The application of the Ottoman iskan policy in Syria: Salamiyya and its Ismaʿili population
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Zeir, Ula
Date published
April 25, 2026
Abstract
n 1851, a group of Ottoman regional officials and leaders of the Hajjawi Ismaʿili community from Latakia assembled outside the fort of Salamiyya to launch an ambitious programme of resettlement of the city. The Ismaʿilis would settle in Salamiyya, re-establishing agriculture around the city and defending it from the attacks by tribes moving up from the Arabian Peninsula. This article presents for the first time the text and an analysis of the documents that established this project within the Ottoman iskan (settlement) policy, which settled various populations in abandoned and contested spaces throughout the empire, and highlights its significance for understanding the history of the Ismaʿili community in Syria and of Ottoman influence in shaping the region.
Journal title
Contemporary Levant
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Place of publication
UK
ISSN
2058-1831
eISSN
2058-184X
Official URL