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 In the beginning of the 16th century an ambitious and highly
cultured Druse leader acquired power in Lebanon. Fakhr ed-Din
had a dream of civilizing the Levant, and he came close to
realizing it. Ahmed Ibn Turabai, the leader of the Beni Hareta,
had already in 1613 opposed Fakhr ed-Din, but now the Druse
leader wanted Karak, to gain a foothold in southern
Transjordan. He contacted the sheikh of the Uhedat, and
promised him the release of his son from a Nablus prison, in
exchange for the conquest of Karak. What
happened next is not entirely clear. Apparently the Uhedat
gathered before the gates of Karak, and fell upon a food caravan
headed by a Turabai leader. In the following skirmishes the
Turabai was killed, and next we find the Uhedat in control of
Karak. For Fakhr ed-Din it was too late: in 1633 he was taken
prisoner by the Turks, and later killed.
 Although the confederation of the Beni Okba had fallen apart,
its tribes remained in the region, and one of them grew to be
powerful enough to threaten the power of the Uhedat. This was
the tribe of the Beni Amr. In a historic raid they managed to
drive them out. (The Ghazu of the Beni Amr) The Uhedat
moved to the Gaza region, where they had long had their summer
quarters. The Beni Amr became the new rulers of the region,
including the town of Karak. At the beginning of the 18th
century the region was divided among the Sardiye north of the
Wadi Mujib, and the Beni Amr in the south. But a new power was
stirring in the south already: that of the Howeitat, one of the
tribes from the old confederation of the Beni Atiye.
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