In 1761 and 1763 respectively, Mussa al-Dahdah and his brother Mansur entered the service of the Shihab emirs of the Shouf in southern Mount Lebanon, as the power of the Hamadah Shaykhs declined following their bankruptcy and multiple Ottoman military campaigns against them, and all their iltizam concessions in Northern Mount Lebanon were transferred to the Shihab emirs in 1763.