Timur's Plague Walls: The Siege of Damascus

Tamerlane: The Conqueror Who Tried to Rebuild the Mongol Legacy — Fexingo History · Sep 2, 2026 · 5m · transcript

In this episode, we turn our attention to the harrowing siege of Damascus in 1400. While earlier episodes covered Tamerlane’s military tactics and his relationship with the Ottoman Empire, we focus on one of the most controversial events of his campaign: the deliberate use of plague as a weapon. We explore how Timur’s forces trapped the city, cut off its water supplies, and eventually breached the walls. But it wasn't just steel that conquered Damascus; it was disease. We examine the historical accounts from chroniclers like Ibn Arabshah and Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi, who described the…