The first decades of Islam were the most glorious for Damascenes. Their city actually became the capital of an
empire spreading from the Atlantic coast to Central Asia and to the basin of the river Indus. It was thanks to
its first Moslem governor, Moawiya Bin Abu Sufian who, taking advantage of the problems between partisans and adversaries
of Ali following the assassination (656) of the Caliph Osman, declared himself independent and successor (caliph)
of Muhammad, thus founding the Omayyad dynasty. The golden age of Damascus and Syria ended in 750 with the triumph
of the Abbassids who moved the see of the Caliphate to Mesopotamia.
Damascus fell under the power of various Moslem sovereigns after 750, and in particular Egyptian Fatimids from
970 to 1079, then under some Atabegs, Emirs of Turkish origin. Then comes a second period, particularly rich and
grandiose, of the history of Damascus and Syria, from the reign of Noureddin (1146-1174), master of the city as
of 1154, and that of Saladin (1174-1193). The Moslems of the Near East were then in a great war against the Franks
installed in Jerusalem, along the Antioch coastal area, in Gaza, and in a domain across the river Jordan. The part
of the Islamic world concerned with this intrusion was divided. Because of religious hate and mistrust regarding
the hegemony of Noureddin, Egyptian Fatimids were not very eager to fight the Crusaders. Finally Saladin, sent
by Noureddin to Egypt, put an end to the Fatimid Caliphat in 1171. Three years later he succeded his master and
started the dynasty of the Ayoubids before taking Jerusalem from the Franks (1187). Under Noureddin, Damascus became
again the capital of a powerful kingdom for the first time since the fall of the Omayyads, and this was one of
the most brilliant periods of its history. Numerous monuments erected by Noureddin and the Ayoubids, are still
the pride of the Damascenes.
The Mongol invasion of Hulagu, in 1260, ended this glorious period. The Ayoubid dynasty disappeared from Syria
(a branch remained in higher Mesopotamia) to be replaced by the Mamelukes of Egypt who pushed back the Mongols.
The Ottomans, a brand of Turks, took Damascus from the Mame lukes in 1516, and Egypt some time later. It became
the capital of an important pashalik and knew, thanks to the wise management of its governors, like Asaad Pasha
EI-Azem (middle 18th century), a new era of prosperity, albeit limited. The government of Midhat Pasha (1878) introduced
useful reforms. The city then had 150,000 inhabitants and became a center of Arab nationalism thanks to the existence
of a very active intellectual elite.
World war I over, a very exhausted Damascus was liberated on October 1, 1918 by an Arab contingent under the command
of the British army of General Allenby. In order to get ahead of France, the future Mandate country, Prince Faysal,
who came from the Hedjaz, together with Arab patriots elected the Syrian National Congress in May 1919 and a government
was constituted on December 10 of the same year. This same National Congress declared Syria independent on March
7, 1920 and proclaimed Faysal king. One month later France obtained the mandate on Syria in the name of the League
of Nations. Obviously, the news was very badly received in Syria and the country prepared itself for resistance,
but in vain, and General Gouraud entered the capital on July 25, 1920, after crushing an Arab force at Meissaloon
one day earlier. Damascus was rocked by a popular revolt with the Djebel Druze uprising in 1925-1926. Bombed by
General Sarrail, the city was thereafter modernized and developed in accordance with aplan conceived by the French
city-planner Mr. Danger, followed later on by Michel Econchard, assisted by Syrian architects. In June 1941, the
British and the Free French Forces expelled Vichy troops, and General Catroux proclaimed Syrian inde pendence on
September 16 of that same year.
We know that this independence did not become effective until 1945, although the first President of the Syrian
Republic had taken office in Damascus in August 1943. Since 1945, Damascus has been considerably developed and
industrialized while its political role was strengthened thanks to an increased centralization. The creation of
a large trade fair on the banks of the Barada, taking place at the end of every summer, established its economic
position, 1st in Syria, with Aleppo now in 2nd place. |
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