 Some members of the family claim descent from the Ma'an clan, the Druze power in Mount Lebanon during Mamluk and early Ottoman rule (14th–17th centuries).The Bani al-Atrash's founders likely migrated to the Hauran in the early or mid-19th century, but a number of theories exist as to the circumstances of their migration.One view holds that a certain Muhammad (the grandfather of Ismail al-Atrash) settled the family there, while another view holds that three brothers of the family from the village of Tursha in Wadi al-Taym migrated to Hauran and settled on territory controlled by the Druze Hamdan clan.