Ma'arrat Misrin مَعَرَّةُ مِصْرِينَ Ma'arrat Masrin | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Ma'arrat Misrin Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:36°00′N36°40′E / 36.000°N 36.667°E /36.000; 36.667 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Idlib |
| District | Idlib |
| Subdistrict | Maarrat Misrin |
| Government | |
| • Head of City Council | Abed al-Aziz Rahal |
| Elevation | 338 m (1,109 ft) |
| Population (2004)[2] | |
• Total | 17,519 |
Ma'arrat Misrin (Arabic:مَعَرَّةُ مِصْرِينَ,romanized: Maʿarrat Miṣrīn, also spelledMa'arrat Masrin orMa'aret Masreen) is a small city in northwesternSyria, administratively part ofIdlib Governorate. Ma'arrat Misrin lies an elevation of 338 metres (1,109 ft). It is located 50 kilometers southwest ofAleppo and 40 kilometers north ofMa'arrat al-Numan and 12 kilometers fromSarmin.[3] Nearby localities includeKafr Yahmul to the north,Zardana andMaarrat al-Ikhwan to the northeast,Taftanaz to the east,Ta'um,Binnish,al-Fu'ah andKafriya to the southeast,Idlib to the south, andHafasraja to the southwest.
According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Ma'arrat Misrin had a population of 17,519 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of anahiya which consists of 16 localities with a total population of 57,859 in 2004.[2] TheAssociated Press estimated the population of Ma'arrat Misrin was around 40,000 in 2012. The city's inhabitants are predominantlySunni Muslim, although roughly 15% followShia Islam.[4]
According to medievalMuslim geographersal-Muqaddasi andAbu'l-Fida, the town was originally called in Arabic "Maʾarrat Qinnasrīn" in reference toJund Qinnasrin, the province to which it belonged.[5] The name was often shortened to "Maʾarrat Nasrīn" and corrupted in later works as "Maʾarrat Masrīn".[5]Syriac manuscripts dating back to the 8th century refer to the town as "Ma'arrat Mesren". The town was known to theCrusaders as "Megaret Basrin" or "Meguaret Mesrin".[3][6]
Ma'arat Misrin was captured by theMuslim army ofAbu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah in 637 CE after defeating aByzantine force in theBattle of Hazir between the town andAleppo. Like Aleppo, it surrendered under peaceful terms. Ma'arat Misrin is referred to as "Ma'arat Mesren" in 8th-centurySyriac manuscripts. Amr ibn Hawbar served as its governor during the reign ofAbbasid caliphal-Mutawakkil.[7]
Byzantine generalNikephoros II Phokas conquered Ma'arat Misrin in 968 and expelled its 1,200 inhabitants toAnatolia. The following year he made a truce with theFatimids whereby the latter would gain control over the town. TheBani Kilab under the leadership ofSalih ibn Mirdas launched an expedition to conquer Aleppo in 1024. During the offensiveMirdasid commander Abu Mansur Sulayman ibn Tawk captured Ma'arrat Misrin and imprisoned its governor. Later, before 1063, the Byzantines recaptured the town after Salih’s sonAtiyya defected from his nephewMahmud ibn Nasr's army, which was attackingBaalbek. Atiyya and the Byzantine army ofAntioch subsequently raided Ma'arrat Misrin, burned its outskirts and killed several of its inhabitants. TheSeljuks captured it towards the end of the 11th century, and the Seljuk prince of Antioch,Yaghi-Basan, died in Ma'arat Misrin in 1097.[7]
In 1099, Ma'arat Misrin was conquered by theCrusaders who killed the town's defenders and destroyed theminbar ("pulpit") of itsmosque.[7] However, after the capture ofBaldwin I of Edessa, the Muslim inhabitants of Ma'arat Misrin and nearbyal-Fu'ah andSarmin revolted against their Crusader rulers in 1104, inflicting heavy casualties against their troops. Within a few years, Ma'arrat Misrin entered the hands of theIsmailis who launched an assault from there against Crusader-heldShaizar in April 1114. However, the Ismailis were routed by theBani Munqidh, a localArab tribe.[7]
Ma'arat Misrin once again came under Crusader control after the town capitulated upon the approach ofBaldwin II in 1119. TheBurid andArtuqid rulersToghtekin andIlghazi besieged it the next year, prompting Baldwin II to lead a relief effort. Afterward, a peace treaty between the two factions was made, whereby Ma'arrat Misrin,Kafartab andal-Bara would remain with the Crusaders. It served as the Crusaders' camp duringAlsunqur al-Bursuqi's raids in the area in early 1126 until they were forced to withdraw due to a supplies shortage. In 1129Imad al-Din Zengi stormed Ma'arrat Misrin's suburbs, while theZengid governor of Aleppo, Sawar, plundered the town in 1132 before retreating toAleppo. Imad's successorNur al-Din Zengi continued to raid the Crusader-held town during his reign.[7]
In 1175,Ayyubid SultanSaladin undertook a successful campaign against theIsmailis who controlled Maarrat Misrin and its surroundings. Saladin appointed his maternal uncle, Shihab al-Din al-Hariri, as governor of the area.[3] During the summer of 1222, the Ayyubidemir of Aleppo,al-Salih, gained control over Ma'arrat Misrin, only to exchange it forAintab in 1227.[8] In 1240, the town was invaded and sacked by theKhwarezmiyya.[3]
In the 17th century during theOttoman rule, Ma'arat Misrin was the center of aQadaa in theAleppo Vilayet.[9] The town was a large village situated amongsesame fields andolive groves in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, American archaeologistRobert Garrett noted that the town's soil was "unusually fertile" and that there was an abundance of fig trees.[10]
In the early period ofFrench Mandate rule, Ma'arrat Misrin was the center of anahiya ("subdistrict") in the larger district of Aleppo.[7] The town had a population of around 3,000 inhabitants in 1930. In 1945, Maarrat Misrin, which was under the jurisdiction of the district ofIdlib, had 5,000 inhabitants.[3]
Ma'arrat Misrin serves a large market town for the surrounding rural agricultural villages. The grocers market in the city covers several blocks.[4]
Ma'arrat Masrin has seen violence during the ongoingSyrian Civil War which began in 2011. Small demonstrations against government corruption and the security services began in April 2011.[4] On 12 December 2011 opposition activists claimed theSyrian Army "indiscriminately" killed eleven people in the town and nearbyKafr Yahmul. The incident began when soldiers allegedly shot dead two civilians in Ma'arrat Misrin prompting residents to block the main road leading to the villages. The army then fired randomly, resulting in eleven deaths.[11] The next day, defectors from the army attacked a convoy of security forces in the Idlib region, killing seven, according to activists.[12] Hours later two more residents were shot by Syrian security forces during a funeral procession for those killed the previous day.[11]
Tit-for-tat kidnappings have occurred throughout the uprising between residents of Ma'arrat Misrin and the nearby Shia Muslim towns ofal-Fu'ah andKafriya. In March 2012 the Syrian Army shelled the city, resulting in the deaths of five residents. The head of the city's eight-member rebel council negotiated an end to the fighting whereby opposition rebels would remove their checkpoints and the army would cease military operations against the town. Fighting between the two largely stopped,[4] however, according to a Syrian military source cited by Syrian Documents, on 7 September 2012, the Syrian Army ambushed a rebel unit in Ma'arrat Misrin. More than 42 were killed.[13] In December 2012, akidnapped NBC News team was held hostage in a chicken farm near Ma'arrat Misrin controlled byFSA-alignedrebel groupNorth Idlib Falcons Brigade.[14]
