Battle of the Iron Bridge | |||||||
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Part of the Arab–Byzantine Wars and Campaigns of Khalid ibn al-Walid | |||||||
![]() The Orontes River at its passage in Antioch; the battle was fought near this river | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Rashidun Caliphate | ![]() Christian Arabs | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Khalid ibn al-Walid Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
17,000 [1] | 15,000–20,000 [1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
The Battle of the Iron Bridge was fought between the Muslim Rashidun army and the Byzantine army in 637 AD. The battle took its name from a nearby nine-arch stone bridge (also known as Jisr al-Hadid) spanning the Orontes River which had gates trimmed with iron. [1] It was one of the last battles fought between the Byzantines and Rashidun Caliphate in the province of Syria. The aftermath of the battle marked the nearly complete annexation of the province into the Rashidun Caliphate with the fall of its capital, Antioch.
The Rashidun army had achieved a decisive victory at the Battle of Yarmouk. Following this victory, they managed to gain control of the Levant. Jerusalem was conquered shortly afterwards. Rashidun forces then marched north, conquering other portions of the Levant. They penetrated into northern Syria near its borders with Anatolia intending to capture Antioch, and to secure the conquered lands from any possible threat from the north. After the conquest of Aleppo, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah sent a column under Malik al-Ashtar to capture Azaz in Northern Syria, east of the Taurus Mountains. The capture and clearance of Azaz was essential to ensure that no large Byzantine forces remained north of Aleppo, from where they could strike at the flank and rear of the Rashidun army during the operation against Antioch. [2] As soon as Malik rejoined the army, Abu Ubaidah marched westwards to capture Antioch, with Khalid ibn Walid leading the advance guard with his Mobile guard. The army marched westward directly from Aleppo via Harim and approached Antioch from the east. [3]
Twenty kilometers (12 mi) from the city, near modern-day Mahruba, a bridge of iron spanned the River Orontes. It was here that the battle was fought between the Rashidun army and the Byzantine garrison defending Antioch. A major battle was fought, the details of which are not recorded. It is possible that, similar to other Arab battles near rivers, the Romans were drawn away from the bridge and then hit in the flanks by the Arabs. [4] Khalid ibn Walid played a prominent role with his Mobile guard, as he had done during the Battle of Yarmouk. The Byzantine forces suffered heavy losses and were defeated. The Byzantine casualties in this battle were the third highest in the Muslim conquest of Syria, only exceeded by the battles of Ajnadayn and Yarmouk. [5] [ dubious ] The remnants of the defeated Byzantine force retreated to Antioch. The Rashidun army later moved up and laid siege to Antioch, focusing on the Bridge and the Eastern gate (also Beroea gate). [6] The city surrendered on 30 October, 637.[ citation needed ] [4] According to the treaty the citizens were allowed to depart in peace or forced to pay a tax. [6]
Following the surrender of Antioch, Rashidun army columns moved south along the Mediterranean coast and captured Latakia, Jablah and Tartus (Syria), thus capturing most of north-western Syria. Other columns were sent to subdue the remaining resistance in northern Syria. Khalid ibn Walid was sent with his cavalry on a raid eastwards, up to the Euphrates in the vicinity of Manbij, but found little opposition. The campaign was ended in early January 638. After the defeat of pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs from Al Jazira, who laid the siege of Emessa in March 638, Abu Ubaidah sent more columns under Khalid ibn Walid and Iyad ibn Ghanm to subdue Jazira near the Syrian frontiers and in Anatolia. These columns went northwards as far as the Ararat plain and west towards the Taurus Mountains. The Taurus Mountains in Anatolia thus marked the westernmost frontier of the Rashidun Caliphate in Anatolia. [7]
The 630s decade ran from January 1, 630, to December 31, 639.
Year 634 (DCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 634 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 637 (DCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 637 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 638 (DCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 638 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The Battle of the Yarmuk was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636, near the Yarmouk River, along what are now the borders of Syria–Jordan and Syria-Israel, southeast of the Sea of Galilee. The result of the battle was a crushing Muslim victory that ended Roman rule in Syria after about seven centuries. The Battle of the Yarmuk is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, and it marked the first great wave of early Muslim conquests after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, heralding the rapid advance of Islam into the then-Christian/Roman Levant.
ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ, better known as Abū ʿUbayda was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Prophet. He is mostly known for being one of the ten to whom Paradise was promised. He remained commander of a large section of the Rashidun Army during the time of the Rashid Caliph Umar and was on the list of Umar's appointed successors to the Caliphate, but died in the Plague of Amwas in 639 before Umar.
The Battle of Ajnadayn was fought in July or August 634, in a location close to Beit Guvrin in the Roman-era Palestine region ; it was the first major pitched battle between the Byzantine (Roman) Empire and the army of the Arab Rashidun Caliphate. The result of the battle was a decisive Muslim victory. The details of this battle are mostly known through Muslim sources, such as the ninth-century historian al-Waqidi.
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The Muslim conquest of the Levant, or Arab conquest of Syria, was a 634–638 CE invasion of Byzantine Syria by the Rashidun Caliphate. A part of the wider Arab-Byzantine Wars, the Levant was brought under Arab Muslim rule and developed into the provincial region of Bilad al-Sham. Clashes between the Arabs and Byzantines on the southern Levantine borders of the Byzantine Empire had occurred during the lifetime of Muhammad, with the Battle of Muʿtah in 629 CE. However, the actual conquest did not begin until 634, two years after Muhammad's death. It was led by the first two Rashidun caliphs who succeeded Muhammad: Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab. During this time, Khalid ibn al-Walid was the most important leader of the Rashidun army.
The Battle of Bosra was fought in 634 CE between the Rashidun Caliphate army and the Byzantine Empire over the possession of the city of Bosra, in Syria. The city was one of the Islamic forces' first significant captures and was at the time the capital of the Ghassanid Kingdom. The siege took place between June and July.
Umar was the second Rashidun Caliph and reigned during 634–644. Umar's caliphate is notable for its vast conquests. Aided by brilliant field commanders, he was able to incorporate present-day Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and parts of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and south western Pakistan into the Caliphate. During his reign, the Byzantines lost more than three fourths of their territory and in Persia, and Umar was the king (ruler) of the Sassanid Empire before it ceased to exist.
The siege of Aleppo, the Byzantine stronghold and one of few remaining Byzantine castles in the northern Levant after the decisive Battle of Yarmouk, was laid between August and October 637.
The Rashidun Caliphate was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his death in 632 CE. During its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in West Asia and Northeast Africa.
The siege of Damascus (634) lasted from 21 August to 19 September 634 before the city fell to the Rashidun Caliphate. Damascus was the first major city of the Eastern Roman Empire to fall in the Muslim conquest of Syria.
The siege of Emesa was laid by the forces of Rashidun Caliphate from December 635 up until March 636. This led to the Islamic conquest of Emesa, which was a major trading city of the Byzantine Empire in the Levant.
Battle of Marj al-Dibaj was fought between the Byzantine army, survivors from the conquest of Damascus, and the Rashidun Caliphate army in September 634. It was a successful raid after three days of armistice, on the Byzantine survivors of the conquest of Damascus.
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The siege of Emesa in 638 was laid by a coalition force of Arab Christian tribes from Jazira which mustered by Heraclius in an attempt to stimy the losses of Byzantine territories due to rapid expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate in the Levant.
The Battle of Marj ar-Rum, also known as the Battle of Marj Dimashq, was a conflict between the Rashidun caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. The battle occurred shortly after the Battle of Fahl when the Byzantines attempted to recapture Damascus. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, sent two separate forces in the effort, one army led by Theodore the Patricius and a second army led by Shannash al-Rome. The Rashidun army led by Abu Ubaydah ibn al Jarrah and Khalid ibn al-Walid was ordered to assist Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan who was acting as the garrison commander of Damascus.