Al-Jawf Province

Pre-Islamic History

Islamic history

Muhammad invaded al-Jawf twice as part of his Arab conquests between 622 and 632. Following the second conquest led by Muslim leader Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf the region converted to Islam.

When Abu Bakr became caliph in 632 he launched the Ridda wars against rebel Arab tribes in a number of regions, including Al-Jawf. In 633 a Rashidun Army under Khalid ibn al-Walid persecuted rebels in the region following al-Walid's victory at the Battle of Ayn al-Tamr. He successfully captured and occupied Dumat al-Jandal before retreating back to Al-Hirah.

Imru Al Qais bin Al Asbagh Al Kalbi ruled the region during the reign of the Caliph Umar between 634 and 644. Marwan bin Al Hakam ruled Al-Jawf during the reign of the Caliph Uthman in the 640s and 650s.

The Tayy tribe became dominant in the Al-Jawf region during the 10th century. The Al-Fadl family from the Tayy tribe ruled the area between the 12th and 14th centuries. The Tayy began raiding Al-Shami, a location on the Egyptian Hajj route, in the 16th century. In 1521 the Ottoman Empire agreed to pay the Tayy tribe to cease their attacks on the Hajj route.

Al-Jawf was incorporated into the first Saudi state in 1793 during the reign of Imam Abdul Aziz bin Muhammad. The incorporation of the region was not achieved peacefully; Imam Muhammad sent an army to the Al Jawf that conquered three towns, killed many local civilians, and besieged the major population centers until they pledged allegiance to the Saudi state. During the reign of Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, which lasted from 1803 to 1814, the area remained under Saudi control.

In the mid-19th century the region became part of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar, which was ruled by the Rashidi dynasty and nominally affiliated with the second Saudi state. In 1838 Abdullah bin Ali Al Rashid sent an army of 3,000 men led by his brother Ubaid to attack al-Jawf and collect zakat, but the region was not formally conquered at that time. In 1853 Talal bin Abdullah Al Rashid sent another army to Al-Jawf that conquered and incorporated the region within Jabal Shammar over the course of a two-year campaign.

Modern history

Muhsin al-Shaalan, Nuri Al Shalaan's cousin, ceded the Qurayyat^[when?] (Qurayyat al-Salt) region, which is the last remaining part of the al-Jawf region, and he ceded it in favor of the Saudi state. Ibn Battah was appointed a follower of Abdullah al-Tamimi^[when?], the emir of al-Jawf, The Emirate of Transjordan, however, rejected this.^[when?] It saw that it was more deserving to rule the Qurayyat region,^{[citation needed]} so it escalates with the Saudi state by demanding of establish a neutral zone between the two countries, the withdrawal of the Saudis from the Hijaz, and the return of the Al-Rashid family in Hail and the family of Al-Ayed in Asir to authority. This was rejected by Saudi state. As a reaction of that, Saudi forces crawled over^{[clarification needed]} the Jordanian villages until they reached Yadodah, a few miles away from the city of Amman. At that time^[when?] Britain intervened by bombing the Saudi forces and forcing them to withdraw and return to the dialogue. Which was the case so the Saudi state agreed with Britain, which represents East Jordan, to give the Qurayyat region to Saudi Arabia and protect Saudi trade with Syria. That agreement was known as the Hada agreement^{[citation needed]}. After the annexation of the Hijaz, the Qurayyat region was known as the "Emirate of Qurayyat and the Northern Border Inspectorate." At the end of 1931, King Abdulaziz appointed governor for the second time Turki bin Ahmed Al-Sudairy a prince on Al-Jouf, and he moved the capital from Dumat al-Jandal to Sakaka. One of the most important events that passed on Al-Jouf during this period is the protection of Sultan al-Atrash, the leader of the Great Syrian Revolution in Al-Jouf region from 1927 to 1932 .^{[citation needed]}.

In the year 1358 AH, governmental departments in the Qurayyat region moved from the village of Kaf to the village of Nabak (which later became known as the City of Qurayyat). In 1957 Tabarjal was established after a part of the Shararat tribe settled in the region. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Jordan which was known as the Amman Agreement in 1965 to delineate the borders in the north of the Hijaz and confirm the previous agreement.^[which?] In 1991, the zoning system was issued during the reign of King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Qurayyat region merged with the Jawf region and Tabuk region.^{[citation needed]} The system also resulted in the formation of the District Council, which consists of 33 members, twenty of whom are residents of the region, and the rest are state employees.^{[citation needed]}

Location

Al-Jouf region is located in the northwest of the Kingdom, and it is bordered by three Saudi administrative regions which are the Northern Border region to the north and east, the Hail region to the southeast, the Tabuk region to the southwest, and one country is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the north and northwest.

Geography of the region

List of governors

Since annexation of the region to rule the third Saudi state, several princes have ruled it, including Turki bin Ahmed Al Sudairi, who ruled for two different periods, and they are:

The princes of the Qurayyat region

Nine princes have followed over the Qurayyat region from the time Muhsin al-Sha’lan abdicated it until her annexation to the Al-Jawf region, and they are: [47] [89]

Transportation

The region is connected with the capital Riyadh by a 1309 km long road that passes from the city of Sakaka and reaches the city of Arar. It is also linked to the city of Jeddah (on the Red Sea coast) through the city of Dumat al-Jandal and the city of Madinah by a road with a length of 1258 km. Furthermore, the provincial centers in the region are connected to each other. There are two airports in the region: The first is in the city of Sakaka is known as the Al-Jouf Domestic Airport(AJF / OESK), and the other airport is in Qurayyat and is known as the Gurayat Domestic Airport (URY / OEGT). It is planned that the region will also be linked with the rest of the Kingdom by a network of railways within the North-South Train (SAR), which links the capital Riyadh with the cities of Sakakah, Qurayyat, Haditha and the Basita farms.

The distance between the emirate's headquarters in Sakaka city and the different cities of the Kingdom in kilometers (km):

Education

Like other regions of the Kingdom, education was limited at the beginning to the Kuttab in mosques where the Qur'an and the Arabic language are taught, and wood planks and tamarix sticks are used for writing. In the year 1362 AH, the first regular school in the area, the Emiri School in Sakaka, was opened, and it includes one class and one teacher. In 1364 AH, the Omar bin al-Khattab School was opened in the city of Dumat al-Jandal, and then opening formal schools has continued.

In the year 1369 AH, the Al-Jouf region with the Qurayyat and Tabuk regions submitted a request to King Abdulaziz to grant a financial reward to each student, and the king agreed. Later, with the increase in the number of schools, the task of supervising them was assigned to the education of the Madinah region, then to the education of Dammam. In the year 1377 AH, the Central Inspection Office was established to link between Al-Jouf and Dammam. In the year 1388 AH, the Central Inspection Office turned into a special "education office" in the region, then to an "Educational Supervision Bureau" and finally in the year 1398 AH to an "Education Administration."

The first school for girls was opened in the region in the year 1382 AH. and in the year 1401AH, the College of Education for Girls arose. In the next year, the Health Institute for Nursing was established, and the "Girls 'Education Commission" became an independent department in the name of "the Department of Girls' Education in Al-Jouf". The following year the Boys' Health Institute was established, and in 1423 AH, the College of Science for Boys was established. In the year 1426 AH, Al-Jouf University was opened.

Healthcare

The central hospital in Sakaka (Abdel Rahman Al-Sudairy Hospital) was built in the year 1385 AH (1965 AD) to be the first hospital in the region, and this hospital was specialized in chest diseases due to the spread of tuberculosis in the region. With the increasing population need for hospitals, King Faisal Hospital in Qurayyat, the Diagnostic and Obstetric Center in Dumat al-Jandal, and the Ambulance and Obstetrics Center in Tabarja were established in the year 1395 AH. In 1404 AH, the Mental Health Hospital was established, The General Hospital was opened in Qurayyat in 1405 AH. On the first of Rajab 1406 AH, the Health Affairs Department was established Al-Jouf after it was affiliated with the Health Affairs Directorate of the Northern Health in the city of Arar, In 1425 AH Seven hospitals and 29 health centers were affiliated with the Health Affairs Department. In the following year, the Sawyer General Hospital was established, and in 1433 AH, the Abu Ajram General Hospital was established.

Agriculture

Formerly, agriculture is considered the basic profession of the region's residents. Backpackers have described agricultural crops in Al-Jouf as they pass through it. Among those who referred to the agricultural crops is the Finnish backpacker George August Wallin (Yrjö Aukusti Wallin) who mentioned that palm trees, figs, apricots, oranges and grapes are planted in the region. This is what also was indicated by the William Palgrave adding that dates are the only crop that It is sold outside the region. In the modern era, Abdul Rahman bin Ahmed Al-Sudairy, the governor of Al-Jawf region, mentioned that olives, apples, pears, pomegranates, wheat and barley are grown in the region. The Guinness Book records that the largest modern olive farm in the world is also found in Al-Jouf.

Agricultural machines were brought to the region in the year 1368 AH. Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture was established in the year 1379 AH. Then the emirate distributed agricultural lands to citizens. The number of distributed farms reaching 7,500. The region is now famous for cultivating an olive tree, and it produces 67% of olive oil in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Olive trees began to be planted in 1392 AH. In 1437 AH (2016 AD), the number of olive trees reached 18 million trees producing between 30 and 40 thousand tons of olives and 10 thousand tons of olive oil. The number of olive presses reached 23 presses.

In addition to olives, there are 10 million fruit trees in Al-Jouf annually producing 170 thousand tons. Also, there are 1.2 million palm trees annually producing 40 thousand tons of dates, the most famous of which is Hilwah Al-Jouf. The number of Al-Jouf farms is 12 thousand farms and 3 thousand agricultural projects that contain 30 million trees that produces olives, palms, fruits, vegetables, and fodder.

Among the most important problems facing agriculture is the problem of depleting groundwater with the increasing number of agricultural projects, especially in the Basita Farms Project and the cultivated areas, where the cultivated area reached 428 thousand hectares.

Livestock

In 1402 AH, corresponding to 1982 AD (the former name of the ministry at the time), the Ministry of Agriculture and Water started the project of the rangeland development center and improved it to preserve livestock in the Al-Jawf region in cooperation with FAO. The center included several departments working on rangeland management, soil conservation, production management and animal health. The National Wildlife Protection and Development Authority has established several reserves to protect the region's animals and planets.

According to the statistics of 1426 AH corresponding to 2005 AD, Al-Jouf Region included 1,569,733 heads of sheep, 1,740 heads of cows, 7,398 heads of camels, 88,845 heads of goats, and 2,791,227 poultry. The region included 6 projects for raising chickens, 4 projects to produce eggs, and 3 projects specialized in breeding and fattening lamb.

Industry

Before the establishment of the Saudi state, the industry in the region was handcrafted products, such as: leather industry, such as horse belts, arms sheaths and water closures, weaving industries such as cages, utensils, baskets and fans, wooden industries such as doors and some agricultural tools, stone industries such as the millstone, the grind and the mortar, and woolen industries such as sleeping mats, carpets and the abaya. The industry before the year 1390 AH (1970 AD) was very limited, but it was increasing. Several industrial workshops were opened which numbered in the year 1418 AH nearly 200 workshops, and the number of factories reached 20 factories in the year that followed and their investments amounted to 112 million riyals at the time. Investment rose up to 220 million riyals in the year 1425 AH (2004 AD). 12 factories specialized in the food and beverage industry, then 4 factories for the chemical and plastic industries, and 4 factories for the building materials, ceramics and glass industries.

The industrial contribution in the region is limited, so that the number of factories in the region represents only 0.53% of the factories in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The number of their workers represents only 0.23% of the number of workers in other factories, and the invested capital represents only 0.08% of the invested capital in the rest of the factories. Industrial projects in the region are mostly individual projects with limited funding. all of them are national in the absence of foreign investment. Most industrial activity is limited to the food and beverage industry, depending on wealth and potential in the region.

Minerals

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (now called the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources) has conducted exploratory and prospecting studies for the region. Consequently, the presence of many raw materials was determined, such as: clay in the areas of Jal Ajrabeh and Al Dhailiya, which is used in the manufacture of building materials. Silica sand is found in the areas of Al-Malih and Al-Luja and on the extension of the Tabuk road, southeast Sakaka. Silica is used in the manufacture of glass, and it exists in its forms of quartz, opal, and chalcedony. In the region, there are also basalt rocks found in Hurra Al Hurra, and enter in the manufacture of Pozzolan cement. The region also contains limestone rocks found in Wadi Al Hablah and western Jabal Al Abd, dolomite rocks along the Sakaka Arar road, the mineral phosphate found in Hurra Al Hurra, and salt found in Wadi Al-Sarhan, Hadhodhaa, Kaf, and Etherh.

Trade

In the past, trade in the region depended on the system of bartering and the exchange of goods according to the needs of the individual. The region suffered in the year 1356 AH (1937 AD) and until the year 1365 AH (1945 AD) for two reasons, namely the lack of imports due to the weak financial resources of the population, and the Second World War that caused an economic crisis to a number of countries in the world.

With the development of the state and the emergence of chambers of commerce, increasing records and licenses, securing basic life necessities and developing income sources among the population as a result of development, the number of markets, commercial complexes, individual institutions and companies has increased, which numbered 6191 institutions and companies in the Al-Jouf region. Among the most important commercial activities in the region in the commercial sector are wholesale and retail trade in foodstuffs, electrical and sanitary ware, fabrics and clothing.

Because of its geographical location in the northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, A large portion of land trade passes through a Al-Hadithah port, one of the most important commercial outlets for the Kingdom, and it is one of the largest and most important outlets in the Middle East region linking the Gulf Cooperation Council states with Jordan, the countries of the Levant, Egypt and Turkey, the destination to the countries European. The region has a branch of the Ministry of Trade and Investment that issues licenses to companies and institutions, combats commercial fraud, conforms to specifications, and monitors markets to protect consumers.

Vegetable cover

The vegetation is weak in many locations. The most important plants that form the cover are: Lavender, Ziziphus, Opophytum, Truffles, Malva, Plantago ovata, Maha, Erodium, Artemisia, Achillea, Pulicaria, Asafoetida, chrysanthemum, Haloxylon, Haloxylon persicum, Calligonum, Tamarix, Rhanterium epapposum, Neurada procumbens, Atriplex, Salsola, Anisosciadium, Lepidium, Diplotaxis, Papaver dubium, Erucaria, Hippocrepis unisiliquosa, Sonchus, Anchusa, Tragopogon, Scorzonera, Allium sindjarense, Leek, Chamomile, Clover, Thyme, Anemone, Stipagrostis, Retama, Lycium shawii and Aloysia.

Animal life

Birds

The first person who wrote about the birds of the region was John Philby in the year 1923. The most important thing, he mentioned was that the Arabian ostrich, which was raised in Dumat al-Jandal and was found naturally in Wadi Al-Sarhan. Studies in the area have continued to register birds, there was Richard Minershagen's study in 1954, Arthur Green's study in 1983, a study by the National Wildlife Service, then a study by British bird scientist Michael Jennings in 1995. The Harra Al Hurra and Dumat Al Jandal Lake are the two most important regions in Al Jawf for birds; first provides protection for birds due to the difficulty in accessing and hunting people, and the second is a wet area where birds visit. During the surveys in the 1990s, more than 10 thousand birds were registered in Winter. Birds in Al-Jouf suffer from overfishing, the disappearance of natural areas, and their vulnerability to unregulated human consumption of groundwater. Although many birds live in the region, and it is considered a transit area for birds in their migration, yet only 170 migratory species have been registered there.

Archaeologies

The region has many archaeological sites that date back to the stone and copper ages, and extend through the era of Qedar, the Nabataeans and Roman influence, to reach the first era Islam. Then, it is followed by the ages of the Umayyad and Abbasid states, the Ottoman era and the rule of the Shaalan family, then the Saudi state. In these sites, there were discovered settlements, tombs, pottery, Thamudic, Nabatean, and Roman inscriptions, as well as Arabic inscriptions from various Islamic periods.

Museums

Al-Jouf region contains one general museum, Al-Jouf Museum, located in Dumat al-Jandal Governorate near the archaeological area and its current area is 3600 m2. The governorate also includes many private museums such as Al-Nuwaiser Heritage Museum, which consists of two halls and many rooms that include a popular market having numerous ancient coins, local industries, and farming tools. Furthermore, Wethiman Museum, which displays local industries, war tools, and wool products. In other cities, there are museums such as the Tree Museum for Heritage located in Qurayyat. A large tree mediates it, and a heritage tent and a building divided into three parts surround the tree and display old publications, mummies and local artifacts. In Sakaka, on the other hand there is the Nasser Qadir Al Arouj Heritage Museum, which displays many artifacts, coffee and hospitality tools, a range of war tools and weapons, some leather goods, and farming and house tools.

Festivals

Al-Jawf has many festivals that most of them are related to the region's special crops. Among the most famous festivals held in Al-Jouf are the Olive Festival, which number of visitors reached to about 95 thousand. Also, Al-Jouf Dates Festival includes 85 exhibition of dates in the region, and it contains 90 luxurious varieties of dates. In addition to the fruit festival, there are traditional festivals that are held in the region such as Al Sadu Festival that contributes to maintaining and spreading the craft of Al Sadu industry in the region and supporting productive families. Moreover, Mogidh Tabarajal Festival for Camels supports camel racing sport. Finally, Tabarjal's Festival for the Revival of Heritage has nearly 20,000 visitors annually. Many summer festivals are held in Al-Jouf, just like other regions in Saudi Arabia

Traditional Cuisine

The region abounds with many special foods. Because of its proximity to Hail, they shares many foods. One of the region's special foods is the "bakkila", and it is made by mixing the dates of Al-Jawf, known as Al-Helwa, with the al-Samh plant after roasting its grains, known as al-Sabeeb, with natural ghee. In addition to many other regular Saudi food such as Kabsah.