Dımaşk

Dımaşk (Şam) is a city that was the political and scientific center of Bilad al-Sham during the Ayyubid period, and where many historians, jurists, and scholars who were sources for Kurdish history lived, taught, or died.

Connection with Saladin

The city's connection with Kurdish history is largely established through Saladin al-Ayyubi. Saladin first established his rule in Damascus, invited Usama b. Munqidh, who was in Hasankeyf, to the city, granted him a salary, and allocated him a house and land; Usama, whose experiences with the Crusaders were utilized, advised Saladin on military and political matters and died in Damascus in 584/1188 after witnessing the conquest of Jerusalem (Volume 1, p. 153).

Center of Learning

Damascus was also a center of attraction and learning. Saladin, appreciating the scholarly knowledge of Abdüllatîf el-Bağdâdî, who grew up in Baghdad and Mosul and met him in Jerusalem in 1192, appointed him as a professor at the Damascus Mosque with a monthly salary of 100 dinars (Volume 1, p. 164). Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi came to Damascus at a young age and settled there, began giving fiqh lessons, was favored by the children of al-Malik al-Adil, and was appointed as a professor at the Shibiyya and Badriyya madrasas, preached in the Umayyad Mosque for a long time, encouraging the public to jihad against the Crusaders, and died in Damascus in 654/1256 (Volume 1, p. 173). Alemüddîn Kayser, a scholar proficient in mathematics, astronomy, and architecture, also returned to Damascus after being dismissed from his post and died there in 649/1251 (Volume 1, p. 172).

Madrasas

The city was known for its important madrasas during the Ayyubid period. Abu Shama taught in the Adiliyya and Rukniyya madrasas, which were dedicated to Shafi'is, in Damascus, where he remained until his death; he taught in the Adiliyya Madrasa until 660/1261, and in the Rukniyya Madrasa thereafter (Volume 1, p. 178). During the transitional period between the Ayyubids and Mamluks, Ibn Khallikan was appointed as the chief qadi of Sham by the Mamluk ruler Baybars after 659/1260, and with this position, the administration of all mosques, hospitals, and madrasas in Sham was also entrusted to him; he appointed assistants to the Adiliyya, Nasriyya, Azraviyya, Falakiyya, Rukniyya, Iqbaliyya, and Behesniyya madrasas, for whose education he was responsible (Volume 1, p. 183).

Subject of Historiography

Damascus has also been the subject of historiography dedicated to it. Ibn Asakir's most important surviving work is the 80-volume Tarikh Madinat Dimashq; the author met many scholars from the Marwanid period in the old Marwanid cities he visited during his travels and provided information about them in his work, and died in Damascus in 571/1175 (Volume 1, p. 136). The military threats faced by the city are also reflected in the sources: Abu Shama's supplement to al-Rawdatayn, Tarajim Rijal al-Qarnayn, provides original and detailed information about al-Malik al-Kamil's siege of Damascus in 635/1238 and the Mongol siege in 658/1260 (Volume 1, p. 179).