Markada
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Markada
| native_name = مَرْكَدَة
| native_name_lang = ar
| type = Town
| pushpin_map = Syria
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_mapsize = 250
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Markada in Syria
| coordinates = {{coord|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Syria
| subdivision_type1 = Governorate
| subdivision_name1 = al-Hasakah
| subdivision_type2 = District
| subdivision_name2 = al-Hasakah
| subdivision_type3 = Subdistrict
| subdivision_name3 = Markada
| parts_type = Control
| parts_style = para
| p1 = {{flagicon|Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria}} Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
| elevation_m =
| population = 2530
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_as_of = 2004
| population_footnotes = {{#tag:ref|{{cite web |title=2004 Census Data for Nahiya Markada|url=http://www.cbssyr.sy/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB08-4-2004.htm |publisher=Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics |language=ar }} Also available in English: {{cite web |author=UN OCHA |author-link=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |title=2004 Census Data |url=https://data.humdata.org/dataset/syrian-arab-republic-other-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 |publisher=Humanitarian Data Exchange }}|name=census2004}}
| timezone = EET
| utc_offset = +2
| timezone_DST = EEST
| utc_offset_DST = +3
| geocode = C4454
| website =
}}
Markada ({{langx|ar|مَرْكَدَة}}, sometimes Markadah or Margada) is a town in southern al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Nahiya Markada consisting of 13 municipalities. In the 2004 census, Markada had a population of 2,530.
The town is divided by the Khabur River.
History
Markada succeeded the village of "Makîsîn" (also spelled "Makasîn", "Maykasan" or "Makîs").{{cite book|last1=Abdul Karim|first1=Maamoun|last2=Makdissi|first2=Michel|title=Al-Jazīrah al-Sūrīyah, al-turāth al-ḥaḍārī wa-al-ṣilāt al-mutabādalah: waqāʼiʻ al-muʼtamar al-duwalī, Dayr al-Zūr|date=2002|publisher=The Ministry of Culture (Syria) and Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums|page=302|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-4uAQAAIAAJ}} During early Islamic rule (7th–10th centuries), Makisin was a town in the district of Diyar Rabi'a with a bridge that crossed the Khabur River.{{Lands of the Eastern Caliphate|page=97}} Large quantities of cotton were grown around the site. In the late 680s, numerous Arab Taghlib tribesmen were killed in an ambush at Makisin by the Sulaym tribe as part of the long-running Qays–Yaman feud.{{cite book|last1=Wellhausen|first1=J.|editor1-last=Weir|editor1-first=Margaret Graham|title=The Arab Kingdom and its Fall|date=1927|publisher=University of Calcutta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxPKpCcVOdcC&pg=PA204|page=204|isbn=9780415209045}}
Obadiah the Proselyte visited Makisin in the 12th century and found there a Jewish community and synagogue, which then housed the Codex Sassoon.{{cite news|last=Schuessler|first=Jennifer|title=Oldest Nearly Complete Hebrew Bible Heads to Auction|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/15/arts/hebrew-bible-auction-sothebys.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 15, 2023|access-date=February 15, 2023}}
= Civil War =
{{Main|Syrian Civil War}}
Markada saw fighting between the Syrian Government forces and the al-Nusra Front during 2013.{{cite web|last1=Heras|first1=Nicholas A.|title=The Battle for Syria's Al-Hasakah Province|url=https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-battle-for-syrias-al-hasakah-province|website=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|publisher=United States Military Academy|access-date=6 December 2016|date=24 October 2013|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402233938/https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-battle-for-syrias-al-hasakah-province|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last1=Boeykens|first1=Jan|title=Latest News Syria: Foreign backed terrorists killed|url=http://fondation-princesse-de-croy.skynetblogs.be/archive/2013/week26/index.html|website=La Fondation|publisher=Werkgroep Morkhoven|access-date=6 December 2016|date=26 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220202942/http://fondation-princesse-de-croy.skynetblogs.be/archive/2013/week26/index.html|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=dead}} Having gained control of the town, the al-Nusra Front were driven out the following year by Islamic State in the Battle of Markada. By March 2014 thousands of residents had fled from Markada, many to al-Sur in Deir ez-Zor Governorate.{{cite web|last1=Aziz|first1=Judi|title=Al-Nusra and Islamic Front advance in Hasaka countryside|url=http://aranews.net/2014/03/al-nusra-and-islamic-front-advance-in-hasaka-countryside/|website=ARA News|access-date=6 December 2016|date=8 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220102312/http://aranews.net/2014/03/al-nusra-and-islamic-front-advance-in-hasaka-countryside/|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=dead}}
US-led Coalition airstrikes against ISIL targeted the town in September 2017, with many casualties, including Iraqi refugees, reported.[http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=75009 The massacre of Markadah town south of Hasaka kills at least 11 people half of them are Iraqi refugees], Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 26 September 2017 On 19 October, the SDF attacked the town, capturing part of it.{{Cite web|url=https://isis.liveuamap.com/en/2017/19-october-sdf-has-entered-markada-and-have-captured-parts|title=SDF has entered Markada and have captured parts of it}}{{cite tweet|number=920927074059243520|user=VivaRevolt|title=SDF has entered Markada and have...|date=19 October 2017}} The town was fully captured by the SDF on 9 November 2017.
See also
- Battle of Markada, March 2014
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Al-Hasakah Governorate|hasakah}}
{{Cities of Syria}}
{{AlHasakahSY-geo-stub}}