March 1401 · Syria (Mamluk Sultanate) Theater
March 1401
Timur invaded Syria, defeating a Mamluk army outside Aleppo and storming the city. He then advanced on Damascus, where the young Mamluk sultan Faraj withdrew to Egypt, leaving the city to negotiate its own fate. The great historian Ibn Khaldun, trapped in the city, famously met Timur during the negotiations. Despite promises of safety, Timur's army sacked Damascus, and the great Umayyad Mosque was burned — possibly accidentally, possibly deliberately. The city's skilled artisans were deported to Samarkand.
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