Last month, the picture of Omran Daqneesh, the five-year-old Syrian child from Aleppo (Halab) - sitting forlorn, covered in blood and grime, too dazed even to cry - evoked world-wide sympathy. Initially, no one knew if his parents or any members of his family had survived the savage bombardment of his city by forces of Bashar al-Assad and the Russians. Later, it was learnt that at least his parents had escaped.
Amidst the ongoing mayhem involving thousands of deaths of young children, Omran’s image extensively disseminated by social media, became emblematic of the viciousness of the civil war that has been brutalising the Syrian population for the past five years. It has disproportionately impacted children. According to the opposition activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, over 14,000 children have been killed in the conflict, while millions have known no normal life. Correspondent Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post quoted Mustafa al-Sarout in Aleppo who actually filmed the child’s video, “I’ve seen so many children rescued out of the rubble, but this child (Omran), with his innocence, he had no clue what was going on. He put his hand on his face and saw blood. He did not know even what happened to him.”
The image of five-year-old Omran Dagneesh (pictured here with his sister) has become another symbol of the horror of Syria's civil war
Syria’s civil war is multifaceted, having overt ethnic and religious overtones, involving a confounding number of combatants. It started as an uprising against the authoritarian regime of Bashar Assad, who is now powerfully supported by the Russians and, to a lesser degree, Iranians. The anti-Assad forces are supported by the US and some European Governments. The so-called Islamic State (ISIS), the Iranians, the Kurds, the Russians and now the Turks, are all involved in a confusing permutation. The estimate of total deaths varies from 200,000 to 400,000, depending on the source of information. Besides, more than four-million civilians - hungry and homeless - have been forced to flee, have sought shelter in Turkey and the countries in the European Union, mainly Germany. Consequently, over half of the prewar population of the country, 6.6 million, is now homeless.
Lately, Aleppo, the ancient Syrian city that was declared a World Heritage site in 1986, has become the battle ground for countless forces and militias vying for control. The city has been reduced to rubble, a sad collection of devastated edifices and a miserable abode of a traumatised populace. Whoever wins, it can now only be a Pyrrhic victory. Various parts of Aleppo, once the commercial and cultural centre of the country, are lorded over by major combatants. It is under a relentless siege, enforced by the Assad government and supported by the Russians. The inhabitants have been deprived of food, water and power for weeks. Several ceasefires negotiated by the US and Russia to allow limited quantities of food and medicine into the city under the UN auspices have collapsed after brief durations. At the time of writing this article, a new ceasefire agreement is being negotiated by US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, but with so many belligerents - with conflicting interests - that the fate of any potential agreement is uncertain.
Aleppo's historic souk, once a bustling marketplace, has been ravaged by war
"It is a city fit to be the seat of the Caliphate." (Medieval traveler Ibn Jubayr)
Centuries ago, Aleppo was a cultural and educational centre, part of the Sultanate of Sultan Salah-al-din al-Ayyubi (‘Saladin’ in the West). The medieval Andalusian Muslim traveler Ibn Jubayr passed this way in July 1164, after completing his religious obligation of Haj. He is quoted in the Travels of Ibn Jubayr, “Aleppo is a town of eminent consequence, and in all ages, its flag has flown high.” He praised the educational institutions, especially the Hanafi college “which resembles the main mosque in perfection of work and beauty. Besides this college, the city has four or five others and a hospital. Its state of splendour is superb and it is a city fit to be the seat of the Caliphate.”
Barely a century after Ibn Jubayr’s felicitous visit, misfortune befell the storied city. In January 1260, Hulagu Khan’s Mongol armies ransacked it. In the massacre that followed, nearly all Muslims and Jews were slain, and most of the women and children sold into slavery. The destruction was not limited to humans: the Great Mosque of Aleppo was burnt to the ground.
Timur (Tamerlane) and his hordes of nomadic horsemen descended upon Syria during their Middle Eastern conquests – with tragic consequences for Aleppo
A terrible punishment was inflicted upon the people of Aleppo by Tamerlane
Aleppo later came under the sovereignty of the Mamluk dynasty based in Egypt. In 1348, nearly a century after the Mongol invasion, it was visited by another legendary traveler, Ibn Battuta, who was on his way home - having visited India, Central Asia and a host of other regions. He seems to have enjoyed interactions with the local ulema, suggesting that the city was once again home to learning and scholarship. Ibn Battuta described the city’s citadel as an outstanding example of military architecture. However, he was unable to spend much time in the city, as news arrived of the terrible pandemic of plague engulfing the nearby towns. Alarmed, he made a hurried exit.
Catastrophe struck once again, when Emir Timur (Tamerlane) and his Tartar army besieged Aleppo in October 1400. Author Justin Marozzi noted in his book Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World, “Aleppo was a thriving, political, commercial and cultural centre. Its markets crammed with exotic products of India, were important outlets on the trade routes, linking the Mediterranean with Iran and eastern Anatolia.” The city was ruled at the time by Mamluk Sultan Nasir-ad-din Faraj and his viceroy based in Damascus. Neither ruler appropriately responded to Tamerlane’s ominous threatening letters which demanded the surrender of the city. Instead, overconfident of their military prowess, they foolishly and brutally killed Tamerlane’s envoy. The battle lines were now drawn.
Aleppo's world heritage sites, including the mosque pictured here, lie in ruins today
A view of the magnificent Old City of Aleppo
The opinions of the city’s defenders were divided. Some favoured outright surrender, having heard stories of the terrible fate that befell cities that had resisted. Others were confident that they could resist and defend the city. In the end, the decision was made to fight the invader. Tamerlane reportedly prayed before the battle, as was his custom, fervently seeking Allah’s help. However, the expression of piety did not mellow him or make him any less cruel to those he vanquished. The two armies clashed amidst cries of “Allahu Akbar” raised from both sides.
Although the Syrians put up valiant resistance, they were overwhelmed by the Tartar army. As feared, a terrible punishment was inflicted upon the people of Aleppo by Tamerlane. Historian Ibn Taghri Birdi is quoted in Marozzi’s book, “The women and children fled to the great mosque of Aleppo and to smaller mosques, but the Tamerlane’s men turned to follow them, bound the women with ropes as prisoners, and put the children to the sword, killing every one of them. They committed the shameful deeds to which they were accustomed: virgins were violated without concealment; gentlewomen were violated without any restraint of modesty.”
Today, many perceptive observers, as they watch the ongoing carnage in Syria are struck by the eerie similarity between the conflicts now raging around Aleppo and the campaign launched six hundred years ago by Tamerlane. In both cases, it is the Muslims who are destroying Aleppo and annihilating its defenseless Muslim population, much as they did in the year 1400. Humanity and civilisation in the intervening six centuries have not progressed very far, it seems.
