Capture of Damascus (971)
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| Capture of Damascus | |||||||||
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| Part of Qarmatians-Fatimid war | |||||||||
 A photo of the Old Damascus area | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 QarmatiansSupported by: Abbasid Caliphate Hamdanid dynasty |  Fatimid Caliphate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Al-Hasan al-A'sam | Ja'far ibn Fallah † | ||||||||
The Capture of Damascus or the QarmatiansCapture of the Levant was one of the Qarmatian attacks against the Fatimids, particularly targeting the regions of Greater Syria, and specifically the area of Damascus, which they also looted.
Background
Before these campaigns the Qarmatians were expanding in the Arabian Peninsula with their most notable expansion being the Sack of Mecca and the theft of the Black Stone. This action destroyed their relations with most Muslims especially the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa, whose capital was Mahdia. Subsequently, attacks on the Levant and Egypt began, and this battle was a core part of those campaigns.
Capture
Al-Hasan al-A'sam began his campaign against Damascus with support from the Abbasids and the Hamdanids.[1] At the beginning of 25 August971 CE, he launched the campaign and entered Damascus.[2] inflicting widespread destruction on the city and killing its governor Ja'far ibn Fallah.[3] Due to the intensity of the attack on the city, an alliance was formed between the Abbasid, the Hamdanid, and—according to some accounts—the Ikhshidid state.[4]
Aftermath
After this campaign, the whole of the Levant was invaded and taken from the Fatimids, who were also expelled from it. Its governor Ja'far ibn Fallah was killed.[5] and following this victory campaigns against Egypt began.[6]
References
- ^Bury, J. B. (1911). "The Cambridge Medieval History". Mario Brito.
- ^Jiwa, Shainool (2013). The Founder of Cairo: The Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz and his Era. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-85772-223-2.
- ^Gil, Moshe (1997). A History of Palestine, 634-1099. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-59984-9.
- ^Ernest Walker, Paul (2008). Fatimid History and Ismaili Doctrine. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-85772-223-2.
- ^Hosler, John D. (2024). Routledge Handbook of Medieval Military Strategy. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-040-19301-3.
- ^Halm, Heinz (2003). Die Kalifen von Kairo. C.H.Beck. ISBN 978-3-406-48654-8.
