Establishment during the Ottoman era Marj al-Sultan was founded in 1877–78 by some 25
Circassian refugee families, mostly from the
Abzakh and
Shapsugh tribes, from
Anatolia whose settlement in the area was facilitated by the
Ottoman authorities. This group of Circassians had come to Anatolia (modern-day
Turkey) after being relocated from
Bulgaria, which itself was a refuge for the Circassians after they had been forced out of their homeland in the
Caucasus in 1864 by invading
Russian forces. They arrived to Marj al-Sultan via the land route through
Aleppo and
Homs in the north of
Syria. The governor of
Damascus Province at the time,
Medhat Pasha, took a liking to the Circassians, himself having a Circassian wife, offered the Circassian migrants residence in the Damascus city suburbs of Diwaniyyah and Muhajirun, but they refused opting to take up residence in Marj al-Sultan and the
Golan Heights region. The newly established village was built in a well-planned and organized manner and would subsequently thrive as a settlement,
Modern era During the
Great Syrian Revolt (1925–27) against the
French Mandate rule, Marj al-Sultan's residents opted not to join the rebellion. The village was attacked sometime during the revolt. Although clashes between the inhabitants and the more unruly
Bedouin tribes of the region would occur periodically, there were generally lasting agreements in place between the factions. The last major clash broke out in 1954, after Syria's independence, when about 2,000 Bedouin tribesmen launched a raid against Marj al-Sultan, which had a total population of 350 at the time. The villagers, most of whom were well-skilled in firearms, managed to fend off the Bedouin. Rebels seeking to overthrow the government of
Bashar al-Assad took shelter in Marj al-Sultan in November 2012, during the ongoing
Syrian civil war that began in March 2011. Government forces subsequently bombarded the village and its entire population reportedly fled the violence. Most headed towards the Damascus suburb town of
Qudsaya or the city district of Rukn al-Din, both areas being heavily populated by Circassians. On 25 November rebels claimed to have captured the adjacent military airbase, also called Marj al-Sultan, from government forces. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group documenting the conflict, confirmed the rebels' claims. They had reportedly been in control of the surrounding areas months prior to the base's capture. Fawaz Tello, a pro-opposition campaigner, stated the capture appeared to be a rebel attempt to cut off Damascus from the
Damascus International Airport as well as from
Aleppo. The airbase at Marj al-Sultan was reported to have been re-captured by troops of the Syrian government on Monday, December 14, 2015. ==References==