Kaftin
village in Syria
Kaftin (Arabic: كفتين, also spelled Keftin or Kaftayn) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located northwest of Idlib. The village is situated at the southern approach of the A'la Mountain. Nearby localities include Killi to the north, Hizano to the east, Kafr Yahmul to the southeast, Maarrat al-Ikhwan to the south, Harbanoush to the southwest and Qurqania to the northwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Kaftin had a population of 2,346 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly members of the Druze community, one of the few Druze villages situated in northern Syria. Kaftin's inhabitants work primarily in agriculture and cultivate olives and cumin.
History
Ottoman era
During the late Ottoman era, in the late 1840s, Kaftin was a Druze village headed by a sheikh ("local chief") named Abu Sharif Nasif. At the time most of the once-large Druze community of A'la Mountain had fled the area after being embroiled in a feud between the two Muslim villages of Kafr Takharim and Armanaz in the early 19th-century. The weaker Muslim party had taken up safe haven with the Druzes of the area and the Druze consequently launched an attack on the stronger Muslim village. Soon after, however, the two Muslim factions declared a truce and together with Muslim fighters from Antioch they assaulted the Druze of A'la Mountain.
The public source identifies “Kaftin” as village in Syria. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kaftin, village and Syria.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Kaftin”, the useful work is to connect “village in Syria” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6346262. Authority coordinates are 36.096, 36.680. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2004.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Kaftin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.