There are records of settlements in the Hauran in the Ancient Egyptian
Amarna letters and the
Book of Deuteronomy of the
Hebrew Bible, when the region was generally known as the
Bashan. Its sparse population consisted of semi-nomadic and nomadic groups such as the
Itureans and
Nabateans and the area remained largely undeveloped. However, the districts remained largely in the hands of nomadic tribes. To supplement their meager income, these nomads often raided nearby settlements as far as Damascus, and robbed pilgrims traversing the region. Their rebellion resumed in 12 BC and two years later Herod renewed his efforts to bring the nomads to heel. Auranitis began to similarly prosper during the reign of
Philip, Herod's
successor in the Hauran. The deaths of the Herodian and Nabatean monarchs in relatively quick succession provided an opportunity for the Romans to absorb their domains. In 106, the empire formally annexed the entire Hauran, incorporating its southern part in
Arabia Province and its northern part in
Syria Province. This administrative division remained intact for much of the 2nd century. During the late 2nd century, imperial order gradually weakened and political instability ensued. This also coincided with the completion of the north–south
Via Nova Traiana road connecting the
Red Sea-port of
Ayla with Bosra, the provincial capital, and an east–west road connecting the cities of the Adraa–Bosra–Salkhad line. Commenting on this development, historian Henry Innes MacAdam writes: For the first time since the Hellenistic age the Hawran in its entirety came under one administrative system. The road network and the settlements it linked were the framework upon which the economic and social infrastructure of the region was built. Secure towns and safe, well-maintained roads meant that internal and external commerce could flow freely. The wine and grain of the Hawran were marketed, we may assume, far and wide. After Rome's annexation, the rural villages of the Hauran exercised considerable self-rule. Each village had common areas and buildings, a law council and a treasury. Beginning in the 4th century, this role was played by the
Lakhmids, and by the
Salihids for much of the 5th century. This led to a rebellion in the Hauran and a siege on Bosra led by al-Mundhir's son
al-Nu'man VI, which only ended when the latter was allowed by the Byzantines to reestablish the Ghassanid phylarchy. The Byzantine era in the Hauran was marked by the dual processes of rapid Arabization and the growth of Christianity. The Ghassanids played a significant role in promoting
Monophysite Christianity in Syria which was viewed as heretic by the
Chalcedonian Church embraced by most Byzantine emperors. Following the
Abbasids’ toppling of the Umayyads in 750, the Arab tribes of Hauran rose in a rebellion that was put down by the Abbasid general
Abd Allah ibn Ali. The Hauran subdistrict roughly corresponded to the ancient Auranitis and its capital was Bosra, while the Bathaniyya subdistrict corresponded to the ancient Batanea and had
Adhri'at as its capital. Settlement within the Hauran continued and in some cases "thrived" in the early Islamic period, with "no perceptible change in activity or cultural patterns under the Umayyad caliphs", according to historian Moshe Hartal. The Abbasid period in Hauran was marked by numerous damaging raids from the
Qarmatians of eastern Arabia in the 10th century. During this period, the large Arab tribe of
Banu Uqayl, formerly allies of the Qarmatians, migrated to the Syrian steppe extending from the Hauran northward to
Upper Mesopotamia.
Middle Islamic era rule, the fortress of
Salkhad in Jabal Hauran was an administrative unit and its ruler was a high-ranking
emir. The arrival of the
Crusaders in the coastal regions of Bilad al-Sham in 1099 had repercussions for the Hauran and the region was periodically targeted by Crusaders in plundering campaigns. Under his patronage the region, and Bosra in particular, saw a renewal of building activity after a roughly 300-year hiatus. The last recorded appearance of the Crusaders in Hauran was in 1217. The
Ayyubids had conquered the region in the late 12th century, but their rule collapsed in Syria following the Mongol invasion in 1260. That year the Mongols were defeated by the
Mamluks at the
Battle of Ain Jalut and Syria, including the Hauran, came under Mamluk rule. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Hauran continued to be administratively divided into the Hauran and Bathaniyya districts of Damascus. Following its incorporation into the Mamluk Sultanate, the Hauran continued to be divided into the two districts of the Bosra-centered Hauran and the Adhri'at-centered Bathaniyya. Most of the inhabitants paid taxes on wheat and barley. However, as state authority receded, the region effectively became autonomous. In the 18th century, the Hajj route was moved westward from Bosra to
Muzayrib, which became the caravan's marshaling point in the Hauran. In return for the political and economic influence they were allowed in the Hauran, the
aghawat secured revenue from the region's population to fund the Hajj caravan, escorted the caravan and other travelers and policed the region. The Anaza's entry into the Hauran caused the exodus of the semi-nomadic tribes of the Banu Rabi'a confederation. The Sulut, which was based in the Lajat wilderness, was the only Bedouin tribe that remained relatively stationary. The Bedouin also launched occasional raids and their flocks often grazed on the plainsmen's fields. A much larger wave arrived in the region as a result of the intra-Druze
Battle of Ain Dara in 1711. The area was chosen by the Druze because it was well-watered, defensible and relatively close to the Druze settlements in the Damascus countryside and
Mount Hermon. During the final years of the decade-long
Egyptian administration of Syria, the Druze of Jabal Hauran launched
their first revolt against the authorities, in response to a conscription order by
Ibrahim Pasha. By then, their numbers in the region had been swollen by migration. The
1860 Mount Lebanon civil war between the Druze and Christians and the resulting French military intervention caused another large exodus of Druze to Jabal Hauran. The Hauran plains declined economically and demographically during the 17th and 18th centuries. Factors that caused this decline included the taxation of the peasantry by both the government and the Bedouin, periodic raids by the Bedouin and the encroachments of their livestock, and occasional strife with the neighboring Druze, Ottoman irregulars and between themselves. This in turn brought about the mass resettlement of abandoned villages and the establishment of new settlements. At the time, the Hauran's leadership consisted of the chiefs of the largely pacified clans of the plains, such as Al Miqdad and Al Hariri; the more rebellious chiefs of the Druze clans of Jabal Hauran, such as Al Hamdan and
Bani al-Atrash; and the chiefs of the Bedouin tribes of Rwala, Wuld Ali, Sirhan and Sardiyah, whose herds seasonally grazed the Hauran plains. This coalition was defeated in 1862 and the government came to terms with al-Atrash, entrusting him to collect taxes from the entire Hauran and to pay heavy fines in place of conscription. Though this did not translate into the ultimate goal of integrating the Hauran, it still ended the region's virtual autonomy. He accomplished this change by according the chiefs of Wuld Ali and Rwala adequate grazing lands; granting the leaders of the plainsmen and the Druze certain privileges and state functions; and replacing the
aghawat as the state's intermediaries with the locals, whilst still utilizing them for military campaigns in
Transjordan and facilitating the Hajj caravan. From 1869, many Damascene merchants and landowners and entrepreneurial Haurani farmers invested in these lands, which increased agricultural production. However, increased security in the plains as well as an end to Bedouin tribute collection were both largely secured and continued into the 20th century. The central plain had become entirely cultivated or settled, Daraa and Bosra grew significantly and many of the hamlets established or reestablished in the 1850s had become large villages. but in 1896 the authorities evicted the non-Ottoman Jewish families. In 1904, the annual Hajj caravan and Muzayrib's role in it was replaced by the construction of the
Hejaz Railway. Though it continues to supply grain to Damascus, its role as the 'granary of Syria' was eclipsed by the country's northern and northeastern regions. Thus, the region was not as affected by the Agrarian Reform Law passed in 1958 during the
United Arab Republic period (1958–1961) and enforced by the
Ba'ath Party government in 1963, which effected land redistribution and mostly targeted large landowners. Politically, many of the clans that dominated local politics under the French continued to do so under the Ba'ath. During the presidency of
Bashar al-Assad (2000–present), the Hauran remained an important agricultural region. Its principal city, Daraa, is a major transit hub for commercial traffic between Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as for smuggled goods between these countries. As the revolt spread in the Hauran, anti-government forces utilized their clan networks that extended to Jordan and
Arab states of the Persian Gulf, smuggling funds and weapons to sustain the rebellion. Anti-government
Salafist armed groups, such as the
Nusra Front, also gained increasing influence, at times either challenging or cooperating with the Southern Front. Until 2018, rebel groups controlled large areas on either side of the main north-south Damascus-Daraa highway and the
Nasib border crossing, though the
Syrian Army (SAA) and its affiliates controlled the highway corridor itself. Meanwhile, the pro-government Druze
Muwahhidin Army largely stayed out of the fighting and secured Jabal al-Druze. By the end of the following month, the entire Hauran was under government control, including a pocket of territory in the Yarmouk basin that had previously been held by the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Although some rebels and their families opted to relocate to rebel-held
Idlib, most rebel factions surrendered in reconciliation deals with the government and remained in their hometowns. A number of rebel groups also joined the Syrian Army offensive against ISIL. ==Demography==