Abu Qubays (Arabic : أبو قبيس also spelled Abu Qobeis, Abu Qubais or Bu Kubais; also known as Qartal) is a former medieval castle and currently an inhabited village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. It is situated in the al-Ghab plain, west of the Orontes River. Nearby localities include Daliyah 21 kilometers to the west, [1] al-Laqbah to the south, Deir Shamil to the southeast, Tell Salhab to the northeast and Nahr al-Bared further northeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Abu Qubays had a population of 758 in the 2004 census. [2] Its inhabitants are predominantly Alawites. [3] [4]
Abu Qubays was originally built by the Arabs during the Abbasid era and was further strengthened by the Byzantines in the late 10th century. The castle was round, relatively small and overlooks the Orontes River. [5] During a second campaign against Muslim-held Syria by Byzantine emperor Basil II, Abu Qubays was burned along with a number of other fortresses in the province of Homs. [6]
Following the Crusader conquest of the coastal Levant in 1099, the Fatimid commander Iftikhar ad-Daula left his post in Jerusalem and moved to Abu Qubays of which he became lord, [7] along with the castles of al-Qadmus and al-Kahf. [8] The rulers of Abu Qubays, namely Iftikhar and his family, maintained a high income and social stature similar to the lords from the Banu Munqidh family of the Shaizar fortress to the south. [9] The Isma'ilis (known as the Assassins) purchased Abu Qubays, [5] as well as al-Qadmus and al-Kahf, [5] from the Arab chieftain Sayf al-Mulk Ibn Amrun in the 1130s or 1140s. [5] [10] The Crusaders referred to it as Bokabeis. [11] The Isma'ilis of Abu Qubays paid a yearly tribute to the Knights Hospitallers of Margat (Qal'at Marqab in Arabic), [1] a prominent Catholic military order, consisting of 800 gold pieces and a fixed number of bushels of barley and wheat. [1] [12]
Nasih al-Din Khumartekin, a member of the Banu al-Daya nobility and lord of Abu Qubays—which was no longer under Isma'ili control—alerted Ayyubid sultan Saladin of an assassination attempt against him by the Isma'ilis during the unsuccessful siege against Zengid-held Aleppo on 11 May 1175. Khumartekin, who was in Saladin's camp, was killed by the group of Assassins after questioning them as they approached the camp. Saladin managed to avoid being harmed when they rushed towards him afterward and the attackers were slain by Saladin's guards. [13] [14] In 1176 Sabiq al-Din was allotted Abu Qubays and Shaizar by Saladin after the latter freed him from Zengid imprisonment in Aleppo for opposing the ascension of al-Salih Isma'il al-Malik as ruler of that city. [15] By 1182, Mankarus, a son of Khumartekin, was lord of Abu Qubays and served as the commander of Saladin's troops in Hama. [16]
In 1222 the Shia Yemeni lord of Sinjar, al-Makzun al-Sinjari, led a force of roughly 50,000 fighters to support the Alawites of the coastal region against their Kurdish rivals after the latter had killed several Alawites celebrating Nowruz in the Sahyun Fortress. One of the fortresses he captured during the ensuing conquest was Abu Qubays. [17] In 1233 al-Aziz Muhammad, the Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo and successor of az-Zahir Ghazi, ended the semi-autonomous rule of the Banu al-Daya who had since repossessed the fortress, forcing their lord Shihab al-Din ibn al-Daya to relinquish both Abu Qubays and Shaizar after the latter slighted al-Aziz by not adequately abiding a request for supplies. He was allowed to keep his properties Aleppo in return for not putting up resistance to the Ayyubid army. [18] Damascus-born Arab geographer al-Dimashqi noted in 1300, during Mamluk rule, that Abu Qubays was one of several fortresses held by the Ismailis and that it was part of the Province of Tripoli. [19]
The Levant was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1516 after Sultan Selim I's forces decisively defeated the Mamluk Sultanate at Marj Dabiq. After entering Aleppo, Sultan Selim waged a military campaign against the Alawites, summoning and executing 9,400 Alawite leaders and driving out the Alawite population from the coastal cities of Latakia and Jableh. Unable to subdue the Alawites in the an-Nusayriyah Mountains, their heartland, he dispatched thousands of Turkic tribes from Anatolia and Khurasan to the settle the region, establishing some of them in several of the mountainous area's most strategic fortresses, including in Abu Qubays, which was referred to as Qartal. [3]
Selim's strategy ultimately failed in the long-term as many of these tribes, particularly the Shia Muslim Turks of Khurasan, assimilated with the Alawite population. The Turks who originally resided in Abu Qubays, and who are Alawites in the present day, later became known as "Qaratila," deriving their name from "Qartal." [3] In 1785 Abu Qubays's inhabitants were unable to pay their land tax and as a result, sold one-third of their farmland to a Christian moneylender based in Hama, meeting the amount owed to the state treasury. [4]
The castle at Abu Qubays is currently in a ruinous state, but most of its remains strongly indicate the architectural features typical of Isma'ili fortresses, namely small-sized and irregular masonry. It is circular in shape and consists of an exterior defensive wall with five towers, a small keep for provisions and residence and numerous subterranean storage chambers. The interior storage area is made up of a number rooms, a vaulted chamber and the ruins of a tower. The castle itself, situated on an eastern slope of the an-Nusayriyah Mountains, is surrounded by olive trees and overlooks the al-Ghab plain below. [1]
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.
The Order of Assassins or simply the Assassins were a Nizari Isma'ili order that existed between 1090 and 1275 AD, founded by Hasan al-Sabbah.
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Shaizar or Shayzar is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. Nearby localities include, Mahardah, Tremseh, Kafr Hud, Khunayzir and Halfaya. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Shaizar had a population of 5,953 in the 2004 census.
Salamiyah is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate. It is located 33 kilometres southeast of Hama, 45 kilometres northeast of Homs.
Tartus Governorate, also transliterated as Tartous Governorate, is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Latakia Governorate to the north, Homs and Hama Governorates to the east, Lebanon to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It is one of the few governorates in Syria that has an Alawite majority. Sources list the area as 1,890 km2 or 1,892 km2, with its capital being Tartus.
Hama Governorate is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib and Aleppo Governorates to the north, Raqqa Governorate to the east, Homs Governorate to the south, and Tartus and Latakia Governorate to the west. It is the only Governorate that does not border a foreign country. Measures of its area vary from 8,844 km2 to 8,883 km2, with its capital being the city of Hama.
Rashid al-Din Sinan also known as the Old Man of the Mountain, was an Arab Muslim missionary who served as the leader of the Nizari Ismaili state and the Order of Assassins from 1162 until his death in 1193. An adherent of Nizari Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam, he was a prominent figure during the Crusades.
Al-Qadmus is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located northeast of Tartus and 14 kilometres southeast of Baniyas. Nearby localities include Kaff al-Jaa and Masyaf to the east, Wadi al-'Uyun and al-Shaykh Badr to the south, Hammam Wasel, al-Qamsiyah and Maten al-Sahel to the southwest, Taanita to the west, al-Annazeh to the northwest and Deir Mama to the northeast. It is situated just east of the Mediterranean coast and its ruined castle stands on a plateau roughly 850 metres above sea level and just above the town.
Masyaf Castle is a medieval structure in the town of Masyaf in Hama Governorate, Syria, situated in the Orontes Valley, approximately 40 kilometres to the west of Hama. It served to protect the approach to other Ismaili castles in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range at a site controlling the trade routes to cities further inland such as Banyas. The castle itself stands on a platform about 20 metres above the surrounding plain. It became famous as the stronghold from which Rashid ad-Din Sinan, known as the Old Man of the Mountain, ruled from 1166-1193. He was a leader of the Syrian branch of the Shia Nizari Isma'ili sect, also known as the Assassins, and a figure in the history of the Crusades.
Baarin is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located in Homs Gap roughly 38 kilometers (24 mi) southwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Taunah and Awj to the south, Aqrab and Houla to the southeast, Nisaf, Ayn Halaqim and Wadi al-Uyun to the west, Masyaf, Deir Mama and Mahrusah to the north, and Deir al-Fardis and al-Rastan to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Baarin had a population of 5,559 in the 2004 census. Baarin is also the largest locality in the Awj nahiyah ("subdistrict") which comprises thirteen villages with a population of 33,344. The village's inhabitants are predominantly Alawites.
Khawabi, also spelled Qal'at al-Khawabi is a village and medieval citadel in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located 20 kilometers northeast of Tartus and 12 kilometers east of al-Sawda. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Khawabi had a population of 1,039 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims. The village formerly had a significant Ismaili population until the early 20th century, and during the medieval period, its citadel served as a center of the Ismaili community when they were known as the Assassins. The citadel itself has been inhabited since at least the 12th century.
Qalaat al-Madiq is a town and medieval fortress in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. It is situated in the al-Ghab plain, on the eastern bank of the Orontes River. Nearby localities include the district center al-Suqaylabiyah to the south, Bureij and Karnaz to the southeast, Kafr Nabudah to the east, al-Huwash to the north, Huwayjah al-Sallah and Shathah to the northwest and Al-Tuwayni and Ennab to the west. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Qalaat al-Madiq had a population of 12,925 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center and second largest locality in the Qalaat al-Madiq nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consisted of 40 localities with a collective population of 85,597 in 2004. The town's inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.
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The Nizari state was a Nizari Isma'ili Shia state founded by Hassan-i Sabbah after he took control of the Alamut Castle in 1090 AD, which marked the beginning of an era of Ismailism known as the "Alamut period". Their people were also known as the Assassins or Hashashins.
Kafartab was a town and fortress in northwestern Syria that existed during the medieval period between the fortress cities of Maarat al-Numan in the north and Shaizar to the south. It was situated along the southeastern slopes of Jabal al-Zawiya. According to French geographer Robert Boulanger, writing in the early 1940s, Kafartab was "an abandoned ancient site" located 2.5 mi (4.0 km) northwest of Khan Shaykhun.
Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Yūsuf al-Makzūn al-Sinjārī, better known simply as al-Makzun al-Sinjari, was a paramount military, religious and literary figure in Alawite history and tradition. Al-Makzun was well-educated in Arabic poetry and Shia Islam. Descended from a line of emirs of Sinjar, he succeeded his father as emir of the town in 1205. Many Alawites from Sinjar migrated to the mountains around Latakia during the time of his father. The Alawites of these mountains later appealed for al-Makzun's intervention amid their struggles with the Kurds and Nizari Ismailis. Al-Makzun led an expedition to relieve the Alawites after many were massacred in the Sahyun fortress. Between 1218 and 1222, he and his sons captured the forts of Abu Qubays, which became al-Makzun's seat of power, al-Marqab, al-Ulayqa and Baarin. He ultimately drove out most of the Kurds and Ismailis from the mountains, consolidating the Alawite presence. In the following years, he penned a number of Alawite religious books.
The Banu Munqidh, also referred to as the Munqidhites, were an Arab family that ruled an emirate in the Orontes Valley in northern Syria from the mid-11th century until the family's demise in an earthquake in 1157. The emirate was initially based in Kafartab before the Banu Munqidh took over the fortress of Shayzar in 1081 and made it their headquarters for the remainder of their rule. The capture of Shayzar was the culmination of a long, drawn-out process beginning with the Banu Munqidh's nominal assignment to the land by the Mirdasid emir of Aleppo in 1025, and accelerating with the weakened grip of Byzantine rule in northern Syria in the 1070s.
The Banu Muhriz were an Arab princely family that controlled the fortresses of Marqab (Margat), Kahf and Qadmus in the late 11th and early 12th centuries.
Qulay'a, also transliterated Qulay'at or Qleiat) is a village and medieval citadel in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qulay'a had a population of 1,360 in the 2004 census. The fortress of Qulay'a was one of the several held by the Nizari Ismaili state in the Syrian coastal mountains and is locally known as Al-Sheikh Deeb Castle. The fortress stands at an elevation of 730 meters (2,400 ft) above sea level.
Abu Qubais.