Siege of Damascus (634)
Siege of Damascus | |||||||||
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Part of the Arab-Byzantine Wars | |||||||||
Kisan Gate, one of the six ancient gates of Damascus. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Rashidun Caliphate | Byzantine Empire | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit | Thomas | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
20,000 | 15,000–16,000[1] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Low | Heavy |
The siege of Damascus (634) lasted from 21 August to 19 September 634
The last of the
In April 634, Abu Bakr invaded the
Background
In 610, during the
Over the next decade, the Persians conquered Palestine and Egypt and Heraclius rebuilt his army, preparing for a new offensive, which he launched in 622.[8] He achieved substantial victories over the Persians and their allies in the Caucasus and Armenia. In 627, he launched a daring winter offensive against Persia in Mesopotamia, and won a decisive victory at the Battle of Nineveh. This victory threatened the Persian capital city of Ctesiphon.[9]
Discredited by this series of disasters,
In Arabia,
Siege site
Strategically located, Damascus attracted merchants from all over the world. The city was known as the paradise of Syria.[15]
The fortifications matched its importance. The main part of the city was enclosed by a massive 11 m (36 ft) high wall.[b] The fortified city was approximately 1,500 m (4,900 ft) long and 800 m (2,600 ft) wide.[15]
The wall had six gates:
- The East Gate (Bab Sharqi)
- The Gate of Thomas (Bab Touma)
- The Jabiya Gate (Bab al-Jabiya)
- The Gate of Paradise (Bab al-Faradis)
- The Keisan Gate (Bab Kisan)
- The Small Gate (Bab al-Saghir)[c]
Although the River Barada ran along the north wall of Damascas, it was too shallow to be of defensive importance.[16]
At the time of the
Dispositions
Without the necessary siege equipment, armies of the early Muslim expansion would surround a city, denying it supplies until the city's defenders surrendered.[17] Meanwhile any chance of breaking into the city would be availed, if possible, using stealth and espionage. Muslim armies would usually isolate the city from the rest of the region and deploy scouts along vital routes.[18]
Before the siege of Damascus, Khalid isolated it from the rest of the northern Syria. To the west, a detachment of cavalry at
Having isolated Damascus, Khalid ordered his army to surround the city on 21 August (the 20th of Jamadi-ul-Akhir, 13 Hijri).
The following Muslim generals held the siege of the six gates of the Damascus. Each commander at the gate had 4,000–5,000 forces under his command:
- Gate of Thomas: Shurahbil
- Jabiya Gate: Abu Ubaidah
- Gate of Faradis: Amr
- Keisan Gate: Yazid
- Small Gate: Yazid
- Eastern Gate: Rafay bin Umayr.[21]
Khalid placed the main body of his forces under the command of Rafay bin Umayr at the eastern gate.
Byzantine relief
Emperor Heraclius was at Antioch at the beginning of the siege and[citation needed] on 9 September, he dispatched a relief force, thought to have numbered around 12,000 men.[22] Scouts posted on the road from Emesa to Damascus reported the approach of a Byzantine army. Upon hearing this news, Khalid sent Rafay bin Umayr with 5,000 troops. They met 20 miles (32 km) north of Damascus at Uqab Pass (Eagle Pass) on the Damascus-Emesa road.[23] That force proved insufficient and was soon surrounded by the Byzantine troops. However before the Byzantines could defeat the Muslim detachment, Khalid arrived with another column of 4,000 men and routed them.[24] It has since come to be known as Battle of the pass of Uqab.[23]
The Muslim siege forces had been weakened by the withdrawal of 9,000 men to repel the Byzantine relief force. If the Byzantine garrison had sallied out against the Muslim army, historians suspect the defenders would have broken through the Muslim lines and lifted the siege. Understanding the danger of the situation, Khalid hurriedly returned to Damascus.[25]
First Byzantine attack
After realizing that no reinforcements would come, Thomas decided to launch a counter offensive.
Second Byzantine attack
This time Thomas planned to launch simultaneous sorties from four gates. The main sector was to be again the Thomas gate, to take full advantage of the exhausted Muslim corps stationed there. The attacks from the other gates—Jabiya Gate, the Small Gate and the Eastern Gate—were intended to tie down the other Muslim corps so that they could not aid Shurhabil's corps at the Thomas gate.[28]
At the Eastern Gate, Thomas assembled more forces than at the other gates, so that Khalid would be unable to move to Shurahbil's assistance and take command in that decisive sector. Thomas' attack at several gates also gave more flexibility to the operation: if success were achieved in any sector other than the Gate of Thomas, such success could be exploited by sending troops to that sector to achieve the breakthrough. Thomas ordered Khalid to be taken alive.[29]
After some hard fighting at the Jabiya Gate, commander Abu Ubaidah and his men, repulsed the sally and the Byzantines hastened back to the city. The battle was intense at the Small Gate, which was guarded by commander Yazid and his men. Yazid had fewer troops but Dharar came to Yazid's aid with his 2,000 cavalry of the Mobile Guard. The cavalry attacked the flank of the Byzantine sortie force and repulsed the sally.[26]
At the East Gate, the situation also became serious, for a larger Byzantine force had been assigned to this sector. Rafay was unable to withstand their attacks. The timely arrival of Khalid with his reserve of 400 veteran cavalry and his subsequent attack on the Roman flank, marked the turning point in the sally at the Eastern Gate.[30]
The heaviest fighting occurred at the Thomas gate, where Thomas again commanded the sally in person.[26] After intense fighting, Thomas, seeing that there was no weakening in the Muslim front, decided that continuing the attack would be fruitless and would lead to even heavier casualties among his men. He ordered a withdrawal and the Romans moved back at a steady pace, during which they were subjected to a concentrated shower of arrows by the Muslims. This was the last attempt by Thomas to break the siege. The attempt had failed. He had lost thousands[clarification needed] of men in these sallies, and could no longer afford to fight outside the walls of the city.[31]
Khalid's attack
On 18 September, a Syriac
With no time to make a coordinated plan of attack for the whole army, Khalid decided to storm the East Gate himself. He, Qa'qa ibn Amr, and Mazur ibn Adi climbed the wall hand-by-hand from the side of the gate.[34] This part of the wall was the strongest, no guard was stationed at the top. They secured ropes to the wall and dropped them to 100 selected soldiers waiting at the base.[31] Leaving a few men to assist the climbers, Khalid descended into the city, killing the guards at the inside of the East Gate. Khalid and Qa'qa flung the gate open and the remainder of Khalid's men entered the city. An intense battle ensued.[19]
When Thomas saw that the rest of the army did not move from the other gates, he assumed first that only Khalid's army had entered the city and second that the other corps commanders were unaware of the breach in the defenses. Thomas tried to save Damascus for one last time. He sent envoys to the Jabiya Gate to talk with Abu Ubaidah, the second in command to Khalid, and offered to surrender the fort peacefully and to pay the Jizya.[35] Abu Ubaidah, who was well known for his peace-loving nature, accepted the terms, thinking that Khalid would also agree.[36]
The news was sent to all the corps commanders. After dawn Abu Ubaidah entered Damascus from Jabiyah gate and the other commanders from their respective gates, while Khalid's corps was still battling in the city from the East Gate.[26] Abu Ubaidah marched peacefully with his corps, accompanied by Thomas, Harbees[who?], several dignitaries, and the bishops of Damascus, toward the center of city. From the East Gate, Khalid and his men fought their way towards the center of Damascus, killing all who resisted. The commanders met at the Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus in the center of the city.[37]
Capture of the city
Khalid argued that he had conquered the city by force. Abu Ubaidah maintained the city had capitulated, through the peace agreement between him and Thomas.[37] The corps commanders discussed the situation, and reportedly told Khalid that the peace agreement must be honoured, which Khalid agreed to although reluctantly.[27]
The terms of the peace agreement were that no one would be enslaved, no harm would be done to the temples, nothing would be taken as booty and that safe passage was given to Thomas, Harbees, and every citizen of Damascus who was not willing to live under Muslim rule. The peace agreement also stated that the peace would end after three days and that the Muslims could attack after these three days without violating the agreement.[35]
The following pact was drawn up and signed by Khalid bin Walid:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This is given by Khalid bin Al Waleed [
Caliph (Umar) and the Muslims, from whom they shall receive nothing but good so long as they pay the Jizya.[32]
Aftermath
The Syriac, Jonah, who had helped Khalid enter the city by the East Gate, showed him a short-cut to Antioch. Leading a cavalry regiment, Khalid caught up with a convoy of Byzantine refugees from Damascus at the sea, near Antioch.
Caliph Abu Bakr died in Medina, making Umar his successor. Umar removed Khalid from command of the Muslim army and appointed Abu Ubaidah as the new commander in chief. In later years, following the Battle of Yarmuk, the Rashidun Caliphate annexed the whole Levant, followed by the conquest of Antioch in 638.[41] By 639, the Byzantines had lost Armenia and Mesopotamia. Emperor Heraclius concentrated on the defenses of Egypt and Anatolia, creating a buffer-zone in Anatolia west of Caesarea by abandoning all the Byzantine fortifications there. The Arabs never invaded Anatolia. However, by 642 the Byzantines lost Egypt and Tripolitania to the Caliphate.[42]
While the Arabs administered the city of Damascus, the population of Damascus remained mostly Christian—
The city was chosen as the capital of
Damascus subsequently became the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate
Trade and economics prospered in the city and under the Umayyads, Damascus remained one of the most dazzling cities of the world, until in 750, when it fell to the
Notes
^ a: According to Burns (2007), the siege ended in September 635.[47]
^ b: Damascus City has risen 4 metres since then, so that the wall is now only 7 metres above ground level (See Akram (2004), pg.294.)
^ c: See The walls and gates of Damascus.
^ d: According to Edward Gibbon: "Vanity prompted the Arabs to believe, that Thomas was the son-in-law of the emperor. We know the children of Heraclius by his two wives: and his august daughter would not have married in exile at Damascus (see du Cange, Historia Byzantina Familiae Byzantinae. p. 118–119.) Had he been less religious, I might only suspect the legitimacy of the damsel."[48]
^ e: It is not clear which festival it was, some early Muslim sources says it was a celebration of the birth of son to the high priest of Damascus (Al-Waqidi, p.46)
References
- ^ Akram 2004, p. 290
- ^ Pierkins 2017, p. 227.
- ^ Akram 2004, p. 188
- ^ Akram 2004, p. 372
- ^ Avi-Yonah 2003, p. 129
- ^ Haldon 1997, p. 41
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu 2002, pp. 189–190
- ^ Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 196
- ^ a b Greatrex & Lieu 2002, pp. 217–227
- ^ Haldon 1997, p. 46
- ^ Nicolle 1994, pp. 12–14
- ^ Kennedy 2006, p. 25
- ^ Nicolle 1994, p. 33
- ^ Nicolle 1994, p. 56
- ^ a b c Akram 2004, p. 294
- ^ Akram 2004, p. 291
- ^ Kennedy 2006, p. 33
- ^ a b Akram 2004, p. 293
- ^ a b c d Burns 2007, p. 99
- ^ Nicolle 1994, p. 57
- ^ a b c Akram 2004, p. 296
- ^ Gibbon & Milman 2009, p. 147
- ^ a b c Gibbon & Milman 2009, p. 148
- ^ Sahas 1972, p. 19
- ^ Akram 2004, p. 298
- ^ a b c d Nicolle 1994, p. 58
- ^ a b Al-Waqidi c. 750, p. 46
- ^ Gibbon & Milman 2009, pp. 148–149
- ^ Akram 2004, p. 299
- ^ a b Gibbon & Milman 2009, p. 149
- ^ a b Akram 2004, p. 300
- ^ a b Sicker 2000, p. 12
- ^ Crowdy 2006, p. 45
- ^ Sahas 1972, p. 18
- ^ a b Akram 2004, p. 301
- ^ Archer 2008, p. 129
- ^ a b Gibbon & Milman 2009, p. 150
- ^ Nicolle 1994, p. 59
- ^ Gibbon & Milman 2009, p. 155
- ^ Al-Waqidi c. 750, pp. 55–56
- ^ Sahas 1972, p. 20
- ^ Akram 2004, p. 297
- ^ Burns 2007, p. 105
- ^ Burns 2007, pp. 106–107
- ^ Burns 2007, pp. 110
- ^ Burns 2007, pp. 130–132
- ^ Burns 2007, p. 99.
- ^ Gibbon 2008, p. 423
Bibliography
Ancient sources
- Al-Waqidi, Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Umar (c. 750), Fatuh al Sham (Conquest of Syria)
- Sirah Rasul Allah, 750.
- Theophanes the Confessor, Chronographia, 810–815.
- Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, 915.
Modern sources
- Akram, Agha Ibrahim (2004), The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed – His Life and Campaigns, ISBN 0-19-597714-9
- Archer, Christon I (2008), World History of Warfare, University of Nevada Press, ISBN 978-0-8032-1941-0
- Avi-Yonah, Michael (2003), History of Israel and the Holy Land, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-8264-1526-4
- Burns, Ross (2007), Damascus: A History, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-48850-6
- Crowdy, Terry (2006), The enemy within: a history of espionage, ISBN 978-1-84176-933-2
- Greatrex, Geoffrey; Lieu, Samuel N. C. (2002), The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (Part II, 363–630 AD), Routledge, ISBN 0-415-14687-9
- Haldon, John (1997), Byzantium in the Seventh Century: the Transformation of a Culture, Cambridge, ISBN 0-521-31917-X
- Kennedy, Hugh N. (2006), The Byzantine and early Islamic Near East, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7546-5909-9
- Gibbon, Edward; Milman, Henry Hart (2009), The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, BiblioBazaar, ISBN 978-1-113-92820-7
- ISBN 1-85532-414-8
- Sahas, Daniel J (1972), John of Damascus on Islam: The "Heresy of the Ishmaelites.", BRILL, ISBN 978-90-04-03495-2
- Sicker, Martin (2000), The Islamic world in ascendancy: from the Arab conquests to the siege of Vienna, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-275-96892-2
- Gibbon, Edward (2008), The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 5, Cosimo, Inc., ISBN 978-1-60520-127-6
- Pierkins, Russell S. (2017), "Damascus, Arab Conquest of (634 CE)", in Shaw, Jeffrey M.; Demy, Timothy J. (eds.), War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict, vol. 1, ABC-CLIO, pp. 227–228, ISBN 978-1-61069-517-6