Occupation Southern Front | Nahiyah Al-Sanamayn Time zone EET (UTC+2) | |
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Inkhil (Turkish: Inhıl, Arabic: أنخل, Ankhil) is a town in the al-Sanamayn District of the Daraa Governorate in southern Syria located north of Daraa and just east of the Golan Heights in the Hauran plain. In the 2004 census by the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics it had a population 31,258.
Contents
Map of Inkhil, Syria
History
During Roman Empire rule, Inkhil was dominated by the Ghassanid Arab Kingdom, a vassal entity of the Romans based in nearby Jabiya to the west. Among other ruins, there are the remains of a large villa in the town dating from the 2nd-century CE during Byzantine Empire-rule. Within the building is large vaulted central hall which connects to several rooms containing busts and other Byzantine-era sculptures carved from basalt. Its facade has highly decorated entrances and conch-head niches.
In 1596 Inkhil appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Nahal, being part of the nahiya of Bani Kilab in the Qada of Hauran. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 86 households and 45 bachelors. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 40% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and bee-hives; in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 13,000 akçe. Most of the income (22 out of 24 parts) went to a Waqf.
The town consisted of about 50 houses in the early 1840s all of which were inhabited by Muslims. According to Gottlieb Schumacher, Inkhil was recorded to be a "small place numbering 55 to 60 huts."
Inkhil was one of the first towns to participate in the 2011-2012 Syrian uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad in March 2011 following demonstrations in Daraa. On 19 August four protesters were killed and dozens injured after Syrian security forces shot at demonstrators emerging from a mosque following Friday prayers.