Akakir (Arabic: عكاكير, also spelled Akakeer) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located southwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Kafr Ram to the west, Fahel to the south, al-Shinyah to the southeast, al-Taybah al-Gharbiyah to the east, Maryamin to the northeast and Kafr Kamrah and Awj to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Akakir had a population of 2,495 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Alawites.[2]

Akakir
عكاكير
Akakeer
Village
Akakir is located in Syria
Akakir
Akakir
Location in Syria
Coordinates: 34°52′22″N 36°23′44″E / 34.87278°N 36.39556°E / 34.87278; 36.39556
Country Syria
GovernorateHama
DistrictMasyaf
SubdistrictAwj
Elevation
759 m (2,489 ft)
Population
 (2004)
 • Total2,495
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

In 1829, during the Late Ottoman period, Akakir was part of Jabal Gharbi, a fiscal region inhabited by members of the Alawite community,[3] and paid 1,812 qirsh to satisfy the takalif, a tax meant to cover the expenses of the annual hajj ("pilgrimage") to Mecca. This was a decrease from 1818 when the village paid 2,312 qirsh.[4] It was classified as an Alawite village in 1838 by English scholar Eli Smith.[2] In 1929 Akakir was one of five villages (the other three were al-Bayyadiyah, al-Rusafa, Abu Qubays and Baarin) to be ceded to the Alawite State from the qadaa ("subdistrict") of Masyaf of the Sanjak of Hama.[5]

References

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  1. ^ General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Archived 2013-01-13 at archive.today. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate. (in Arabic)
  2. ^ a b Smith, in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 180
  3. ^ Douwes, 2000, p. 142.
  4. ^ Douwes, 2000, p. 229.
  5. ^ Bosworth, 1989, p. 791.

Bibliography

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  • Boulanger, Robert (1966). The Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran. Hachette.
  • Clifford Edmund, Bosworth (1989). The Encyclopaedia of Islam: Fascicules 111-112 : Masrah Mawlid, Parts 111-112. BRILL. ISBN 9004092390.
  • 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.