaken Damascus. Al-Kharrat was offered the release of his son in exchange for his own surrender, but refused. The rebels withdrew from Damascus as a meeting was held between French army commander
Maurice Gamelin and a delegation of Damascene notables. As a result of the meeting, the French agreed to end their bombardment in return for a payment of 100,000 Turkish gold liras by 24 October. The fine was not paid by the French deadline, but the bombardment was not renewed, likely as a result of orders from the French government in Paris. International condemnation of Sarrail's bombardment of Damascus and growing criticism in France of his mishandling of the revolt led to his dismissal on 30 October. He was replaced by politician
Henry de Jouvenel, who arrived in Syria in December. On 22 November, al-Kharrat commanded 700 rebels in a battle with about 500 French soldiers outside of Damascus. Al-Kharrat's men inflicted "trifling" losses on the French, but experienced heavy casualties themselves, with thirty dead and forty wounded according to
Reuters. On 5 December, al-Kharrat was one of the commanders of a 2,000-strong force uniting rebels from disparate backgrounds, which assaulted the French Army barracks in
al-Qadam, south of Damascus. The French claimed to have inflicted significant casualties, but rebel activity continued.
Tensions with rebel leaders Centralized order and oversight among the revolt's armed participants was difficult to establish because of the diversity and independence of the rebel factions. A meeting of rebel leaders was held in the Ghouta village of
Saqba on 26 November.
Sa'id al-'As accused al-Kharrat and others of plundering in the Ghouta, while al-Kharrat alleged that al-Shallash extorted the residents of al-Midan and the Ghouta town of
Douma. The meeting concluded with an agreement to elect a government to replace the French authorities, increase recruitment of the Ghouta's inhabitants, coordinate military operations under a central command, and establish a revolutionary court to execute spies. The meeting also designated the area between the village of
Zabdin and north of the Douma-Damascus road as being part of al-Kharrat's zone of operations. Despite his leading role in the rebels' military efforts, al-Kharrat was not included in the newly formed rebel leadership council, nor were any of al-Bakri's allies. Instead, al-'As served as the rebels' overall head. Sharp divisions among rebel factions became apparent during a second meeting in Saqba on 5 December. According to Syrian journalist
Munir al-Rayyes, hostility between al-Kharrat and al-Shallash was well known among the rebels. Because al-Shallash had levied war taxes on the major landlords and city elites of the Ghouta, al-Kharrat's benefactor al-Bakri viewed him as a threat to the traditional landowning class to which al-Bakri belonged. Al-Rayyis claimed the meeting was called for by al-Kharrat, who ordered his fighters to capture and bring al-Shallash to Saqba. However, according to al-'As, the summit was called by al-Shallash, and once the latter arrived in the village, al-Kharrat personally detained him and confiscated his horse, weapons and money. After his detention, al-Shallash was given a brief trial during which al-Kharrat accused him of making "impositions and ransoms and financial collections in the name of the revolt", while al-Bakri condemned him specifically for extorting the residents of Douma for 1,000
giney (Ottoman pounds), and imposing large fines on the inhabitants of
Harran al-Awamid,
al-Qisa and
Maydaa for his own personal enrichment. Al-Kharrat and al-Bakri decided al-Shallash's verdict, and dismissed him from the revolt. While many rebels with officer backgrounds similar to al-Shallash disapproved of the judgement, they did not intervene. In his account of the meeting, al-Rayyis condemned the rebel commanders for complacency in the "ridiculous trial" and accused al-Kharrat of being motivated solely by personal animosity. Al-Shallash was able to escape—or was released by al-'As—when French planes bombed the meeting. Al-Shallash would later surrender to Jouvenel and collaborate with French authorities. == Death and legacy ==