Ethnic Turkmen dynasty of chieftains based in the Keserwan region of Mount Lebanon (1306-1591)
Banu Assaf
Chieftains and Tax Collectors of Keserwan
Country
Mamluk Sultanate Ottoman Empire
Founded
1306
Founder
Unknown Assaf (first head of dynasty during Ottoman rule)
Final ruler
Muhammad ibn Mansur
Titles
Emir
Dissolution
1591
The Assaf dynasty (also called Banu Assaf) were a Sunni Muslim and ethnic Turkmen dynasty of chieftains based in the Keserwan region of Mount Lebanon in the 14th–16th centuries. They came to the area in 1306 after being assigned by the Bahri Mamluks to guard the coastal region between Beirut and Byblos and to check the power of the mostly Shia Muslim population at the time. During this period, they established their headquarters in Ghazir, which served as the Assafs' base throughout their rule.
Under the leadership of Emir Assaf, they were confirmed as the rulers of Keserwan by Sultan Selim I following the Ottoman conquest in 1516. Emir Assaf died two years later and was succeeded by his son Hasan, who was in turn killed by his brother Qa'itbay. The latter ruled Keserwan until his death without children in 1523, after which he was succeeded by Hasan's son Mansur. Mansur had a long reign and was accorded by the Ottomans numerous districts in Mount Lebanon and its environs as tax farms. He eliminated many of his Sunni rivals, and his local power relied on a Maronite Christian support base and his Maronite agents, namely members of the Hubaysh clan, who served as a check on the Shia Muslim sheikhs of Keserwan. At the peak of his power, Mansur's realm stretched from Beirut to Homs.
Mansur was dismissed in 1579 and replaced by his son Muhammad, who was imprisoned by the authorities in 1584 for alleged involvement in a looting raid against an Istanbul-bound caravan. He was restored to Keserwan in 1585 and was given tax collection authority over the rural districts of Tripoli Eyalet; this brought him into conflict with the Sayfa clan, the Assafs' erstwhile Turkmen clients, one of whose members, Yusuf Pasha Sayfa, was governor of Tripoli. The Assaf realm dissipated in 1591 when Muhammad was killed while attempting to collect taxes from the Sayfas in Akkar. Afterward, Yusuf Pasha Sayfa married Muhammad's widow and inherited the Assaf realm.
The Assafdynasty (also called Banu Assaf) were a Sunni Muslim and ethnic Turkmen dynasty of chieftains based in the Keserwan region of Mount Lebanon...
Maher Zain, Muslim Swedish R&B singer of Lebanese and Turkish origin Assafdynasty Turkish minorities in the former Ottoman Empire Turkish Cypriots Turks...
of the Kisrawan to keep guard over the region. Their chiefs from the Assafdynasty continued to rule the Kisrawan with the onset of Ottoman rule in 1517...
Sarba Sehaileh Tabarja Wata El Jawz Yahchouch Zouk Mikael Zouk Mosbeh Assafdynasty Salibi, Kamal (2003). A house of many mansions : the history of Lebanon...
Ahmad ibn Turabay, the founder of the Turabay dynasty, was the mother of Governor Assaf Farrukh Pasha. Assaf's wife was Shaqra Khatun, a daughter of Governor...
of the sanjak-bey of Nablus, Assaf Farrukh, on his way to Constantinople in 1670/71, the alliance of the three dynasties was fatally weakened. The Turabays'...
countries, autonomous republics, independent republics, beyliks, empire and dynasties that were built by Turkic people. Turkic languages Turkic peoples Turkish...
not merely a Hasid anymore, observed historian David Assaf, but a Hasid of someone or some dynasty in particular. This linguistic transformation paralleled...
along with those of Qurqumaz of the Ma'n dynasty, Mansur of the Assafdynasty and Qasim of the Shihab dynasty. During the early 17th century, the Sawwafs...
The Golden Dynasty, p. 17. Brayer, The House of Rizhin, p. 276. Friedman, The Golden Dynasty, p. 16. Assaf, The Regal Way, pp. 323–324. Assaf, The Regal...
subleased to Yusuf from Mansur ibn Hasan, the head of the Turkmen Assafdynasty. The Assaf multazims were headquartered from the 13th century in the village...
Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag" Asif, a given name Assaf (disambiguation) Asafu Asaf Jahi dynasty This page or section lists people that share the same...
Ottomans granted the 'Assaf clan control over Keserwan in addition to tax farms in the surrounding region. Moreover, the 'Assaf became the dominant political...
Hank Williams Henry Thomas Muawiya, Hassan and Hussein Muawiyah I Rashid Assaf Hasan Khaled Al-Guwairy Husayn Mohammed al-Majali The Dirty Picture Silk...
]" Kleiman, Assaf, et al., (2023). "Crisis in motion: the final days of Iron Age I Megiddo", in: Levant, 4 September 2023. Kleimam, Assaf, et al., (2023):...
themes of love, longing, and daily life experiences. Artists like Mohammad Assaf, winner of the Arab Idol competition, have gained international recognition...
חב״ד לובביץּ׳; Yiddish: חב״ד ליובאוויטש), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements. It is one of...
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