Baakleen or Baakline ( ar, بعقلين) is a major
Druze town located in
Mount Lebanon,
Chouf District, 45 kilometers southeast of
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. Altitude 850 – 920 meters high, population is 30,000, area 14 square km, number of homes 2,870. Bordering Towns: Deir El Qamar, Beit Eddine, Aynbal, Deir Dourit, Symkanieh, and Jahlieh.
History
Founded in the 12th century by the
Maan emirs, Baakline served as their capital until the early 17th century when its most famous Emir
Fakhreddin II
Fakhr al-Din ibn Qurqumaz Ma'n ( ar, فَخْر ٱلدِّين بِن قُرْقُمَاز مَعْن, Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Qurqumaz Maʿn; – March or April 1635), commonly known as Fakhr al-Din II or Fakhreddine II ( ar, فخر الدين ال ...
, moved to
Deir el Qamar. Today, Baakline is an important
Druze town and seat of the sect's religious leader. The beautiful grand serail, the main administrative building of Baakline before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, has been restored and transformed into a
public library. In the area of the Serail are some
Druze religious buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, including, ancient tombs and Ain Aldiaa water source.
The roots of Lebanon as we know it today go back to Baakline. Around the year 1120 A.D., Amir Maan Ibn Rabeaah, the great grandfather of Amir Fakher Eddine Al Maani the second who established “Lubnan Al Kabeer”, settled in Baakleen. He was supported by his in-laws, the Tanoukhyeen. Amir Maan was married to the daughter of Amir Noaaman Al Tanoukhy. Historians agree that Baakleen was the capital of the Maani Emirate.
Due to water shortages in Baakline, the Maani Amirs were attracted to Neighboring
Deir Al Kamar (according to Druze archives, called Dar Al Kamar), where they built many palaces and a
mosqu
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) are performed, in ...
e that still stands in the middle of the town square carrying the name of Amir
Fakher Eddine Ibn Othman Ibn Al Hajj Younis Al Maani (1493 AD).
The last of the Maan family Amirs was Amir
Ahmad
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
who died in 1697 A.D. and with his death, the rulers of the Emirate became the
Shihab family
The Shihab dynasty (alternatively spelled Chehab; ar, الشهابيون, ALA-LC: ''al-Shihābiyūn'') was an Arab family whose members served as the paramount tax farmers and local chiefs of Mount Lebanon from the early 18th to mid-19th centu ...
who were tied to the Maan family through intermarriages and alliances.
Under the
Ottoman rule
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
, Baakline came back to the forefront as one of the “Qasabat” or major towns. It served as the summer capital for the Druze “Qaem Makqam” or the local governor in the name of the
Ottoman Sultan.
On 21 April 2020, nine people
were killed.
Waterfalls and river
Blue waterfalls of Shallalat el Zarka
The blue waterfall is called Shallalat Al Zarka, by which the restaurant in this place holds the same name.
One can also see other magnificent waterfall and river in the village of Baakline.
References
External links
Baaqline Localiban
{{Authority control
Populated places in Chouf District
Druze communities in Lebanon