Rashidun Empire
 |
|
| Rashidun Empire at its peak in 654 AD | |
| Flag of Rashiduns, Al-Oqab |
 |
| Official languages | Arabic |
| Languages spoken | Aramaic Armenian Berber languages Georgian Greek Hebrew Middle Persian Turkish |
| Countries included in the Empire | Yemen Oman Saudi Arabia U.A.E Qatar Bahrain Kuwait Iraq Iran Afghanistan Syria Jordan Israel Palestine Egypt Libya Tunisia Algeria Morocco Cyprus Lebanon Turkey Pakistan Azerbijan Armenia Georgia Turkmenistan Tajikistan Uzbekistan Sicily (Italy) Al-Andalus (Spain) |
| Religion | Islam |
| Capitals | Madinah, Kufa, |
| Government | Caliphate |
| Head of state | Amir al-Mu'minin, أمير المؤمنين |
| Establishment | 632 AD |
| Dissolution | 661 AD |
| Caliphs | Abu Bakr Umar Usman Ali |
| Preceding state | State of Madinah |
| Succeeding states | Ummayads Empire |
| Population | ~40.3 million |
| Area | 90,00000 km² |
| Currency | Dinar, Dirham |
| edit | |
The Islamic Empire (بلاد الإسلامية ) or Rashidun Empire or Rashidun Caliphate ( خلافت راشدہ)is the term conventionally used to describe the Empire of the immediate successors of Muhammad the first four Caliphs who ruled after the death of Muhammad and are quoted as the Khulafah Rashidun. The Empire is also refer as the Arab Empire by western historians because of the dominance of Arabic language, culture and population. To its inhabitants, the Empire was simply the Islamic Empire and its rulers were the Rashidun Caliphs. Founded in 632 AD and dismantled in 661, At its height in 650s, the Rashidun Empire controlled a vast area extending from southwestern Indian subcontinent in the east to the Middle East, Asia minor, Transoxiana, Caucasus and North Africa in the west. The Islamic empire began to expand beyond the Arabian Peninsula after the death of Muhammad and founder of Islam, Muhammed, in 632.
Origin
Muhammad died in 632 in Medina following a brief illness. The matter of Muhammad's successor was probably a relatively minor consideration when Muhammad and his followers had been a small, persecuted community in Mecca. Muhammad did not hold what may now be called civil authority, and had no significant estate to bequeath. He had proclaimed himself a prophet, but it was not at all clear that a prophet must always have a successor. However, after Muhammad and his followers emigrated from Mecca to Medina in the Hijra, and Muhammad] emerged as the political leader of a community expanding rapidly in size and power, the succession issue became increasingly important. Muhammad did not have a long illness; he died merely two weeks after falling ill. Following his death, there appears to have been a period of suspense or, according to some accounts, confusion. Umar, one of his lieutenants, is said to have been overcome with grief, denying that Muhammad could have died, and refusing to allow the burial of the body. Sunni and Shi'a Muslims debate whether this grief was genuine, or whether it may have been a play for time while succession was determined.
Virtually all authorities agree that after Muhammad's death, previously dormant tensions between the Meccan immigrants, the Muhajirun, and the Medinahn converts, the Ansar, threatened to break out and split the Ummah. The Ansar, the leaders of the tribes of Medinah, met in a hall or house called saqifah, to discuss whom they would support as their new leader. When Abu Bakr was informed of the meeting, he, Umar,Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and a few others rushed to prevent the Ansar from making a premature decision. Accounts of this meeting vary greatly. All agree that during the meeting Umar declared that Abu Bakr should be the new leader, and declared his allegiance to Abu Bakr, followed by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and Abu Bakr became the first Muslim caliph with the title Khalifa-tul-Rasool(Successor of messenger of Allah).
After the meeting at Saqifah, the Muslims who were not
present were asked to submit to Abu Bakr, to give their pledge of allegiance. Most accounts
agree that
The Shi'a believe that Muhammad divinely ordained his cousin and son-in-law,
See also Succession to Muhammad
See also Hadiths of Ali's succession
Early history
Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, threatening the unity and stability of the new community and state. Apostasy had actually begun in the lifetime of the Muhammad, and the first major action of the apostasy was fought and satisfactorily concluded while the Muhammad still lived. But the real and most serious danger of apostasy arose after the Muhammad's death, when a wild wave of disbelief-after-belief moved across the length and breadth of Arabia and had to be tackled by Abu Bakr. The first major event of the apostasy occurred in the Yemen and is known as the Incident of Aswad Al Ansi[1], he was killed on May 30th, 632 (the 6th of Rabi-ul-Awwal, 11 Hijri) by a Persian Muslim governer of Yemen Firoz[2]. the news of his assassination reach shortly after the death of Muhammad. The chief cause of the apostasy was lack of true faith. Most of the tribes, converted in the ninth and tenth years of the Hijra, had taken to Islam for political reasons. The apostasy had become so general that it affected every tribe in Arabia with the exception of the people in Mecca and Medina and the tribe of Thaqeef at Taif. In some cases the entire tribe apostatised. In other cases part of the tribe apostatised while part continued to follow the true faith; and among those who remained Muslims, many had to pay with their lives for their faith. Some withheld the zakat, the alms tax, though they did not otherwise challenge Islam. Many tribal leaders made claims to prophethood, some like Musaylima made it during the life time of Muhammad. The tribes claimed that they had submitted to Muhammad and that with Muhammad's death, their allegiance was ended. Abu Bakr insisted that they had not just submitted to a leader but joined the Muslim religious community, of which he was the new head. Apostasy is a capital offense under traditional interpretations of Islamic law, and Abu Bakr declared war on the rebels. This was the start of the Ridda wars (Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy). The apostasy of central Arabia was led by self-proclaimed prophet Musaylima, while the other centers were to the south and east in Bahrain, Oman, Mahra and Yemen. Abu Bakr planned his strategy accordingly. He formed the Muslim army into several corps. The strongest corps, and this was the main punch of the Muslims, was the corps of Khalid ibn Walid. This was used to fight the most powerful of the rebel forces. Other corps were given areas of secondary importance in which to bring the less dangerous apostate tribes. Abu Bakr's plan was first to clear the area of West and Central Arabia (the area nearest Madinah), then tackle Malik ibn Nuwayrah, and finally concentrate against the most dangerous enemy Musaylima. After series of successful campaigns Khalid ibn Walid finally defeated Musaylima in the Battle of Yamama[3]. The Campaign of the Apostasy was fought and completed during the eleventh year of the Hijri. The year 12 Hijri dawned, on March 18, 633, with Arabia united under the central authority of the Caliph at Madinah.According to the Sunni Muslims, by putting down these larger insurrections and defeating the rival prophets among the Bedouin tribes, Abu Bakr was able to solidify the rest of Arabia under Islam, and basically rescue Islam. The Shi'a Muslims on the other hand have the views that, although there were some people that took the opportunity to proclaim themselves as prophets, the majority of people who battled against Abu Bakr were people who expected Ali to be the next Caliph,[citation needed] since they claimed to have heard Prophet Muhammad express this wish at the Hadith of the two weighty things. According to Shi'a views Abu Bakr sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to kill, loot and slaughter the particians of Ali.[4]. and Thus claim that Abu Bakr violated Muhammad's direct orders and orchestrated a coup d'état. Once the rebellions had been put down, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest. Whether or not he intended a full-out imperial conquest is hard to say; he did, however, set in motion a historical trajectory that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history. Abu Bakr began with Iraq, the richest province of Persian empire. He sent his most brillent general Khalid ibn Walid to invade the Persian empire. Abu Bakr desired Umar to be his successor and he persuaded the most powerful of the followers of Muhammad to go along. Umar was gifted both militarily and politically.
| Dates of reign of Rashidun Caliphs | ||||||||||||
| Caliph | Reign start | Reign end | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abu Bakr | 632 | 634 | ||||||||||
| Umar | 634 | 644 | ||||||||||
| Uthman | 644 | 656 | ||||||||||
| Ali | 656 | 661 | ||||||||||
Umar continued the war of conquests begun by Abu Bakr. He pressed into the Sassanid Persian Empire itself, but he also headed north into Syria and Byzantine territory and west into Egypt. By 640, Islamic military campaigns had brought all of Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine under the control of Rashidun Caliphate. Egypt was conquered by 642 and the Persian Empire by 643. These were some of the richest regions in the world guarded by powerful militaries—and they fell into Islamic hands in a heartbeat. Umar, however, was one of the great political geniuses of history. While the empire was expanding at a mind-numbing rate beneath his leaderhsip, he also began to build the political structure that would hold together the vast empire that was being built. Umar did not require that non-Muslim populations convert to Islam nor did he try to centralize government, as the Persians had done. Instead, he allowed subject populations to retain their religion, language, customs, and government relatively untouched. The only intrusion would be a governor (amir) and a financial officer called an amil.
His most far-reaching innovations were in the area of building a financial structure to the empire. He understood that the most important aspect of the empire was a stable financial structure for the government. To this end, he built an efficient system of taxation and brought the military directly under the financial control of the state. He also founded the diwan, a unique Islamic institution. The diwan consisted of individuals that were important to the Islamic faith and the Islamic world, such as the campanions of Muhammad. Their contribution to the faith was so great that they were given pensions to live off of—this freed them up to pursue religious and ethical studies and so provide religious or ethical leadership to the rest of the Islamic world.
It was Umar that fixed many Islamic traditions and practices and he began the process of producing the Quran. His most lasting tradition, however, was establishing the Muslim calendar. The Muslim calendar, like the Arabian calendar, remained a lunar calendar—however, he fixed the beginning of the calendar at the year in which Muhammad emigrated to Medina. This, as far as Umar was concerned, was the turning point in Islamic history.
Nearing his death, Umar appointed a committee of six men to decide on the next caliph—they were charged to choose one of their own number.
All of the men, like 'Umar, were from the tribe of Quraish the Ansar, had been gradually shut out of power.
This committee would prove to be pivotal, for on its choice would eventually grow Islam's first schism. The committee narrowed down the choices to two: 'Uthman and 'Ali. 'Ali was the son-in-law of Muhammad and had been a companion to the prophet from the inception of his mission. He may also have been named by Muhammad as a successor. Uthman was from Umayyad clan of Quraish, and was also a son in law of Prophet Mohammad, and was one of the wealthy man of his time.
Uthman, however, was a supremely practical and intelligent military and political leader while 'Ali was fervently devout religious disciple. 'Ali was largely convinced that Islam had gone astray and that it was not following either the religious, ethical, or social principles laid down in Muhammad's revelation. This profound difference between the two candidates led them to choose Uthman, for the growing Islamic empire seemed to need a practical approach.
Uthman reigned for twelve years as caliph, duirng the first half of his reign he enjoyed a position of the most popular caliph among all the Rashiduns, while in later half of his reign he met increasing opposition. This opposition was led by the followers of Ali and was constellated around him, who would, albeit briefly, succeed Uthman as caliph. Despite internal troubles, Uthman continued the wars of conquest so brilliantly carried out by 'Umar. The Rashidun army conquered North Africa from Byzantines and even raided Spain conquering the coastal areas of Iberian peninsula the islands of Rhodes, Sicily and cyprus were captured. Rashidun army fully conquered the Sassanid Persian Empire, and its eastern frontiers extended up to Lower Indus river. Uthman's greatest and most lasting achievement was the formal rescension of the Qur'an . Until 'Uthman, the Qur'an was largely an oral text that was recited by followers who had memorized it. The wars of conquest, however, had thinned their ranks, and the introduction of foreign peoples into Islam threatened the integrity of the text as an Arabic text. So 'Uthman ordered that all versions, written and oral, be collected together and a definitive version written down. It is this definitive version which became the central text of Islam and the bedrock on which all Islamic history would be built. And it was this version, this brilliant achievement, that 'Uthman was reciting from when he was killed. Unrest grew steadily and precipitously. His government seriously mishandled finances all throughout the empire. In 656, rebels entered Madinah, a riot broke out in Medinah. Rebels laid the siege of Uthman's house.
Uthman denied any military action as to avoid civil war between Muslims, and preferred nigociation. His polite attitude to wards rebels embolded them and they broke into Uthman's house and killed him while he was reading the Qur'an.
Crisis and fragmentation
After the assassination of the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, the Companions of
Muhammad in Medina selected Ali to be the new Caliph, he was highly
supported by rebels too. Soon thereafter, Ali dismissed several provincial governors, some of whom were relatives of Uthman, and
replaced them with trusted aides such as Malik al-Ashtar and Salman the Persian. Ali then transferred his capital from Medina to Kufa, the Muslim garrison city in what is now Iraq. The capital of the province of
Syria, Damascus, was held by Mu'awiyah, the governor of Syria and a kinsman of Uthman, Ali's slain
predecessor.[5] Uthman's death was ironic for many reasons,
including the fact that he was the first Islamic caliph to be killed by fellow Muslims. Followed the assassination of the caliph Uthman ibn Affan, first Muslim civil war started, that continued
during the brief caliphate of
In 656, when Uthman ibn Affan, was murdered by a group
of rebels as he sat reading the Qur'an in his home in Medina, in
north-western Arabia. Medina fell into chaos and uproar. Citizens flocked to
Ali then had to fight against numerous challengers to his rule. The cry of revenge of the blood of Caliph Uthman grew, and a large army of the Muslims led by Zubayr, Talha and the widow of Muhammad, Ayesha set for revenge from the rebels. As the rebels gathered from Egypt, Kufa and Busra, there first objective was Busra. The army reached Busra and captured it, 4000 suspected seditionist were assassinated. Ali who had already trasfered his capital from Madinah to Kufa, turned towards Busra and a battle was fought between the Caliph Ali's army and the army of Muslims who demended revenge of Uthman. Though nor Ali nor the leader of opposing army Talha and Zubayr wanted to fight but at night suddenly fight broke between two armies, it is said accordingto sunni Muslim traditions that the rebels who were involved in the assassination of Uthman brokjes fight as they afraid that as a result of nigociation between Ali and opposing army, the killers of Uthman will be searched and killed. The battle thus fought was first battle between Muslims and is knows as Battle of the Camel, The Caliphate won the battle some how and the dispute was sattled and Ali sent his son Hassan ibn Ali to ascort Ayesha back to Madinah. The eminent campaions of Mohammad, Talha and Zubayr were killed in the battle after they withdraw from the battle field denying fighting against Muslims.
After this dark episode of Islamic history, an other cry for revenge for blood of Uthman rosed. This time it was by
Mu'awiya, kinsmen of Uthman and governor of province of Syria. However it is regarded as more
an attempt of assuming caliphate by Mu'awiya then to take revenge for Uthman's murder from
the rebels. Ali fought Uthman's kinsman Mu'awiya, the governor
of Syria, at the Battle of Siffin to a stalemate and
then lost a controversial arbitration; and he fought his own mutinous soldiers (the first
In 661 CE, Ali was assassinated in Masjid (Mosque) of Kufa by a relative of one of the rebel soldiers he had defeated and killed. His last words were "Fuztu wa rabb al-Ka'bah" - meaning By The Lord of the Ka'bah, I have succeeded.
His son Hasan ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, briefly assumed the caliphate upon being appointed by Ali, but realized that he could not prevail. He came to an agreement with Mu'awiya, of which various accounts are given, while Mu'awiya assumed control of the empire and founded the Umayyad empire, with it the Rashidun Caliphate dismentled.
Military expansion
The Rashidun empire expended gradually, with the time span of 24 years of conquest a vast territory was occupied comprising, North Africa, Middle east, Transoxiana, Caucasus, most of Anatolia, the whole of Sassanid Persian empire, the Greater Khorasan, Islands of Cyprus, Rhodes and Sicily, Iberian peninsula was invaded, and Baluchistan was conquered its eastern frontiers reached the lower Indus river in subcontinent and western frontiers up to Atlantic Ocean.
The Islamic Invasion of Sassanid Persian land resulted in the conquest of whole of the Sassanid Persian empire]], because the Persians denied to submit and continued striving to re-capture there lost territory. Unlike Sassanid Persian, Byzantine after losing Syria, retreated up to western Anatolia and accordingly lost also Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, Cyprus, Rhodes and a part of Iberian peninsula to the invading Rashidun army.
Conquest of Persian empire
First Islamic invasion of Sassanid Persian empire was launched by Caliph Abu Bakr in 633 was a swift conquest in the time span of only 4 months lead by legandary general Khalid ibn Walid. Abu Bakr sent his most brilliant general Khalid to conquere Mesopotamia after Ridda wars. After entering Iraq with his army of 18,000, Khalid won decisive victories in four consecutive battles: Battle of Chains, fought in April 633; Battle of River, fought in the 3rd week of April 633; Battle of Walaja, fought in May 633 (where he successfully used a double envelopment manoeuvre), and Battle of Ullais, fought in the mid of May, 633 . By now the Persian court was down and out. In the last week of May 633 , the capital city of Iraq fell to the Muslims after resistance in the Battle of Hira. After resting his armies, Khalid moved in June 633 towards Al Anbar, which resisted and was defeated in the Battle of Al-Anbar, and eventually surrendered after a siege of a few weeks in July 633 . 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, By now, almost the whole of Iraq was under Islamic control. Khalid got a call of 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, Zumiel, Sanni and Muzieh. 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 Muzieh, then the Battle of Sanni, 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.[6] After this conquest, Khalid left Mesopotamia to lead another campaign at Syria against the Roman Empire, after which Mithna ibn Haris took command in Mesopotamia. Persians once again concentrated armies to regain the lost Mesopotamia, Mithna ibn Haris withdraw from the central Iraq to the region near Arabian desert to delay war until reinforcement comes from Madinah. Caliph Umar sent reinforcement under the command of Abu Ubaidah Saqfi with some initial success this army was finally defeated by Sassanid army at the Battle of the Bridge in which Abu Ubaid was killed. The other whole scale invasion was delayed until after a decisive Muslim victory against the Romans in Levant at the Battle of Yarmuk in 636, caliph Umar, was able to transfer forces to the east and resume the offensive against the Sassanids. The Caliph Umar dispatched 36,000 men along with 7500 troops from Syrian front, under the command of Sa`d ibn Abī Waqqās against the Persian army. The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah followed, with the Persians prevailing at first, but on the third day of fighting, the Muslims gained the upper hand. The Persian general Rostam Farrokhzād was caught and beheaded. According to some sources, the Persian losses were 20,000, and the Arabs lost 8,500 men.
Following the Battle, the Arab Muslim armies pushed forward toward the Persian capital of Ctesiphon (also called Madā'in in Arabic), which was quickly evacuated by Yazdgird after a brief siege. After seizing the city, they continued their drive eastwards, following Yazdgird and his remaining troops. Within a short space of time, the Arab armies defeated a major Sāsānian counter-attack in the Battle of Jalūlā', as well as other engagements at Qasr-e Shirin, and Masabadhan. By the mid-7th Century, the Arabs controlled all of Mesopotamia, including the area that is now the Iranian province of Khuzestan. It is said that the caliph Umar did not wish to send his troops through the Zagros mountains and onto the Iranian plateau. One tradition has it that he wished for a "wall of fire" to keep the Arabs and Persians apart. Later commentators explain this as a common-sense precaution against over-extension of his forces. The Arabs had only recently conquered large territories that still had to be garrisoned and administered. The continued existence of the Persian government was an incitement to revolt in the conquered territories and unlike Byzantine army, the Sassanid army was continuously striving to regain there lost territories. Finally Umar decided to push his forces for further conquests, which eventually resulted in the whole scale conquest of Sassanid Persian empire. Yazdegerd, the Sassanid king, made yet another effort to regroup and defeat the invaders. By 641 he had raised a new force, which took a stand at Battle of Nihawānd, some forty miles south of Hamadan in modern Iran. Rashidun Caliphate army under the command of Umar's appointed general Nu'man ibn Muqarrin al-Muzani, attacked and again defeated the Persian forces. Muslims recognized it as the Victory of victories (Fath alfotuh) as it marked the End of the Sassanids, shattering the last strongest Sassanid army. Yazdegerd was unable to raise another army and became a hunted fugitive. in 642, Caliph Umar sent Seven columns of Rashidun Caliphate army to conquere whole of the persian empire. The whole of present days Iran was conquered, followed by the conquest of Greater Khorasan (which included modern Iranian Khorasan province and modern Afghanistan), Transoxania, and Balochistan, Makran, Azerbaijan, Dagestan (Russia), Armenia and Georgia, these regions were mostly re-conquered during Caliph Uthman’s reign[7] with further expansion in the region which were not conquered during Umar’s reign, and Rashidun Caliphate’s frontiers in east extended up to lower river Indus.
Wars against the Eastern roman empire
Conquest of Roman Syria
Caliph Abu Bakr, after Khalid ibn Walid conquered Iraq gave him a new task to enter the Byzantine province of Syria and command Muslim armies there. The Byzantine province of Syria (Levant)in those days consisted of modern day Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Southern Turkey. Passing through the Syrian Desert, Khalid with his half army of 9000 warriors entered Syria in June 634 and commanded the 23000 Muslim army present there under the command of 4 generals, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Yazid bin Abu-Sufyan, Sharjeel bin Hosanna and Amr ibn al-A'as. Defeating many Ghassanid Arab armies in minor battles and conquring many towns Muslim army laid the siege of the important town of Basra were the Byzantine army was defeated in the Battle of Basra in mid of July 634. Muslim Forces soon heard of gathering of 90,000 Roman army at Ajnadayn, after which all the divisions of Muslim army joined Khalid at Ajnadayn on 24 July 634, and defeated Roman there on 30 July 634 in Battle of Ajnadayn, it was the first major pitched battle between Muslim army and Byzantine army. Damascus the Byzantine stronghold was conquered shortly after it on 19 September 634 A.D after Conquest of Damascus, the Byzantine army was given a deadline of 3 days to go as far as they can, with their families and treasure, or simply agree to stay in Damascus and pay tribute. After the three days deadline was over, the Muslim cavalry under Khalid's command attacked the Roman army by catching up to them using an unknown shortcut at battle of Maraj-al-Debaj. [8] On 22 August 634, Caliph Abu Bakr died making Umar his successor. As Umar became caliph, he relieved Khalid from commanding the Islamic armies and appointed Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah as the new commander of Muslim army, the conquest of Syria slow down under him and Abu-Ubaida relied heavily on the advice of Khalid, and he kept beside him as much as possible. [9] The Muslim army moved to Fahal, with Khalid commanding the cavalry, reaching there first and defeating the Byzantine army at the Battle of Fahal on the 23rd of January 635. After the battle, Abu Ubaida moved towards Emesa with Khalid, who was commanding the cavalry. Meanwhile, Emperor Heraclius sent General Theodras to Damascus to recapture it, as there was only a weak defensive army in the city.[10] Theodras met the Muslim army at Maraj-al-Rome, and moved with half of his army towards Damascus at night, while Abu Ubaida and Khalid were engaged with the remaining Byzantine army. Khalid's spy informed him about the move, and Khalid asked Abu Ubaida to give him the permission to defend Damascus. While Abu Ubaida fought and defeated the Roman army in the battle of Maraj-al-Rome, Khalid moved to Damascus with his cavalry and attacked and defeated Theodrus in the 2nd battle of Damascus. A week later, Abu Ubaida himself moved towards Balaq, while he sent Khalid straight towards Emesa.[11] Both cities surrendered and agreed to pay tribute. Emesa and Qinasareen signed a one year peace treaty. In November 635, Khalid and Abu Ubaida moved towards Hamma city, which surrendered and agreed to pay tribute. Later, Abu Ubaida sent Khalid to Shairzer, Afamia and Matar-al-Hamz which all surrendered. Meanwhile Qinasareen and Emesa broke the peace treaty. In response, Abu Ubaida decided to conquer Emesa first and sent Khalid who defeated the Byzantine army in the 1st Battle of Emesa. The Byzantines retreated to the castle of Emesa and were subsequently besieged. Soon, Abu Ubaida reached Emesa with rest of his army, and he gave the command of the siege to Khalid, who once more defeated the Byzantine army in the 2nd Battle of Emessa. After two months of the siege, the city was finally conquered on March 636 after the 3rd Battle of Emesa. Abu Ubaida sent Khalid to conquer northern Syria. Khalid defeated a small Roman army in a skirmish and took many prisoners. These prisoners informed him about Emperor Heraclius's final effort to take back Syria. They told him that an army possibly two hundred thousand (200,000) strong would soon emerge to recapture their territory. Khalid stopped there on June 636. This huge army set out for their destination. As soon as Abu Ubaida got the news, he gathered all his officers to plan their next move. Khalid suggested that they should call all of their forces present in Syria (Syria, Jordan, Palestine) to make a powerful joint force and then move towards the plain of Yarmouk for the battle. Abu Ubaida ordered all the Muslim commanders to withdraw from all the conquered areas, return the tributes that they previously gathered, and move towards Yarmuk.[12] Hercules army also moved towards Yarmuk. The Muslim armies reached there in July 636. A week or two later, around mid July, the Byzantine army arrived.[13] Khalid's Mobile guard defeated Christian Arab auxiliaries of the Roman army in a skirmish . Nothing happened until the third week of August in which the Battle of Yarmouk was fought. The battle lasted 6 days during which Abu-Ubaida transferred the command of the entire army to Khalid. The Byzantine army was defeated on October 636 CE. Abu Ubaida held a meeting with his high command officers, including Khalid to decide of future conquests. They decided to conquer Jerusalem. The siege of Jerusalem lasted four months after which the city agreed to surrender, but only to caliph Umar Ibn Al Khattab in person. Amr-bin al-eas suggested that Khalid should be sent as caliph, because of his very strong resemblance with Caliph Umar. Khalid was recognized and eventually, Caliph Umar Ibn Al Khattab came and the Jerusalem surrendered on April 637 CE. Abu Ubaida sent the commanders Amr bin al-As, Yazid bin Abu Sufyan, and Sharjeel bin Hassana back to their areas to reconquer them. Most of the areas submitted without a fight. Abu Ubaida himself along with Khalid moved to northern Syria once again to conquer them with a 17,000 strong army. Khalid along with his cavalry was sent to Hazir and Abu Ubaidah moved to Qasreen city. Khalid defeated a strong Byzantine army in the Battle of Hazir and reached Qinasareen before Abu Ubaidah. The city surrendered to Khalid. Soon, Abu Ubaidah arrived in June 637. Abu Ubaidah then moved against Aleppo. As usual Khalid was commanding the cavalry. After the Battle of Aleppo the city finally agreed to surrender in October 637.
Occupation of Anatolia
Abu Ubaidah and Khalid, after conquering all of the northern Syria moved north to wards Anatolia conquering the fort of Azaz to clear the flank and rear from Byzantine troops, they moved towards Antioch.[14] In their way to Antioch, a Roman army blocked them near a river on which there was an iron bridge. Because of this, the following battle is known as the Battle of Iron bridge. The Muslim army defeated the Byzantine army and Antioch surrendered on 30 October 637 CE. Abu Ubaida sent Khalid to conquer the remaining cities within the area. In a series of minor battles, Khalid conquered the cities of Lazakia, Jabla and Tartus. Abu Ubaidah sent Khalid to conquer north eastern Syria. All the areas up to Munbij were conquered, and all resistance suppressed up to the Euphrates. After these conquests Khalid returned to Abu Ubaidah at Aleppo in January 637 CE. Later within the year, Abu Ubaida sent Khalid and another general Ayaz bin Ghanam at the head of two separate armies against western part of Jazira most of which was conquered with out strong resistance, including parts of Anatolia, Edessa and area up to Ararat plain. Other columns were sent to Anatolia up to as west as Taurus Mountains, the important city of Anatolia, Marash, Malatya were conquered in autumn 638. Khalid returned to Aleppo and Abu-Ubaida appointed him Governor of Qinasareen city. The conquest of Marash city (in modern days Turkey) represented the end of Khalid's military career and Muslims conquest of Levant. Caliph Umar dismissed Khalid from army thereafter.[15] During the reign of Caliph Uthman further conquest were made in Anatolia conquring remianing forts of Byzantine army. western Anatolia was a part of Rashidun province of Syria. The Taurus Mountains in Turkey marked the western most frontiers of Rashidun Caliphate in Anatolia.
Conquest of Egypt
At the commencement of the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople. However, it had been occupied just a decade before by the Persian Empire under Khosrau II (616 to 629 AD). The power of Byzantine empire was shettered during the Muslim conquest of Syria, and therefore the conquest of Egypt was much more easier. In 639 A.D, some 4,000 Rashidun troops led by Amr ibn al-As, was sent by the Caliph Umar to conquere the land of the ancient pharaohs. The Rashidun Caliphate army crossed into Egypt from Palestine in December 639 and advanced rapidly into the Nile Delta. The imperial garrisons retreated into the walled towns, where they successfully held out for a year or more. But the Muslims sent for reinforcements and the invading army, joined by another 12,000 men in 640, defeated a Byzantine army at the Battle of Heliopolis. Amr next proceeded in the direction of Alexandria, which was surrendered to him by a treaty signed on November 8, 641. The Thebaid seems to have surrendered with scarcely any opposition. The ease with which this valuable province was wrenched from the Byzantine Empire appears to have been due to the treachery of the governor of Egypt, Cyrus [2], Melchite (i.e., Byzantine/Chalcedonian Orthodox, not Coptic) Patriarch of Alexandria, and the incompetence of the generals of the Byzantine forces, and due to lost of most of Byzantine troops in Syria against the Rashidun army. Cyrus had persecuted the local Coptic Christians. He is one of the authors of monothelism, a seventh century heresy, and some supposed him to have been secretly a convert to Islam.
During the reign of Caliph Uthman, an attempt was made in the year 645 to regain Alexandria for the Byzantine empire, but it was retaken by Amr in 646. In
654 an invasion fleet sent by
The Muslims were assisted by some Copts, who found the Muslims more tolerant than the Byzantines, and of these some turned to Islam. In return for a tribute of money and food for the troops of occupation, the Christian inhabitants of Egypt were excused military service and left free in the observance of their religion and the administration of their affairs. Others sided with the Byzantines, hoping that they would provide a defense against the Arab invaders.[16] During the reign of Caliph Ali the Egypt was captured by the rebel troops under the command of former Rashidun army general, Amr ibn al-As, who killed Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr the governor of Egypt appointed by Ali.
Conquest of North Africa
After the withdrawal of the Byzantines from Egypt, North Africa had declared its independence under its king Gregory. The dominions of Gregory extended from the borders of Egypt to Morocco. Abdullah Ibn Sa'ad use to send raiding parties to the west. As a result of these raids the Muslims got considerable booty The success of these raids made Abdullah Ibn Sa'ad feel that a regular campaign should be undertaken for the conquest of North Africa. Uthman gave him permission after considering it in Majlis al shura, a force of 10,000 soldiers was sent as reinforcement. The Rashidun army assembled in Barqa in Cyrenaica, from there they marched west to capture Tripoli, after Tripoli they the army marched to Sufetula the capital of King Gregory, he was defeated and killed in the battle due to superb tactics used by Abdullah ibn Zubayr. After the Battle of Sufetula the people of North Africa sued for peace. They agreed to pay an annual tribute. Instead of annexing North Africa, the Muslims preferred to make North Africa a vassal state. When the stipulated amount of the tribute was paid, the Muslim forces withdrew to Barqa.
Conquest of Islands of Cyprus, Rhodes and Sicily
During Umar's reign governor of Syria Muawiyah, sent a request to built a naval force to invade the islands in Mediterranean Sea, Umar rejected the purposal because of risk of death of soldiers in sea. During his reign Uthman gave Muawiyah permission to make navy after concerning the matter closely. The Muslim force landed on Cyprus in 649 C.E. There was only a small Byzantine garrison on the island which was overpowered without any difficulty. The islanders submitted to the Muslims, and agreed to pay a tribute of 7,000 dinars per year. The conquest of Cypress was the first naval conquest of the Muslims. After Cyprus Muslim naval fleet headed towards Rhodes islands and conquered them with out much resistance. In 652-654 A.D, Muslims lunched a naval campaign on sicily, they succedded in capturing a large part of Sicily (Italy), soon Uthman was murdered and no further expansion was made, and Musims accordingly retreated from Sicily.
First Muslim invasion of Iberian peninsula(Spain)
According to the general books of Islamic history the conquest of Spain is attributed to Tariq ibn Ziyad and Musa ibn Nusair in 711 - 712 C.E, in the time o