| al-Atrash الأطرش | |
|---|---|
| Current region | Jabal Hauran, Akkar |
| Etymology | "the Deaf" |
| Place of origin | Jabal al-A'la, northern Syria (claimed) Hauran (early 19th century) |
| Members | Ismail al-Atrash Sultan al-Atrash Farid al-Atrash Asmahan |
| Connected families | Bani Isma'il Bani Najm Bani Hammud |
The al-Atrash (Arabic: الأطرش al-Aṭrash), also known as Bani al-Atrash, is a Druze clan based in Jabal Hauran in southwestern Syria. The family's name al-atrash is Arabic for "the deaf" and derives from one the family's deaf patriarchs. The al-Atrash clan migrated to Jabal Hauran in the early 19th century, and under the leadership of their sheikh (chieftain) Ismail al-Atrash became the paramount ruling Druze family of Jabal Hauran in the mid-19th century, taking over from Al Hamdan. Through his battlefield reputation and his political intrigues with other Druze clans, Bedouin tribes, Ottoman authorities and European consuls, Ismail consolidated al-Atrash power. By the early 1880s, the family controlled eighteen villages, chief among which were as-Suwayda, Salkhad, al-Qurayya, 'Ira and Urman.
Ismail was succeeded by his eldest son Ibrahim and following the latter's death, by Ismail's other son Shibli. Al-Atrash sheikhs led the Druze in numerous revolts against the Ottomans, including the 1910 Hauran revolt. One of its sheikhs, Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, was the chief leader of the Great Syrian Revolt against French rule in Syria in 1925–1927.