Muhasan (, also spelled al-Mohassan or Almu Hasan) is a town in eastern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Deir ez-Zor Governorate Deir ez-Zor Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Dayr az-Zawr,'' Kurdish'':'' ''Parêzgeha Dêrezor'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in eastern Syria, bordering Iraq. It has an area of 33,060 k ...

, located along the

Euphrates River The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...

, south of

Deir ez-Zor Deir ez-Zor () is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located on the banks of the Euphrates to the northeast of the capital Damascus, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 ...

and 120 kilometers west of the border with

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Muhasan had a population of 9,501 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Deir az-Zawr Governorate. Muhasan nahiyah

In the early 1950s the

Syrian Communist Party The Syrian Communist Party () was a political party in Syria founded in 1944 as a division of the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party, which later split into the Syrian Communist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party. In 1972, it became a memb ...

began gaining support in several

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

towns in the country, including Muhasan which came to be locally known as "Little Moscow," in reference to capital of the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In the summer of 1953 the peasant tribesmen of the al-Aqaydat tribe initiated resistance against the encroachments of a regionally powerful mercantile clan specializing in the

grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, rice, and other food grains. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agri ...

, money lending and gas pumps and having one of their own as Minister of Agriculture. Under guidance from communist teachers in Deir ez-Zor and local communist activists from the town's primary school, the peasant ''musha'' ("

collective farming Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...

") landholders formed a public company and purchased two gas pumps and two tractors with domestically raised funds, thereby ending their dependence on the wealthy clan.Batatu, 1999, pp. 120-121.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muhasan Populated places in Deir ez-Zor District Populated places on the Euphrates River Towns in Syria