Gardens of conflict: the military role of Islamic and Byzantine gardens

Despite recent strides in the exploration of gardens within formal, functional, and symbolic dimensions, the link between gardens and warfare remains an overlooked facet in the realm of garden and landscape history. The present study aims to illuminate the role that gardens assumed during times of conflict. Drawing from primary historical accounts, this research delves into the gardens of both the Byzantine and Eastern Islamic realms through a military lens, conceiving gardens as encampments, battlefields, providers of sustenance, sources of war materiel, and means of defending cities. The findings of this study reveal that both Byzantine and Islamic gardens undertook multifaceted military functions by serving as strategic positioning grounds for the armed forces and meeting their edible needs, particularly during sieges. However, it appears that gardens in Greater Iran and Transoxiana were much more profoundly connected to wars.