Page:EB1922 - Volume 32.djvu/681

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SYRIA
655


sanjaks of Alexandretta, Deir ez Zor and Aleppo, were united (Sept. i 1920) to form the " Government of Aleppo," which thus extended to the Khabur, beyond which the country was under the administration of the French officer commanding in the Confins Militaires; and by the end of the year the caravan route over the Beilari Pass above Alexandretta was so far cleared of Turkish raiders and Arab marauders that civilian traffic began to be resumed. In the S. however the Hauran was still disturbed, and in March 1921 a party of Arab raiders blew up bridges on the Hejaz railway over the Yarmuk and to the N. of Dera, while the Syrian Nationalists were reported to be active in that sector of the British sphere beyond the Jordan which still formed part of the; Emir Faisal's dominions but was not in any way subject to British authority. In April however this danger was abated, as the Emir's elder brother, the Emir 'Abdalla, arrived in 'Amman and restored order throughout the area of the ancient kingdom of Kerak in cooperation with the British.

Frontiers. On Dec. 23 1920 the frontiers towards Mesopotamia and Palestine were fixed in such a way as to retain the whole of the Litani-Leontes watershed with Quneitera in French mandated ter- ritory, and providing for the joint Anglo-French use of the railway between Semakh and Nasib, although the line itself remains in French territory. On the side of Arabia the frontier runs from Nasib to Imtar and thence in a straight line to Abu Kemal on the Euphrates.

In March 1921 Gen. Gouraud, when in London for the Near Eastern Conference, took advantage of the presence of the represen- tative of the Nationalist Turkish administration at Angora, Bekir Sami Bey, to conclude an agreement, in virtue of which the French withdrew from the whole of Cilicia, and adopted as the northern frontier of their Syrian mandated territory a line running from Payas on the coast N. of Alexandretta to Choban Beg (Bey) on the Bagdad railway, and thence along the railway to Nisibin, whence it runs to the Tigris and down that river as far as the frontier of Mesopotamia near Jeziret ibn 'Omar, thus restoring Killiz, Aintab and Urfa (Edessa) with an area of 22,500 sq. km. and an estimated pop. of some 640,000, to the Turks.

On March 4 1921 the formation of an autonomous Druse (Druz) State, comprising the Jebel ed Druz in the Hauran, to be under French supervision but independent of Damascus, was announced.

Area and Population. Thus the area comprised in Syria as de- fined by the boundary agreements of Dec. 1920 and March 1921 is divided into the Greater Lebanon (Grand Liban), Damascus, Jebel ed Druz, Alawiya, Aleppo and the military territory.

Although no exact census had been taken in Syria the following figures are supplied by the French administration :

I. Greater Lebanon (Grand Liban) :

(a) (i)

<0

(d) (e) CO

Sanjak South Lebanon Biqa'

Mount Lebanon North Lebanon City of Tripoli City of Beirut

Total

Capital Sidon (Saida) Zahle Ba'abda Shtora \

Area sq. km. 2,172 3,600 3,000

2,065 18

Pop. 132,000 110,000 180,000

164,000 140,000

10,855 726,000

II.

(a) (i)

III.

(a)

(0

Alawiya (Territoire des Alaouites):

Sanjak of Latakia composed of the kazas of Jebele, Sahyun,

Baniyas (Valenia), Omranie or Masyaf and the municipal

area of Latakia.

Sanjak of Tartus composed of the kazas of Tartus (Tor-

tosa) Santa, Qal 'at el Husn.

Total area 6,200 sq. km. with a pop. of perhaps 400,000.

Government of Aleppo:

Sanjak of Alexandretta, area 5,000 sq. km. divided into

the kazas of Alexandretta pop. 26,000, Beilan pop. 20,200,

Antioch pop. 126,900, and Harim pop. 36,700, or 209,800

inhabitants for the sanjak.

Sanjak of Deir ez Zor, area 30,000 sq. km. and a pop. of

174,000.

Sanjak of Aleppo: Area sq. km. Pop.

City of Aleppo

Kaza of Jebel Sima'an

El Bab

'Azaz

Membij

Ma'aret en Nu'man

Idlib

Raqqa

Jisr esh Shughr

Total for the whole Government

4,694 2,437 2,200 3,86 7 3,450 i, 800 ,7,200 1,125

26,773 6i,773

144,006 25,130 27,752 9-957 5,030 21,629 53,598 9,865 36,018

33 2 .985 716,785

IV. Government of Damascus: (a) Sanjak of Damascus: Kaza of Damascus Wadi el 'Ajam Duma Zebdani Quneitera Jerude V Nebk /

(J) Sanjak of Hauran: Kaza of Hauran 'Ezra Musmiye Bosra Shams

(c) Sanjak of Horns: Kaza of Homs Qaryatein Job Jerra Palmyra (Tadmur)

(d) Sanjak of Kama: Kaza of Hama Selemiye Hamra

Area sq. km. 600 800 841 1 80 2,000

12,000

655

Pop. 238,504 16,732 37,937 H.I55 43,183 29431

22,221

Total for whole Government

Thus the whole of Syria contains: Greater Lebanon Alawiya Aleppo

Damascus \ Jebel ed Druz / Military Territories

16,421 402,163

3,500 29,760

1 .3 l8 30,018

3,972 14,718

970 26,436

9,760 100,932

4,000 88,214

4,000 6,945

2,000 4,159

10,000 5,340

20,000 104,658

1,900 77,205

2,500 20,864 815

5,215 98,069

51,396 705,822

10,855 726,000

6,200 400,000

6i,773 716,785

51,396 705,822

25,700 154,500

155,924 2,703,107

The precise boundaries of the state of the Jebel ed Druz had not yet been settled in 1921, but it was to be detached from the sanjak of the Hauran then in the Government of Damascus.

Administrative Divisions Of these various administrative areas the Greater Lebanon is under a French Governor who appoints Lebanese officials to take charge of the seven departments of In- terior, with Gendarmerie and Police; Finance; Justice and Pious Foundations; Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs; Education and Fine Arts; Agriculture, Trade and Industry; and Public Health. Each of these officials is assisted by a French adviser. The sanjaks are administered by Lebanese mutesarrifs with French advisers, assisted by local administrative commission. Pending a census of the population and a subsequent election a provisional administra- tive commission of 15 Lebanese members had been nominated. Its functions and powers are analogous to those of the old Adminis- trative Council under the Organic statute of the Lebanon in 1864.

In Damascus the administration is directed by a Council of State composed of Ministers each assisted by a French adviser.

In Aleppo there is an Arab Governor who appoints native officials to take charge of the departments of Finance; Justice and Pious Foundations; Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs; Economic Services; and Gendarmerie and Militia. The Governor is assisted by a council and an administrative commission. The former is com- posed of the heads of the five departments, of heads of religious com- munities, of two members from each of the three sanjaks, and of the mayors of Aleppo, Antioch and Alexandretta. The administration is supervised by a French Resident appointed by the High Com- missioner, and French advisers assist the heads of departments and the mutesarrifs of sanjaks.

In Alawiya a French Administrator with French heads of the four departments of Finance; Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs; Public Health; and Justice and Pious Foundations, controls the administration. There is an administrative commission composed of seven Alawiye (or Nuseiriye), two Christians, two Sunni Moslems and one Isma 'iliye (" Assassin "). Each sanjak has a French Deputy Administrator with a native mutesarrif as his subordinate.

In virtue of the treaty of March 4 1921 between Gen. Gouraud and the religious and political chiefs of the Druses the State of the Jebel ed Druz in the Hauran is administered by a Druse governor elected by the population for four years, subject to the confirmation of the French High Commissioner. He is assisted by a council, elected for three years, which has one session every year during which the budget is voted, and by a permanent Administrative Commis- sion. French advisers assist .the higher Druse officials. The local gendarmerie and police are recruited by voluntary enlistment.

All these administrations, which are autonomous inter se, are subject to the general control of the French High Commissioner of Syria who