Ramadan al-Shallash

Ramaḍān Pāshā al-Shallāsh (1879-1946) was a prominent rebel commander of the 1925 Great Syrian Revolt and, prior to that, a military officer in the Ottoman and Sharifian armies.

Shallash was born in Deir ez-Zor to the sheikh of the Al Bu Saraya tribe. He became a captain in the Ottoman army, serving on the Libyan and Balkan fronts in 1911 and 1912, respectively. In 1916, he joined the Arab independence movement of Sharif Hussein. Three years later, he led efforts to ensure Deir ez-Zor and its environs become part of Syria; to that end, he and his Bedouin fighters expelled the British from the city without apparent sanction from Hussein's son, Emir Faisal. He was consequently dismissed from Deir ez-Zor but continued his efforts nonetheless.

After France toppled Faisal's government and took over Syria in 1920, Shallash moved to Transjordan. He served as the intermediary between that country's emir and Faisal's brother, Abdullah, and the northern Syrian revolt leader Ibrahim Hananu. With the launch of the Great Syrian Revolt, Shallash returned to command his own rebel band. He participated in the rebels' brief capture of Damascus and later led operations in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. He was accused by rebel leaders Nasib al-Bakri and Hasan al-Kharrat of plundering Ghouta villages and dismissed from command. Not long after, he surrendered to the French and encouraged his former comrades to do the same.