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Battle of al-Qadisiyyah
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The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah (in Arabic: ????? ????????, Ma?rakat al-Qadisiyyah; alternate spellings: Qadisiyya, Qadesiyyah, Kadisiya, etc.) was the decisive engagement between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Sassanid Empire during the first period of Islamic expansion around 636 CE, which resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia.
Events in Persia
Khosrau II was murdered in his palace, by his son Kavadh II in 629, while the Persian Empire, from the apparent greatness which it had reached ten years ago, sank into hopeless anarchy.
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Encyclopedia
The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah (in Arabic: ????? ????????, Ma?rakat al-Qadisiyyah; alternate spellings: Qadisiyya, Qadesiyyah, Kadisiya, etc.) was the decisive engagement between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Sassanid Empire during the first period of Islamic expansion around 636 CE, which resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia.
Background
Events in Persia
Khosrau II was murdered in his palace, by his son Kavadh II in 629, while the Persian Empire, from the apparent greatness which it had reached ten years ago, sank into hopeless anarchy. Kavadh II put his 18 brothers to death, began negotiations with Heraclius, but died after a reign of a few months. Ardashir III (c. 621–630) son of Kavadh II (628), was raised to the throne as a boy of 7 years, but was killed 18 months later by his general, Shahrbaraz. His real name was Farrokhan and Shahrbaraz was his title. It means "the Boar of the Empire", attesting to his dexterity in military command and his warlike persona, as the boar was the animal associated with the Zoroastrian Izad Vahram, the epitome of victory. It was Shahrbaraz who took Damascus and Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire in 613 and 614 respectively, during the Byzantine-Persian War and the Holy Cross was carried away in triumph. Following the Persian surrender, Shahrbaraz was heavily involved in the intrigues of the Sassanian court. He made peace with Heraclius and returned to him a relic that was accepted as the True Cross. In April 630 he failed to deal with the invasion of Armenia by a Khazar-Gokturk force under Chorpan Tarkhan. On June 9, 630 Shahrbaraz was slain, and Burandukht succeeded him. Buran or more correctly Purandokht was daughter of the King Khosrau II of Persia (590–628) . She was one of only two women on the throne of the Sassanid dynasty (the other was her sister Azarmidokht). She was 26th sovereign Monarch of Persia from 629 to 631. When Purandokht ascended to the throne after the murder of the general Shahrbaraz, who had killed her nephew Ardashir III, She was made Queen of Persia on the understanding that she would vacate the throne on Yazdgerd III attaining majority. She attempted to bring stability to the empire. This stability was brought about by a peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire, the revitalization of the empire through the implementation of justice, reconstruction of the infrastructure, lowering of taxes, and minting coins. She was the one who appointed Rostam Farrokhzad as the commander in chief of the Persian army. She was largely unsuccessful in her attempts to restore the power of the central authority which was weakened considerably by civil wars, and resigned or was murdered soon after. She was replaced by her sister Azarmidokht who inturn was replaced by a nobility of the Persian court Hormizd VI. He was followed by Yazdgerd III who became Emperor at 16, after 5 years of internal power struggle and the assassination of his grand father Khosrau II. But the real pillars of the state were Generals Rostam Farrokhzad and Firoz. However, there was violent friction between the two which for the time being under pressure of the Persian courtiers took a backstage. Coronation of Yazdgerd III infused new life into the Sassanid Persians.
Events in Arabia
The Lakhmids also revolted against the Persian king Khosrau II. Nu'aman III (son of al-Mundhir IV), the first Christian Lakhmid king, was deposed and killed by Khosrau II,because of his attempt to throw off the Persian tutelage. After Khusrau's assassination, the Persian Empire fractured and the Lakhmids were effectively semi-independent. It is tenable that weakening the Lakhmids and the Ghassanids bulwark contributed to the consequent Arab-Muslim breakthrough into what is today known as Iraq and Bahrain. After the prophet Muhammad , the Caliph Abu Bakr re-established their control over Arabia (the Ridda Wars) and then launched campaigns against the remaining Arabs of Syria and Palestine.However, this put the nascent Islamic empire on a collision course with the Byzantine and Sassanid empires, which had been disputing these territories for centuries. The wars soon became a matter of conquest, rather than mere consolidation of the Arab tribes.
To make certain of victory, Abu Bakr decided on two measures; that the invading army
would consist entirely of volunteers; and he put in command of the army his best general
Khalid ibn al-Walid. After defeating the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah in the Battle of Yamama, Khalid was still at Al-Yamama when Abu Bakr sent him orders to invade the Sassanid Empire. Making Al-Hirah, Iraq the objective of Khalid, Abu Bakr sent reinforcements and ordered the tribal chiefs of north eastern Arabia, Misnah ibn Haris, Mazhur bin Adi, Harmala and Sulma to operate under the command of Khalid along with their men. In about third week of March, 633 (first week of Muharram 12th Hijrah). Khalid set out from Al-Yamama with an army of 10,000. The tribal chiefs, with 2,000 warriors each, joined Khalid; Thus Khalid entered the Persian Empire with 18,000 troops.
Khalid won decisive victories in four consecutive battles: the Battle of Chains, fought in
April 633 CE; the Battle of River, fought in the 3rd week of April 633 CE; the Battle of Walaja, fought in May 633 CE, followed by the Battle of Ullais, fought in the mid of May, 633 CE. By now the Persian Empire was struggling and in the last week of May 633 CE, the capital city of Iraq, Al-Hirah, fell to the Muslims after resistance in the Battle of Hira. Thereafter the Battle of Al-Anbar during June-July 633 resulted in surrender of the city after strong resistance. Khalid then moved towards the south, and conquered the city of Ein ul Tamr after the Battle of ein-ul-tamr in the last week of July, 633 CE.
By now, almost the whole of Iraq was under Islamic control. Khalid got a call for help from northern Arabia at Daumat-ul-jandal, where another Muslim Arab general, Ayaz bin Ghanam, was trapped among the rebel tribes. Khalid went to Daumat-ul-jandal and defeated the rebels in the Battle of Daumat-ul-jandal in the last week of August, 633 CE.
Returning from Arabia, he got news of the assembling of a large Persian army. Within a few weeks, he decided to defeat them all separately to avoid the risk of defeat to a large unified Persian army. Four divisions of Persian and Christian Arab auxiliaries were
present at Hanafiz, Zumail, Saniyy and Muzayyah. Khalid divided his army in three units, and decided to attack these auxiliaries one by one from three different sides at night, starting from the Battle of Muzayyah, then the Battle of Saniyy, and finally the Battle of Zumail. In November, 633 CE, Khalid defeated those armies in his series of three sided attacks at night. These devastating defeats ended Persian control over Iraq. In
December, 633 CE, Khalid reached the border city of Firaz, where he defeated the combined forces of the Sassanid Persians, Byzantine Romans and Christian Arabs in the Battle of Firaz. This was the last battle in his conquest of Iraq.
But circumstances changed in the western front. The Byzantine forces would come in direct conflict in Syria and Palestine and Khalid was recalled to deal with this new development. Soon after Caliph Abu Bakr died in 634 CE and was succeeded by Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Muslim Battle Preparations
Umar ibn al-Khattab turned his attention towards Persia in 636 CE. After a number of small successes and setbacks, Umar ibn al-Khattab decided to send the very capable general and famed Companion, Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas, an important member of the Quraysh tribe, and under his command Umar sent a large Arab force into Iraq, then part of the Sassanid Empire. Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas left Medina for Th’alabah or Zardu. From there he planned to reach Kufah with another commander Muthanna from Dhu Qar with 8000 men of whom 6000 were from Bakr bin Wael tribe. Muthanna was supposed to join Sa’ad at Sharaf but died due to wounds sustained at the battle of Jasr. Sa’ad was however joined by Mu’ama the new commander of Muthana’s army and his brother. The total strength of the Muslim army at this point was 25000. Sa’ad organized his army into various divisions in the following order as stated by al-Tabari;
- Of the notables of the various clans, comprising the army corps under the command of Sa’ad were 70 veterans of Battle of Badr. 300 were those present at Bait al Ridwan (Pledge of the Tree), a pledge that was sworn to Prophet Muhammad by his companions right before the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (6 AH, 628 AD/CE) under a tree to avenge the rumored death of Uthman ibn Affan Several were part of the conquest of Makkah and 700 were descendants of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Sa’ad was still at Sharaf, when Caliph Umar sent orders to him to halt at al-Qadisiyyah rather than Kufah, a small town 30 miles away from Kufah. On reaching al-Qadisiyyah it was learnt that the Persian army under Rostam Farrokhzad had left their capital Al- Mada'in (Ctesiphon). Caliph Umar dispatched a messenger to Sa’ad instructing him to send an embassy with the object of inviting the Persians to Islam. Arab representatives with N’uman bin Maqran as their head were sent to Ctesiphon to meet with Emperor Yazdgerd III but the meeting was not successful.
There was an old castle at Udhayb in al-Qadisiyyah which stood just at the extremity of the battlefield. Sa`ad himself did not participate in the battle, as he suffered from a sciatica, but he monitored and directed the proceedings from atop the castle and entrusted the command to his deputy Khalid ibn `Arfatah. The war tactics and strategy were communicated to Khalid throughout the battle by Sa’ad. Khalid changed tactics when ordered to do so.
Persian Battle Preparations
The Persians were well informed and well prepared. Rostam Farrokhzad was encamped
at Sabat. Nonetheless Rostam stalled an all out attack. In the meantime certain Persians defected to the Muslim side. Jaushan Mah was one such person; he was the Head of Persian frontier Intelligence. Finally after several days Rostam left for al-Qadisiyyah and camped there. Rostam was inclined to avoid fighting and sent a delegation to the Muslim General. Sa’ad in turn sent Rabi bin Amir and later Mughirah bin Zurarah. Negotiations continued with several ambassadorial visits but without resolution.
Rostam now began to prepare for war. An intervening canal was choked up and converted into a road on Rostam’s orders at the dawn of morning. Before noon the entire Persian army crossed the canal. Rostam now armed himself cap a pie clad in double set of complete armour and requisite weapons, he mounted his war steed and shouted; Tomorrow the Arabs will die .He displayed great skill in placing his troops in battle order. He placed them thirteen deep and backed the center as well as right and left wings by Persian War Elephants, the backbone of the Persian army and something the Arabs had never fought against before. There were many Arabs who had not even seen elephants before. Rostam placed men at certain intervals between the battlefield and Capital Ctesiphon to convey intelligence.
The Battle
The Battle started when the Arabs lead a cavalry charge. Rostam seeing the charge ordered his War Elephants to attack the Bahilah Cavalry of the Arabs, the most distinguished of the Arab cavalry. The Arab horses were frightened at the sight of the elephants and bolted. The Arab infantry too began to stagger. Sa’ad was watching this and issued new orders to the effect. He ordered the Bani Assad Tribes’ head Talaiha to take his band of small cavalry with lances to rescue the Bahilah Cavalry. It worked but now the elephants turned and attacked the small rescue team. Sa’ad ordered the Tamim tribe of archers and lancers to help the small group. They fired volley after volley of arrows and brought down some riders of the elephants from their canopy and forced others to leave the small group alone. The fray continued till dusk it was not until total darkness had enveloped the scene that the opposing armies withdrew to their earlier positions.
Next day Sa’ad noted a cloud of dust on the road to Syria. He learned that reinforcements from
Syria had arrived. Caliph Umar had given orders to Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah to send
the army that belonged to Iraq back which was used in the Syrian expedition. The total
strength of this column was 5000 from the tribes of Rabi`ah and Mudhar plus a 1000 from
Hijaz commanded by Sa’ad’s brother Hisham bin Utbah. Q’aqa was commander of the
vanguard and it was he who arrived first. Hisham bin Utbah and the rest did not arrive
until the third day. Q’aqa on arriving rode forward towards the Persians and challenged anyone to a duel. On hearing his challenge the famous Persian general and commander Bahman who
had defeated the Muslims at the Battle of the Bridge 2 years earlier issued forth. The two
faced each other with swords in hand and after some cuts and thrusts Bahman was
finally slain.
This set off a series of single armed combats in which warriors of both sides were mortally
engaged. Prince of Sistan, Shahrbraz was killed by Aur bin Qatbah. Bazurch-Mehr of
Hamdan a noted warrior was killed by Q’aqa. Persia lost several important knights and
captains of their army in these duels. Eventually a general battle ensued. Q’aqa divided the reinforcements into small groups and bands ordering them to appear from afar and gradually from all sides pouring in all day deliberately giving the Persians the impression of an endless onslaught. Q’aqa, realizing that the elephants posed a serious threat, had devised a most ingenious plan. He had camels and horses decorated in weird costumes which succeeded in frightening the Persian War Elephants. But the battle remained undecided the whole day.
The same night Q’aqa hit upon a new device in this battle and asked Sa'ad if he could execute his plan. At night fall he ordered a squadron cavalry and infantry to encamp near the road to Syria. At dawn they would send the first 100 horsemen followed by the remaining group in rapid succession giving the impression of new reinforcements which troubled the Persians a great deal. It so happened that Hisham bin Utbah did finally arrive with reinforcements later that day with 700 of the horsemen. But Yazdgerd III too was receiving intelligence from the battle field and had sent reinforcements. Rostam learning from past days now posted infantry to the left and right of his Persian War Elephants. The Persian battle order was devastating to the Arab army. Sa’ad was worried and sent for two Persians Dakham and Salam who had embraced Islam for their help in the matter. They informed him to attack the trunks and eyes of the Elephants. Two elephants in particular, noticed the Arabs, were unusually distinguished and as it happened were leaders of the lot. They were named Abyad and Ajrab. Sa’ad sent for Q’aqa, Hammal, and Rabil and informed them of this new information that the Arabs did not know. He informed them that the success of the undertaking rested solely on this strategy.
Q’aqa first sent a number of horsemen and infantry to form a cordon round the
elephants. He then personally advanced with a spear in hand towards Abyad with
another soldier Asim; both struck the elephant’s eye simultaneously. The animal reeled
back in agony and Q’aqa immediately took out his sword and dealt the animal’s trunk a
tremendous blow severing it from its head. Rabil and Hammal had teamed up against
the elephant Ajrab and also met with success, the rest of the elephants seeing their lead
elephants flee followed them into the rear, trampling numerous Persian fighters. The Arab
Muslims continued to advance their attacks during the night called – Lailat-ul-Harir by
Arabs meaning the "Night of Clangor or Rumbling Noises".
At dawn of the fourth day, a sandstorm broke out – blowing sand in the Persians' faces. Rostam re-arranged his troops and placed the center column and the right and left wings thirteen deep. Sa’ad watching this change take place ordered a new battle position for his army. He arranged the army in three columns one behind the other. In the front Sa’ad had cavalry, the middle infantry and the rear had archers. But before Sa’ad ordered the attack the Muslim cavalry charged. The cavalry assault was led by Q’aqa who became impatient but the Persian forces stood their ground and formed an impenetrable wall and fought with so much resolution and firmness that the Muslim cavalry could not shake them. Seeing this, Q’aqa ordered some of his horsemen to attack on foot. The battle continued all night long and now both sides were extremely tired and worn out from continuous fighting. The battle still remained undecided and now Q’aqa resolved with other chiefs of the clans decided to make one final push towards Rostam himself. Horsemen jumped down from their horses and archers put their bows aside and unsheathed their swords made a desperate rush towards Rostam before everything gave way. The forces of Firuzan and Hurmuzan were driven back by this onward force.
As they got closer Rostam saw them and left his throne to manfully face the attack. He fought till he was wounded and sought to flee by swimming across the canal al-Atiq, but was caught by an Arab fighter and beheaded. Islamic tradition states that it was Hilal ibn `Ullafah who announced the deed, displaying Rostam's head before the fighters, exclaiming
- By the Lord of the Ka`bah! I have slain Rustam! I am Hilal ibn 'Ullafah.
Seeing their respected leader's head dangling before them, the Persian fighters lost nerve and began to flee, leading to a devastating rout. Most of the Sassanid fighters lost their lives in this melée, with a small number announcing their conversion to Islam. From this Battle, the Arab Muslims gained a large source of loot, including the famed jewel-encrusted royal standard, called the Drafsh-e Kaveyan (the 'flag of Kaveh') which was subsequently cut up and sold in pieces in Medina. The Arab fighters became known as ahl al-Qadisiyyah or the Veterans of al-Qadisiyyah and held highest prestige and pay of the later Arab settlers within Iraq and its important garrison town, Kufa .
Aftermath
Following the Battle, the Arab Muslim armies pushed forward toward the Persian capital of Ctesiphon (also called Mada?in in Arabic), which was quickly evacuated by Yazdgerd after a brief siege. After seizing and sacking the city, they continue their drive eastwards, defeating two Sasanian counter-attacks (at Jalula? and at Nahavand) and eventually destroying the Persian empire.
See also
Academic and primary references
- Baram, Amatzia. Culture, history, and ideology in the formation of Ba?thist Iraq, 1968 – 69. New York City: St Martin’s Press, 1991.
- Bengio, Ofra. Saddam's word. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
- Donner, Fred McGraw. The Early Islamic conquests. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
- Makiya, Kanan. The Monument: Art, vulgarity, and responsibility in Iraq. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
- Noth, Albrecht (in collaboration with Lawrence I Conrad). The Early Arabic historical tradition: A Source-critical study. Translated from German by Michael Bonner. Studies in late antiquity and early Islam, 3. 2nd edition. Princeton: Darwin Press, 1994.
- ‘Plan for 34 disabled students’. Bahrain Tribune, 5 October 2001.
- Rida, Muhammad. ‘Qadisiyya: A New stage in Arab cinema’. Ur 3 (1981): 40-43.
- ?addam ?usayn. ‘Address given’. Baghdad, Voice of the Masses in Arabic, 1200 GMT 2 April 1980. FBIS-MEA-80-066. 3 April 1980, E2-3.
- Streck, Maximillian. ‘al-?adisiya’. EI¹.
- a?-?abari, Abu Ja?far Muhammad. The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the conquest of Syria and Palestine. Edited and translated by Yohanan Friedmann. SUNY series in Near Eastern studies. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.
- Veccia Vaglieri, Laura. ‘al-?adisiyya’. EI².
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