Al-Qahtaniyah, al-Hasakah
Town in al-Hasakah, Syria
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Al-Qahtaniyah (Arabic: ٱلْقَحْطَانِيَّة, romanized: al-Qaḥṭānīyah; Kurdish: Tirbespî; Syriac: ܩܒܪ̈ܐ ܚܘܪ̈ܐ, romanized: Qabre Ḥewore), formerly Qubur al-Bid, is a town in northeastern Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It is the administrative center of al-Qahtaniyah Subdistrict, which consists of 103 localities. Historically an Assyrian city,[2] at the 2004 census, it had a population of 16,946.[1] The Female Protection Forces of the Land Between Two Rivers trained in this city.
Al-Qahtaniyah
ٱلْقَحْطَانِيَّة Tirbespî ܩܒܪ̈ܐ ܚܘܪ̈ܐ | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Al-Qahtaniyah Location of Al-Qahtaniyah in Syria | |
| Coordinates: 37.035375°N 41.623917°E | |
| Country | Syria |
| Governorate | al-Hasakah |
| District | Qamishli |
| Subdistrict | al-Qahtaniyah |
| Control |  Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria |
| Elevation | 405 m (1,329 ft) |
| Population (2004)[1] | |
• Total | 16,946 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (AST) |
| Geocode | C4751 |
Etymology
The town was originally known as Tirbespî, founded by Hajo Agha of the Hevêrkan tribe in the early 1920s. In 1965, as part of Arabization policies, the name was changed to Qubur al‑Beyd (Arabic for “white graves”; a translation of the Kurdish original), and in 1969 renamed Al‑Qahtaniyah.[3]
Demographics
The majority of the towns inhabitants are Kurds and Arabs, followed by a large number of Assyrians,[2] the Kurds and Assyrians are situated in the town centre while the Arabs reside at the rest of the town
Churches in the town
- Syriac Orthodox Church of Our Lady (ܥܕܬܐ ܕܝܠܕܬ ܐܠܗܐ ܡܪܝܡ ܠܣܘܪ̈ܝܝܐ ܬܪ̈ܝܨܝ ܫܘܒܚܐ كنيسة السيدة العذراء للسريان الأرثوذكس)
History
In 1927, the Kurdish tribal chief Hajo Agha of the influential Hevêrkan tribe immigrated from Turkey with more than 600 families. Upon arriving in the Jazira region, he received land from the Durikan Kurds and, in collaboration with the French authorities, built the town of Tirbespî (present-day Al-Qahtaniyah), for himself.[4] On 13 March 2004, after the 2004 Qamishli riots when 40 Kurdish civilians were killed, residents of Al-Qahtaniyah who protested the killings were shot at and injured by Syrian forces.[5]
As of 2004, Al-Qahtaniyah is the sixth largest town in Al-Hasakah governorate.
In late July 2012, during the Syrian civil war, the YPG took control of the town.[6]
Notable people
- Ciwan Haco (1957*), Kurdish singer
- Muhammad Khayr Ramdan Yusef
- Sleman Henno (1918-2006) Syriac Orthodox priest who wrote and published a book about the massacres of Assyrians in Turabdin
- Tuma Gawriye Nahroyo (1936-2022) The first Assyrian author who wrote and published the first poetry collection in Surayt