1. Sultan al-Atrash was a Syrian nationalist revolutionary who led the Great Syrian Revolt against the French colonial administration in Syria.
15 Facts About Sultan al-Atrash
1. 2.
Sultan al-Atrash sent hundreds of young Druze to fight in the Balkans, Sultan among them.
3.
Sultan al-Atrash joined them himself, with another 300 men, when they reached Bosra.
4.
Sultan al-Atrash's forces were the first to enter Damascus and raise the Arab revolt flag on the government house on September 29,1918.
5.
Sultan al-Atrash was a good friend of the Hashemite Emir Faisal, leader of the Arab forces in the revolt, and was awarded the title of Emir and the rank of a General in the Syrian army, the equivalent of the title of Pasha.
6.
Sultan al-Atrash was gathering his men to fight the French but the quick succession of events cut his efforts short, as French forces entered Damascus and the country was divided into five states, Jabal el Druze being one of them.
7.
Sultan al-Atrash fled to Jordan and subsequently launched raids against French posts.
8.
Sultan al-Atrash returned to Syria in 1937 after the signing of the Franco-Syrian Treaty.
9.
Sultan al-Atrash left the Druze Mountain for Jordan in December 1954, and came back when Al-Shishakli's regime fell.
10.
Sultan al-Atrash is known for his contributions to social life and development in the Druze Mountain.
11.
Sultan Pasha al-Atrash is one of the most popular of recently prominent leaders in Arab and Syrian history, especially among the Druze.
12.
Sultan Pasha al-Atrash died on March 26,1982, from a heart attack.
13.
Sultan al-Atrash's funeral was attended by more than a million people, and the President of Syrian Arab Republic Hafez al-Assad issued an individual letter mourning al-Atrash as the General Commander of the Syrian Revolution.
14.
Sultan al-Atrash's son, Mansur al-Atrash was an active member in the Syrian Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party until the 1966 Syrian coup d'etat led to the downfall of Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, Munif al-Razzaz and the classical Ba'athists in general.
15.
Sultan al-Atrash's granddaughter, Naila Al Atrash, is a dramatist and activist against the Assad regime.