Buser al-Harir بصّر الحرير | |
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Town | |
  Buser al-Harir | |
| Coordinates:32°50′33″N36°20′24″E / 32.84250°N 36.34000°E /32.84250; 36.34000 | |
| Grid position | 275/250 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa |
| District | Izraa |
| Subdistrict | Izraa |
| Population (2004 census)[1] | |
• Total | 13,315 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Buser al-Harir (Arabic:بصّر الحرير,Buṣr al-Ḥarīr, also spelledBusra al-Harir, Basr al-Harir, Busra Hariri) is a town in southernSyria, part of theDaraa Governorate situated in theHauran plain. It is located northeast ofDaraa and northwest ofSuwayda. Nearby localities includeMlaihat al-Atash to the southwest,ash-Shaykh Miskin to the west,Izraa to the northwest,Harran to the northeast,Najran to the east,al-Mazraa to the southeast andNahtah to the south.[2] According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Buser al-Harir had a population of 13,315 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantlySunni Muslims.
Buser al-Harir has been identified with the city ofBosor mentioned in1 Maccabees (2nd century BC), whereGilead was captured byJudas Maccabeus.[3] The town is also mentioned in the 3rd-centuryMosaic of Rehob. ExtensiveByzantine-era ruins were found in the town.[4] One of the ruins was aRoman temple dedicated to an unspecifieddeity that was consecrated as a church by 517/18 CE. The temple was built by a certain Fl. Chrysaphios but was consecrated by archdeacon Elias, a subordinate of bishop Varus of Zorava. A notable Christian family during this era, the Maiorinus maintained their estates in Buser al-Harir. The family played an important role in the conversion of the inhabitants of theLajat plain to Christianity.[5] It is possible that the tomb of Elias is that of the prophetElisha.[6]
Buser al-Harir was visited by Muslim geographerYaqut al-Hamawi duringAyyubid rule in the 1220s. He referred to it as "Busr" and noted that it was a "village of the Hauran" in the Lajat plain. Busr contained a shrine dedicated to the prophetJoshua (Nabi Yusha) and the tomb of Sheikh al-Hariri.[7] According toal-Harawi, the tomb of Elias (Ilyas) was still revered in Busr.[8] The Haririyya, a highlypantheist sect of theRifa'iyyaSufi order, was founded in Busr in 1247 by its namesake, Ali ibn Abi'l Hasan al-Hariri al-Marwazi.[9] The teachings of the sect were repudiated in afatwa (Islamic edict) by the Mamluk-era scholarIbn Taymiyya.[9]
During earlyOttoman Empire rule Busra al-Harir was a large village.[10] In 1596 it appeared in theOttoman tax registers as "Busr" and was part of thenahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Sarma in theHauran Sanjak. At that time it had an entirelyMuslim population of 42 households and 31 bachelors, who paid fixed tax rate of 40% of various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives, a total of 17,000akçe.[11]
In 1838,Eli Smith noted that inhabitants were predominantlySunni Muslims.[12]
Towards the end of Ottoman rule inSyria, the residents of Buser al-Harir engaged in regular clashes with the residents ofJabal al-Druze. In 1879 fighting flared up between the townspeople and theDruze after theMuslim inhabitants of several nearby villages fled to Buser al-Harir as a result of fighting between theal-Atrash family, a leading Druze clan, and the localBedouin. With pressure from the Ottoman government inDamascus, a truce was reached that year stipulating a Druze evacuation of Muslim villages in the Hauran occupied during the previous years.[13]
By 1885 the Ottoman government had set up Buser al-Harir as one of 42 stations on the telegraph grid that extended fromAleppo in the north toGaza in the south.[14] In 1892 Osman Nuri Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Damascus, demanded the completion of land registration in Buser al-Harir in an attempt to extend central government control over the outlier Hauran andTransjordan regions. The town's inhabitants resisted the measure, leading to a shootout that resulted in the wounding of the district governor.[15]
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In May 1909 a dispute between the chief of Jabal al-Druze, Yahya "Bey" Atrash, and his business partner in a steam mill in Buser al-Harir led to armed clashes between the Druze and the town's residents. The latter were supported by the Ottoman government, which prepared a large army headed by Sami Pasha Faruqi to put down theDruze revolt in August 1910. Buser al-Harir was one of the principal garrison towns from which theOttoman army launched its campaign. Atrash's forces were decisively defeated, with an estimated 2,000 Druze killed and hundreds of fighters imprisoned. Consequently the Ottoman government successfully began the process of extending direct rule to the Hauran.[16]
Buser al-Harir was reportedly "a stronghold of the rebelFree Syrian Army (FSA)" during the 2011–2012 Syrian uprising against the government ofBashar al-Assad, according to the BBC.[17] From the town and the nearby Lajat area, the FSA attacked military supply lines.[18] Two residents were reported killed by security forces on 10 June 2011, according to the opposition.[19] State television reported a policeman was shot dead in the town on 16 September.[20] On 11 December, theSyrian Army's Izra'-based 12th Armoured Brigade stormed the town in an attempt to rout out FSA fighters.[18] According to opposition activists, two people were killed and dozens were injured after Buser al-Harir was shelled by Syrian Army tanks in April 2012.[17] A freelance journalist forAl Jazeera and opposition activist, Mohammad al-Massalma ("al-Horani"), was killed by sniper in Busra al-Harir by security forces, according to activists.[21] In late August 2014, the rebel battalions targeted the government-held areas in the city,[22] while army units targeted rebel vehicles.[23]
On 24 June 2018, theSyrian Arab Army and its elite branch, theTiger Forces ofSuheil al-Hassan, entered the city after airstrikes conducted by theRussian Air Force paved way for the assault.[citation needed] They captured the town on 26 June.[24]
Capital:Daraa | |||||||||||||||||||||
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