Country Syria District Azaz Elevation 444 m (1,457 ft) | Governorate Aleppo Subdistrict Sawran Population (2004) 6,998 | |
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Sawran (Arabic: صوران, Turkish: Soran), also spelled Suran, Souran or Sawwaran, is a town in northern Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. Located 22 kilometres (14 mi) north of the city of Aleppo, it is the administrative centre of Nahiya Sawran in Azaz District. Nearby localities include A'zaz to the west, Ihtaimlat and Dabiq to the east and Mare' to the south. In the 2004 census, Sawran had a population of 6,988.
Contents
Map of Sawran, Syria
The town has an ethnic Turkmen majority.
History
Sawran's history dates back to the Iron Age when it was an Aramaean settlement in the Kingdom of Bit Adini known as "Surunu." In a military campaign against Bit Adini's king Ahuni, the Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser III raided and captured Surunu. It later came under the rule of Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III.
During the Byzantine era in Syria, Sawran was inhabited by the Arab tribe of Tanukh. Before the Muslim conquest it served an Arab Christian center and contained a fortified monastery. During early Islamic rule, Sawran was part of Jund Qinnasrin ("Military District of Chalcis"), part of the larger Bilad al-Sham province.
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of the town on 31 May 2015. On 16 October 2016, Turkish-backed rebels captured the town from ISIL.