Ayn al-Kurum عين الكروم | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Ayn al-Kurum Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:35°22′28″N36°15′46″E / 35.37444°N 36.26278°E /35.37444; 36.26278 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Hama |
| District | Suqaylabiyah |
| Subdistrict | Suqaylabiyah |
| Population (2017) | |
• Total | 22,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| City Qrya Pcode | C3123 |
Ayn al-Kurum (Arabic:عين الكروم) is a village in northwesternSyria, administratively part of theal-Suqaylabiyah District of theHama Governorate. The name of the village translates in Arabic as 'spring of the vineyards', which the residents attribute to its abundant springs and vineyards. It is surrounded by forests and straddles a steep ridge of theSyrian Coastal Mountain Range and theGhab plain below it.[1]
The village is frequently mentioned inOttoman government records as home or host toAlawite rebels and brigands in the 18th and 19th centuries. During this period,Christians from Ayn al-Kurum founded the modern town ofal-Suqaylabiyah. Today, it remains a mainly agricultural village and is the center of a municipality incorporating several surrounding villages. Its inhabitants are predominantly Alawites.
Ayn al-Kurum is about 60 kilometers (37 mi) northwest of the governorate capital ofHama. It lies on the eastern slopes of theSyrian coastal mountains and theGhab plain below. The decline which the village straddles is steep, with the plain having an elevation of 200 meters (660 ft) above sea level and the mountains above standing around 1,250 meters (4,100 ft). The village is surrounded by forests of evergreenlaurel,oak,fir,terebinth anddoum trees and dense vegetation, including olive groves and crop fields.[1]
In 1733 or 1734, Ayn al-Kurum, along with neighboringAnnab, became a refuge for the Shillif brothers Hassun and Ahmad (sons of Muhammad Ibn Shillif). The Shillifs were a prominent family ofAlawites known in theOttoman government sources and Alawite oral tradition for their brigandage in theSyrian coastal mountains and adjacent plains. The brothers had gained safe haven in Ayn al-Kurum from their pursuit by the Ottoman governor ofLatakia, who was attempting to suppress a rebellion they were leading among the local Alawites and Christians in thesanjak (district).[2]
About ten years later, an Ottomanfirman alleged that some 3,000 Alawite villagers from Ayn al-Kurum,Deir Mama, Annab and elsewhere in the vicinity had raided the coastal fortress ofal-Marqab and over two dozen villages, burning several homes, trespassing the mosque at Marqab and seizing livestock. The governor ofTripoli Eyalet was ordered to capture the perpetrators and return the stolen goods, but instead his deputy rallied the people of Marqab and rampaged through the Alawite country up to the castle ofQal'at al-Mudiq in theGhab plain.[3]
In the late 18th century,Christian families from theHauran in southern Syria relocated to Ayn al-Kurum to escape persecution by the authorities. In the mid-19th century, these families and other Christians from Ayn al-Kurum and nearby villages emigrated and founded a new village on atell (mound) across the Ghab plain from Ayn al-Kurum, which became the modern town ofal-Suqaylabiyah.[4]
In 1858, one of the most prominent Alawite leaders of the 19th century and the governor ofSafita,Isma'il Khair Bey, took up refuge in Ayn al-Kurum under the protection of its leader, his maternal uncle Ali al-Shilli, of the Rashawneh clan of theKalbiyya tribe.[5][6] Al-Shili was considered an outlaw and wanted by the Ottomans, who assaulted Ayn al-Kurum in pursuit of Isma'il. The Ottomans, aware al-Shilli's fortified house would be difficult to capture, threatened al-Shili with the village's destruction unless he handed over Isma'il. In response, al-Shili negotiated a pardon for himself and his companions and appointment to the governorship of Safita if he turned over Isma'il. As per their agreement, the Ottomans besieged al-Shilli's house and al-Shilli killed and beheaded Isma'il Bey, and also killed his sons who were present with him.[6]
In March 1892, the governor ofSyria Vilayet dispatched a military expedition to subdue Ayn al-Kurum, then part of akaza (district) called 'Hamidiye', for hosting a well-known group of highwaymen from the mountains nearLatakia.[7] The frequent lawlessness centered in and around Ayn al-Kurum drove the Ottomaninterior minister to propose the village become the administrative center of its own kaza with authority over thirteen surrounding villages and its own budget.[8]
Ayn al-Kurum became a municipality, incorporating the neighboring villages of Annab,Abr Beit Seif,Saqiyat Najm, andTahunat al-Halawa. The total population of the municipality in 2017 was about 22,000. A government decree, No. 209, made Ayn al-Kurum the center of its ownnahiya (subdisrict), but the decision had not been implemented as of March 2017. The main economic activity in the village is agriculture, particularly the cultivation of cotton, sugarbeets, potatoes, sunflowers, wheat, and more recently on the mountainside of Ayn al-Kurum, olives, particularly two types called 'Qaysi' and 'Surani'. Most households own livestock. Some of the villagers are traders or engaged in cottage industries, like cheesemaking and dried fruits and vegetables, particularly figs, okra,mulukhiya, and raisins.[1]
