This multidisciplinary study examines the potential causes of a severe and rapid population and settlement decline during the period of transition in the Jawlān and eastern Ḥawrān regions in the province of Damascus. The Jawlān had been part of a relatively small and centralized sultanate in the Mamluk period. However, in the sixteenth century it was incorporated into an empire that ruled over three continents, thus its importance and standing gradually diminished. Newly recovered data from archaeological surveys, two archaeological excavations, fifteenth-century Arabic chroniclers and sixteenth-century Ottoman tax registers (defters) evidence the magnitude of a demographic crisis that occurred in one of the province's most fertile areas at a time when neighboring regions enjoyed continuity, stability and growth. The study conclusions are significant: nomadization in conjunction with an internal, seasonal migration process likely caused the steep decline, and not external migration or sudden demographic decline due to plagues or natural disasters. This shift from sedentary to nomadic or semi-nomadic life lasted for a long time; the vast majority of the area residents were Bedouin, able to adapt quickly to the new reality that combined work in the (mazra'as) with cattle raising.

中文翻译：

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大马士革人口危机的历史地理学：马穆鲁克晚期 - 奥斯曼帝国早期的 Jawlān 和 Ḥawrān


这项多学科研究考察了大马士革省 Jawlān 和东部 Ḥawrān 地区过渡期间人口和定居点严重快速下降的潜在原因。Jawlān 是马穆鲁克时期一个相对较小的中央集权苏丹国的一部分。然而，在 16 世纪，它被并入一个统治三大洲的帝国，因此它的重要性和地位逐渐减弱。从考古调查、两次考古发掘、15 世纪的阿拉伯编年史家和 16 世纪的奥斯曼帝国税务登记册 （defters） 中新发现的数据证明了该省最肥沃的地区之一发生的人口危机的严重性，而邻近地区则享有连续性、稳定性和增长。研究结论很重要：游牧化与内部季节性迁移过程相结合可能导致急剧下降，而不是外部迁移或由于瘟疫或自然灾害而导致的人口突然下降。这种从定居到游牧或半游牧生活的转变持续了很长时间;该地区的绝大多数居民是贝都因人，他们能够迅速适应将 （mazra'as） 的工作与养牛相结合的新现实。