Janbirdi al-Ghazali

Janbirdi al-Ghazali (; died 1521) was the first governor of Damascus Province under the Ottoman Empire from February 1519 until his death in February 1521.

Al-Ghazali then joined the Mamluk governor of Aleppo in defecting to the Ottomans and severed allegiance with Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri. Selim I was reportedly impressed by al-Ghazali's loyalty to his superiors and in a bid to have him serve under the Ottomans, In line with Ottoman state policy at the time, al-Ghazali embarked on major development projects in Damascus. Having been appointed the nazir or "supervisor" of Damascus's main waqf, he had the Umayyad Mosque repaired and redecorated. He also had a number of other mosques, schools and canals rebuilt and repaired. Supervisors of madrasas ("religious schools") who were deemed negligent were stripped of their position and their school buildings restored.

Revolt against the Ottomans Following the succession of Süleyman the Magnificent to the sultanate after Selim's death in 1520, al-Ghazali revolted against the Ottoman state. He sought to restore Mamluk suzerainty, declaring himself "sultan" or al-Malik al-Ashraf ("the most noble king"). He banned preachers in mosques from upholding the Ottoman sultan's name in Friday prayers, purged Ottoman officials and soldiers from Syria, and banned Ottoman dress by the province's citizens. After he declared himself sultan, the cities of Tripoli, Hama, and Hims joined his rebellion. he nonetheless raised an army and set out to conquer Aleppo. The residents of Aleppo supported the Ottoman sultanate, however, and resisted al-Ghazali's efforts. His army besieged the city for 15 days, during which over 200 residents and Ottoman soldiers were killed, but to no avail. He withdrew to Damascus soon after to rally his forces. The Ottoman contemporary chroniclers report al-Ghazali's revolt as the first major event of the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent.