Sweileh ( ar, صويلح, Ṣuwayliḥ, alternatively spelled Suwaylih, Swaylih or Swaileh) is district number sixteen in
Amman
Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
out of twenty-seven. It lies to the north of the city center. It was founded by
Chechen settlers in 1906 during Ottoman rule. It had a population of 151,016 in the 2015 census.
The town is known for having a good climate throughout the year, it is one of the few districts of Amman that sees snow during winter due to its high altitude. The cultivation of olives and grapes, heavy industries, such as auto assembly, steel, and cement, make up the local economy. Today, it is considered one of Amman's most populated districts since it has the
University of Jordan
The University of Jordan ( ar, الجامعة الأردنية), often abbreviated UJ, is a public university located in Amman, Jordan. Founded in 1962 by royal decree, it is the largest and oldest institution of higher education in Jordan. ...
and is a connection point to other cities such as
Salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
,
Irbid
Irbid ( ar, إِربِد), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek), is the capital and largest city of the Irbid Governorate. It also has the second largest metropolitan population in ...
and
Jarash.
History
Sweileh was founded as an agricultural village called Ayn Suwaylih in 1906 by
Circassian and
Chechen settlers who were moved to the area by the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
from other parts of the Empire. It was the fourth village in the
Balqa region to be settled by Chechen refugees. On 3 May 1907 the settlement was raided by 2,000 Adwan, Abbad, Balqawiya and Bani Hasan tribesmen and townspeople from
Salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
and
Fuheis
Fuheis ( ar, الفحيص) is a Christian majority town in the central Jordanian governorate of Balqa. It lies in Wadi Shueib between Salt and Amman, at a distance of 6 and 13 kilometers respectively. It has an elevation between 740-1050 meter ...
in response to an earlier quarrel in which a Bedouin herder was wounded attempting to graze livestock on wheat fields claimed by the Chechens. The raid ended in the deaths of eleven settlers and the wounding of fifteen others, while a similar number of raiders were killed. All of the village's livestock and the entire contents of twenty-eight dwelling were stolen in the raid. The Ottoman authorities arrested sixty people allegedly involved the raid, including several tribal chiefs, dismissed the governor of the Salt
kaza
A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough')
* bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза
* el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also ()
* lad, kaza
, ...
(district), and opened a wide-scale reparations project to compensate the Chechens. The population of the village according to the 1915 Ottoman census was 745. In the 1940s a road connecting Amman with Jabal Ajlun in the northeast of the country was opened through Sweileh; the new road was built for commercial and security purposes.
References
Bibliography
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{{Amman Governorate, jamiah
1906 establishments in Ottoman Syria
Districts of Amman
Populated places in Amman Governorate