evidence: Raqqa (Arabic: ٱلرَّقَّة, romanized: ar-Raqqah, also Rakka) is a city in Syria on the left bank of the Euphrates River, about 160 kilometres (99 miles) east of Aleppo. It is located 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and bishopric Callinicum (formerly a Latin and now a Maronite Catholic titular see) was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 796 and 809, under the reign of Harun al-Rashid. It was also the capital of the Islamic State from 2014 to 2017. With a population of 531,952 based on the 2021 official census, Raqqa is the sixth largest city in Syria.[2] [...] Raqqa was conquered by the Hamdanids in 942.[19] As a result, it lost its status as an Abbasid garrison city.[19] This had a severe economic impact on Raqqa and the surrounding region: without the soldiers and their disposable income, the demand for food and goods decreased, and local artisans were deprived of potential customers.[19] In the second half of the 10th century, Raqqa appears to have been eclipsed by Harran as the main city in the region based on mint activity and literary references.[19]