The siege of Laodicea was a

Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...

campaign that occurred in 636, during the

Muslim conquest of the Levant The Muslim conquest of the Levant ( ar, فَتْحُ الشَّام, translit=Feth eş-Şâm), also known as the Rashidun conquest of Syria, occurred in the first half of the 7th century, shortly after the rise of Islam."Syria." Encyclopædia Br ...

. The siege of the Byzantine port city of Laodicea (modern

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

) was led by

Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ ( ar, عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح; 583–639 CE), better known as Abū ʿUbayda ( ar, أبو عبيدة ) was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Islamic prophet M ...

and

'Ubadah ibn al-Samit 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit ( ar, عبادة بن الصامت ) was a Companions of the Prophet, companion of Muhammad and a well-respected chieftain of the Ansar (Islam), Ansar tribes confederation. He participated in almost every battle during Muhamma ...

, two of the Companions of the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. So ...

Muhammad.

Background

After the city of Tartus was subdued in 636, ' Ubadah ibn al-Samit was immediately instructed by his superior, Abu 'Ubaydah to march towards Jablah and

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

, then known as Laodicea. (in Arabic) (in Arabic)

The siege

During the siege, 'Ubadah met stiff resistance from the local garrison. He saw that the city had a massive

gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

that could only be opened by many men. 'Ubadah then ordered them to camp at a distance from the city. They dug a trench deep enough to conceal his

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

. 'Ubadah and his army pretended to return to

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

during the hours of daylight, but later that night he and his army silently returned and hide themselves within the trench. Believing 'Ubadah and his men had gone, the citizens opened the city gate and drove forth their cattle. 'Ubadah immediately ordered his entire army to attack. The Byzantines, caught by surprise, were unable to close the gate again. 'Ubadah climbed upon the wall and shouted the takbir battle cry, whereupon his soldiers entered into the city. The terrified Byzantine defenders then fled towards Al-Yusaiyid, leaving the city undefended.

Aftermath

The fleeing Byzantine soldiers and the local citizens surrendered to 'Ubadah, who allowed the population to return to their homes, on the condition that they paid the

kharaj Kharāj ( ar, خراج) is a type of individual Islamic tax on agricultural land and its produce, developed under Islamic law. With the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, the ''kharaj'' initially denoted a lump-sum duty levied upon the ...

land tax. Latakia was left largely intact by 'Ubadah, who supervised the building of mosques in the city, and stayed to impose Caliphate laws upon the population. He built the great mosque, Jami' al-Bazaar. Laodicea, the Greco-Roman name of the city, was changed to Latakia (''Al-Ladhiqiyah''). (in Arabic)

References

Sources

* {{coord, 35, 31, 0, N, 35, 47, 0, E, display=title

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

630s in the Byzantine Empire Latakia Muslim conquest of the Levant 636