Siege of Emesa | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Muslim conquest of Syria (Arab–Byzantine Wars) | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Belligerents | |||||||||
Rashidun Caliphate | Arab Christians from Hit and Circesium | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah Khalid ibn al-Walid Al-Qa'qa' ibn Amr al-Tamimi | Heraclius | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Unknown | Heavy [1] |
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 stem the losses of Byzantine territories due to rapid expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate in the Levant.
After the devastating defeat in the Battle of Yarmouk, the remainder of the Byzantine Empire was left vulnerable. With few military resources left, it was no longer in a position to attempt a military comeback in Syria. To gain time to prepare a defense of the rest of his empire, Heraclius needed the Muslims occupied in Syria. [1] [2]
Heraclius thus sought help from the Christian Arab tribes which came of Jazirah which particularly came from two cities along the Euphrates river, Circesium and Hīt. [3] The tribes mustered a large army and marched against Emesa in no time, which was erected as military headquarter by Abu Ubaydah at the time. [4]
Acknowledging a huge Arab Christian army marching to his position, Abu Ubaidah withdrew all his forces from northern Syria to Emesa as a part of a complex strategy which he devised to repel the massive invasion of the Christian Arabs against Emesa, while Caliph Umar instructed Abu Ubaydah to send his field commanders outside of Emesa with sufficient splinter forces to lay counter siege to cities in Jazira, the homeland of enemy Arab Christian tribes, in order to divert the focus of enemy concentration in Emesa. [5] So the splinter forces under Iyadh ibn Ghanm In 638 the Muslims attacked Hīt, which they found to be well fortified; thus, they left a fraction of the army to impose a siege on the city, while the rest went after Circesium. [6] Iyadh in turn sent Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri toward Circesium taking with him a particular division of Banu Kilab known as Corps of 'Amr, [7] which are famed for their 'militant and warlike attitude. [7] The division is directly under the leadership of Aslam ibn Zur'a al-Kilabi along with al-Harith ibn Yazid and his son Zufar ibn al-Harith. [3]
Meanwhile, Umar sent a detachment from Iraq to invade Jazirah from three different routes. Umar himself marched from Medina with 1,000 men. [1] On the orders of Umar, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, who had recently conquered Iraq, sent Another detachment to assist Emesa under Al-Qa'qa' ibn Amr al-Tamimi, a prominent veteran of both Battle of Yarmouk and Battle of Qadisiyyah. [1] [2] Another detachment from Suhayl ibn 'Uday followed al-Farad road until they reached Raqqa.[ citation needed ]
After the large contingent of Arab Christians came from Jazira has been mustered, they immediately marched to Homs, which immediately laid siege to the city. [8] As Khalid just returned from conquest of Qinnasrin, [9] he immediately appealed to Abu Ubaydah to be sent outside so he can led the sally outside the wall, However Abu Ubaidah decided they should wait behind the wall, while he waited for reinforcements [8]
The sieges toward Circessium and Hit laid by corps under Iyadh occurred simultaneously as the siege of Homs goes on. At first the Muslims faced difficulty in the siege of Hit as the defenders dug a moat around the city, until the Muslim army was able to penetrate it. [2] Meanwhile, Circesium was captured from the Byzantines without resistance by a Muslim army commanded by Habib, Though many Muslim sources state this occurred in 637, Maximillan Streck stated it is more likely occurred in 640. [8]
The counter sieges did not stop at Circesium and Hit, as Iyadh further sent Walid ibn Uqba to subdue the fortresses of the tribe of Rabi'a and Tanukhid. [8] Abu Ubaydah strategy of counter siege toward Circesium and Hit not only resulted in a Muslim victory at the Second Battle of Emesa against the pro-Byzantine Christian Arabs of Jazira, but also succeeded to take both Circesium and Hit, while the Christian Arabs were still being pursued by Khalid and his relentless cavalry. Between the end of 639 and December 640, Iyad and his lieutenants subdued, in succession, Circesium (al-Qarqisiya), Amid, Mayyafariqin, Nisibin, Tur Abdin, Mardin, Dara, Qarda and Bazabda. [10] In the case of Raqqa (Kallinikos to the Byzantines), the peasants outside the city walls were defended by the Arab Christian nomads. There, the Muslim forces compelled the city's leaders, facing the prospect of starvation, to surrender within five or six days. As the city fell to the Muslims, Since then, it has figured in Arabic sources as al-Raqqah. [11]
When the Christian Arabs received the news of the arrival of fresh reinforcements led by the caliph himself, [1] combined with Iyadh invasions of their homeland in Jazira, [8] [1] they immediately abandoned the siege and hastily withdrew there. [1] [12] By the time the Christian Arab coalitions left, Khalid and his mobile guard has been reinforced by 4000 soldiers under Qa'qa from Iraq, and now had been given permission by Abu Ubaydah to came out of the fort to pursue the enemy. [13] Khalid inflicted heavy losses on the Arab Christian coalition forces, which not only broke the entire siege, but also prevented their return to Jazira. [1]
In summary, the objective of the Jazira invasion by Iyadh to capture cities with minimal destruction and, in Petersen's view, Iyadh's campaign to partially divert the Christian Arab coalition forces in Syria, had succeeded. [14] [15]
The success of the defense, which not only repelled the siege attempt by the Byzantine allies but also allowed Iyadh to capture almost entire Jazira region, has motivated the caliphate to launch the full-scale invasion further to the north until it reached Armenia. [16]
The 630s decade ran from January 1, 630, to December 31, 639.
Umar ibn al-Khattab, also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634, when he succeeded Abu Bakr as the second caliph, until his assassination in 644. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
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 decisive 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.
Bilad al-Sham, often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East, conquered by the Muslims in 634–647. Under the Umayyads (661–750), Bilad al-Sham was the metropolitan province of the Caliphate and different localities throughout the province served as the seats of the Umayyad caliphs and princes.
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 was 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 during 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.
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, as well as the larger Muslim colonial project, 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.
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, Umar became the king (ruler) of Iran after the fall of the Sassanid Empire.
Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harb ibn Umayya was a leading Arab Muslim commander in the conquest of Syria from 634 until his death in the plague of Amwas in 639. Following the capture of Damascus around 635, he was placed in command of the city and its military district. After the death of the overall Muslim commander of Syria, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, in 639, he was appointed by Caliph Umar the governor of Damascus, Jordan and Palestine.
The Rashidun Caliphate consisted of the first four successive caliphs (lit. 'successors') who led the Muslim community following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632 – Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. During the Caliphate's existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in West Asia and Northeast Africa. In Sunni Islam, the caliphate is considered to have been 'rightly guided', meaning that it constitutes a model to be followed and emulated from a religious point of view. The caliphs are also known in Muslim history as the "orthodox" or "patriarchal" caliphs.
The Banu Taghlib, also known as Taghlib ibn Wa'il, were an Arab tribe that originated in Jazira. Their parent tribe was the Rabi'a, and they thus traced their descent to the Adnanites. The Taghlib were among the most powerful and cohesive nomadic tribes of the pre-Islamic era and were known for their bitter wars with their kinsmen from the Banu Bakr, as well as their struggles with the Lakhmid kings of al-Hira in Iraq. The tribe embraced Miaphysite Christianity and remained largely Christian long after the advent of Islam in the mid-7th century. After early opposition to the Muslims, the Taghlib eventually secured for themselves an important place in Umayyad politics. They allied with the Umayyads and engaged in numerous battles with the rebellious Qaysi tribes during the Qays–Yaman feuding in the late 7th century.
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 Jerusalem (636–637) was part of the Muslim conquest of the Levant and the result of the military efforts of the Rashidun Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire in the year 636–637/38. It began when the Rashidun army, under the command of Abu Ubayda, besieged Jerusalem beginning in November 636. After six months, Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender, on condition that he submit only to the caliph. In 637 or 638, Caliph Umar traveled to Jerusalem in person to receive the submission of the city. The patriarch thus surrendered to him.
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.
The siege of Germanicia or Marash was led by Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate during their campaigns in Anatolia in 638. The city surrendered without much bloodshed. This expedition is important because it marks the end of the military career of the legendary Arab Muslim general Khalid ibn Walid, who was dismissed from the army a few months after his return from the expedition.
Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career serving Muhammad and the first two Rashidun caliphs: Abu Bakr and Umar. Khalid played leading command roles in the Ridda Wars against rebel tribes in Arabia in 632–633, the initial campaigns in Sasanian Iraq in 633–634, and the conquest of Byzantine Syria in 634–638.
Al-Qaʿqāʿ ibn ʿAmr ibn Mālik Al-Tamīmī was an Arab Muslim commander and general in the Rashidun army who belonged to the tribe of Banu Tamim. He and his tribe converted to Islam possibly during the time of Ahnaf ibn Qais. He is known as a successful military commander who took part in two important victorious battles in the early Muslim Conquest, the Battle of Yarmouk against the Byzantine Empire and the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah against the Sassanian Empire which was led by Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas. The Caliph Abu Bakr praised him as an equal to eleven thousand men so in return the caliph's successor, caliph Umar, only sent Qaʿqāʿ and a handful of bodyguards in the first wave of reinforcements to Al-Qadissiyah. Qaʿqāʿ was one of the most illustrious military figures of his era.
Iyad ibn Ghanm ibn Zuhayr al-Fihri was an Arab commander who played a leading role in the Muslim conquests of al-Jazira and northern Syria. He was among the handful of Qurayshi tribesmen to embrace Islam before the mass conversion of the tribe in 630, and was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 634, under Caliph Abu Bakr, he governed the north Arabian oasis town of Dumat al-Jandal. Later, in 637, he became governor of al-Jazira, but was dismissed by Caliph Umar for alleged improprieties. Afterward, he became a close military aide of his cousin and nephew, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, under whose direction Iyad conquered much of Byzantine-held northern Syria, including Aleppo, Manbij and Cyrrhus.
Al-Jazira, also known as Jazirat Aqur or Iqlim Aqur, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, spanning at minimum most of Upper Mesopotamia, divided between the districts of Diyar Bakr, Diyar Rabi'a and Diyar Mudar, and at times including Mosul, Arminiya and Adharbayjan as sub-provinces. Following its conquest by the Muslim Arabs in 639/40, it became an administrative unit attached to the larger district of Jund Hims. It was separated from Hims during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I or Yazid I and came under the jurisdiction of Jund Qinnasrin. It was made its own province in 692 by Caliph Abd al-Malik. After 702, it frequently came to span the key districts of Arminiya and Adharbayjan along the Caliphate's northern frontier, making it a super-province. The predominance of Arabs from the Qays/Mudar and Rabi'a groups made it a major recruitment pool of tribesmen for the Umayyad armies and the troops of the Jazira played a key military role under the Umayyad caliphs in the 8th century, peaking under the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II, until the toppling of the Umayyads by the Abbasids in 750.
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.