Al-Kafr Explained

Al-Kafr should not be confused with Kafir, Idlib.

Official Name:Al-Kafr
Native Name:الكفر
Settlement Type:Village
Pushpin Map:Syria
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Syria
Coordinates:32.6333°N 36.6417°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Governorate
Subdivision Name1:as-Suwayda
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:as-Suwayda
Subdivision Type3:Subdistrict
Subdivision Name3:as-Suwayda
Unit Pref:Metric
Elevation M:1360
Population Total:7458
Population As Of:2004 census
Timezone:EET
Utc Offset:+2
Timezone Dst:EEST
Utc Offset Dst:+3

Al-Kafr (Arabic: الكفر, also spelled al-Kefr) is a village in as-Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria. It is located 8 km to the southeast of as-Suwayda. It is known for its forest and good wine, and it was the site of a number of battles during the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Kafr had a population of 7,458 in the 2004 census.[1]

Modern-day al-Kafr was settled by Druze coming from other areas in central Ottoman Syria between 1857 and 1860, at a time when the Druze sheikh Ismail al-Atrash was becoming the preeminent force of the Jabal al-Druze area over his Druze rivals in the Hamdan clan.[2] Druze settlement in al-Kafr and other villages, like Najran, on the southern borders of the Lajat plain, the Druze were able to encircle the Sulut Bedouin tribe that had dominated the area previously.[3] Al-Kafr was one of two villages (the other being Qanawat) that put up armed resistance to the 30-battalion-strong force assembled by the Ottoman governor Sami Pasha al-Faruqi to suppress the Hauran Druze Rebellion, led by Zuqan al-Atrash, against the government. The Druze sheikhs ultimately surrendered to the government.[4]

During French Mandatory rule, on 22 July 1925, al-Kafr became the site of the Battle of al-Kafr, in which the forces of Sultan al-Atrash routed a French army column sent to defeat Sultan's men at Salkhad. The battle essentially precipitated the countrywide Great Syrian Revolt against French rule.[5]

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Notes and References

  1. https://archive.today/20120804045153/http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB13-1-2004.htm General Census of Population and Housing 2004
  2. Firro 1992, p. 189
  3. Firro 1992, p. 68
  4. Firro 1992, p. 243
  5. Firro 1992, pp. 285–286.