29 Facts About Hauran

1.

The population of the Hauran is largely Arab, but religiously heterogeneous; most inhabitants of the plains are Sunni Muslims belonging to large agrarian clans, while Druze form the majority in the eponymous Jabal al-Druze and a significant Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic minority inhabit the western foothills of Jabal al-Druze.

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2.

The Hauran prospered under Roman rule and its villages functioned as largely self-governing units, some of which developed into imperial cities.

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3.

For much of the Islamic era until Ottoman rule, the Hauran was divided into the districts of al-Bathaniyya and Hawran, which corresponded to the Classical Batanea and Auranitis.

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4.

The Hauran remained Syria's breadbasket until being largely supplanted by northern Syria in the mid-20th century, which coincided with its separation from interdependent areas due to international borders and the Arab–Israeli conflict.

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5.

Wide availability of basalt in the Hauran led to the development of a distinct vernacular architecture characterized by the exclusive use of basalt as a building material and a fusion of Hellenistic, Nabatean and Roman styles.

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6.

Common feature throughout the Hauran is the basaltic topography, though altitude and soil vary between the Hauran's subregions.

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7.

The Nuqrah, Jaydur and Jabal Hauran consist of arable land derived from decomposed basaltic, volcanic rock.

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8.

Jabal Hauran receives considerably greater rainfall, which supports more orchard and tree-based cultivation.

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9.

The Seleucids conquered the Hauran following their victory over the Ptolemies in the Battle of Panium near Mount Hermon in 200 BCE.

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10.

In 106, the empire formally annexed the entire Hauran, incorporating its southern part in Arabia Province and its northern part in Syria Province.

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11.

Byzantine era in the Hauran was marked by the dual processes of rapid Arabization and the growth of Christianity.

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12.

Abbasid period in Hauran was marked by numerous damaging raids from the Qarmatians of eastern Arabia in the 10th century.

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13.

These occurred when the Crusaders captured Muslim-held fortresses in the Hauran or passed by the region after raids against Damascus.

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14.

Hauran was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire following its conquest of Mamluk Syria in 1517.

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15.

The Hauran had long been a major grain-producing region and officially, its land belonged to the Ottoman state and its inhabitants were required to pay taxes and be conscripted into the army.

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16.

The Anaza's entry into the Hauran caused the exodus of the semi-nomadic tribes of the Banu Rabi'a confederation.

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17.

The largest tribes that encamped in the Hauran were the Wuld Ali, who arrived in the early 18th century, and the Rwala, who arrived in the late 18th century.

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18.

Hauran plains declined economically and demographically during the 17th and 18th centuries.

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19.

Rashid sought to change the general view in the Hauran that the government was an alien power that was only intent on collecting taxes and conscripting its youth.

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20.

Hauran accomplished this change by according the chiefs of Wuld Ali and Rwala adequate grazing lands; granting the leaders of the plainsmen and the Druze certain privileges and state functions; and replacing the aghawat as the state's intermediaries with the locals, whilst still utilizing them for military campaigns in Transjordan and facilitating the Hajj caravan.

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21.

Into the 1870s and 1880s, the peasants of the Hauran, including the Druze, persisted in their agitation against the central government, European commercial interests and their own leaders.

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22.

Under French Mandatory rule, the Hauran plains formed an eponymous district within the State of Damascus, while the Jabal Hauran formed the Jabal Druze State.

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23.

However, following World War II, the Hauran lost much of its importance within Syria's national economy.

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24.

Grain production in the Hauran has been limited by dependence on rain and underground reservoirs.

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25.

Unlike other rural regions in Syria, most land in the Hauran was not concentrated in the hands of large owners, being owned instead by small or medium-sized proprietors.

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26.

Social structure of the Hauran plain is characterized by networks of large extended clans, such as the Hariri, Zu'bi, Miqdad, Abu Zeid, Mahamid, Masalma and Jawabra.

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27.

Hauran has its own vernacular architectural tradition, known as the Hawrani style, which is characterized by a number of distinctive factors.

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28.

The reliance upon basalt in the Hauran "formed a truly lithic architecture“, according to the architectural anthropologist Fleming Aalund.

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29.

Hauran is distinguished by the large-scale preservation of its ancient structures.

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