Qarfa
قرفــا | |
|---|---|
Town | |
Qarfa | |
| Coordinates: 32°48′55″N 36°12′5″E / 32.81528°N 36.20139°E / 32.81528; 36.20139 | |
| Grid position | 262/247 PAL |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa |
| District | Izraa |
| Nahiyah | Shaykh Miskin |
| Population (2004 census)1 | |
• Total | 4,885 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Qarfa (Arabic: قرفــا) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Izraa District in the Daraa Governorate. Nearby localities include ash-Shaykh Miskin to the northwest, Izraa to the northeast, Mlaihat al-Atash to the east, Namer to the southeast, Khirbet Ghazaleh to the south and Abtaa to the southwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Qarfa had a population of 4,885 in the 2004 census.1 Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.
History
Inside a private house in Qarfa a Greek inscription dedicating a church to Saint Bacchus was discovered. The inscription was dated to 589-590 CE and written on a stone lintel decorated with a cross.2
Ottoman era
In 1596, Qarfa appeared in Ottoman tax registers as a village in the Nahiya of Bani Malik al-Asraf in the Hawran Qada. It had a population of 42 households and 15 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, and goats or beehives, a total of 6,451 akçe. 5/24 of the revenue went to a Waqf3
In 1838, it was noted as a Sunni Muslim village (Kurfa) in the Nukrah district, east of ash-Shaykh Miskin.4
Modern era
On 13 August 1962 a tribal feud in Qarfa between the al-Makayed and al-Manasser clans resulted in five people being wounded. The fighting was a result of old rivalries. Security forces arrested several people from the town and the wounded were evacuated to the hospital.5
Civil War
During the ongoing civil war, which began in 2011, opposition rebels from the Free Syrian Army attacked a petrol station in Qarfa, resulting in the death of a relative of high-ranking government official Rustum Ghazaleh in early January 2013.6
Religious buildings
- The Old Mosque
- Sayyida Aisha Mosque (formerly known as the Islamic Unity Mosque)
- Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf Mosque (formerly known as the Bassel al-Assad Mosque)
Notable people
- Rustum Ghazaleh (1953–2015), Head of Syrian Political Security Directorate
References
References
- General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Deprecated link archived 2013-01-12 at archive.today. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate. (in Arabic)
- Chaniotis, 2003, p. 521.
- Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 212
- Smith; in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p. 152
- Mideast Mirror. 14. Arab News Agency. (1962). Page 20.
- FSA kills relative of Syrian security chief in Deraa. Al Arabiya. 2013-01-05.
Bibliography
Bibliography
- Chaniotis, A. (2003). Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. Vol. 50. BRILL Academic Publications. ISBN 9050634087.
- Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.