Baarin

{{Infobox settlement   | official_name = Baarin | native_name = بعرين | other_name = {{lower|0.2em|Bi'rin}} | settlement_type = Village  | image_skyline = | image_caption = | image_flag = | image_seal = | image_shield = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Syria  | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_mapsize = 250 | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Syria  | coordinates = {{coord|34|56|29|N|36|24|46|E|region:SY|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg}} [[Syria]] | subdivision_type1 = [[Governorates of Syria|Governorate]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Hama Governorate|Hama]] | subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of Syria|District]] | subdivision_name2 = [[Masyaf District|Masyaf]] | subdivision_type3 = [[Nahiyah|Subdistrict]] | subdivision_name3 = [[Awj]] | government_footnotes =  | leader_title = | leader_name =  | unit_pref = Metric  | elevation_footnotes =  | elevation_m = 400 | elevation_ft =  | population_footnotes = | population_total = 5,559 | population_as_of = 2004 | population_note =  | timezone = [[Eastern European Time|EET]] | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]] | utc_offset_DST = +3  | postal_code_type =  | postal_code = | area_code = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Baarin''' ({{langx|ar|بعرين}}, ''Baʿrīn'' or ''Biʿrīn'') is a village in northern [[Syria]], administratively part of the [[Hama Governorate]], located in [[Homs Gap]] roughly {{convert|38|km|sp=us}} 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 [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|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.<ref name="CBS">[http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB05-17-2004.htm General Census of Population and Housing 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130113024141/http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB05-17-2004.htm |date=2013-01-13 }}. [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|Syria Central Bureau of Statistics]] (CBS). Hama Governorate. {{in lang|ar}}</ref> The village's inhabitants are predominantly [[Alawites]].<ref name="AJERosen"/><ref name="Boulanger"/>

Today, Baarin spans about {{convert|2923|ha}} between houses, commercial buildings and agricultural land.<ref name="BaarinWS"/> The village is built on the hillside below the medieval fortress of Baarin,<ref name="Boulanger">Boulanger, 1966, p. 452.</ref> and is situated along the main road between Masyaf and Hama.<ref name="Willey227"/> The majority of the inhabitants are farmers, while the rest work in services and trade. The main water source of the village is the nearby al-Tannur spring.<ref name="BaarinWS">{{cite web|url=http://www.hama.ws/cms/?cat=42|script-title=ar:قرية بعرين|date=29 September 2010|publisher=محافظة حماة|access-date=1 January 2013|language=ar|title= موقع محافظة حماة|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024703/http://www.hama.ws/cms/?cat=42|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==

===Medieval period=== In the early 12th-century Baarin served as a fortress of the [[Crusades|Crusaders]] who referred to it as "Mons Ferrandus" or "[[Montferrand (crusader castle)|Montferrand]]."<ref name="Mikaberidze"/> In 1133 [[Pons, Count of Tripoli]] escaped to Baarin for refuge where, according to chronicler [[William of Tyre]], he was shortly besieged by the Muslim army of [[Aleppo]] led by [[Imad ad-Din Zengi|Zangi]] before being rescued by [[Fulk, King of Jerusalem|King Fulk of Jerusalem]].<ref>Stevenson, 1907, p. 132.</ref>

After a failed attempt to capture [[Homs]], in July 1137 Zangi [[Battle of Ba'rin|besieged Baarin's fortress]].<ref>Stevenson, 1907, p. 137.</ref> However, the main purpose of the offensive was not to land a blow to the Crusaders, but rather, to increase the southward expansion of Zangi's kingdom towards [[Damascus]], which was ruled by a [[Burid dynasty|rival Muslim dynasty]], and nearby Homs which was protected by Damascus.<ref name="Asbridge193">Abridge, 2010, p. 193.</ref> Fulk and [[Raymond III, Count of Tripoli|Raymond of Tripoli]] attempted to relieve Baarin, but were preempted by Zangi's forces who engaged them in the hills outside the fortress. Raymond was captured, but Fulk managed to find safe haven in Baarin. Afterward Zangi renewed the siege. News that further Crusader reinforcements from Jerusalem and Tripoli were approaching compelled Zangi to accept Baarin's capitulation in late August, an act he had refused earlier.<ref name="Mikaberidze">Mikaberidze, 2011, p. 967.</ref> The Crusaders' garrison in the fortress had been unaware of the arrival of reinforcements. The besieged garrison were allowed to exit, prisoners were released and the strategic fortress of Baarin, which had been a source of disruption for Muslim forces, fell to Zangi's control.<ref>Stevenson, 1907, p. 138.</ref>

In the summer of 1138 Zangi once again attempted to capture Homs and managed to successfully negotiate an agreement with that town's ruler [[Shihab al-Din Mahmud]] whereby Homs would be ceded to Zangi in return for Mahmud's possession of Baarin and another two fortresses in the area.<ref>Stevenson, 1907, p. 142.</ref> In August 1142 Raymond of Tripoli granted a number of fiefs to the [[Knights Hospitaller]], including Baarin. However, there is no record suggesting that the Crusaders captured the fortress from the Muslims by that time, suggesting that the revenues of the district of Baarin were at least partially under Crusader control or treated that way by Tripoli.<ref>Stevenson, 1907, p. 147.</ref>

Between May–June 1175 the [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] army, under Sultan [[Saladin]]'s command, captured Baarin from the [[Zengid]] ruler Izz al-Din ibn al-Za'frani who controlled no other fiefs.<ref>Sato, 1997, p. 45.</ref><ref>Stevenson, 1907, p. 211.</ref> In 1178 Saladin transferred the fiefs of Baarin, [[Kafartab]], and lands in [[Maarrat al-Nu'man]] to his ally Shams al-Din Ali from the Banu al-Daya family as compensation for forcefully removing him from the valuable fortress of [[Baalbek]].<ref>Humphreys, 1977, p. 33.</ref> In 1198 the Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo and Saladin's son [[az-Zahir Ghazi]], allocated Baarin as a fief to [[al-Mansur ibn Turanshah]].<ref>Sato, 1997, pp. 55-56.</ref> In 1202-03 a treaty was established between the Ayyubid rivals [[al-Adil I]] of [[Egypt]] (Saladin's brother) and az-Zahir whereby al-Mansur would remain in control of Baarin and the nearby towns of [[Hama]] and [[Salamiyah]].<ref>Sato, 1997, p. 48.</ref>

During a conflict between the Ayyubid rulers of Egypt and Hama, [[Nasir Kilij-Arslan]] of Hama was imprisoned by al-Kamil of Egypt and only released when Kilij-Arslan handed Hama over to his brother [[al-Muzaffar II Mahmud]]. Baarin remained in Kilij-Arslan's control.<ref name="Richards297">Richards, 2008, p. 297. Translation of [[Ibn al-Athir]]'s work.</ref> In 1229 the Hospitallers raided Baarin in response to a raid by the Ayyubid sultan [[al-Kamil]] (al-Adil's successor) against the Crusader-held [[Krak des Chevaliers]] (Hisn al-Akrad) fortress.<ref name="Richards298">Richards, 2008, p. 298. Translation of [[Ibn al-Athir]]'s work.</ref> In late 1230 the Crusaders launched another attack against Baarin, plundering the town and other villages in its district. Men and women were taken captive, as well as a large group of [[Syrian Turkmen|Turkomans]].<ref name="Richards298"/>

During the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] era Baarin served as one of three chief administrative towns in the ''mamlaka'' ("province") of Hama after the city of Hama itself.<ref>Ziadeh, 1953, p. 14.</ref> In 1301 a hailstorm hit the area of Baarin.<ref>Guo, 1998, p. 55.</ref> In the 14th century the town was visited by Syrian-Ayyubid historian and geographer, [[Abu'l-Fida]], who described it as having "springs round it and gardens, and lies 1 march west, and rather south of Hamah. There are near here the remains of an ancient town called Ar Rafaniyyah ([[Raphanea]]), much celebrated in history. Hisn (the fort) of Barin was built by the Franks in 480 and odd (about 1090). The Muslims afterwards took it and kept it awhile, and then dismantled it."<ref>Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/420/mode/1up 427].</ref> Until 1496-97 immigrants from Baarin to Hama were forced to reside in the same area and were taxed collectively. This practice ended when a decree abolished the collective tax and permitted Baarin migrants to live where they chose.<ref>Lapidus, 1967, p. 272.</ref>

===Modern era=== Swiss traveler [[Johann Ludwig Burckhardt|John Lewis Burckhardt]] passed through Baarin in the beginning of the 19th century, during Ottoman rule, describing it as "ruined castle."<ref>Burckhardt, 1822, p. 155.</ref> In 1838 English scholar [[Eli Smith]] classified Baarin as an Alawite village.<ref>[[Eli Smith|Smith]], in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/180/mode/1up 180]</ref> Baarin was visited by [[Albert Socin]] in the early 20th century.<ref>Socin, 1906, p. 367.</ref> Between the 18th and 19th centuries, Baarin was one of the two villages in the Sanjak of Hama to form its own ''[[muqata'ah]]'', a fiscal entity (normally a cluster of villages) that served as a [[Farm (revenue leasing)|tax farm]]. The other single-village muqata'a was [[Kafroun]].<ref>Douwes, 2000, p. 133.</ref> Between 1815 and 1890, there were two reported incidents related to a blood feud between the residents of the village and the Bedouin tribe of al-Turki, where members of the latter killed villagers. In these cases ''[[diyya]]'' ("blood money") was paid to settle the conflict.<ref>Douwes, 2000, p. 23.</ref>

In the early 1960s it was described as a large village and the fortress was completely destroyed.<ref name="Boulanger"/> When author and expert in [[Ismai'lism|Ismai'li]] studies Peter Willey visited Baarin in a 1970 expedition, he noted the town's large medieval castle was mostly in ruins, "although it must have been a substantial building."<ref name="Willey227">Willey, 2005, p. 227.</ref>

{{anchor|civilwar}}In late October 2011, several Syrian security forces personnel from Baarin were killed in clashes with opposition rebels or roadside bomb attacks during the [[Syrian Civil War]]. According to free-lance journalist [[Nir Rosen]], tensions existed between Baarin and the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]-majority village cluster of [[Houla]] to the east.<ref name="AJERosen">Rosen, Nir. [http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/10/2011102365913224161.html A Tale of Two Villages]. ''[[Al Jazeera English]]''. 2011-10-24.</ref> Baarin hosted a number of Alawite families fleeing [[Aqrab]] after apparent intimidation by that village's residents.<ref>Rosen, Nir. [http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/10/20111023102856446977.html A Tale of Two Syrian Villages: Part Two]. ''[[Al Jazeera English]]''. 2011-10-26.</ref>

==References==

===Notes=== {{reflist|2}}

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[[Category:Populated places in Masyaf District]] [[Category:Alawite communities in Syria]]