 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 the Al Hamdan.Through his battlefield reputation and his political intrigues with other Druze clans, Bedouin tribes, the 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.