Beirut under Russian rule. Part 2. The siege and the occupation (1773-1774)

Cover Page

Cite item

Abstract

During the Russian-Ottoman war of 1768-1774 Russia became the first European country that invaded Middle East in the Modern times and even for the short period occupied its part: the town of Beirut. The events that preceded the assault and capture of the town were fixed by the local chroniclers and Russian officers; as well they were reflected in the messages of Arab rulers and the reports of the diplomats residing in Syria. As a result the volumetric picture of the society is emerging that for the first time faced the colonial expansion of the modernized Europe. The second part of presented article presents the picture of life of the town during the siege of 1773 and its following Russian troops’ occupation, that at first indeed took place, and then imaginary. Special attention is paid to the changes in the system of co-existence of different ethno-religious communities of Beirut.

About the authors

Taras Y. Kobishchanov

Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAS), Moscow State University (MSU)

Author for correspondence.
Email: kobischanov@mail.ru

Assistant Professor at the Chair of History of the Near and Middle East’ Countries, Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAS)

11 Mohovaya St., Moscow, 125009, Russia

References

  1. Russian State Archive of Navy (RSAN).
  2. Russian State Archive of the Military History (RSAMH).
  3. Basily K.M. Syria and Palestine under Ottoman Government in the Historical and Political Attitudes [Siria i Palestina pod turetskim pravitelstvom v istoricheskom i politicheskom otnosheniyah]. Jerusalem/ Moscow, 2007.
  4. Brayk Mikhail. Tarikh al-Sham, 1720–1782 [History of Syria, 1720–1782]. Damascus, 1982.
  5. al-Jamil Ilyas. Beina Lubnan wa Russiya fi ‘ahd al-Shihabiyin [Between Lebanon and Russia at the epoch of al-Shihabs] // Tarikh Ahmad-basha al-Jazzar [History of Ahmadpasha al-Jazzar]. [Beirut], 1955.
  6. Yanni Jirji. Tarikh Suriya [History of Syria] // Bairut fi-l-musannfat al-‘arabiya. Nusus mukhtara ]Beirut in the Arab Works. Collection of Texts]. Under red. of Yussuf al-Khuri. Beirut, 1995.
  7. Konstantinopolsky I.G. Obshestvenno-politicheskaya istoriya Beiruta v kontse XVIII – nachale XIX v. [The Social-Political History of Beirut at the End of XVIII – Beginning of XIX century]. Text of Phd. Moscow, 2008.
  8. al-Munayyir Hananiya. Al-durr al-marsuf fi tarikh al-Shuf [The Strung Pearls of the History of Shuf]. Beirut, 1984.
  9. Priahin Y.D. Greki v istorii Rossii XVIII-XIX vv. Istoricheskiye ocherki [Greeks in the Russian History of XVIII–XIX Centuries. Historical Essays]. St. Petersburg, 2008.
  10. al-Sabbag ‘Abbud. Al-Rawd az-zahir fi tarikh Dhahir [Flower Garden from the History of Dhahir]. Gaza, 2002.
  11. al-Sabbag Mikhail Nikula. Tarikh sheikh al-‘Umar al-Zaydani [The History of Sheikh al-‘Umar al-Zaydani]. Cairo, 2010.
  12. Siriya i Palestina v opisaniyah rossiyskih puteshestvennikov, konsulskih I voyennyh obzorah pervoi poloviny XIX v. [Syria and Palestine in the Descriptions of Russian Travelers, the Consular and Military Reviews of the First Part of XIX century]. Moscow, 1991.
  13. Smilyanskaya I.M., Velizhev M.B., Smilyanskaya E.B. Rossiya v Sredizemnomorye. Arhipelagskaya expeditsiya Ekateriny Velikoy [Russia in the Mediterranean. The Archipelago’s Expedition of Catherine the Great]. Moscow, 2011.
  14. Sokolov A.P. Istoriya Arhipelagskiya kampanii 1769–74 goda [The History of Archipelago’s Campaign 1769–74] // Zapiski gidrograficheskogo departaments morskogo ministerstva [The Briefs of Hydrographic Department of the Navy Ministry]. Part VII. St. Petersburg, 1849.
  15. Trad ‘Abdallah ibn Mikhail. Mukhtasar tarikh al-asakifa al-lazina rakku martabat piasat al-kahnut al-jalila fi madinat Bairut [The Short History of Bishops Sanitized to the Rank of High Priests of the Town of Beirut]. Beirut, 2002.
  16. Hmetevskiy S.P. Journal [Logbook] // Smilyanskaya I.M., Velizhev M.B., Smilyanskaya E.B. Rossiya v Sredizemnomorye. Arhipelagskaya expeditsiya Ekateriny Velikoy [Russia in the Mediterranean. The Archipelago’s Expedition of Catherine the Great]. Moscow, 2011.
  17. al-Shidyak Tanus. Kitab akhbar al-‘iyan fi Jabal Lubnan [The Book of the Truthful Events of the Mountain Lebanon]. Beirut, 1858.
  18. al-Shihabi Haydar Ahmad. Tarikh Ahmad Basha al-Jazzar [The History of Ahmad-pasha al-Jazzar]. Beirut, 1955.
  19. al-Shihabi Haydar Ahmad. Lubnan fi ‘ahd al-umara’ al-Shihabiyyin [The Lebanon at the Age of Emirs al-Shihabs]. Beirut, 1933.
  20. Charles-Roux Fr. Les échelles de Syrie et de Palestine au XVIIIe siècle. Paris, 1928.
  21. Documents consulaires. Lettres reçues par le chargé d’affaires du Roi à Malte au XVIII-ème siècle. T. I. Vol. 5. P.
  22. Harik, Iliya F. Politics and Change in a Traditional Society Lebanon, 1711–1845. Princeton, New Jersey, 1968.
  23. Kassir S. Histoire de Beyrouth. P., 2008.
  24. Philipp T. Acre. The Rise and Fall of a Palestinian City, 1730–1831. N.Y., 2001.
  25. Salibi, Kamal S. The Modern history of Lebanon. Delmar, 2004.
  26. https://www.instagram.com/p/BNOKhs_A6W0/

Copyright (c) 2019 Kobishchanov T.Y.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies