Damascus: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added
m Reverted 1 edit by 2A00:6920:E1C4:80:B409:5D50:C068:AE70 (talk) to last revision by 95.24.7.243
Line 351:
[[File:Califate 750.jpg|thumb|Damascus was the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, which extended from Portugal to India]]
 
The Shia Fatimids gained control in 970, inflaming hostilities between them and the Sunni Arabs of the city who frequently revolted. A Turk, [[Alptakin]] drove out the Fatimids five years later, and through diplomacy, prevented the Byzantines during the [[Syrian campaigns of John Tzimiskes]] from attempting to annex the city. However, by 977, the Fatimids under Caliph [[al-Aziz]], wrested back control of the city and tamed Sunni dissidents. The Arab geographer, [[al-Muqaddasi]], visited Damascus in 985, remarking that the architecture and infrastructure of the city was "magnificent", but living conditions were awful. Under al-Aziz, the city saw a brief period of stability that ended with the reign of [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah|al-Hakim]] (996–1021). In 998, hundreds of Damascus' citizens were rounded up and executed by him for incitement. Three years after al-Hakim's mysterious disappearance, the Arab tribes of southern Syria formed an alliance to stage a massive rebellion against the Fatimids, but they were crushed by the Fatimid Turkish governor of Syria and Palestine, [[Anushtakin al-Dizbari|Anushtakin al-Duzbari]], in 1029. This victory gave the latter mastery over Syria, displeasing his Fatimid overlords, but gaining the admiration of Damascus' citizens. He was exiled by Fatimid authorities to [[Aleppo]] where he died in 1041.<ref name="Burns138">{{Harvnb|Burns|2005|pp=137–138}}</ref> From that date to 1063, there are no known records of the city's history. By then, Damascus lacked a city administration, had an enfeebled economy, and a greatly reduced population.<ref name="Burns139">{{Harvnb|Burns|2005|p=139}}</ref>
 
===Seljuq and Ayyubid periods===