Da'el (, also spelled Da'il) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in southern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

located on the old road between Daraa and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, located approximately 14 kilometers north of Daraa. Administratively, it belongs to the Daraa District of the

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 2594 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Quneitra G ...

and is the center of the Da'el ''

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' ("subdistrict") which also includes one other town,

Abtaa Abtaa (; transliteration: ''Ibṭaʿ'', also spelled ''Ibta'' or ''Obtei'a'') is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa District in the Daraa Governorate. Nearby localities include Da'el to the south, Khirbet Ghazaleh to the s ...

, to the immediate north. Other nearby localities include Tafas to the west,

Ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; ; ) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukra ...

to the south, Khirbet al-Ghazaleh to the east, Namir and

Qarfa Qarfa (, also spelled Garfa or Kurfa) is a village in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Izra' District of the Daraa Governorate. Nearby localities include al-Shaykh Maskin to the northwest, Izra to the northeast, Maliha al-Atash to ...

to the northeast, al-Shaykh Maskin to the north and al-Shaykh Saad to the northwest. As of the 2004 census by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the population of Da'el town was 29,408, while the Da'el subdistrict was 43,691.Da'el population
/ref> Its inhabitants are predominantly

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

. Smith; in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p
151
/ref> The inhabitants are mainly involved in agriculture of grains (wheat, beans, olives, grapes, etc.) and expertise manpower in some

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

countries (UAE, KSA, Kuwait and Qatar). The city was recently modernized with a new wave of services such as high-speed internet, full cell-phone coverage, new land line phones with a boom in construction field. Government employees do not exceed 5% of the town's population while the rest operate their own businesses.

History

Ottoman period

In 1596 Da'el appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as '' Da'il'' and was part of the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' of ''Bani Malik al-Asraf'' in the Qada Hawran. It had an entirely

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

population consisting of 42 households and 20 bachelors. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including on

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

, summer crops, goats and/or beehives, in addition to on a water mill; a total of 16,000 akçe. In 1838 Da'el was classified as a Muslim village, located south of al-Shaykh Maskin. Smith; in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p
112
/ref> At the end of the 19th century, the village had 300 inhabitants and 65 houses. Throughout the later Ottoman era and up until the dominance of the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

during the 1960s, the al-Hariri clan, which had its principal seat in Da'el, was the most powerful clan in the

Hauran The Hauran (; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, to the northeast by the al-Safa field, to the east and south by the Harrat ...

region of southern Syria, controlling about 18 villages.Batatu, 1999, p
26
/ref> The al-Hariri family had also been the chief patrons of the Rifa'i order of

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

mystics in the Hauran. The Rifa'i were the most prominent Sufi order in the area.

Modern period

During the French occupation (1918–1946), the al-Hariri clan entered into a rivalry with the Zu'bi clan which was based in nearby Khirbet al-Ghazaleh and controlled 16 villages. The al-Hariri were largely aligned with nationalist movement, while the Zu'bi leadership was identified with the French Mandatory authorities. SyrianTanks_US_SatelliteImagery

While the al-Hariri naturally benefited from Syrian independence and also received backing from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, the Zu'bi managed to gain more influence during Baathist governance, but more so on the individual and lower-stratum level rather than as a tribal unit. The influence of both the tribes and their leaders considerably dwindled during the Baathist era, nonetheless. In March 2011 Da'el was among the first towns in the area of Daraa where residents participated in demonstrations against the government of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

, which would eventually culminate into the ongoing Syrian civil war. On 29 March 2013 the town was reportedly captured by anti-government rebels. Da'el is strategically located on one of two main north-south highways that connect Damascus to Daraa. The rebels initially engaged in clashes with Syrian Army troops manning checkpoints outside the town, leaving 12 government soldiers and 16 rebels, according to the activist group

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (also known as SOHR; ), founded in May 2006, is a United Kingdom-based information office whose stated aim is to document human rights abuses in Syria; since 2011 it has focused on the Syrian Civil War. ...

(SOHR).Dehghanpisheh, Babak
Rebels claim to take key city in southern Syria
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. 2013-03-29.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120122030943/http://www.da3el4dev.sy/
khabab.net Map of town
Google Maps
Cheik Meskin-map; 21L
{{Daraa Governorate, daraa Towns in Syria Populated places in Daraa District