Al-Kharsa
Village in Suwayda, Syria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Al-Kharsa (Arabic: الخرسا) is a village situated in the Shahba District of Suwayda Governorate, in southern Syria. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Al-Kharsa had a population of 547 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Druze, with a Sunni Muslim Bedouin minority.[2]
History
In 1596, Najran appeared in Ottoman tax registers under the name of Harsa, as being in the nahiya of Bani Miglad in the Qada Hawran. It had a population of 13 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on various agricultural products, such as wheat (750 a.), barley (180 a.), summer crops (150 a.), goats and beehives (50 a.), in addition to "occasional revenues" (70 a.); a total of 1,200 akçe.[3]
In 1838, it was noted as a ruin, el-Khursa, situated "in the Lejah, east of Dama".[4]
Religious buildings
- Maqam Umm al-Kabash (Druze Shrine)
- Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque