During the second half of the 19th century the Ottoman government in Syria changed its attitude towards ruling the desert areas. Hitherto limiting its presence to the areas bordering the cities and villages while securing the passage of the annual hajj caravan to the holy cities in the Hijaz, the government embarked on a project to incorporate parts of the desert under its direct rule. Within the framework of the tanzimat reforms, Ottoman officials sought to establish a degree of control over the large and powerful tribal confederations in order to protect what they saw as the more productive segments of society; namely, city dwellers and peasants. At the heart of this new policy was the government’s recognition of the major tribal leaders by incorporating them into its administrative structure. This paper will argue that this new policy effectively changed the very nature of tribal leadership. By recognizing a certain shaykhly family as the representative of the confederacy, and bestowing upon them administrative roles, honorary title and material gains, the government injected stable power in what had been tenuous and precarious position. In fact, the Ottoman Empire institutionalized the prominence of several leaders and their immediate families by creating a new position of shaykh al-mashayikh (paramount shaykh). They enabled the holders of these titles to enjoy a secure status of seniority within their confederacy, thus forming a hereditary line of succession. In other words, and in contrary to views expressed in most of the literature, a strong modern state did not weaken shaykhs’ power. On the contrary, it created stronger shaykhs. The paper will compare the nature of tribal leadership in the Syrian desert before and after the establishment of direct Ottoman rule. Ottoman official documents, rich travel literature, consular dispatches and contemporary Arabic press reports are weighed against the ever-growing body of scholarship, both empirical and theoretical, dealing with state-tribe relations. An analysis of the interaction between the Ottoman authorities and the tribal leaders will contribute to understanding the important, yet understudied political and social functions of the tribal shaykhs in the Arab Middle East. For even after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the same powerful shaykhs continued to play a major role in most of the succeeding states formed under colonial rule, making this study relevant to the late Ottoman period and beyond.