[4] In the 16th century, during Ottoman rule (1516–1918), Maharda was the metropolitan seat of a diocese called 'Euchaita', spanning the Christian villages of the countryside between Hama and Homs.

In the early 16th century, Maharda had a population of 4,000, according to an anecdotal account by Patriarch Macarius III Ibn al-Za'im (r. 1647–1672), a native of the Hama region.

[5] In 1882 the American Presbyterian church opened a school in Maharda, which the Ottoman governor of Syria closed in 1906 citing the lack of a permit.

[9] Numerous emigrants from Maharda left the village in the aftermath of World War I, when the Ottomans were driven from Syria by British-backed forces.

[11] Maharda historically benefited from its location in a rich agricultural region, its close proximity (2 kilometers (1.2 mi)) to the strategic medieval citadel of Shaizar, and the large landed estates of its residents.

Many emigrants returned to Maharda during this period, investing their capital there, opening new services and artisinal businesses, and introducing technology like motor pumps, which stimulated agricultural production.

[10] The distinctive urban character, wide variety of businesses and the 'elegance' of its young women had earned Maharda the nickname of 'little Paris' among the city dwellers of Hama by the 1980s, according to historians Jean and Françoise Métral.