Abu Muhammad Hasan al-Kharrat was one of the principal Syrian rebel commanders of the Great Syrian Revolt against the French Mandate. He led the rebel assault against Damascus, briefly capturing the residence of French High-Commissioner Maurice Sarrail before withdrawing amid heavy French bombardment. He died in a French ambush on December 25, 1925, at the age of 30.
About Hasan al-Kharrat in brief
Abu Muhammad Hasan al-Kharrat was one of the principal Syrian rebel commanders of the Great Syrian Revolt against the French Mandate. His main area of operations was in Damascus and its Ghouta countryside. He was killed in the struggle and is considered a hero by Syrians. He led the rebel assault against Damascus, briefly capturing the residence of French High-Commissioner Maurice Sarrail before withdrawing amid heavy French bombardment. The revolt dissipated by 1927, but he gained a lasting reputation as a martyr of the Syrian resistance to French rule. He served as the night watchman of the city’s al-Shaghour quarter and as a guard for the neighborhood’s orchards. In the early years of French rule, he was the traditional leader of a neighborhood’s local toughs. The qabaday was informally charged with redressing grievances and defending a neighborhood’s honor against local criminals or the encroachments of otherQabadayat from other neighborhoods. The group of young fighters he commanded was known as ‘isabat al-shawaghir. Though named after al- Kharrat’s quarter, the band included twenty armed retues from other areas of Damascus and nearby villages. His group was also known as the ’isabab al- shawahir’, which means ‘the group of the young fighters’ or the ‘’toughs’’. In August 1925, he joined the revolt and formed a group of fighters from al- Shaghour and other neighborhoods in the vicinity.
He became an affiliate of the Arab Club and raised support for the rebels’ leader, Emir Faisal, who formed a rudimentary government. In July 1920, the French ruled Syria under the aegis of their League of Nations mandate. Afterward, the government collapsed after its motley forces were defeated by the French at the Battle of Maysalun. The revolt was launched in mid-1925 by the Druze sheikh, Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, in the southern mountains of Jabal al-Druze. As al-atrash’s men scored decisive victories against theFrench 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. According to historian Michael Provence, al-Khararat was known for his personal strength, and protection of minorities and the poor. He was popularly characterized as an honorable man, noted for hispersonal strength. According to Provencce, he was also the most respected and esteemed Qabaday of his day. Al-Kharaarat was the family’s principal connection and enforcer in the quarter. He died in a French ambush on December 25, 1925, at the age of 30.
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