Siege of Damascus 634 AD I Muslim - Byzantine Wars

[dexter]

Previously in our animated documentary series on the early Muslim expansion, we have covered the battles of Yarmouk , al-Qadisiyyah , Talas and the siege of Constantinople of 717-718 . However, one crucial confrontation in the conquest of the Roman Syria by Khalid ibn al-Walid (R.A.) was missed - the Siege of Damascus in 634. So, now you can learn more about the events which led up to the battle of Yarmouk.

 

[Ghost 125]

Previously in our animated documentary series on the early Muslim expansion, we have covered the battles of Yarmouk , al-Qadisiyyah , Talas and the siege of Constantinople of 717-718 . However, one crucial confrontation in the conquest of the Roman Syria by Khalid ibn al-Walid (R.A.) was missed - the Siege of Damascus in 634. So, now you can learn more about the events which led up to the battle of Yarmouk.

you beat me to kings and generals videos each and every time

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

Damascus today still has a sizeable non Muslim population. About a third.

 

[Numerous]

This is exactly why you don't delay peoples marriages XD

 

[Kambojaric]

 

[CodeforFood]

Previously in our animated documentary series on the early Muslim expansion, we have covered the battles of Yarmouk , al-Qadisiyyah , Talas and the siege of Constantinople of 717-718 . However, one crucial confrontation in the conquest of the Roman Syria by Khalid ibn al-Walid (R.A.) was missed - the Siege of Damascus in 634. So, now you can learn more about the events which led up to the battle of Yarmouk.

Kings and General is not best source to get the historical view. It is at best a next best thing. It is created for the consumption of western audience. For getting a better view of the history for this part of the world consultation of those resources is better which are geographically and in terms of timeline closer to the "event happening".
Regards.

 

[candy321wolf]

What surprised me is just how well Khalid bin Walid managed the siege despite the fact that he was an Arab. In those days the Arabs had absolutely NO concept of fortifications in warfare. A mere trench around Madinah was enough to deter its assailants from Makkah. And with this background Khalid managed to capture DAMASCUS one of the largest and strongest cities in the Byzantine empire.
A true military genius.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

And with this background Khalid managed to capture DAMASCUS one of the largest and strongest cities in the Byzantine empire.

Back in the day Damascus city was the size of the old city district of today's Damascus. Like less than 1 km from one end to another. Not very big.

 

[candy321wolf]

Back in the day Damascus city was the size of the old city district of today's Damascus. Like less than 1 km from one end to another. Not very big.

Umm... so?
I was aware of Damascus’ size in the 7th century. It was quite small compared to modern cities but it was still one of the largest cities of Byzantium.

 

[masterchief_mirza]

What surprised me is just how well Khalid bin Walid managed the siege despite the fact that he was an Arab. In those days the Arabs had absolutely NO concept of fortifications in warfare. A mere trench around Madinah was enough to deter its assailants from Makkah. And with this background Khalid managed to capture DAMASCUS one of the largest and strongest cities in the Byzantine empire.
A true military genius.

early Arab armies had several notable non-Arab advisors... A Persian in particular whose name escapes me.

 

[CodeforFood]

What surprised me is just how well Khalid bin Walid managed the siege despite the fact that he was an Arab. In those days the Arabs had absolutely NO concept of fortifications in warfare. A mere trench around Madinah was enough to deter its assailants from Makkah. And with this background Khalid managed to capture DAMASCUS one of the largest and strongest cities in the Byzantine empire.
A true military genius.

He even executed the pinscher (double envelope) to perfection against the persians(last time heard during Hannibal barca's time). So he was not just a regular everyday maverick in any way. He was most definitely one of the greatest if not the greatest generals of all time.

 

[masterchief_mirza]

Very true. Often won with inferior numbers when fighting against sassanids and Byzantium. ....

Salman the Persian was the guy I was thinking of. In fact a companion of the Prophet s.a.w.

 

[aziqbal]

Saad ibn Abi Waqqas RA was sent under Umar Bin Khattab RA to fight the Persians

he is known as conquer of Tesifon (the capital of Persia) and killed the great Persian general Rustum

here is a beautiful story of when Saad died

he as asked his son to go to the closet and remove a box

from the box he asked his son to remove a wool clothing

he then said when I die and you enshroud me put these clothes on me

because these are the clothes I wore on the day of Badr and we were approx 313 and we fought over 1,000 and we won and Prophet gave us the good news that we are from heaven

and when I meet Allah I want to meet him in these clothes

May Allahs blessing me upon all of the Sahaba

 

[candy321wolf]

early Arab armies had several notable non-Arab advisors... A Persian in particular whose name escapes me.

Very true. Often won with inferior numbers when fighting against sassanids and Byzantium. ....

Salman the Persian was the guy I was thinking of. In fact a companion of the Prophet s.a.w.

As far as I know, Salman al-Farsi wasn’t present at the Siege of Damascus and even if he was, he certainly played no role in advising Khalid or assisting in the siege.

He even executed the pinscher (double envelope) to perfection against the persians(last time heard during Hannibal barca's time). So he was not just a regular everyday maverick in any way. He was most definitely one of the greatest if not the greatest generals of all time.

You’re right.
He was THE greatest general in history eclipsing the likes of Hannibal, Caesar, Subedei, Erich von Manstein and even Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

[Nein]

Basically city walls a lot of Arab cities were also covered with city walls.

Muslim Arabs have had experience in siege warfare long before they took on the Persians and Romans.

Middle Eastern cities are not like European cities that were protected by huge walls and forts.