Muhammad Sa'id Pasha Shamdin (died 1900), also known as Muhammad Sa'id Agha Shamdin, was an Ottoman military official of the Syria Vilayet, best known for being the

amir al-hajj ''Amir al-hajj'' ( or ; plural: ) was the position and title given to the commander of the annual Hajj pilgrim caravan by successive Muslim empires, from the 7th century until the 20th century. Since the Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid period, there w ...

(commander of the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

pilgrim caravan to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

) for 20 years.

Military career

Muhammad Sa'id was a son of

Shamdin Agha Shamdin Agha (also known as Shamlin Agha; died 1860) was an Ottoman Kurdish commander of irregulars in the service of the Ottoman governors of Damascus and Sidon Eyalet. In effect, he was powerful paramilitary chieftain in Damascus. His descendan ...

(d. 1860), a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

irregular cavalry commander in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

under the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, o ...

. They belonged to the Shamdin-Yusuf, the strongest Kurdish clan of 19th-century

. In March 1844, the Damascus Provincial Council appointed Muhammad Sa'id to command an expedition to

Jabal Ajlun Jabal Ajlun () is the mountainous region in northwestern Jordan in between the Yarmouk River to the north and the Zarqa River to the south. It is administratively divided between the governorates of Irbid Governorate, Irbid, Ajloun Governorate, Aj ...

, a mountainous region in the province's hinterland where government authority was weak. The purpose of the expedition was to assert government rule and secure the administrative center of

Irbid Irbid (), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek), is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate. It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a ...

against the

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

tribes, which wielded more influence in the district and historically imposed their own taxes on the inhabitants. The mission evidently failed. In 1859, after the irregular garrisons of Damascus were disbanded by government order, Muhammad Sa'id was appointed to a newly-formed Kurdish auxiliary corps. During the

1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus The 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus, also known as the 1860 Christian–Druze war, was a civil conflict in Mount Lebanon during Ottoman rule in 1860–1861 fought mainly between the local Druze and Christians. Following decisiv ...

, Muhammad Sa'id failed to prevent his Kurdish irregulars from joining in a wide-scale massacre of Christians in the city's

Bab Tuma Bab Tuma (, meaning: "Gate of Thomas") is a neighborhood located in the Old city of Damascus in Syria. It is one of the seven gates of Damascus, a geographic landmark of Christianity. Etymology The gate was named by the Byzantines to commemo ...

quarter. As punishment, the imperial government exiled him to

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

. There, he helped bring order to the city and was rewarded by a pardon from the sultan, who allowed him to return to Damascus. He was appointed the

sanjakbey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak'', in Arabic '' liwa’' ...

Hauran The Hauran (; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, to the northeast by the al-Safa field, to the east and south by the Harrat ...

, taking over from another Kurdish officer, Ahmad Yusuf Pasha. He soon after replaced Ahmad's brother Muhammad Yusuf Pasha as ''

'' (commander of the annual

pilgrim caravan to

), beginning in the late 1860s. He would hold that post for twenty years.

Wealth and legacy

Muhammad accumulated significant wealth in his capacity as ''amir al-hajj'' and invested considerable sums acquiring numerous villages and farms in the

Ghouta Ghouta ( / ALA-LC: ''Ḡūṭat Dimašq'') is a countryside area in southwestern Syria that surrounds the city of Damascus along its eastern and southern rim. Name Ghouta is an Arabic term (''ghuta'') for 'garden'. Geography The Ghouta is an ...

oasis of

, which became part of a Shamdin family endowment, and several tracts in the

plains and the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

area. Among the villages he acquired were

Tell al-Jukhadar Tell may refer to: *Tell (archaeology), a type of archaeological site *Tell (name), a name used as a given name and a surname *Tell (poker), a subconscious behavior that can betray information to an observant opponent Arts, entertainment, and m ...

and

Saham al-Jawlan Saham al-Jawlan or Saham el-Golan () is a Syrian village in the Daraa Governorate, in the Hauran region. It had a population of 6,572 in 2004.

, the latter of which he purchased cheap and sold at a significant profit to a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish colonization group. His wealth was such that by the 1890s he was known to own more property in the Damascus Vilayet than any other individual. Muhammad's wealth was inherited by the son of his only daughter (and only child), Abd al-Rahman Yusuf, who married into the Yusuf family. Abd al-Rahman became the ''amir al-hajj'' in 1892 and after his grandfather's death inherited his lands and fortune.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *{{cite book, last1=Schilcher, first1=Linda Schatkowski, title=Families in Politics: Damascene Factions and Estates of the 18th and 19th Centuries, date=1985, publisher=F. Steiner, isbn=9783515031462, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y6ZtAAAAMAAJ&q=Shamdin 1900 deaths 19th-century Kurdish people 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Kurdish people from the Ottoman Empire Military personnel of the Ottoman Empire Military personnel from Damascus