When the Prophet Muhammed died in June 632, Abu Bakr became the first Caliph of the Rashidun (the ‘Rightly Guided Ones’, being the first four Caliphs following the death of the Prophet). Some of the Arab tribes thought that since Muhammed was dead, they were released from the commitment they had made to follow the new religion of Islam. This led to what is referred to as the ‘Ridda Wars’, or ‘Wars of Apostacy’. In March 633, peace was restored and the entire Arabian Peninsula united under Abu Bakr. The following month, the first Arab Muslims invaded Sassanid and Byzantine territory.
This was not unusual. Small raiding parties had been happening for many decades. In order to protect themselves, the Byzantines and Sassanids allied with small independent Arab Kingdoms, so creating buffer states between themselves and the Arabian Peninsula. The Byzantines allied with Ghassanids and the Sassanids allied with the Lakhmids. Both states were Christian and were frequently at war with each other. Furthermore, at the time of the first Arab invasion in 633, relations between the two buffer states and their patrons, the Byzantines and Sasanids, were also at a low ebb. Consequently, the Ghassanids and Lakhmids welcomed an alliance with the Arab Muslims, who were culturally and linguistically closer to themselves.
First Arab Invasion: 633
In early 633, Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha led a raiding party into Mesopotamia. He seized a vast amount of loot and then retreated back into the Syrian Desert virtually unopposed. When he reported his success to the Caliph at Medina, Abu Bakr decided upon a full-scale invasion. The fact that under the peace treaty following the Ridda Wars, Muslim tribes were forbidden to raid each other, so being deprived of income, influenced his decision. An invasion into new territory, with the promise of a new source of loot, was politically expedient.
In preparation for the invasion, Abu Bakr placed General Khalid ibn Walid, a veteran of the Ridda Wars, in charge of a force of around 10,000 men. He was joined by tribal chiefs and their warriors. At this stage, all were volunteers and all were believers in the new religion of Islam. The objective of the invasion was to conquer the city of Hirah, close to today’s Kufa, but Khalid first needed to gain the submission of the Ghassanids and Lakhmids. As an inducement, he offered both states freedom from the excessive taxation imposed by the Byzantines and Persians if they agreed to submit to Islam. Even if they did not convert, the Jizya tax, that was traditionally imposed upon non-Muslims, would be less oppressive than their current taxation.
Around the middle of March, 633, Khalid invaded Mesopotamia. Two months later, and having fought four battles, he succeeded in taking the city of Hirah. By the end of July, most of the territory of modern Iraq was under Muslim control. The following year, Damascus, which was then ruled by the Byzantines, also fell to the Muslims. Damascus later became the capital city of Umayyad Caliphate.
The Conquest of Mesopotamia
With the Rashidun armies making inroads into Mesopotamia, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius allied with the Sassanid Emperor Yazdegerd III, in an attempt to push the invaders back. To strengthen the alliance, Heraclius married his daughter to Yazdegerd. Some historians suggest that it was Heraclius’s granddaughter who married Yazdegerd, which is quite possible considering that Yazdegerd was only about eleven, while Heraclius would have been in his sixties and probably had granddaughters of a marriageable age.
By this time, Umar ibn al-Khattab had succeeded Abu Bakr as Caliph of the Rashidun. In preparation for another invasion of Persia, this time, Umar recruited troops from across the Arabian Peninsula and he permitted ex-apostates to join the army. He also ordered that men from the same tribe or clan should fight alongside each other under their tribal flag, the purpose being that this should strengthen their loyalty to each other and help bind them into a united force. It is a tactic that has survived into modern times and comparable to the formation of regiments.
Two major battles took place in 636 that changed the course of history. The first was the Battle of Yarmouk between the 15th and 20th August. It was fought near the Yarmouk river, which separates Syria and Jordon, east of the Sea of Galilee. The result was a resounding victory for the Rashidun and the loss of Syria for the Byzantines.
The second was the Battle of Qadisiyyah, a small town near Kufa, in today’s Iraq. In November 636, Umar appointed Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, another veteran of the Ridda Wars, as Commander. Soldiers from the earlier Battle of Yarmouk joined Sa’d’s force, which eventually numbered some 36,000. In accordance with Islamic rules of engagement, Umar instructed Sa’d to first negotiate with the Sassanids, inviting them to convert to Islam. Should they agree, they would be left in peace. If they refused, then war was inevitable.
While the Persian leadership refused to convert, a large number of Persian and Byzantine elite troops did convert, and joined the Arab army. This was not sufficient to avoid war, however. and a four-day battle followed resulting in a resounding victory for the Muslims. The Derafsh Kaviani, or royal standard of the Sassanids, was captured, and after the jewels had been removed, it was sent to the Caliph in Medina, who ordered it to be burned.
The Battle of Qadisiyyah in 636, marked the beginning of the end of Sassanid rule in Iraq. Four months later, the imperial city of Ctesiphon fell. Islam now had a footing in Mesopotamia, which later provided a base for incursions deeper into Central Asia.
(Extract from A History of Central Asia)
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