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Aqil Agha

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Agil Agha, as pictured in 1848 by William Francis Lynch.

Akil Aga (Aqil Aga, or simply 'Aqil or 'Aqila with the surname often spelt 'Agha) was a local leader in Palestine in the mid-19th century.

  • 1843 became the chief of irregulars in Northern Palestine.[1]
  • 1847 entrusted with the command of 75 Bashi-bazouk in lower Galilee.[2]

Family

Besides anecdotes provided in the writings of European consuls, most of the information on Aqil's life indirectly traces back to a history of the man written by Mikha'il Qa'war, a Nazareth clergyman.[1] Aquil was born into a Bedouin family of the Hanadi tribe. His father, Musa al-Hasi, left Egypt for the area of Gaza in 1814, where he died in 1830.[3][1] Like his father before him, Aqil served various masters, among these was Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Muhammad Ali of Egypt.[1]

Aqil's power base was his tribesmen and alliances with other Bedouin, on both sides of the Jordan River. His brother, Salih Agha, had great power in the Haifa-region. Mary Rogers, the sister of the English vice-council, described graphically a banquet in Shefa-'Amr and a gazelle hunt at the invitation of Salih Agha,[4][5] while another traveler witnessed the lavish wedding between a son of Salih Agha and a daughter of Agil Agha on "the plains of I'billin", in about 1857.[6] Aga also married off a daughter to a Bedouin Sheik in Gaza, paying the highest dowry registered at the time in Gaza: 11,000 PT,[7] while the governor of Hebron was reported to be a brother-in-law of Agha.[8][9]

Regional context

While Palestine had been under the rule of the Ottoman Empire from the early 16th century, direct imperial administrative rule was challenged by a series of tribal leaders who exhibited vast influence over local affairs between the 17th and 19th centuries. In northern Palestine and along the coast, in the areas north of Jabal Nablus, the local power system in 1840s and 1850s was headed by Aqil Agha. With the Ottoman empire embroiled in the Crimean War, the power vaccum created in the area in the wake of the rule of the Galilee governor Daher el-Omar in the mid-18th century, Jezzar Pasha in the late 18th century, and the Egyptian occupation of Muhammad Ali of Egypt which ended in 1840, was filled by Aqil Agha.[10]

For nearly two decades Aqil Aga was an important power factor in northern Palestine. When the Ottoman government finally reached its goal of undisputed control in the Galilee, the result was that local powers permanently lost its influence over the development of the area. That power was instead passed on to wealthy business people from Haifa and Beirut, leaving ultimately the Sursock family of Beirut as the new "masters" of the Galilee.[11]

Encounters with William Francis Lynch

In 1848, Aqil assisted an expedition headed by William Francis Lynch to the Dead Sea, and became known in the United States and Europe through the publication of Lynch's book that year. Vivid descriptions of Aqil by Lynch are quoted at length in the works of James Finn, the British consul to Palestine during the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Lynch's first encounter with Aqil was in the divan of Said Bey, the Ottoman governor of Acre, and is recorded as follows:

But what especially attracted my attention was a magnificent savage enveloped in a scarlet cloth pelisse richly embroidered with gold. He was the handsomest, and I soon thought also the most graceful being I had ever seen. His complexion was of a rich mellow indescribable olive tint, and his hair a glossy black; his teeth were regular and of the whitest ivory, and the glance of his eye was keen at times, but generally soft and lustrous. With the tarboosh upon his head which he seemed to wear uneasily, he reclined, rather than sat upon the opposite side of the divân, while his hand played in unconscious famliarity wth the hils of his yataghan. He looked like one who would be

'Steel amid the din of arms
And wax when with the fair.'[12]

In this meeting, the governor had attempted to dissuade Lynch of his plans to travel to the Dead Sea, with Aqil remarking that the Bedouins of the Ghor would "eat them up". Lynch's reply was that "they would find us difficult of digestion," but suggested that as Aqil seemed to hold influence with these tribes, he would be prepared to pay him for services rendered to make the trip a more peaceble one.[13]

After the meeting ended, Lynch pursued Aqil to talk to him alone. He showed him his sword and revolver, which Aqil examined and declared to be the "Devil's invention". Lynch described the weaponry at the the disposal of his men and asked Aqil if he thought it sufficient to the make the journey to the Jordan, and Aqil replied that, "You will, if anyone can." Lynch later secured Aqil's accompaniment on the trip to the Dead Sea, through the intervention of an ex-Sharif of Mecca, describing the latter as "our counsellor, sagacious and prudent," and Aqil as, "the bold warrior and the admirable scout."[13][14]

1850-1870

  • 1852 sent by the Ottomans across the Jordan river to suppress rebellious Druze, returned victorious. As he, apparently, got to powerful according to the Ottoman leadership; he was lured into a trap, accused of being in league with the Druze rebels, captured, and sent to be imprisoned in Widin on the Danube.
  • about 1853: escaped, made his way first back to Aleppo
  • 1854 reinstated as commander of the Bashi-bazouk in the liwa of Acre.
  • Courted by Western powers, who wanted protection for their Christian and Jewish proteges. (eg see James Finn, 1878, p.421)
  • 1857 battles with Kurdish troops on the plains of Hittin, was victorious. About 150 dead.

Agil Aga realized that European protection would strengthen his position towards the Ottoman rulers of the day in Palestine. After 1860, he courted the French, once sending a tiger as a present to "his Emperor" through the French consul in Beyrut.[15][9] According to the the British consul, James Finn, Aga was under special "French concideration".[9][16]

  • 1864, dismissed, left for Egypt
  • 1866: was permitted to return to Galilee
  • 1870: died, buried at I'billin

References

  1. ^ a b c d Schölch, 1984, p. 462.
  2. ^ Schölch, 1984, p. 463.
  3. ^ Schölch, 1993, p. 199.
  4. ^ Rogers, 1865, p.196 ff.
  5. ^ Schölch, 1993, p. 201, note 576
  6. ^ Farley, 1858, p.317ff.
  7. ^ Schölch, 1993, p. 206.
  8. ^ Saulcy, de 1872, Vol. 1, p.159
  9. ^ a b c Schölch, 1993, p.201
  10. ^ Schhölch, 1984, pp. 459-462.
  11. ^ Schölch, 1993, pp.207-208
  12. ^ Finn, 1878, p.415.
  13. ^ a b Finn, 1878, pp. 416-418.
  14. ^ Lynch, 1850, p.130
  15. ^ Thomson, 1859, p.444
  16. ^ Finn, 1878, p.425

Bibliography


Category:Palestinian leaders Category:1870 deaths

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