'Summary of the Hejaz Revolt' [‎86r] (23/30)

V
APPENDIX L
ATTTTUDR OF THR NOR rifKRV IlK .lA/ TRIBES TOWAI .T 'S tHR IIK.lAZ RKVOLT.
In addition lo the kmirates of >-iiii.nirn,ir and > ami the tribe* of the lieja/,, fhivc :ire certain othei
tribes which must not be omitted from anv history of the Arabian Peninsula. The most important of liu-M-
are the Arnarat A ua/ah, the Knaila Ana zah and tlie Drupes.
1. 1 li< ! Arnarat Anazah (or Dhana \\ ail) occupy the sonth-castci n pai f of the ,\na/,a!i count n . v hi. 1
ranges to the Kuphrates, bet weet) Kcrf>e !a and Hit. Tnliicc the Hnalla if inainUins fnetidly relations will:
the great Miammar Group to southward, hut there is no sort of alliauce .hetween tfie two, 'rheir tiJKfiji
ootine i .s that of Hadhdnal, whose present head, Jbahd, is long past 'his -.prime,, and moreover shares hi*
authority with Mohammed Ibn Turki, head of the Mijlad lamily, who. rules the Daliamish;Kection of'the trtbe.
The i-evolt in (he f leja/, in 19tt) was greatly to afTect this hranch of the Ana/.ah, hut I'ahd
I}»n Hadfidiial profeswd SytupaVhy with King Hussein. At tlie end of it wa> reported tliat oerre-
s}>oiidcnce was gpiog 1 ou between Hm Ha'iiidhal .md the Shaaiau family. Nawwaf bad m ired Fahd to'Jotn
h;m iu helping; the Sherif, but the latter had replied with char.icteristic caution that lie was restrained from
taking action, as t he lurks might sei/.e hig lands, hut it would be a diffeieut thi:iL, if the Kngiish ».fh red him
their equivalent' in the occupied territories. Th to has always been friction, however, between Ibu
liadhdhaj and Nuri ^haalan over their rival claims to bft paramount chieftain oyer the whole An»'/>al..
In May, 1!M7, Sherif Feisjd had letters from" fbn Hadhdhal, who said he ^\■as only waiting fdr hnu (jii
come Ins way to join forces, and in the same month Baghdad reported that Ihn tladhdhal had given delinife
proof oT his friendly sentiments towards the British, and latercame into Baghdad aud offered the who hp-
be* r ted support (»f himseli aud lu^ tribes agauist the Turks.
Abmt September, U)!?, two of the g-ieater constituents of the Northern Anazah, rhe Ftdaan and the
Siba, rallied towards Ihn Hadhdhal, but owing to the distance from his country to the H^jaz, tbn Hadhdhal
has been unable to render active assistance to King 'iu-sein.
2. The Rnalla Ana'/-ah (or Dhana Muslim) are allied with the Muhallaf and Wuld Ali under the general
authority of N.uri Shaalan, paramount chief of the Hualla.
In 101.'), Sherif Feisal wan in communication with Nuri Shaalan, and at the l^ginning of the revolt
there were many rumours of Nuri Shaalans descending- on the Damascus Vilayet with l3,(Kk» Rualla at his
l)ack. As Ins marketaj both east and west, were controlled by the Turks in I'Jlt'*, it was imiiossible far
Nuri Shaalan to co-operate with the Sherif, but there was complete understanding between them.
A meeting; between Nuri. his son Nawwaf, and Pawa/. Ibn Faiz, of (lie Beni Sakhr, took place at Jauf in
December, r.Mfi, at which it was decided to break off at once all relations with the Turkish Government, but
active co-operation with the Sherifal forces was pronounced impossible until Feis:U should have reached
El (Jla, and thereny opened up a means for getting supplies through to the Ruathi.
Audah Abu 'lay>i. of the Howeitat, about this time joined Nuri Shaalan, and subscribed to King
Hussein's cause and in April. 11(17, came with five members of the Shalaau family to see Fcisal at Wejh,
where arrangements weie made for the future.
Audah Abu Tayyi wis the leader of the force which captured -Vkabt in .lulv, 1917, and had some of the
Uualla tribe fighting under him, although unaccompinied by any of the Shaalan family.
In June, I 'J 17, Captain Lawrence met Nuri and his son Nawwaf at Azrak, andwas the bearer of a
request from Nuri that half of the Rualla should be allowed to supply itself frcm the Meso otamian market
controlled by us.
In September, 1917, Nuri was near Jebel Druse and a strong letter was dispatched by Sherif Foisal to
Nawwaf asking him to define clearly his attitude towards the Sherifiau movement. Nawwaf had at this time
either been oi- narrowly escaped being imprisoned by the Turks at DarrtaM iis, v.hile his fatiier was warned
not to fall into a trap the Turks had laid for him under cover of an invitation to Damascus.
In October, 1917, one of Nuri's nephews. Trad, visited Sherif Abdullah in "the Hejaz, and in November.
1917, Nnri sent his brother Mohammed and also his nephews Khalid Ibn Sattam and Ferhan Ihn I'.did
to Mecca on a mission to King Hussein.
During the early part of 1918 the Shaalan family, although maintaining their frieudly attitude .towards
the Arab movement, occupied themselves with furthering tl.e coniraband iratlic from Koweit to Damascus.
Nawwaf at Janf levying toll on the caravans which passed through his capital, and taking his shaiv i.i the
petroleum carried by these caravans, while his adUerenls acted as escort irom Jaar northwards.
In June (?) Nawwaf was, at Sherif Feisal's instance, dispatched to Ziza, where he placid himseli with a
small armed following at the disposal of the Turks., in order to deceive them regarding his i'Kcutions.
In July, however, as the result of a rupture, the cause of which is at present unknown, N'at^ vaf leit
Ziza and rejoined his father at Hazim near Azrak, whilst Nnri apparently definitely renoumcd iiis
allegiance to the Turks by an offer of acti ve co-operation with Feisal. He came into Feisafs headquarters
and from there dispatched a telegram to King Hussein at Mecca avowing his allegiance.
This declaiation is considered premature as it hud been Feisal's policy to postpone, an open expression
of their loyalty by the Rualla, in order to add surprise to the value of their co-opersfction When the time tame
to employ them for the extension of the Arab movement to the Hauran, and, secondly, to transier from
himself to the Turks the heavy burden of their maintenance in the meantime.
3, The, Druse*. — In 19 Hi, the attitude of the Druses towards the Shcnf's revolt was one of apathy.
The Druses have always kept apart from thcr ueighbouis, and although their sympathies were proUiliiy with
the Shenf, the prompt action of Jemal I. in taking child hostages, making many arrests and leinforcurg
Deraa, was sulficient to intimidate the Druses from taking any action. About dune, 1917, Jefhal I seems to
have made an effort to win them over. Their chiefs were entertained for two mouths at ItamaseUS,
being tcted and made much dF. In August, 1917, the Druses were reported to have never been in such a
flourishing state. They had sold their crops at high pric -s for hard ca^h, arid even when the^ bad oeen
requisitioned by the Turkish Goyernment, had managed to retain 60 per cent. As long as the good
treatment lasted the Druses were not going to revolt but would only rise when they felt they could do so
without fear of retaliation.
According to information from various sources the enemy contiTtually feared a rising oi the Druses in
conjunction with the Arab movement, and in .Inuc, 1918, < olonel Lawrence received a letter, written in
Kngiish, from one of the Atrash family, the fight ng Druse Sheikhs of Salkhad ui the Haurau, containing
expressions of friendship and loyalty, while on the 31st August the enemy anticipated an attack by the
Rualla and Druses in the neighbourhood of Deraa.