Shukri Pasha Al-Ayyubi
| Shukri Pasha Al-Ayyubi | |
|---|---|
| File:شكري الأيوبي.jpg | |
| Native name | شكري باشا الأيوبي |
| Born | 1851 Damascus, Ottoman Syria |
| Died | 1922 (aged 70–71) Damascus, Syria |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Hejaz |
| Service/branch | Sharifian Army |
| Rank | Major general |
| Battles/wars | Arab Revolt |
Shukri Pasha Al-Ayyubi (Arabic: شكري باشا الأيوبي; 1851 – 1922) was a Syrian military officer who took part in the Arab Revolt. He was a major general.
Early life and work[change]
Al-Ayyubi was born in Damascus in the Al-Ayoubi family. He studied at the Ottoman Military College in Istanbul, graduating in 1871. He worked there as a tutor before returning to the Military College in Damascus, where he eventually became the manager.[1] He was later promoted to the rank of Major general and received the title of Pasha.[2]
He was one of the founders of the Arab Brotherhood Association, started in Istanbul on 2nd September 1908. He then secretly joined the Arab nationalist organization al-Fatat.
Together with Ahmed Kadry and Nasib al-Bakri, they opened an office for al-Fatat in Damascus.[2]
On 2nd May 1916, he was arrested after letters urging an Arab revolt were found in his home.[3]
He was imprisoned at the Khan Pasha prison in Damascus.[4]. He was severely tortured by the Ottomans.[5][6] His son, Khaled al-Ayyubi, also a military officer, was arrested, and beaten, and pressured to reveal the people that were working with his father in the revolt against the Ottoman rule.[5]
During a visit from his youngest son, Fasih, al-Ayyubi instructed him to contact Shukri al-Quwatli to arrange an escape to Jabal al-Druze.[5] The Ottomans, following Fasih, captured Shukri al-Quwatli after knowing his whereabouts. He was imprisoned too.
Al-Ayyubi remained in prison, refusing to reveal who the other al-Fatat members were despite promises of release.[2]
After the Capture of Damascus, rebels Muhammad al-Ashmar and Ahmad Maryud freed al-Ayyubi. Al-Ayyubi then joined the new government led by Muhammad Said al-Jazairi and met with Ottoman inspector Bahjat Bey to take control of all prisons and military barracks.[7]
Later, British officer T. E. Lawrence held a meeting with local leaders at the Vitoria Hotel,[a] and decided to make al-Ayyubi the co-governor of Damascus.[8] He ended up being appointed governor of Beirut.[9] However, the French, seeking direct control over Greater Lebanon, persuaded the British to convince King Faisal I to remove al-Ayyubi from his leadership position in Beirut. Meanwhile, on 11th October 1918, Edmund Allenby reported to the War Office:
Shukri el Ayubi has not yet been withdrawn from Beirout by Feisal. He has however modified his attitude so far as to instruct the heads of the Police and the President of the Municipality that they must accept my Corps Commander at Beirout's Orders.
— [10]
Al-Ayyubi was subsequently transferred to Aleppo by Faisal I, where his inauguration as governor took place.
After the monarchy in Syria dissolved in 1920, he decided to retire.
He died in Damascus in 1922.[2]
Notes[change]
- ↑ It was named after Queen Victoria before a planned visit to Damascus, which did not eventually materialize.
References[change]
- ↑ Moubayed 2015, p. 37.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "شكري باشا الأيوبي" (in العربية). damapedia.com.
- ↑ Prüfer 2017, p. 238.
- ↑ Qadama 1956, p. 93.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Khoury 1989, p. 215.
- ↑ Amin 1934, p. 94.
- ↑ Al-Omari 1991a, p. 190.
- ↑ Kadry 1956, p. 73.
- ↑ Al-Omari 1991b, p. 18.
- ↑ Allenby 2004, pp. 205–206.
Sources[change]
- Al-Omari, Sobhi (1991a). لورانس: الحقيقة والأكذوبة (in العربية). London: Dar Riad Najeeb Al Rayyes.
- Al-Omari, Sobhi (1991b). ميسلون: نهاية عهد (in العربية). London: Dar Riad Najeeb Al Rayyes.
- Amin, Said (1934). الثورة العربية الكبرى (in العربية). Egypt: Issa Al-Bani Al-Halabi Printing Press.
- Allenby, Edmund (2004). Matthew Hughes (ed.). Allenby in Palestine: The Middle East Correspondence of Field Marshal Viscount Allenby June 1917 – October 1919. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7509-3841-9.
{{cite book}}: Check|author-link=value (help) - Kadry, Ahmed (1956). مذكراتي عن الثورة العربية الكبرى (in العربية). Damascus.
{{cite book}}: Check|author-link=value (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Khoury, Colette (1989). أوراق فارس الخوري (in العربية). Vol. 1. Damascus: Dar Tlass.
{{cite book}}: Check|author-link=value (help) - Moubayed, Sami (2015). تاريخ دمشق المنسي (in العربية). Beirut: Dar Riad Najeeb Al Rayyes.
{{cite book}}: Check|author-link=value (help) - Prüfer, Curt (2017). Kevin Morrow (ed.). Germany's Covert War in the Middle East: Espionage, Propaganda and Diplomacy in World War I. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781786733184.
- Qadama, Ahmed (1956). معالم وأعلام في بلاد العرب (in العربية). Damascus.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)