The al-Dahdah family (also spelled El-Dahdaah, and El-Dahdah) is a noble Maronite Christian family originating from the village of Aqoura in Mount Lebanon, and whose line of descent is attested since the 14th century. It traces back in continuous lineage to Girgis al-Dahdah, the son-in-law of Ghazal al-Qaysi, Muqaddam of Aqoura, who died in 1375 without male issue.[1]
Beginning in 1703, the family received agricultural estates in the Futuh tax-farming district of Mount Lebanon, and in 1705 it settled in the nearby village of Aramoun in the Keserwan District. Its members have collectively held the iqta', or tax-farming concession, for the Futuh district of Mount Lebanon from Ottoman authorities from 1771 until the Ottoman Tanzimat ended the iqta' system in Mount Lebanon in 1859. One branch of the family, that of Mansur al-Dahdah also held the iqta' for the Byblos District for about the same period of time. In the writings of 19th century chroniclers of Mount Lebanon, such as those of Antuniyus Abu Khattar al-'Aynturini (d. 1821), Tannus al-Shidyaq (d. 1859), and Mansur al-Hattuni (d. ca. 1880), the House of al-Dahdah [Aal al-Dahdah in Arabic] is alternatively referred to as the mashayikh (lords) and the muqata'jiyah (iqta' holders or tax farmers) of the Futuh district of Mount Lebanon.[2][3][4]
Among its members were several officials at the court of the Mount Lebanon Emirate, Ottoman consuls in trading cities around the Mediterranean, Papal Counts, and notable Lebanese statesmen, literary men, clergy members, military officers, and senior civil servants. It has consisted of five branches since the early 18th century, of which one is now extinct.