Ma'an

Ma'an (Arabic: مَعان, romanized: Maʿān) is a city in southern Jordan, 218 kilometres (135 mi) southwest of the capital Amman. It serves as the capital of the Ma'an Governorate. Its population was approximately 41,055 in 2015. Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existed at least since the Nabatean period—the modern city is just northwest of the ancient town. The city is an important transport hub situated on the ancient King's Highway and also on the modern Desert Highway.

Ma'an was founded by the Minaeans (known as "Ma'in" in Arabic), an ancient Arab people based in Yemen, between the 2nd and 4th century BCE. The site was located on a major trade route and was settled by Minaean traders and merchants. Local tradition has it that the city was named after "Ma'an", the son of Lot.

During the Byzantine era in Syria, Ma'an was part of the territory of the Arab Christian tribe of Banu Judham who served as vassals for the Byzantines in Transjordan. In the early 7th century, the Christian governor of Ma'an, Farwa ibn Amr al-Judhami, converted to Islam and sent Muhammad a wide array of presents including a white mule and gold. When the Byzantine authorities learned of his conversion he was ordered to repent his new religion, but refused. Consequently, the Byzantine emperor ordered his imprisonment and subsequent execution by crucifixion. In retaliation the Muslim state in Medina, sent an army led by Usama ibn Zayd to conquer Ma'an.^{[citation needed]}

When the Umayyads took control of the Caliphate, Ma'an entered a period of relative prosperity. In 951 the Persian geographer Istakhri described it as "a small town on the border of the desert." He claimed that most of its inhabitants belonged the Umayyad family or their clients even though by that time the Umayyads had been overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate. Istakhri further noted that Ma'an served as a fortress in the Sharat district (today southern Jordan) and "travelers were well received." A market was organized in the city where pilgrims could store their unessential possessions.

When Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi visited in the early 13th century, during Ayyubid rule, Ma'an was a mostly ruined town in the Balqa district of Bilad al-Sham (Islamic province of Syria.) The Hajj pilgrimage route to Mecca still passed through the town which also contained a resting station. By the end of the 13th-century Syria's new rulers, the Bahri Mamluks, designated Ma'an and its surroundings as one of four districts of the al-Karak province. According to al-Dimashqi, during that time period, it grew to become a "small city", with a khan ("caravanserai") that included a "market for provisions" and a hostel. Muslim traveler Ibn Batutah noted Ma'an was "the last place in Syria" before reaching Aqaba as-Sawan in the Hejaz.

Because of its geographic isolation from the rest of Syria and a low frequency of travelers (with the exception of Mecca-bound pilgrims), the history of Ma'an was the least well-documented of the Transjordanian districts of Ottoman Syria—at least until direct rule was attempted in the late 19th century. The Ottomans annexed Transjordan in 1517 and in 1559, during the tenure of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottomans built a fort in Ma'an to safeguard the pilgrimage route (see Qal'at al-Ma'an at "External links"). The governor of Damascus put down a revolt by Ma'an and other cities in south Damascus Eyalet in 1656, although Ottoman troops were later routed as a result of a revolt by the Banu Tamim tribe. Since then, the Ottomans had struggled to maintain full control of the area.

Ma'an was divided into two distinct quarters since the Umayyad period: Ma'an al-Shamiyya and Ma'an al-Hijaziyya. The latter served as the main town, while the former was a small neighborhood inhabited by Syrians from the north. The city continued to be a major town on the Hajj pilgrimage route and its economy was entirely dependent on it. Its principal trade partner was the coastal city of Gaza in southern Palestine, from where supplies were brought to Ma'an for resale to pilgrims. Provisions were also imported from Hebron. In addition to provisions, Ma'an's outward caravan was dominated by the sale of livestock, particularly camels for transport and sheep for ritual sacrifice. The incoming caravan was a buyer's market for goods coming from across the Muslim world. Ma'an's culture was highly influenced by its role on the Hajj route and unlike many other desert towns, most of its residents were literate and many served as imams or religious advisers for the Bedouin tribes in the area. Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt noted that the people of Ma'an "considered their town an advanced post to the sacred city of Medina." The townspeople's relationship with Bedouin was also unique. While most Transjordanian towns had uneasy relationships with the nomadic tribes to whom they paid regular tribute (khuwwa), Ma'an's residents and the Bedouin enjoyed positive relations. Finnish explorer Georg August Wallin wrote the level of economic interdependence between the two groups was unlike anywhere else in Syria's desert regions. As a testament to their relationship of mutual trust, Ma'an's inhabitants were able to bargain down or withhold payment of the khuwwa during tough economic years. The major tribes around the city were the 'Anizzah and the Huwaytat.

During the late 19th century, there were numerous attempts by the Ottoman authorities to elevate Ma'an's political status at over al-Karak, although most attempts failed or were short-lived. In 1868 the Ottoman governor of Syria, Rashid Pasha, succeeded in designating Ma'an as its own kaza (subdistrict) of the al-Balqa sanjak (district), part of Damascus Vilayet. Four years later, Governor Abdulletif Subhi Pasha proposed that Ma'an become a sanjak that would include al-Karak, as-Salt and al-Jawf. This proposal was popular with much of the Ottoman government in Istanbul, but was ultimately rejected after strong opposition from Midhat Pasha, a leading Tanzimat reformer, who argued the administrative expenses of having Ma'an as district capital would not be feasible.