Suran, Hama Governorate

Suran صوران Ṣūrān
City
Suran Location of Suran in Syria
Coordinates: 35°17′23″N 36°44′36″E
Country	Syria
Governorate	Hama
District	Hama
Subdistrict	Suran
Control	Syrian Salvation Government
Elevation	350 m (1,150 ft)
Population  (2004)[1]	29,100
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Geocode	C3026

Suran (Arabic: صوران, romanized: Ṣūrān) is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate. In the 2004 census, Suran had a population of 29,100.^[1] Its inhabitants are predominant Sunni Muslims.

History

In 1838, during Ottoman rule (1517–1917), Suran was recorded as a Sunni Muslim village.^[2]

During French Mandatory rule (1923–1946), the Bulletin du Comité de l'Asie française noted that the inhabitants of Suran and nearby Kafr Zita "were still proud" of their descent from the Mawali tribe.^[3] For much of the Ottoman period, the Mawali were Bedouins who dominated the northern and central Syrian desert until they were driven closer to Hama and Aleppo in the late 18th century by the Anaza, a Bedouin tribal confederation from Najd (central Arabia).^[4]

The Bulletin, writing in 1933, noted that the inhabitants of Suran, like several other places whose residents were of Bedouin origin near Hama, owned their lands collectively and subject to periodic sharing (musha').^[5] The village was wealthy and well-cultivated. This, and its close proximity to the city of Hama, had long made the village an attractive investment for Hama's landowning elites. Unlike numerous other villages in the vicinity, especially Alawite villages, the Sunni Muslim residents of Suran staved off attempts by the urban elite to gain ownership of their lands. Such an attempt had occurred in 1929, when Suran's mukhtar (headman) was prosecuted by the authorities for arms smuggling. The notables of Hama offered to support the mukhtar and the villagers against the legal proceedings in exchange for some plots of land in Suran. The mukhtar, conscious that this would allow the urban elite a foothold in the village, as had happened in other nearby places, rejected their offer.^[6]

Syrian civil war

In 2024, as part of the Syrian opposition offensive and Syrian Army retreat, the town was occupied by Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). On 2 December 2024, heavy fighting occurred in the area.^[7] On 3 December, HTS regained control over the city.^[8]

References

1. "2004 Census Data for Nahiya Suran" (in Arabic). Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics. Also available in English: UN OCHA. "2004 Census Data". Humanitarian Data Exchange.
2. Robinson & Smith 1841, p. 178.
3. Comité de l'Asie française 1933, p. 131.
4. Douwes 2000, pp. 31–32.
5. Comité de l'Asie française 1933, p. 132.
6. Comité de l'Asie française 1933, pp. 133–134.
7. "Amid heavy artillery fire and airstrikes | Violent battles erupt in northern and eastern Hama countryside, following attack by H-T-S and factions". SOHR. 2 December 2024.
8. "قصف صاروخي يستهدف مدينة محردة و10 ضربات جوية من الطيران الحربي والمروحي تستهدف حلفايا بريف حماة" (in Arabic). SOHR. 3 December 2024.

Bibliography

• Comité de l'Asie française (April 1933). "Notes sur la propriété foncière dans le Syrie centrale (Notes on Landownership in Central Syria)". Bulletin du Comité de l'Asie française (in French). 33 (309). Comité de l'Asie française: 130–136.
• Douwes, Dick (2000). The Ottomans in Syria: A History of Justice and Oppression. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1860640311.
• Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.