Ismael Babouk (; ar, إسماعيل بابوق; 1841–1920) was a Circassian aristocrat that established the first mayoral council and held office as the first Mayor of Amman between 1909 and 1911.

Early life

Ismael Babouk was part of the first generation of Kabardian

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...

that resettled in Amman's ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

ruins after leaving their homeland

Circassia Circassia (; also known as Cherkessia in some sources; ady, Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, lit=, translit=Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; ; ota, چرکسستان, Çerkezistan; ) was a country and a historical region in the along the northeast ...

. The resettlement was the result of the

Russo-Circassian War The Russo-Circassian War ( ady, Урыс-адыгэ зауэ, translit=Wurıs-adığə zawə; ; 1763–1864; also known as the Russian Invasion of Circassia) was the invasion of Circassia by Russia, starting in July 17, 1763 ( O.S) with the Ru ...

that took place in historical

between 1763 and 1864, which roughly encompassed the major part of the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

and the northeast shore of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. Ismael Babouk, after whom one of Amman's downtown streets was named, resided with siblings Kamel Babouk, Maher Babouk and Sawrat-Khan Babouk in 1885 on the Italian Hospital Street.

Career

Career in agriculture & livestock trading

Ismael Babouk started his career in agriculture and raw agricultural land upon arriving in

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 ...

. He later expanded his work to include livestock trading between Syria, Palestine and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Career in politics

Ismael Babouk's career in politics started when he established Amman's first mayoral council that helped transform the city from a village to a town. Being one of the elders of his people, and being fluent in reading and writing

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, Turkish, and Circassian helped get him elected by the residents of the city of Amman as Mayor in 1909 where he held office till 1911. His mayoral election helped increase the interaction between Amman and As Salt.

References

Mayors of Amman 1841 births 1920 deaths {{DEFAULTSORT:Babouk, Ismael