Al-Qahtaniyah (Arabic: ٱلْقَحْطَانِيَّة, romanized: al-Qaḥṭānīyah; Kurdish: Tirbespî; Syriac: ܩܒܪ̈ܐ ܚܘܪ̈ܐ, romanized: Qabre Ḥewore), formerly Qubur al-Bid, is a town in northeastern Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It is the administrative center of al-Qahtaniyah Subdistrict, which consists of 103 localities. Historically an Assyrian city, at the 2004 census, it had a population of 16,946. The Female Protection Forces of the Land Between Two Rivers trained in this city.

Etymology

Al-Qahtaniyah was officially called Qbor el-Bid until 1962. Its old name was derived from the Arabic words "Qbor" ("graves") and "el-Bid" ("white") – i.e. "white graves."

Demographics

The majority of the towns inhabitants are Kurds, followed by a large number of Assyrians-Arameans.

Churches in the town

• Syriac Orthodox Church of Our Lady (ܥܕܬܐ ܕܝܠܕܬ ܐܠܗܐ ܡܪܝܡ ܠܣܘܪ̈ܝܝܐ ܬܪ̈ܝܨܝ ܫܘܒܚܐ كنيسة السيدة العذراء للسريان الأرثوذكس)

History

In 1927, the Kurdish tribal chief Haco Agha of the influential Haverkan tribe immigrated from Turkey together with more than 600 families and settled in the town. On 13 March 2004, after the 2004 Qamishli riots when 40 Kurdish civilians were killed, residents of Al-Qahtaniyah who protested the killings were shot at and injured by Syrian forces.

As of 2004, Al-Qahtaniyah is the sixth largest town in Al-Hasakah governorate.

In late July 2012, during the Syrian civil war, the YPG took control of the town.

Notable people

• Ciwan Haco (1957*), Kurdish singer
• Muhammad Khayr Ramdan Yusef
• Sleman Henno (1918-2006) Syriac Orthodox priest who wrote and published a book about the massacres of Assyrians in Turabdin
• Tuma Gawriye Nahroyo (1936-2022) The first Assyrian author who wrote and published the first poetry collection in Surayt

See also

• Assyrians in Syria
• Kurds in Syria