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The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah was a decisive battle fought between the Arab Rashidun Caliphate and the Persian Sassanid Empire on 16-19 November 636 in southern Iraq during the Muslim conquest of Persia. The Arab victory over a much larger Persian army resulted in the Rashidun conquest of Mesopotamia and forced the Sassanids to ally with their traditional enemies, the Byzantines, in opposition to the Muslims.

Background[]

In 636, following the Battle of the Bridge, the Sassanid general Rostam Farrokhzad was pressured by the Persian nobility and commoners to pursue an aggressive policy against the weakened Arabs. However, his initial inaction had allowed for the Caliph Umar to assemble a new Arab army from several untapped tribes in the Arabian Peninsula which he had recently conquered in the Ridda Wars. This army was led by the seventh convert to Islam, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, and this army was bolstered to a strength of 30,000 as he marched back to the Euphrates, where the first Arab invasion had ended. Rostam's larger army of 60,000 troops met the smaller Arab army at al-Qadisiyyah in November 636, just three months after the crushing Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Yarmouk.

Battle[]

The two armies met along the al-Atiq Canal, 30 miles east of Hira, and the bulk of both armies remained on both sides of the water for several months and occasionally launched scouting missions and raids. Rostam expected that the Arabs would again launch a forced river crossing, but the Arabs bided their time and received reinforcements from the Arab army in Syria. The Rashiduns failed to convince the Persians to convert to Islam from Zoroastrianism, and the arrival of Persian reinforcements led to the Arabs inviting the Persians to cross the al-Atiq Canal and give battle. The Persians dammed the waterway before crossing the dam at dawn, advancing in battle formation. The Persians had a multiethnic army drawn from regions from Azerbaijan to Khurasan, including Kurds, Armenians, Turks, and Arabic allies. Their number also included 10,000 Immortals, who were chained together to prevent them from retreating. The Sassanid right was commanded by Mihran, the center-right by Jalinus, the center-left by Piruz Khosrow, and the right by Hormuzan; Bahman also commanded 33 war elephants in the center and the wing, and Rostam mounted his raised throne in the center and commanded a strategic reserve. The Muslims had 30,000 troops, which included Arab Muslims, Arab Christian tribesmen from the border lands, and converted Persian officers. S'ad appointed Khalid ibn Urfuta as his deputy and divided his army along tribal lines, with tribal chiefs commanding the divisions.

Qadisiyyah battle

The fighting at Qadisiyyah

As Rostam's army formed up, the Muslims engaged in their noon prayer, donned their armor, and then waited for the Persian army to be ready to fight. The battle began with a heavy barrage of arrows loosed by the Sassanid archers, whose superior bows and arrows inflicted heavy losses on the Arabs. The Persians' heavy armor protected them from the Arab arrows, and they chanted "Spindles! Spindles!" as the arrows bounced off harmlessly. Rostam then sent a 7-strong elephant corps on his left to charge the Muslims opposing him. The Persians then attacked the Muslim right, which slowly fell back and suffered casualties, although not breaking under assault. Sa'd led two units of cavalry from the center to shore up the Muslim line, pushing the Persians back after a fierce fight. The Persian attack on the Muslim right stalled, so Rostam dispatched part of his reserve under Bahman to keep the Muslim right locked in place as his right and center advanced alongside elephants and volleys of arrows.

Elephants Qadisiyyah

The Muslims fighting off the Persian elephants

The Arab horsemen were forced to flee for infantry cover, as they were terrified by the elephants. Sa'd had light troops from the Banu Talib troop deal with the elephants, and the agile warriors cut the cables which kept the elephants' mounted platforms atop them. A vast number of the isolated elephant riders were the killed, while the rest retreated behind the main Persian line. The Sassanid attack on the Muslim left was also pushed back, and Sa'd then ordered a general attack on the Persians. The Muslims were superior fighters, and the Muslim center punched through the Persian line and charged on Rostam. Rostam drew his sword and joined the fray with his retainers, and he emboldened his men to repel the Muslim advance. The first day of battle, the "Day of Disorder", was over, and the wounded were gathered and cared for by women in the Muslim camp while the remainder rested.

Persian advance Qadisiyyah

The Persian advance at Qadisiyyah

At dawn, both armies again lined up for battle. At around noon, 1,000 reinforcements from Syria uner al-Qa'qa ibn Amr al-Tamimi arrived to aid the Muslims. Sa'd ordered another charge across the line, inflicting heavy casualties on the Sassanids. The Persian ranks remained coherent and unbroken, and casualties mounted on both sides. After two hours, both sides disengaged, and the Muslims killed 4 Persians for each of their own. al-Qa'qa used the break to cover the Rashidun camp with wooden structures, scaring the Persian horses with images of terrified beasts. The charging Persian horses were spooked into breaking ranks, and Sa'd ordered another general attack across the line. Many Persian units were routed in the new Muslim attack, but Rostam again personally intervened, and the routing Persians returned to the battle. The Persian and Rashidun troops engaged in a slogging match, forcing the Muslims into retreat. On the third day, Sa'd's troops were surprised to see recovered and rearmed Persian elephants advancing with the infantry. Rostam had his archers release another devastating arrow volley before the entire Sassanid army attacked across the line. The elephants crashed into the Muslim line at close range, and, while the Muslim riders escaped, Sa'd's men were massacred. The Persians then sent a cavalry division in a deep flanking attack, but they were repelled by Muslim riders. The Muslims then received further reinforcements from the West, and Rashidun light infantry then counterattacked against the Persian elephants, killing their alphas after flanking them. Many enraged and blinded Persian elephants turned around and crashed through the Persian ranks as they fled, throwing Rostam's army into disorder. The Muslims then pushed the Persians back, and not even darkness brought the war of attrition to an end. Only the exhaustion of both sides' soldiers led to their men disengaging at dawn. Qa'qa then decided to make a decisive move under the cover of a sandstorm, charging the blinded Persian center and breaking through the line to approach Rostam. Rostam was slain by a Rashidun soldier, and rumors of Rostam's death demoralized the Persian army. The center cracked and then routed to the river, as did the flanks. The Sassanids lost more than 20,000, while the Muslims lost than 10,000.

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