Al-Kafr
Village in Suwayda, Syria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Al-Kafr (Arabic: الكفر, also spelled al-Kefr) is a village in Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria. It is located 8 km to the southeast of Suwayda. It is known for its forest and good wine,[citation needed] 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] Its inhabitants are predominantly Druze, with a Sunni Muslim Bedouin minority.[2]
Al-Kafr
الكفر | |
|---|---|
Village | |
Al-Kafr village | |
  Al-Kafr Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates: 32°38′00″N 36°38′30″E | |
| Grid position | 304/227 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Suwayda |
| District | Suwayda |
| Subdistrict | Suwayda |
| Elevation | 1,360 m (4,460 ft) |
| Population (2004 census)[1] | |
• Total | 7,458 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
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 chieftain Isma'il al-Atrash was becoming the preeminent force of the Jabal al-Druze area over his Druze rivals in the Hamdan clan.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6]
Religious buildings
- Maqam Sheikh Mohammed (Druze Shrine)
