Editing Aleppo (section)

===Medieval period===
[[File:Bab Qinnasrin2010.jpg|thumb|The old walls of Aleppo and the [[Bab Qinnasrin|Gate of Qinnasrin]] restored in 1256 by [[An-Nasir Yusuf]]]]

====Early Islamic period====
The [[Sasanian Persia]]ns led by King [[Khosrow I]] pillaged and burned Aleppo in 540,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/aleppo |title=Aleppo |website=UNESCO |access-date=3 August 2020 |archive-date=10 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010212416/https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/aleppo |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Aleppo |title=Aleppo |website=Britannica |date=9 May 2023 |access-date=3 August 2020 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729085943/https://www.britannica.com/place/Aleppo |url-status=live }}</ref> then they [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|invaded and controlled]] Syria briefly in the early 7th century. Soon after Aleppo was [[Siege of Aleppo (637)|taken]] by the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]] [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslims]] under [[Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah]] in 637. It later became part of [[Jund Qinnasrin]] under the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. In 944, it became the seat of an independent Emirate under the [[Hamdanid]] prince [[Sayf al-Dawla]], and enjoyed a period of great prosperity, being home to the great poet [[al-Mutanabbi]] and the philosopher and [[polymath]] [[al-Farabi]].{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=90–92}} In 962, the city was [[Sack of Aleppo (962)|sacked]] by the Byzantine general [[Nikephoros II Phokas|Nikephoros Phokas]].{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=92–93}} Subsequently, the city and its emirate [[Treaty of Safar|became a temporary vassal]] of the Byzantine Empire. For the next few decades, the city was disputed by the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] and [[Byzantine Empire]], with the nominally independent Hamdanids in between, eventually falling to the Fatimids in 1017.{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=96–99}} In 1024, [[Salih ibn Mirdas]] launched an attack on Fatimid Aleppo, and after a few months was invited into the city by its population.{{sfn|Burns|2016|p=99}} The [[Mirdasid dynasty]] then ruled the city until 1080, interrupted only in 1038–1042, when it was in the hands of the Fatimid commander-in-chief in Syria, [[Anushtakin al-Dizbari]], and in 1057–1060, when it was ruled by a Fatimid governor, [[Ibn Mulhim]]. Mirdasid rule was marked by internal squabbles between different Mirdasid chieftains that sapped the emirate's power and made it susceptible to external intervention by the Byzantines, Fatimids, [[Uqaylids]], and [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]] warrior bands.{{sfn|Bianquis|1993|pp=116–122}}

====Seljuq and Ayyubid periods====
In late 1077, Seljuk emir [[Tutush I]] launched a campaign to capture Aleppo during the reign of [[Sabiq ibn Mahmud]] of the [[Mirdasid dynasty]], which lasted until 1080, when his reinforcements were ambushed and routed by a coalition of Arab tribesmen led by [[Banu Kilab|Kilabi]] chief Abu Za'ida at [[Wadi Butnan]].{{sfn|Zakkar|1969|p=202}} After the death of [[Muslim ibn Quraysh|Sharaf al-Dawla]] of the [[Uqaylid dynasty]] in June 1085, the headman in Aleppo [[Sharif]] Hassan ibn Hibat Allah Al-Hutayti promised to surrender the city to Sultan [[Malik-Shah I]]. When the latter delayed his arrival, Hassan contacted the Sultan's brother Tutush. However, after Tutush defeated [[Suleiman ibn Qutalmish|Suleiman ibn Qutulmish]], who had intended to take Aleppo for himself, in the [[battle of Ain Salm]], Hassan went back on his commitment. In response, Tutush attacked the city and managed to get hold of parts of the walls and towers in July 1086, but he left in September, either due to the advance of Malik-Shah or because the Fatimids were besieging Damascus.{{sfn|Basan|2010|p=91}}{{sfn|Beihammer|2017|p=247}} In 1087, [[Aq Sunqur al-Hajib]] became the Seljuk governor of Aleppo under Sultan Malik Shah I.<ref name="Kamāl">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV-6AAAAIAAJ |title=Zubdat al-ḥalab min tārīkh Ḥalab |author=Kamāl al-Dīn ʻUmar ibn Aḥmad Ibn al-ʻAdīm |year=1996 |access-date=15 February 2021 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923074247/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV-6AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> During his bid for the Seljuk throne, Tutush had Aq Sunqur executed and after Tutush died in battle, the town was ruled by his son [[Fakhr al-Mulk Ridwan|Ridwan]].{{sfn|Basan|2010|p=99, 101}}{{sfn|Beihammer|2017|p=252,254}}

The [[Siege of Aleppo (1124)|city was besieged]] by [[Crusades|Crusaders]] led by the King of Jerusalem [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem|Baldwin II]] in 1124–1125, but was not conquered after receiving protection by forces of [[Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi|Aqsunqur al Bursuqi]] arriving from Mosul in January 1125.{{sfn|Burns|2016|pp=121–122}}

In 1128, Aleppo became capital of the expanding [[Zengid dynasty]], which ultimately conquered Damascus in 1154. In 1138, Byzantine emperor [[John II Komnenos]] led a campaign, which main objective was to capture the city of Aleppo. On 20 April 1138, the Christian army including Crusaders from [[Principality of Antioch|Antioch]] and [[County of Edessa|Edessa]] launched an [[Siege of Aleppo (1138)|attack on the city]] but found it too strongly defended, hence John II moved the army southward to take nearby fortresses.{{sfn|Runciman|1952|p=215}} On 11 October 1138, [[1138 Aleppo earthquake|a deadly earthquake]] ravaged the city and the surrounding area. Although estimates from this time are very unreliable, it is believed that 230,000 people died, making it the [[Lists of earthquakes#Deadliest earthquakes|seventh deadliest]] earthquake in recorded history.

In 1183, Aleppo came under the control of [[Saladin]] and then the [[Ayyubid dynasty]]. When the Ayyubids were toppled in Egypt by the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]], the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo [[An-Nasir Yusuf]] became sultan of the remaining part of the Ayyubid Empire. He ruled Syria from his seat in Aleppo until, on 24 January 1260,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jackson, Peter |title=The Crisis in the Holy Land in 1260 |journal=[[The English Historical Review]] |volume=95 |date=July 1980 |pages=481–513 |issue=376 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XCV.CCCLXXVI.481}}</ref> the [[Siege of Aleppo (1260)|city was taken]] by the [[Mongols]] under [[Hulagu]] in alliance with their vassals the [[Franks|Frankish]] knights of the ruler of Antioch [[Bohemond VI]] and his father-in-law the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Armenian]] ruler [[Hethum I, King of Armenia|Hethum I]].<ref>''Histoire des Croisades'', René Grousset, p. 581, {{ISBN|2-262-02569-X}}.</ref> The city was poorly defended by Turanshah, and as a result the walls fell after six days of siege, and the [[citadel]] fell four weeks later. The Muslim population was massacred and many Jews were also killed.<ref name="Shelemay1998">{{cite book |author=Kay Kaufman Shelemay |title=Let jasmine rain down: song and remembrance among Syrian Jews |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgoFDZeHhF4C&pg=PA70 |year=1998 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-75211-2 |page=70 |access-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016214635/https://books.google.com/books?id=pgoFDZeHhF4C&pg=PA70 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Christian population was spared. Turanshah was shown unusual respect by the Mongols, and was allowed to live because of his age and bravery. The city was then given to the former Emir of [[Homs]], [[Al-Ashraf Musa, Emir of Homs|al-Ashraf]], and a Mongol garrison was established in the city. Some of the spoils were also given to Hethum I for his assistance in the attack. The Mongol Army then continued on to [[Damascus]], which surrendered, and the Mongols entered the city on 1 March 1260.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|p=307}}

====Mamluk period====
[[File:Souk Al Zirb Aleppo.jpg|thumb|Souq az-Zirb, where coins were struck during the Mamluk period]]
In September 1260, the Egyptian Mamluks negotiated for a treaty with the Franks of Acre which allowed them to pass through Crusader territory unmolested, and engaged the Mongols at the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] on 3 September 1260. The Mamluks won a decisive victory, killing the Mongols' Nestorian Christian general [[Kitbuqa]], and five days later they had retaken Damascus. Aleppo was recovered by the Muslims within a month, and a Mamluk governor placed to govern the city. Hulagu sent troops to try to recover Aleppo in December. They were able to massacre a large number of Muslims in retaliation for the death of Kitbuqa, but after a fortnight could make no other progress and had to retreat.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|p=314}}

[[File:Al-Atroush Mosque, Aleppo.jpg|thumb|[[Al-Otrush Mosque]] of the Mamluk period]]
The Mamluk governor of the city became insubordinate to the central Mamluk authority in Cairo, and in Autumn 1261 the Mamluk leader [[Baibars]] sent an army to reclaim the city. In October 1271, the Mongols led by general [[Samagar]] took the city again, attacking with 10,000 horsemen from [[Anatolia]], and defeating the [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turcoman]] troops who were defending Aleppo. The Mamluk garrisons fled to [[Hama]], until Baibars came north again with his main army, and the Mongols retreated.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|pp=336–337}}

On 20 October 1280, the Mongols took the city again, pillaging the markets and burning the mosques.{{sfn|Burns|2016|p=179}} The Muslim inhabitants fled for Damascus, where the Mamluk leader [[Qalawun]] assembled his forces. When his army advanced following the [[Second Battle of Homs]] in October 1281, the Mongols again retreated, back across the [[Euphrates]]. In October 1299, [[Ghazan]] captured the city, joined by his vassal Armenian King [[Hethum II, King of Armenia|Hethum II]], whose forces included some [[Knights Templar|Templars]] and [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]].{{sfn|Demurger|2007|p=142}}

In 1400, the Mongol-Turkic leader [[Timur|Tamerlane]] [[Sack of Aleppo (1400)|captured the city]] again from the Mamluks.{{sfn|Runciman|1987|p=463}} He massacred many of the inhabitants, ordering the building of a tower of 20,000 skulls outside the city.<ref>[http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Battle%20of%20Aleppo Battle of Aleppo@Everything2.com<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117131348/https://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Battle%20of%20Aleppo |date=17 January 2018 }}.</ref> After the withdrawal of the Mongols, all the Muslim population returned to Aleppo. On the other hand, Christians who left the city during the Mongol invasion, were unable to resettle back in their own quarter in the old town, a fact that led them to establish a new neighbourhood in 1420, built at the northern suburbs of Aleppo outside the city walls, to become known as ''[[Al-Jdayde|al-Jdeydeh]]'' quarter ("new district" {{langx|ar|جديدة|link=no}}).