Salamiyah
Encyclopedia
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, in the Hama Governorate
Hama Governorate
Hama is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria. Its area depends of sources. It varies from 8,844 km² to 8,883 km². Governorate has a population of 1,593,000...
. It is located 33 km southeast of Hama
Hama
Hama is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria—behind Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs—with a population of 696,863...
, 45 km northeast of Homs. The city is nicknamed the "mother of Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
" because it was the birthplace of the second Fatamid Caliph Muhammad al-Qaim Bi-Amrillah, who's dynasty would eventually establish the city of Cairo, and the early headquarters of his father Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah
Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah
Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah , often referred to as Ubayd Allah, is the founder of the Fatimid dynasty, the only major Shi'a caliphate in Islam, and established Fatimid rule throughout much of North Africa.- History :...
who founded the Fatamid Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
. The city is an important center of the Nizari Ismaili sect and also the birthplace of poet Muhammad al-Maghut
Muhammad al-Maghut
Muhammed al-Maghut was a Syrian writer and poet. He was born in Salamiya, Syria in an Ismaili family.Muhammad Maghout was credited as the father of the Arabic free verse poetry, liberatng the Arabic poems from the traditional form and revolutionizing the structure of the poem.He wrote for...
.
History
Salamiyah is an ancient city which was first known during Babylonian times in 3500 BC. It was the dwelled in by Sumerians at around 3000 BC, the Amorites around 2400 BC, the AramaeansAramaeans
The Aramaeans, also Arameans , were a Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who originated in what is now modern Syria during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age...
around 1500 BC, and the Nabateans around 500 BC. The city was destroyed for the first time by the Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
ns in the year 720 BC. After being rebuilt, the city was part of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and ruled by the Royal family of Emesa
Royal family of Emesa
The royal family of Emesa, also known as the Emesani Dynasty or the Sempsigerami of Emesa , sometimes known as The Sampsiceramids were a ruling Roman client dynasty of priest-kings in Emesa, Syria Province...
, a Roman Client Kingdom of Ancient Rome where they built the famous Shmemis
Shmemis
thumb|200px|A full view of Shmemis thumb|200px|A view of Shmemis castle at sunsetShmemis also ash-Shmemis, ash-Shmamis) is a castle located 5 km north west of Salamiyah and 30 km south east from Hama....
castle on the remains of a former volcano, 5 km northwest of Salamiyah.
During the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
Empire, Salamiyah existed as a Christian center with its own autocephalic Archbishop, until the city was destroyed for a second time during the Persian invasion of Syria of 637 during the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars by commander Kisra Ibrawiz who raised the city to the ground. The city was rebuilt again in the Islamic era by Abdullah ibn Saleh ibn Ali al-Abassi, the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
governor of southern and center Syria, in 754 and was settled by some Hashimites during the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
era, and al-Abbasi's son Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Saleh transformed the city into an important commercial center.
According to Ismaili
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
Muslims, their Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
, Isma'il ibn Jafar died and was buried in the city after going into hiding during the eighth century. The city became the secret headquarters of the Ismaili
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
movement from the early ninth century until 902, it was from there that missionaries were originally sent for propagating the Ismaili teachings in different regions. It was from Salamiyah, that the Ismaili Imams secretly guided the activities of their followers from North Africa to Persia, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia. According to conflicting histories, the Ismaili Imam, and first Fatamid Caliph, Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah was either born in Salamiyah or came to the city in 882 from Khuzistan, in modern day Iran where he was raised by his uncle Abul Shalaghlagh the Hujjah (also called Lahiq) or clerical leader of the Ismailis of Salamiyah one of the twelve Ismaili communities at the time. Ubayd Allah's son Muhammad al-Qaim Bi-Amrillah, an Ismaili Imam and the second Fatamid Caliph, was born in Salamiyah in the late ninth century, and both left the city to establish the Fatamid state in northern Africa in the early tenth century.
After the death of Abul Shalaghlagh in 899, a dispute arose between Salamiyah Ismailis due to the fact that he left no male descendants and apparently had designated his nephew Ubayd Allah as his spiritual successor and leader of the Salamiyah Ismaili movement. Thereafter, a schism split the movement, provoked by Ubayd Allah's claims on the imamate for himself and his descendants. Hamdan Qarmat and 'Abdan, who may have previously drifted slightly away from the doctrine propagated by the leadership, broke off their support. Qarmat's followers would eventually be known as the Qarmatians
Qarmatians
The Qarmatians were a Shi'a Ismaili group centered in eastern Arabia, where they attempted to established a utopian republic in 899 CE. They are most famed for their revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate...
, and after Ubayd Allah fled from Salamiyah to found the Fatamid Ismaili state in North Africa in 899, the Qarmatis would reject the legitimacy of the Fatamids. In 903, Salamiyah was destroyed for the third time by an invasion from the rebel Qarmatian Ismailis.
Salamiyah is mentioned by historians as a very small town with limited rural settlement consequent to the Qarmatian invasion until the early Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
period wherein it was apparently deserted due to lack of protection from Bedouin attacks. Salamiyah was rebuilt when permission by the Ottoman Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Abdul Hamid II
Abdul Hamid II
His Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire...
through a firman in July 1849 gave permission for the emigration of Ismailis led by Ismail bin Muhammad, the Ismaili amir of Qadmus in northern Syria. Ismailis from Qadmus and Masyaf
Masyaf
Masyaf is a city in Syria, in the Hama Governorate, notable for its large medieval castle.It was used by Hashashins as their headquarters after the destruction of Alamut....
amongst other smaller towns and villages emigrated to the newly rebuilt city which was first occupied by only sixteen families and by 1861, Salamiyah became an agricultural village. The final major Ismaili immigration to Salamiyah occurred in 1919.
Salamiyah is currently the largest population center of Ismaili Muslims in the Arab world. The remains of Prince Aly Khan, the father of the current Nizari Ismaili Imam Aga Khan IV
Aga Khan IV
Prince Karim, Aga Khan IV, NPk, NI, KBE, CC, GCC, GCIH, GCM is the 49th and current Imam of the Shia Imami Nizari Ismaili Muslims. He has held this position under the title of Aga Khan since July 11, 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan...
, are buried in the city. The headquarters of the Ismaili Shia Higher Council of Syria are in the city, as are dozens of Jama'at Khana. During the mid-twentieth century, Salamiyah saw a growth of religious diversity with the building of the first Sunni mosque, and now the city is home to almost a dozen Sunni mosques and a Jafari Shia mosque in the city's Qadmusite Quarter which is home to most of the city's Ithna Ashari Shia which migrated to the city after ethnic and religious clashes in their hometown of Qadmus in the early twentieth century. Currently, a little more than half of the city's residents are Ismaili.
In 1934, Muhammad al-Maghut
Muhammad al-Maghut
Muhammed al-Maghut was a Syrian writer and poet. He was born in Salamiya, Syria in an Ismaili family.Muhammad Maghout was credited as the father of the Arabic free verse poetry, liberatng the Arabic poems from the traditional form and revolutionizing the structure of the poem.He wrote for...
, the poet credit for being the father of free verse Arab poetry, was born in Salamiyah.
In 1991, visitors from the Dawoodi Bohra
Dawoodi Bohra
Dawoodi Bohra is a subsect of Ismāʿīlī Shīʿa Islām. While the Dawoodi Bohra is based in India, their belief system originates in Yemen, where it evolved from the Fatimid Caliphate and where they were persecuted due to their differences from mainstream Sunni Islam...
sect of Ismaili Shia Islam in Yemen built the Mosque of Imam Ismail adjacent to the grave of the Ismaili Imam Ismail. The mosque was built by order of their leader the Da'i al-Mutlaq
Da'i al-Mutlaq
The term Dāʻī al-Mutlaq literally means "the absolute or unrestricted missionary". In Ismā'īlī Islām, the term dāʻī has been used to refer to important religious leaders other than the hereditary Imāms, and the Daʻwa or "Mission" is a clerical-style organisation. "The Daʻwa" was a term for the...
Mohammed Burhanuddin
Mohammed Burhanuddin
Doctor Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin is the 52nd Dā‘ī l-Muṭlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras. The Dawoodi Bohras are a sub group within the Mustaali, Ismaili Shia branch of Islam.- Biography :Burhanuddin was born in Surat, Gujarat, India...
according to an inscription on the mosque's wall. Although currently used for worship by Sunni Muslims, the mosque and mausoleum are visited in religious pilgrimages by Dawoodi Bohra worldwide.
Culture
The city is an agricultural center, with a largely agriculture based economy. MateMate (beverage)
Mate , also known as chimarrão or cimarrón, is a traditional South American infused drink, particularly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, southern states of Brazil, south of Chile, the Bolivian Chaco, and to some extent, Syria and Lebanon...
is extremely popular in Salamiyah and a drink of major cultural importance in social gatherings.
Main sights
- A hammamHammamA Turkish bath is the Turkish variant of a steam bath, sauna or Russian Bath, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam....
of unique architecture, likely dating from the Ayyubid era, sits in the town center, near a large underground Byzantine cistern which is said to lead all the way to Shmemis castle. There also exists one wall from an ancient Byzantine citadel. - The castle, of Roman-Greek origins.
- Walls, rebuilt by ZengiZengiImad ad-Din Zengi was the atabeg of Mosul, Aleppo, Hama and Edessa and founder of the Zengid dynasty, to which he gave his name.-Early life:...
- Mosque of al-Imam Ismail, which originated as a Greek temple of Zeus, and was turned into a church in Byzantine times.
- Remains of Roman canals, used for agriculture