 The Bani al-Atrash sheikhdom by then had been expanded to include 18 villages (out of some 62 Druze villages in Jabal Hauran).Ismail died in November 1869 and a power struggle consequently ensued between his sons Ibrahim and Shibli.The former was recognized by Rashid Pasha as the "mudir" of Ara, prompting clashes between the latter's partisans within the family and its allied clans.