User:Al Ameer son/Bashir Jumblatt

Bashir Qasim Junblat

Background
Bashir belonged to the Jumblatts, a Druze family which was attested as a prominent force in the Chouf from at least the early 17th century. He was the son of Sheikh Qasim and grandson of Sheikh Ali. The Jumblatt sheikhs were powerful muqata'jis (tax farmers) of the Chouf, which was one of the districts of the Druze-dominated areas of southern Mount Lebanon. Together with the largely Maronite-populated districts of northern Mount Lebanon, it formed part a super iltizam, which in principle was a tax farm subject to annual renewal, but in practice was a hereditary institution of the Shihab dynasty, and before them, the Ma'n dynasty. Along with the other, mostly Druze muqata'jis of Mount Lebanon, the Jumblatts were entrusted with collecting the revenues of their respective districts for the Shihab emir to forward to the Ottoman authorities. The muqatajis were also central in the selection of the Shihabi holder of the iltizam, though this role was informal. Sheikh Qasim played the most decisive role in installing Bashir Shihab II as the holder of the iltizam in 1788, replacing Bashir Shihab's kinsman, Emir Yusuf Shihab, who had held it since 1770.

Appearance and personality
Bashir was physically described by the 19th-century local historian and agent of the Shihabs, Tannus al-Shidyaq, as being of "medium height, soft-bodied, handsome with a dark complexion". Shidyaq praised his personal qualities, calling him "dignified, wise, balanced, chivalrous, brave, gallant, generous, forgiving, just, forthcoming, protective, extremely wealthy in money as well as followers, defender of the land, known as 'the pillar of heaven'."