Asir, officially the Aseer Province, is a province of Saudi Arabia in South Arabia. It has an area of , and an estimated population of 2,024,285 (in 2022).
Abha is the provincial capital, and other towns include Khamis Mushait, Bisha and Bareq. The province governor is Turki bin Talal, He replaced his cousin, Faisal bin Khalid, after being appointed on 27 December 2018.
Etymology
The origin of the name "Asir" remains a subject of debate among historians. One theory, proposed by
Al-Masudi in his work
The Meadows of Gold, suggests that the region was originally known as the "land of Azd".
Another popular hypothesis suggests that the name "Asir" derives from the Arabic term ʿUsrah (). This theory comes from the fact that the region's terrain is rugged, which can be challenging to navigate.
A third perspective proposed by Fuad Hamza in his book Fi bilad ʿAseer, links the name to the historical prominence of Banu Asir.
History
Ancient history
In 25 B.C.,
Aelius Gallus marched his legions south from
Ancient Egypt on an expedition of , to take control of the ancient overland trade routes between the Mediterranean Sea and what is now
Hadhramaut in
Yemen. The
Ancient Rome wanted control of those routes because they were desperate for money and hoped to raise some by capturing
Marib, capital of
Sheba, and taking control of the trade in
incense – then a priceless commodity – and other valuable aromatics. As it turned out, however, the expedition was a disaster and little information about Asir emerged.
Modern history
When the First Saudi state was destroyed by the
Ottoman Empire in 1818, the Asiris continued to fight the
Ottoman Egypt forces in their region tenaciously. With the withdrawal of the Ottomans in 1840, the dynasty of
Al-Ayedh, also of Mughayd, took control of the Asir highlands. The Al-Ayedh generally allied themselves to the Saudis, who had re-established their dynasty in 1824, but did not formally enter under their command. As the Al-Ayedh attempted to expand into the
Tihamah lowlands (present-day
Jazan Province), the
Ottoman Turks felt provoked to invade and occupy the highlands. They defeated and executed the leader of Al Ayedh in 1872 and established a
mutasarrifiyya (a sub-governorate) in
Abha attached to the
Yemen vilayet. Their rule, however, seldom extended far from the isolated forts where their troops were garrisoned.
[Headley, R.L. "'Asīr." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007.]
In about 1906, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi, a descendant of Ahmad ibn Idris al-Fasi, began to establish political control of Asir. After negotiations with Italy, which had interests nearby in Somalia, the Idrisi forces of Muhammad came into conflict with Ottoman forces in Abha. The Idrisis were defeated in 1911 by Hashemites forces under Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, then still loyal to the Ottomans, but the tide turned when Muhammad ibn Ali concluded a secret military alliance with Great Britain (by then at war with the Ottomans) in 1915, and Sharif Hussein later switched sides and joined the British against the Ottomans.
After the end of World War I, Muhammad ibn Ali became ruler of an internationally recognized sovereign state, the Emirate of Asir, until he died in 1920. The territories of the emirate reached from Abha in the north to Hodeidah in the south. Muhammad's successors were, however, unable to resist the growing power of Ibn Saud, who began annexing Asir and its neighboring regions after Muhammad's death, initially intervening under the pretext of mediating between the Al-Ayedh of Asir and the Idrisis. The Saudis took control of the regional capital Abha in 1920, and incorporated the rest of Asir by 1923.
By 1920, however, Ibn Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi state, had begun to recoup the losses of the House of Saud, and to unify most of the peninsula under his rule. As part of this campaign, he sent his Bedouin warriors also known as the Ikhwan to occupy Asir, and the ruler of the region, Hasan Al Idrissi, had to leave.
Mass shootings of Ethiopian refugees
Since 2014 refugees are killed after crossing the Saudi border by the Saudi Border Guard. Since 2023 at least several hundred Ethiopian refugees have been killed at the border between Yemen and the provinces
Jazan Province, Asir and
Najran. The Saudis have also used
Explosive weapon.
Economy
Historically, Asir was known for producing
coffee,
wheat,
alfalfa,
barley, senna, and
frankincense.
Wheat was grown in the summer and
sesame has been grown in wetter areas of the region.
was used to make mats, hats, and
. Tribes in the area also wove tents from straw.
Modern development projects
In 2019, the Saudi government launched an infrastructure development project in ʿAsir Region. The project is expected to cost more than 1 billion Saudi Riyals. The provided projects will include health care, transportation and municipal services.
The project is in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 to diversify non-petroleum income and activate new resources in Saudi Arabia.
In 2023, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched Soudah Peaks Project to develop a tourism destination in Saudi Arabia's highest peak, Jabal Soudah.
Education
The Asir Province is served by several institutions of higher education, the most prominent being King Khalid University (KKU). Established in 1998 through a royal decree that merged the satellite campuses of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University and King Saud University, The main campus is located in
Abha, with satellite campuses in cities such as
Khamis Mushait,
Muhayil, and
Bisha. The university offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs across fields like medicine, engineering, computer science, humanities, Islamic studies, and business. It enrolls both male and female students.
Primary and secondary education in the province is overseen by the Ministry of Education, which operates a comprehensive network of public schools. These schools serve students from the elementary to high school levels and are distributed across urban centers, mountainous villages, and rural areas, ensuring widespread educational access throughout the province.
In addition to academic institutions, the province hosts numerous technical and vocational education centers managed by the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC)
Girls' Technical Colleges in Asir Province:
-
Abha Girls' Technical College
-
Namas Girls' Technical College
-
Khamis Mushayt Girls' Technical College
-
Sarat Ubaydah Girls' Technical College
-
Muhayil Asir Girls' Technical College
-
Bisha Girls' Technical College
-
Balqarn Girls' Technical College
Men's Technical Colleges and Branches in Asir Province:
-
Abha Applied Technical College
-
Abha Technical College
-
Ahad Rufaidah Technical College
-
Namas Technical College
-
Balqarn Technical College
-
Bisha Technical College
-
Tanuma Technical College
-
Khamis Mushait Technical College
-
Rijal Alma Technical College
-
Sarat Ubaidah Technical College
-
Dhahran Al Janoub Technical College
-
Mahayil Asir Technical College
-
Al Farsha Technical College Branch
-
Tathleeth Technical College Branch.
Geography
The Asir Province is situated on a high plateau that receives more rainfall than the rest of the country and contains the country's highest
Dhorm Mountain, which rise to almost at
Jabal Soudah near
Abha. Though data is exceedingly sparse and unreliable, the average annual rainfall in the highlands probably ranges from . It falls in two rainy seasons, the chief one being in March and April, with some rain in the summer. Temperatures are very extreme, with diurnal temperature ranges in the highlands the greatest in the world. It is common for afternoon temperatures to be over , yet mornings can be extremely frosty and
fog can cut visibility to near zero percent. As a result, there is much more natural vegetation in ʿAsir than in any other part of Saudi Arabia, with sheltered areas even containing areas of dense coniferous forests, though more exposed ridges still are very dry. ʿAsir is home to many farmers who chiefly grow wheat and fruit crops. Irrigation has greatly expanded production in modern times. Asir National Park was established in 1981, and extends from the Red Sea coast through the western foothills to the Asir escarpment.
Population
Governorates
+ Governorates of Asir Province (Census 2022) |
| 422,243 |
| 230,537 |
| 38,409 |
| 60,012 |
| 44,880 |
| 202,096 |
| 601,305 |
| 50,825 |
| 17,756 |
| 32,099 |
| 36,451 |
| 57,123 |
| 107,894 |
| 48,302 |
| 18,503 |
| 22,298 |
| 10,969 |
| 22,583 |
List of governors
|
|
| Ibn Saud |
| Faisal |
| Faisal, Khalid, Fahd, Abdullah |
| Abdullah, Salman |
| Salman |
See also
Notes
-
Updated Edition; Norton Paperback; pbk.
External links
