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Exploratory Campaigns in Jabal al-Druze and Population Enumeration

Nawras Aziz

Exploratory Campaigns in Jabal al-Druze and Population Enumeration

1. Introduction

Some early French reports on Jabal al-Druze indicate that the region’s rugged geography was considered a decisive factor in assessing the difficulty of exerting military control over it. In one such report, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond, head of the French exploratory mission in the Djebel, describes the terrain as steep, the roads as extremely poor, and the country as topographically diverse in ways that make it well suited for ambushes. He further notes its limited military utility, even when artillery or air power are employed. The report concludes that any military operation in the region would require substantial forces, and that reliance on local resources for provisioning and fodder would be nearly impossible due to the absence of reserves in the villages.

This report forms part of a broader series of reconnaissance missions entrusted to Lieutenant Colonel Raymond in preparation for French military operations within the Djebel. It reveals a clear overlap between intelligence gathering and military planning in the French administrative approach to Jabal al-Druze. From this perspective, such reports acquire particular significance—not merely as descriptive documents, but as sources for understanding how colonial authority reconfigured and represented the geographical, social, and military landscape of the region.

Within this framework, the present article seeks to identify several Druze villages and their original demographic structures as recorded in Raymond’s reports. It also aims to analyze the nature of the information he provided and its implications for understanding the French approach to the Djebel in 1921. Additionally, this study raises a further question concerning Raymond himself: research in open sources and French archives has, thus far, yielded little detailed information about him beyond indications in the documents that he served as an intelligence officer—an aspect that lends his role a character deserving of further investigation.

2. Official Documents

In three extensive reports preserved in the archives of the French military at Vincennes, near Paris, significant information is recorded concerning Druze villages in the north, northeast, and northwest of Jabal al-Druze. These exploratory missions were organized into three separate expeditions conducted between September and November 1921.

Among the most notable elements contained in these reports are the following:

In the first report (1), dated 10 September 1921, it is noted that Captain Raymond received orders on 5 September to proceed to the northern region of Jabal al-Druze in preparation for the advance of the forces of Officer Poillet, who was to move toward Damascus. The first exploratory mission included: Captain Raymond; Lieutenant Arnal of the 2nd Battalion; a Catholic priest from the village of al-Hīt; one Druze notable; fifteen gendarmes under the command of a lieutenant; and a member of the municipal council of al-Swaida, who was tasked with purchasing barley and hay for the animals of Poillet’s French forces.

The expedition departed on 6 September 1921 at 7:00 a.m. and lasted three days, following this route:
al-Swaida – Salīm – Mardak – Shahbā – Umm al-Zaytūn – al-Ṣūra al-Ṣaghīra – al-Ṣūra al-Kabīra.
Return route: al-Hiyāt – al-Hīt – Shahbā – al-Swaida.

The report notes that the reception by the inhabitants of the villages was positive, and that Captain Raymond declared that France had come to the Djebel with good intentions and was ready to cooperate for the benefit of the country.

The report also includes details on roads and distances, which were calculated based on hours of travel on horseback, estimated at approximately 5.5 kilometers per hour. The mission documented water wells and the general disposition of the population; in its conclusion, the report states that there was hope among the people for bringing prosperity to the Djebel, and that the common demand among all inhabitants was the establishment of schools for their children.

In the second report (2), dated 23 October 1921, a new team was formed consisting of Captain Raymond and Lieutenant Arman, a cartographic officer in the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Senegalese Infantry Regiment, in addition to Joseph Shidyāq as interpreter, three Druze religious shaykhs, local notables from al-Swaida, and twenty Druze gendarmes under the command of a sergeant.

This new expedition lasted three days (18–20 October 1921) and documented the number of houses, population figures, and various other details, of which only selected examples are presented here.

The full route covered was:
al-Swaida – Sāla – al-Rashīda – Ṭarbā – Namra – Mafʿala – Salīm, calculated in hours on horseback as follows:

Day One: al-Swaida – Sāla – al-Rashīda
Starting from al-Swaida: after two and a half hours of travel, the ruins of a completely abandoned village appear to the north of the road, known as Umm Ḥawrān, which had once been the highest village in the area. After three and a half hours, the village of Sāla appears (a subdistrict center), with a population of 400 inhabitants and 40 houses.
The expedition then proceeded toward al-Rashīda, which had 200 inhabitants, including five Muslims, and 25 houses.

Day Two: al-Rashīda – Ṭarbā – Namrī
Starting from al-Rashīda:
After 35 minutes: the village of Saʿnā, with 80 inhabitants.
After one hour and a half: the village of Ishbakī, consisting of two sections—a western part inhabited by the Abū ʿAmmār family and an eastern part inhabited by the al-Jubāʿī family—comprising 80 inhabitants and 20 houses.
After 1 hour and 50 minutes: Sharīḥī, with 60 inhabitants in 10 houses.
After 2.5 hours: Rāmī, with 150 inhabitants and 20 houses.
After 3 hours: al-Mashnaf, with 100 inhabitants and 16 houses.
After 3.5 hours: Tall al-ʿAjīlāt, with 40 inhabitants in 8 houses.
Due to time constraints, the expedition did not pass through the villages of Umm Riwāq and al-Kasīb during this journey, but planned to return to them in the final expedition.
After 4.5 hours: Ṭarbā, with 100 inhabitants and 30 houses.
After 5 hours and 45 minutes: Namrī, a subdistrict center, with 200 inhabitants, including only two Muslims, and 45 houses.

Day Three: Namrī – Mafʿala – Salīm – al-Swaida
After 2 hours and 45 minutes from Namrī: Mafʿala, with 200 inhabitants and 40 houses, followed by the return to Salīm and then to al-Swaida.

Despite the ostensibly civilian character of this mission, the report contains important military observations, including the following:

“Any military operation in this area would require several battalions. The 65 mm artillery piece can pass almost everywhere, but its effect on the villages would be nearly negligible. As for aviation, it cannot rely on any suitable landing ground. With regard to provisions and fodder, local resources must not be relied upon under any circumstances, as there are no reserves in the villages.”

In the third report (3), dated 10 November 1921, a new mission was formed consisting of Captain Raymond and Captain Cornet of the 2nd Battalion of African Infantry, accompanied by an interpreter, twenty gendarmes under the command of a senior sergeant, and a Catholic priest.

The expedition lasted five days, from 4 to 8 November, following this itinerary:
Majdal – al-Sijn – al-Ṭīra – Ṣamā – Najrān – ʿĀhira – al-Matūna – Taʿlā – al-Buṭayna – Raḍīma – Ṭarbā – al-Mashnaf – Būṣān.

According to the report, the primary objective of this journey was to verify the accuracy of the geographical and military information recorded in previous reports.

Route of the expedition

Day One: Majdal – Ṣamā – Najrān
After 1 hour and 30 minutes: al-Mazraʿa, an important water source.
After 2 hours: Majdal, a subdistrict center, with 700 inhabitants, including 50 Christians, and 130 houses.
After 2 hours and 35 minutes: al-Sijn, with 700 inhabitants, including 50 Christians, and 200 houses.
After 3 hours and 20 minutes: al-Ṭīra, with 100 inhabitants, including 20 Christians, and 20 houses.
After 3 hours and 45 minutes: Ṣamā, a predominantly Christian village with a single Druze household; 500 inhabitants in 100 houses, with the Druze owning one quarter of the land.
The expedition then passed through Samīʿ, with 100 inhabitants in 30 houses, before reaching Najrān, a subdistrict center, with 800 inhabitants in 100 houses.

Day Two: ʿĀhira – al-Matūna – al-Buṭayna
After 1 hour and 20 minutes: ʿĀhira, a subdistrict center, with 1,000 inhabitants in 80 houses.
After 2 hours and 30 minutes: Majādil, with 100 inhabitants in 20 houses.
After 5 hours and 10 minutes: Taʿlā, composed of two sections—a ruined northern part and a southern part inhabited by 75 individuals.
After 5 hours and 30 minutes: al-Buṭayna; approximately 5 kilometers to its north and northeast lies al-Ḥaqf, the seat of the al-Sammān family.

Day Three: al-Junayna – Raḍīma – Ṭarbā
After 1 hour and 15 minutes from al-Buṭayna: al-Junayna, with 200 inhabitants, including 5 Christians, and 20 houses.
After 1 hour and 40 minutes: Bārak, with 60 inhabitants in 12 houses.
After 2 hours and 10 minutes: Raḍīma, with 120 inhabitants, including 80 Christians, and 25 houses.
After 2 hours and 40 minutes: ʿArāja, with 45 inhabitants in 19 houses.
After 3 hours: Dūmā, with 120 inhabitants, including 4 Muslims, and 24 houses.
After 3 hours and 20 minutes: Tīma, with 100 inhabitants in 25 houses.
After 4 hours and 5 minutes: Ṭarbā.

Day Four: Umm Riwāq – al-ʿAjīlāt – al-Mashnaf – Būṣān
Heading east from Ṭarbā:
After 15 minutes: al-Kasīb, with 60 inhabitants in 15 houses.
After 35 minutes: Umm Riwāq, with 100 inhabitants in 20 houses.
After 2 hours and 25 minutes: al-Ṭayyiba, with 50 inhabitants in 10 houses.
After 4 hours and 30 minutes: Būṣān, with 300 inhabitants in 25 houses.

Day Five: Return to al-Swaida, with observations on valleys, plains, and ruined towers encountered along the route.

Quarterly report and population estimates

In the final quarterly report (4) for the year 1921, issued after the completion of all exploratory missions into previously inaccessible areas, the French mission produced an approximate population estimate for Jabal al-Druze as follows:

  • Druze: 42,686 inhabitants
  • Christians (total: 6,968), including:

    • 2,112 Greek Catholics and Syriac Catholics
    • 4,693 Greek Orthodox
    • 217 Protestants

  • Muslims: 674 inhabitants
  • Bedouins in the surrounding region of Jabal al-Druze: 6,000 individuals

The total population, including both settled inhabitants and Bedouins in the Djebel’s vicinity, was thus estimated at 56,328.

  1. Conclusion

A review of the above reports suggests that, at a surface level, the purpose of the exploratory missions was to gather information on water resources, terrain, road networks, and the needs of local populations in the northern, northeastern, and northwestern parts of Jabal al-Druze. However, a closer reading indicates that the underlying objective of these missions was primarily intelligence-oriented, serving the planning of potential military operations that the French might have to confront or launch in different parts of the Djebel.

From these documents, several conclusions can be drawn:

  • The three missions were not merely intended for geographical exploration or the assessment of local needs; rather, they functioned as intelligence operations aimed at evaluating the military feasibility of French control over Jabal al-Druze through precise documentation of resources, terrain, and population.
  • The composition of certain missions—led jointly by an intelligence officer and a cartographic specialist—suggests a clear objective of producing operational maps that would reflect the real topographical constraints likely to confront any military intervention.
  • The reports placed particular emphasis on documenting differences between villages (whether mixed or exclusively Druze), as well as economic and familial variations—factors that would later lend themselves to exploitation in the consolidation of control over Jabal al-Druze.
  • The documents provide significant statistical data that help define the demographic structure of the Djebel, independently of often imprecise oral accounts.
  • The reports also indicate that the inhabitants of these villages were primarily concerned with the prospect of a better future that France might bring to their poor and remote communities. This is evidenced by their expressed demands, particularly the establishment of schools for their children and the improvement of their living conditions.

Archival References

  • (1) archives_SHDGR__GR_4_H_118__001-106
  • (2) archives_SHDGR__GR_4_H_118__001_0138-144
  • (3) archives_SHDGR__GR_4_H_118__001_0166-166
  • (4) archives_SHDGR_GR_4_H_118__001_0198-0217

Swaida Intellectual Digital Magazine. (2026). Vol. 1(6). ISSN: 3099-3172 (online).