Siege of Damascus (634)

Map detailing the Rashidun Caliphate's invasion of Levant

In 610, during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, Heraclius became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire after overthrowing Phocas.[6] While Heraclius focused his attention on the internal affairs of his empire, the Sassanid Persians conquered Mesopotamia, overran Syria in 611, and entered Anatolia to occupy Caesarea Mazaca. In 612, Heraclius expelled the Persians from Anatolia. In 613, he launched a counter offensive against Syria, but was decisively defeated.[7]

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, Khosrau II was killed in a coup led by his son Kavadh II,[9] who at once sued for peace, agreeing to withdraw from all occupied territories of the Byzantine empire. Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem with an elaborate ceremony in 629.[10]

In Arabia, the Prophet Muhammad had united most of Arabia under a single religious and political authority. When Muhammad died in June 632, Abu Bakr was elected to the newly formed office of Caliph, becoming Muhammad's political and religious successor. Several Arabic tribes revolted against Abu Bakr. In the Ridda wars (Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy), Abu Bakr quelled the revolt. By 633, Arabia was firmly united under the central authority of the Caliph in Medina.[11] In 633, Abu Bakr initiated a war of conquest against the neighboring Sassanian and Byzantine empires.[12] After a successful conquest of the Persian province of Iraq, Abu Bakr's confidence grew and in April 634 his armies invaded the Byzantine Levant from four different routes. These armies proved to be too small for the task, necessitating reinforcements from Iraq, led by Abu Bakr's capable general Khalid ibn Walid[13] Crossing the desert, Khalid ibn Walid entered Syria from an unexpected route in a bold move. He attacked and overthrew the Byzantine defenses of Levant and quickly captured the Ghassanid capital city of Bosra. In July, the Muslim army under Khalid's command defeated another Byzantine army in the Battle of Ajnadayn. After clearing their southern flank, the Muslims laid siege to Damascus.[14]

Muslim troop deployment (Red) during the siege of Damascus

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 Fahal occupied the attention of the Byzantine garrison. This detachment also protected the Muslim supply lines to Medina.[18] Thus this cavalry detachment functioned as the rearguard of the Muslim forces on the Syrian front. Another detachment was sent on the road to Emesa to take up a position near Bait Lihya, approximately 10 miles (16 km) from the city. Its instructions were to reconnoiter for any Byzantine relief columns. If unable to defeat or repel a Byzantine rescue effort, the detachment commander was instructed to send for reinforcements from Khalid.[19]

Having isolated Damascus, Khalid ordered his army to surround the city on 21 August (the 20th of Jamadi-ul-Akhir, 13 Hijri).[19] The corps commanders were instructed to repel any Byzantine offensive from the respective gates and seek assistance in case of heavy attack. Dharar bin al-Azwar commanded 2.000 horsemen from the mobile guard to patrol in the empty area between the gates at night and to reinforce any corps attacked by the Byzantines.[20]

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.[21] He established his headquarters a short distance away from the eastern gate in a monastery, known since then as Deir al Khalid, the monastery of Khalid.[21] Khalid's army had encircled the city, halting the flow of supplies into Damascus while the Ghouta of Damascus provided the Muslim army with all the supplies Khalid needed for his men and their mounts.[19]

First Byzantine attack

Wall of Damascus at the Thomas gate. Although now only 7 metres (23 feet) high, it was 11 m (36 ft) high at the time of the siege. Damascus has risen 4 m (13 ft) since then.

After realizing that no reinforcements would come, Thomas decided to launch a counter offensive.[26] Early in the third week of September, Thomas drew men from all sectors of the city to form a force strong enough to break through the Gate of Thomas. He was there faced by Shurahbil with his corps of about 5,000 men. The Byzantine attack began with a concentrated shower of arrows against the Muslims. The Byzantine infantry, covered by the archers on the wall, rushed through the gate and fanned out into battle formation. Thomas himself led the assault.[27] During this action, Thomas was struck in his right eye by an arrow. Unsuccessful in breaking the Muslim lines, the Byzantines retreated back to the fortress. The wounded Thomas is said to have sworn to take a thousand eyes in return. He ordered another great sortie for that night.[23]

Remains of the Eastern gate. Khalid's troops entered Damascus through this gate.

On 18 September, a Syriac monophysite priest named Jonah[32] informed Khalid about a festival celebration in the city that night.^[e] The festivities offered Khalid an opportunity to capture the city in a surprise attack on the relatively lightly defended walls. In return, Jonah requested immunity for himself and his fiance.[33] According to Muslim chronicles, she was still not handed over to him because of the arrival of the Muslim army that was to besiege Damascus, and according to the narrations he came to Khalid with this information only to get his wife sooner. Jonah also converted to Islam.[30]

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, 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]

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.[38] The three-day truce had passed; Khalid's cavalry attacked the convoy during a heavy rain. In the subsequent battle, Khalid reportedly killed Thomas in a duel. After the Battle, known as the Battle of Marj-ud-Deebaj (Battle of Brocade Meadow), the Muslims took a great amount of brocade as booty.[39] In addition, Thomas' wife, the daughter of Heraclius, was captured. According to chronicles, the Greek man Jonah, who guided Khalid on the short cut to Antioch, got his fiance, but she committed suicide. Khalid offered Jonah the daughter of Emperor Heraclius, whom he refused. Khalid sent her back to her father. Jonah died two years later in the Battle of Yarmuk.[40]

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]

The dome of Damascus' treasury in the Umayyad Mosque

While the Arabs administered the city of Damascus, the population of Damascus remained mostly Christian—Eastern Orthodox and Monophysite—with a growing community of Arab Muslims from Makkah, Medina, and the Syrian Desert.[43]

The city was chosen as the capital of Islamic Syria. Its first Muslim governor was Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan, one of the commanders of the Muslim army that captured the city. Yazid died of plague in 640 and his younger brother, Mu'awiya I, succeeded him. After the murder of the last Rashidun Caliph, Caliph Ali in 661, Mu'awiya installed himself as the caliph of the Islamic empire founding the Umayyad dynasty.

Damascus subsequently became the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate[44] and all of the surplus revenue of the Umayyad Caliphate's provinces were forwarded to the treasury of Damascus. Arabic was also established as the official language, giving the Arab minority of the city an advantage over the Greek-speaking Christians in administrative affairs.[45]

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 Abbasids. On 25 August 750, the Abbasids, having already beaten the Umayyads in the Battle of the Zab in Iraq, conquered Damascus after facing little resistance. With the heralding of the Abbasid Caliphate, Damascus became eclipsed and subordinated by Baghdad, the new Islamic capital.[46]

^ 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)