- Conquest of Damascus
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict= Conquest of Damascus
partof=Muslim conquest of Syria Byzantine-Arab Wars
caption=Damascus city.
date=21th August–19th September, 634A.D
place=Damascus ,Syria
result=Damascus Captured byRashidun Caliphate .
combatant1=Rashidun Caliphate
combatant2=Byzantine empire .
commander1=Khalid ibn al-Walid
commander2=Thomas
strength1=20,000
strength2=15,000-16,000
casualties1=low
casualties2=heavyDamascus was conquered by theRashidun army after a siege lasting about one month, from21 August to19 September 634 AD. It was the first major city of theByzantine empire conquered byMuslim s during theMuslim conquest of Syria .Background
Damascus was known as the paradise ofSyria . The main part of the city was enclosed by a massive wall, 11 metres high [Damascus City has risen 4 metres since then, so that the wall is now only 7 metres above ground level.] The fortified city was c. 1,500 m long and 800 m wide and was entered by sixgate s:*The East Gate ("Bab al Sharq")
*The Gate of Thomas ("Bab al Touma")
*The Jabiya Gate ("Bab al Jabiya")
*The Gate of Faradis ("Bab al Faradees")
*The Keisan Gate ("Bab al Kesan")
*The Small Gate ("Bab al Sagher")Along the north wall ran the
River Barada , which, however, was too small to be of military significance. [ [http://castrorum.blogspot.com/2006/05/arab-conquest-roman-perspective.html The Marching Camp: Arab Conquest, the Roman perspective ] ]At the time of the Syrian campaign, the
Byzantine Commander-in-Chief atDamascus wasThomas , son-in-law ofEmperor Heraclius . A deeply religious man and a devoutedChristian , he was known not only for his courage and skill in the command of troops but also for his intelligence and learning. [Akram, A. I. The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns, Nat. Publishing House. Rawalpindi, 1970. ISBN 0-71010-104-X] .The siege
Before the siege of
Damascus Khalid isolated Damascus from rest of the northernSyria , theByzantine reinforcement was most likely to be sent from this region. A mounted detachment was left at Fahal, west from Damascus to keep theByzantine garrison occupied and prevent it to come to aid of Damascus, and to prevent any possible interfering between the muslim forces andMadinah , thus it acted as a rearguard of the muslim forces on Syrian front. Another detachment on the road toEmesa to take up a position near Bait Lihya, about convert|10|mi|km from the city, [Yaqut: Vol. 1, p. 780] and instructed its commander to send out scouts to observe and report the arrival of Roman relief columns. If unable to deal with such columns himself, the detachment commander would seek Khalid's help. Having thus arranged a blocking position to isolate Damascus,Khalid ibn Walid launched theIslamic army into the siege ofDamascus onAugust 21 ,634 (the 20th of Jamadi-ul-Akhir, 13 Hijri). The corps commanders were instructed to throw back any Byzantine attack from the respective gates, and in case of heavy pressure Khalid should be consulted. Zirrar bin al-Azwar was given command of 2000 housemen from themobile guard to patrol in the empty spaces between the gates at night and to reinforce any corps attacked by the Byzantines. [Akram, A. I. The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns, Nat. Publishing House. Rawalpindi, 1970. ISBN 0-71010-104-X page :484] The following Muslim generals held the siege of the 6 gates of the Damascus, each commander at the gate had 4,000-5,000 forces with him:
*Gate of Thomas: Shurahbil ibn Hassana
*Jabiya Gate:Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah
*Gate of Faradis:Amr ibn al-A'as
*Keisan Gate:Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan
*Small Gate:Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan
*Eastern Gate: Raafe bin UmairKhalid bin Walid placed the main body of his corps under the command of Raafe bin Umair at eastern gate and him self established a headquarter short distance away from the eastern gate in amonastery which as a result became known as "Dair al Khalid" i.e monastery of Khalid. [ Akram, A. I. The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns, Nat. Publishing House. Rawalpindi, 1970. ISBN 0-71010-104-X]Byzantine reinforcement
Emperor Heraclius was at
Antioch during this siege. OnSeptember 9 ,634 Emperor Heraclius sent the reinforcement of 12,000 men toDamascus , which initailly defeated the muslim detachment and was later defeated and driven away at Battle of Saniyyat-ul-Uqab about convert|20|mi|km north ofDamascus , under by the reinforcement under Khalid's command. TheMuslim forces investing the city had been weakened by 9,000 men with the departure of first Raafe's detachment and then the reinforcement of the Mobile Guard underKhalid ibn Walid . In case theByzantine army should attack in strength against any Muslim corps, there would be a serious danger of their breaking through, keeping in view this danger Khalid therefore hurried to the Damascus and did not follow the routedByzantine troops.First Byzantine attack
After all hopes of the reinforcement from Heraclius were finished, Thomas decided to launch counter offensive to drive the Muslims away.
The following morning, early in the third week of September 634, Thomas drew men from all sectors of the city and formed a strong force to break out through the Gate of Thomas. His opponent here was Shurahbil ibn Hassana with his corps of about 5,000 men. The battle begun with the concentrated shower of arrows against
Rashidun army , Byzantine infantry covered by thearcher s andslinger s on the wall, rushed through the gate and fanned out into battle, Thomas himself led the assault [Waqidi: p. 46.] . Thomas was struck in his right eye by an arrow, following thisByzantine army retreated to the fort. [ [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/history/chronology/century7.html USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts ] ] Thomas swore to take thousand eyes in return. He ordered another greatsally to be carried out that night.econd Byzantine attack
This time the strategy of Thomas was to launch sallies from four gates, the main sector was to be again the Thomas gate, to take full advantage of exhausted Muslim corps there. The sally on rest of gates was to tie down other Muslim corps so that they may not come to aid Shurhabil's corps at Thomas gate. The other gates were to be Jabiya Gate, Small Gate and East Gate.
To the East Gate, Thomas allotted rather more forces than for the others, so that Khalid ibn Walid would be unable to move to Shurahbil's help and take command in that decisive sector.Attacking from several gates also gave more flexibility to the operation. Thus, if success were achieved, in any sector other than the Gate of Thomas, that could be converted into the main sector and the success exploited accordingly. Thomas ordered that Khalid ibn Walid should be taken alive.The attack was launched simultaneously from all selected gates. At the Jabiya Gate, where commander was
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah , after some hard fighitng the sally was repulsed and theByzantine army hastened back to the city.At the Small Gate, where the commander was
Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan , the battle was intense, Yazid had fewer troops than were positioned at the other gates, before the retreat ofRashidun army , Zirrar ibn al Azwar's with his 2,000 mounted warriors ofMobile guard came for aid and attacked theByzantine army at there flank, the sally was repulsed.At the East Gate the situation soon became more serious, for a larger Roman force had been assigned to this sector. Raafa ibn Umair was unable to hold the attacks, soon
Khalid ibn Walid with his reserve of 400 veterans reached the sector attacking theByzantine army at its flank, it marked the turning point in the sally at the East Gate. The Byzantine army therefore retreated to the city.The heaviest fighting was at Thomas gate, where Thomas again commanded the sally in personal, The Muslim commander at the sector was Shurhabil ibn Hassana. After intense fight, Thomas seeing that there was no weakening in the Muslim front, decided that to continue 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 concentrated shower of arrows by Muslim army.This was the last attempt by Thomas to break the siege. The attempt had failed. [ [http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/damascus-spring.html Saving Civilization? The Caliphs Enjoy the Fruits of Conquest ] ] He had lost thousands of men in these sallies, and could no longer afford to fight outside the walls of the city.
Khalid ibn Walid's attack
On
September 18 (the 19th ofRajab , 13Hijrah ) Jonah, son of Marcus, a Greek man informedKhalid ibn Walid about the celebration of a festival in the city that night, and about the opurtunity to capture the city by surprise attack, in return he was granted amnesty for himself and for his beloved fiance, according to Muslim chronicles, she was still not handed over to him because of the arrival of Muslim army to besiege Damascus, and according to the narrations he reached Khalid for giving this intelligence just to get his beloved wife soon. Jonah also acceptedIslam . [ [http://library.auraria.edu/generalhelp/libnews/islam/index.html Learn about the Muslim World @ Your Library - Display November-December 2001 ] ]There was no time to make a coordinated plan of attack for the whole army; and so Khalid decided that he would storm the fort by the East Gate himself. According to the plan, first
Khalid ibn Walid , Qa'qa ibn Amr and Mazur ibn Adi climbed up the wall hand by hand from the side of eastern gate. [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-29909/Syria Syria :: Islamic conquest - Britannica Online Encyclopedia ] ] As the wall was the strongest, no guard was there on the top, Khalid and other two warriors tied other ropes and dropped them so that other selected 100 warriors could climb up the wall. Khalid left a few men to assist the remaining climbers, and with the rest descended into the city, killing the guards at gate Khalid and Qa'qa reached the East gate and the gate was flung open. The Khalid's corps entered the city, intense battle begun between the Muslims and Byzantine army.Thomas came to know that there is no movement on other gates in Islamic army, he assumed that only Khalid's corps have entered the city and most probably other corps commanders are unaware of this sudden attack. Thomas tried to save Damascus for one last time, he accordingly sent envoys to the Jabiya Gate to talk with
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah , the second in command to Khalid, and offer to surrender the fort peacefully and to pay theJizya . [Akram, A. I. The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns, Nat. Publishing House. Rawalpindi, 1970. ISBN 0-71010-104-X] Abu Ubaidah, who was famous for his peace loving nature accepted the terms and peace was made, thinking thatKhalid ibn Walid the commander in chief of army would also accept it. The message was sent to all the corps commanders. After the dawn Abu Ubaidah entered Damascus from Jabiyah gate and other commanders from there respective gates, while Khalid's corps was still conquering the city by force from Eastern side. Abu Ubaidah marching peacefully with his corps, accompanied by Thomas and Harbees and several dignitaries andbishop s of Damascus, to wards the center of Damascus. While Khalid and his men marched to wards the center of Damascus finishing all resistance. Both commanders met atChurch of Mary in the center of the city.Conquest of the city
Muslim commander in chief,
Khalid bin Walid urged that he have conquered the city by force and Abu Ubaidah on the other hand told him about the peace agreement, agreed between him and Thomas. All the corps commanders got together and began to discuss the situation. They reached agreement among themselves and conveyed their opinion, to Khalid: suggesting that Let there be peace, because if the Romans inSyria heard that theMuslim s had given a guarantee of safety and then slaughtered those whose safety had been guaranteed, no other city would ever surrender to the Muslims, and that would make the task of conquering Syria immeasurably more difficult. Khalid was not happy but agreed. [Waqidi: Fatuh al Sham, pp. 51-52] Agreeing on the terms that no one will be enslaved and no harm would be given to the temples and nothing will be taken as booty, according to the terms of peace. Save passage was given to Thomas, Harbees and every citizen of Damascus who was not willing to live under the Muslim rule,under the terms that the peace will be ended after three days and if Muslim conquered any place at which they are residing, they will not then be under a guarantee of peace.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 to the people of Damascus. When the Muslims enter, they (the people) shall have safety for themselves, their property, their temples and the walls of their city, of which nothing shall be destroyed. They have this guarantee on behalf of Allah, the Messenger of Allah, the
Caliph and the Muslims, from whom they shall receive nothing but good so long as they pay the Jizya. [Balazuri: vol: 1 page no: 128.]Aftermaths
After three days passed, Khalid ibn Walid commanding a cavalry regiment followed the convoy of Byzantine commanders and soldiers along with thousands of people who left the city with them, going to wards
Antioch . Khalid's cavalry caught up with the convoy a short distance fromAntioch near a sea shore during the heavy downpour. The battle thus fought is known asBattle of Marj-ud-Deebaj ("Battle of Meadow of Brocade") because of plenty ofbrocade taken as booty in it. Thomas and Harbees were killed personally by Khalid in a duel, and wife of Thomas, the daughter of Heraclius was taken as captive. [cite book|last=Akram|first=A. I.|title=The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns|publisher=Nat. Publishing House|location=Rawalpindi|year=1970|id=ISBN 0-71010-104-X] According to chronicles, the same Greek man Jonah, guided Khalid to the short cut route to Antioch to get his fiance, but she committed suicide, Khalid, offered Jonah, daughter of Emperor Heraclius, but he refused to take her, she was later released by Khalid ibn Walid. Jonah died inBattle of Yarmouk two years later. [Waqidi: Fatuh al Sham, page: 55-56] CaliphAbu Bakr died makingUmar his successor. Umar removedKhalid ibn Walid from the command of Muslim army makingAbu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah , the new commander in chief. [ [http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_conquest/islamic_conquest.php History of Iran: Islamic Conquest ] ] In the later years, following the Battle of Yarmouk the wholeLevant was annexed byRashidun Caliphate followed by conquest of Antioch in 638.References
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