Product Code Database
Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way station for travelers. Nearby localities include Umm al-Mayazen and Nasib to the southeast, al-Naimah to the east, Ataman to the north, al-Yaduda to the northwest and Ramtha, Jordan, to the southwest.
According to the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics, Daraa had a population of 97,969 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of a nahiya (subdistrict) which contained eight localities with a collective population of 146,481 in 2004. General Census of Population and Housing 2004 . Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Daraa Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly .Sterling, Joe. Daraa: The spark that lit the Syrian flame. CNN. 1 March 2012.
Daraa became known as the "cradle of the revolution" after the arrest of 15 boys from prominent families for painting graffiti with anti-government slogans which sparked the beginning of the 2011 Syrian revolution.
The name Daraa goes back to ancient Canaanite origins, as it was mentioned in ancient texts as "Idraat," which means "refuge," "fortress," or "shield."
The biblical account says that Og was a giant, with an iron bed "nine cubits long and four cubits wide, equal to the cubit of a man" (Deuteronomy 3:11). He confronted the Israelites and clashed with them at Adhrath, where they killed him and his sons and divided up the cities of his kingdom. This giant is known in Islamic literature as Og ibn Unq.
By the 3rd century, it had gained the status of polis or self-governed city. The Roman historian Eusebius referred to it. Fergus Millar, The Roman Near East, 31 B.C.-A.D. 337 (Harvard University Press 1993 ), p. 419 The area east of Adraa was a centre of the Ebionites. Albertus Frederik Johannes Klijn, G. J. Reinink, Patristic Evidence for Jewish-Christian Sects (Brill Archive 1973 ), p. 29 Adraa itself was a Christian bishopric. Arabio, the first bishop of Adraa whose name is known, participated in the Council of Seleucia of 359. Uranius was at the First Council of Constantinople in 381; Proclus at the anti-Eutyches synod of Constantinople in 448 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451; and Dorimenius at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553.Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 859-860Siméon Vailhé, v. Adraa, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. I, Paris 1909, coll. 592-593 No longer a residential bishopric, Adraa is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 838 It was also a centre of monastic and missionary activity in the Syrian Desert.
In 614, the Sasanian Empire sacked Adraa during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, but spared the inhabitants.
During the Crusades, the Franks intended to attack Adhraat, but were unable to enter Bosra, and Hauran became a center of intense battle with the Crusaders.
Early Muslim historian al-Baladhuri lists Adhri'at as one of the towns conquered by the Muslim army following the Battle of Mu'tah in 629 and forced to pay the jizya. However, contemporary sources maintain that Adhri'at was conquered by the Rashidun army during the caliphate of Abu Bakr in 634.Houtma, 1993, p. 135 Adhri'at's residents reportedly celebrated the arrival of the second caliph, Umar, when he visited the city, "dancing with swords and sweet basil."Sharon, 2007, p. 69 Throughout Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates, the city served as the capital of the al-Bathaniyya subdistrict, part of the larger Jund Dimashq ("military district of Damascus").le Strange, 1890, p. 34
In 906, the population was massacred in a raid by the rebellious Qarmatians. The late 10th-century geographer al-Muqaddasi noted that during the Abbasid Caliphate, Adhri'at was a major administrative center on the edge of the desert.le Strange, 1890, p. 383 He claimed the city was part of the Jund al-Urdunn district and that its territory was "full of villages" and included the region of Jerash to the south of the Yarmouk River.le Strange, 1890, p. 40
Throughout the early Islamic period, it served as a strategic station on the Hajj caravan route between Damascus and Medina and as the gate to central Syria. The Crusades temporarily conquered Adhri'at, then known as Adratum, during the reign of Baldwin II of Jerusalem in 1118.
According to Yaqut al-Hamawi, in the early 13th century during Ayyubid dynasty, Adhri'at was "celebrated for the many learned men who were natives of the place." Under the Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire, the city maintained its importance.Sharon, 2007, p. 70 In 1596 Daraa appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as madinat Idra'a and was part of the nahiya of Butayna (Bathaniyya) in the Hauran Sanjak of Ottoman Syria. It had a Muslim population of 120 households and 45 bachelors. A 40% tax−rate was levied on wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or ; a total of 26,500 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 214.
In 1838, Eli Smith listed Daraa as a Muslim, Catholic, and Greek Orthodox village in the Nuqrah (southern Hauran plain) south of al-Shaykh Maskin.Eli Smith; in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p. 152.
Daraa is the southernmost city of Syria near the border with Jordan and a major midpoint between Damascus and Amman.
After the Syrian Ba'ath Party gained power following the 1963 coup, the new interior minister Amin al-Hafiz appointed Abd al-Rahman al-Khlayfawi as governor of Daraa until 1965.Moubayed, 2006, p. 275 Daraa had recently, before the Syrian Civil War, suffered from reduced water supply in the region and had been straining under the influx of internal refugees who were forced to leave their northeastern lands due to a drought exacerbated by the government's lack of provision.
During this time the local courthouse, the Ba'ath party headquarters in the city, and the Syriatel building owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of President Assad, were set on fire. What followed was a government assault on the city as violence continued and intensified all across Syria. On 25 April 2011, the Syrian Armed Forces launched the Siege of Daraa in a crackdown on protesters. The operation lasted until 5 May 2011, killing and arresting tens of thousands of locals in the process.
On 16 February 2012, the Syrian Army reportedly attacked Daraa, shelling the city heavily. This was apparently because, "Daraa has been regaining its role in the uprising. Demonstrations resumed and the Free Syrian Army provided security for protests in some parts of the city." The attack was part of a security force push "to regain control of areas they lost in recent weeks", indicating that the FSA in Daraa had taken control of parts of the city. Security forces attacked at least three districts, but FSA fighters fought back, firing at Syrian Army roadblocks and buildings housing security police and militiamen. On 14 March 2012, the Free Syrian Army controlled at least one main district in the city of Daraa (al-Balad district) prompting the Syrian army to attack it with anti-aircraft guns.
In early June 2017, much of Daraa was reported to have been destroyed by protracted fighting. Syrian regime jets pound Daraa after rebel attacks TheNewArab, 5 June 2017. On 12 July 2018, the battle for Daraa ended after several days of intense clashes between the Syrian Army and rebel forces, some of which agreed to terms of reconciliation. The Syrian Army retook the city fully.
The March 2020 Daraa clashes and 2021 Daraa offensive ended with Syrian Army victory. After that, the Syrian government fully recaptured the city, reestablished state institutions there, and restarted the reconciliation process.
On 6 December 2024, local rebels began an offensive to take the city. 90% of the governorate, including the city itself, fell under their control.
The city is divided into two sections; Daraa al-Mahatta, which is the northern portion, and Daraa al-Balad, which is the southern part of the city.
In 2011, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church had approximately 800-1000 believers.
|
|
