THE RIGHTLY GUIDED CALIPHS

Hazrat Abu Bakr:

Campaigns and battles against the Persian Empire – Eastern Iraq:
In the apostasy campaign in Bahrain, the Persians had helped the rebels so
action had to be taken against them. It led to various campaigns and battles
being fought between the muslims and the Persians of eastern Iraq. These
included:

 Battle of Kazima
 Occupation at Uballa and Hisn-ul-mirat
 Battle of Mazar
 Battle of Walaja
 Battle of Ullais
 Fall of Hira
Battle of Kazima:
The used to say “No one saw the face of Khalid bin Waleed (ra) except they
were already defeated.” Abu Bakr (ra) sent Khalid to Iraq to fight against the
Persians. They had a great empire which they ruled for over 1200 years as a
world superpower. Their lands spanned from Greece in the West to Punjab in
the East. Due to the wars already fought by the army, Abu Bakr also told
Khalid to grant permission to those soldiers who wished to return home.
Hence his army shrunk from 13,000 to only 2,000. He wrote a letter back to
Abu Bakr informing him of this and Abu Bakr responded by sending 1 man –
Qaqa’ bin Amr. The people asked Abu Bakr how he could replace 11,000 men
with 1 man, and he replied “An army with the ranks of those like Qaqa’ will
never be forsaken by Allah.” The Muslims, and especially Khalid bin Waleed,
were gaining reputation and the Persians sent one of their greatest warriors
named Hormuz as the leader of their army. Hormuz was an amazing warrior,
referred to as the ‘Defender of Persia’. He had the highest rank of a 100,000
dirham cap studded with pearls and diamonds. What made Khalid bin Waleed
a great general was his war tactics and psychological warfare which crippled
the opposing forces. He knew the Persian warriors carried heavy weapons and
heavy armour. So he moved his forces to a place called Hudhair in Iraq.
Hormuz, wanting to intercept the Muslim army, rushed his forces to overtake
them and managed to reach Hudhair first. When he reached Hudhair, he
realised that Khalid had returned back to Kazima. Again Hormuz rushed his
army to overtake the Muslims and he reached Kazima first, but by this time his
army were exhausted. When Khalid bin Waleed arrived he ordered them to
attack straight away, thereby not giving any time for rest. Hormuz emerged
from the ranks and called out for Khalid, challenging him to a duel. Hormuz
had carefully manoeuvred the duel to take place closer to his side, positioning
people to ambush Khalid and kill him. Initially they fought on horses but then
when Hormuz got off his horse, Khalid got off his horse and they continued
battling. Then Hormuz threw his sword and Khalid in turn also threw his
sword, ready to wrestle to the death. As they were wrestling, Hormuz
managed to get Khalid in a hold and called out to his men who came charging,
ready to kill Khalid. Abu Bakr knew the worth of Qaqa’, who was all prepared
for this possibility and he rode out to intercept the men successfully. By the
end of the day, the Muslims had defeated the Persian army and taken control
over the region.
Occupation at Uballa and Hisn-ul-Mirat:
After winning the battle of Kazima, Khalid rested his men for a few days and
then advanced further inland in Iraq. Khalid sent a contingent under Ma'qal
bin Muqarrin to occupy Uballa. There were no Persian forces at Uballa, and
the town was occupied without any resistance.
Muthanna with his column rode ahead of the main Muslim army. The task of
this column was to reconnoiter and kill the strugglers left behind the
retreating Persians. North of Zubeir stood a fort known as "Hisn ul Mar'at" -
the fort of the lady. A Persian princess Qamarzad who was related to the
Persian emperor held it. Muthanna left a contingent under his brother
Mu'anna to lay siege to the fort of the lady and himself proceeded with his
column further north. Muthanna assaulted the fort and finding the resistance
futile, Qamarzad surrendered. She was offered to accept Islam or to pay
'Jizya'. She accepted the first alternative and became a Muslim. Thereupon
Mu'anna proposed marriage, and she married him.
Battle of Mazar:
Qarin concluded that one of the causes of the defeat of the Persians at Kazima
had been that the Muslims had been able to carry flanking manoeuvres, which
had made the Persians lose their nerve. In order to avoid such a situation at
Mazar, Qarin deployed his forces with the main river in the rear so that there
may be no possibility of outflanking them. As Khalid surveyed the situation, he
felt that at Mazar, he would have to fight a frontal set piece battle. This was
the usual Persian style, and in this respect the advantage lay with the Persians.
Khalid, however, hoped that with the blessings of God, he would be able to
defeat the Persians at their own game. Khalid deployed the army with a center
and wings. He commanded the center himself, while the wings were
commanded by Asim bin Amr and Adi bin Hatim. The Persian army was
similarly deployed with Qarin commanding the center, and Qabad and
Anushjan commanding the wings. The battle began with a call to a duel. Qarin
stepped forward from the Persian side and gave the challenge. Before Khalid
could step forward in response to the challenge, another Muslim commander,
Ma'qal bin Al Ashi rode out of the Muslim front to grapple with Qarin. Khalid
let Ma'qal have the chance. Ma'qal was an expert swordsman, and he killed
Qarin. As Qarin fell, Qabad and Anushjan stepped forward and gave the
challenge for duel. Asim and Adi, commanders of the wings of the Muslim
forces, accepted the challenge. In the personal combats that followed, Asim
killed Anushjan and Adi killed Qabad. After the fall of the three Persian
Generals. Khalid gave the Muslim forces the order for a general attack. In spite
of the demoralization that followed in the deaths of their three top most
Generals, the Persian forces fought with great tenacity. Khalid intensified the
pressure, and the Persian ranks began to give way. With the increased
violence of the Muslim attacks, the Persian army broke up and made for the
river. The retreat of the Persian army soon became a rout. The lightly armed
Muslim soldiers soon overtook the heavily equipped Persians and slaughtered
them mercilessly. In the battle of Mazar, heavy spoils were won by the
Muslims. These exceeded the booty gained at Kazima. Four-fifths of the spoils
were distributed among the soldiers and one-fifth share was sent to Madina.
After the victory of Mazar the local inhabitants offered submission and agreed
to pay 'Jizya' to the Muslims. Khalid established his headquarters at Hufeir,
and a team of Muslim officials was appointed to attend to the administration
of the country and collect taxes.
Battle of Walaja:
After the defeat of the Persians at Mazar, the Persian emperor Ardsheer
ordered the assembling of two more Persian armies to fight against the
Muslims. One army was placed under the command of Andarzaghar, a military
Governor of considerable standing. He had grown up among the Arabs, and
was familiar with the Arab way of war. He commanded considerable
popularity among the Arab tribes allied with the Persians. In addition to the
regular Persian army, Andarzaghar was commissioned to raise contingents
from the Arab auxiliaries. The other force was placed under the direct
command of Bahman, the Commander-in-Chief of the Persian forces.
Andarzaghar was required to move with his army to grapple with the Muslims.
The other force under Bahman was to follow after some time. Andarzaghar set
off from al-Madsen and moved along the east bank of the Tigris. He crossed
the Tigris at Kaskar, the site where the city of Wasit was founded later. From
there he moved southwest to the Euphrates, and after crossing it established
his camp at Walaja. At Walaja, Andarzaghar was joined by the Arab auxiliaries
as well as the remnants of the army of Qarin who had escaped from the
battlefield of Mazar. The strength of the army of Andarzaghar was very
considerable, and if the army of Bahman reinforced it, the Persian army was
likely to assume formidable dimensions. Khalid's strategy therefore, was that
he should tackle the army of Andarzaghar before the main army under
Bahman could join it. By forced marches, Khalid reached Walaja. As
Andarzaghar surveyed the field, the Muslim army did not consist of more than
10,000 persons and the Muslim cavalry was nowhere to be seen. The strength
of the Persian army was thrice the strength of the Muslim army, and
Andarzaghar thought that in no time he would be able to make mince meat of
the Muslim force and thus avenge the defeats of Kazima and Mazar. The
battle at Walaja began as usual with a duel. Out of the Persian ranks stepped
forward their champion 'Hazer Mard', the giant of a man supposed to have the
strength of a thousand warriors. Khalid stepped forward from the Muslim
front to grapple with the giant. Khalid appeared to be no match for the giant,
but surprisingly enough after a few minutes of duelling, Khalid struck a heavy
blow at his adversary who reeled under the weight of his own heavy body.
Khalid repeated the strokes until the giant was dead.
Battle of Ullais:
After their defeat at the Battle of Walaja, the Sassanid survivors of the battle
who consisted mostly of Christian Arabs fled from the battlefield, crossed the
River Khaseef (a tributary of the Euphrates) and moved between it and the
Euphrates. Their flight ended at Ullais, about 10 miles from the location of the
Battle of Walaja. The Muslims were aware of the presence of hostile Arabs at
Ullais but, as they were less numerous and were survivors of Walaja, they
never considered them a military threat until they started to regroup and the
Muslim commander Khalid ibn Walid was informed about the arrival of more
Arab hordes, mainly from the Christian Arab tribe of Bani Bakr. More
reinforcements were raised from the Christian Arab tribes in the region
between Al-Hirah and Ullais. The Rashidun Caliphate army under Khalid
crossed the river Khaseef and approached Ullais frontally. Emperor Ardsheer
meanwhile sent orders to Bahman to proceed to Ullais and take command of
Arab contingents there and stop the Muslims advance at Ullais. Bahman sent
his senior general Jaban with the imperial army to Ullais with orders to avoid
battle until Bahman himself arrived .As Jaban set off with the army, Bahman
returned to Ctesiphon to discuss certain matters with the Emperor. He arrived
at Ctesiphon to find Emperor Ardsheer very ill and remained in attendance on
him. By now the Persians and Arabs had realised that the Muslims' objective
was Al-Hirah. They decided to fight and defeat the Muslims army. The
Christian Arab contingents were under the command of a tribal chief called
Abdul-Aswad, who had lost his two sons in the Battle of Walaja against the
Muslims and wanted revenge. One of the Muslim commanders, Al-Muthanna
ibn Haritha, advanced with the light cavalry scouts to the Ullais and informed
the Muslim commander-in-chief Khalid ibn Walid of the location of the hostile
Arabs. Khalid tried to reach Ullais before the Sassanid army could reinforce
them, in order to avoid a battle with an army that would have heavily
outnumbered his own; however he failed to do so. In order to deny the
Persians time to organize and to coordinate their plans, Khalid decided to fight
the battle that very same day. The Sassanid army and Christian Arabs
contingents were camped side by side with the Euphrates to their left, the
Khaseef to their right, and the river junction behind them.
Muslim commander-in-chief Khalid ibn Walid arrayed his army in battle
formation, appointing Adi ibn Hatim (who was a son of the famous Arab
Christian leader Hatim At Tai and a former Christian) as commander of the
right wing and Asim ibn Umar commander of the left wing. Information of the
Rashidun Caliphate army's advance reached Jaban a little before midday. It
was mealtime and the Persian soldiers were to take their meal, but the
Sasanian troops abstained from food so as to "display their toughness" to the
Muslims. Jaban arranged the Sassanid army in great haste before the Muslims
could arrive, appointing the Christian Arabs to form the wings of his army,
with the tribal chief Abdul-Aswad commanding the right wing and the tribal
chief Abjar commanding the left wing. The center was formed by the Imperial
army. The battlefield ran south-east of Ullais between the Euphrates and
Khaseef. The Persian army was deployed with its back to Ullais, while in front
of it was arrayed the Rashiduddin’s army. Muslim commander in chief Khalid
ibn al-Walid killed the Christian Arab tribal chief Abdul-Aswad in a duel. The
fighting was heaviest on the bank of the Khaseef. The fierce battle continued
for hours; no signs of weakness were shown on either side. Early in the
afternoon the Sassanid Persian army and Arab allies, unable to withstand the
veteran Muslim army, finally retreated to the north-west in the direction of Al-
Hirah. Against the Persians and their allies, Khalid ibn al-Walid had always
been heavily Inferior in numberun Caliphate army. The northern flank of both
armies rested on the Euphrates and their southern flank on the river Khaseef,
a distance of about 2 miles, thus, the victory lay with the muslims.
Fall of Hira:
The city of Al-Hirah, widely known for its size and wealth, had been capital of
the Lakhmid kingdom for centuries. It was annexed as a Sasanian frontier
province in 602. During the expansion of the Caliphate in 633, Caliph Abu Bakr,
sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to capture the lands south of the Euphrates . After
taking Ullais, the Muslim army under Khalid ibn al-Walid attacked the city of
Hira in the last week of that month. The defenders briefly sequestered
themselves in the city's fortresses, but after brief fighting, the city quickly
surrendered. The inhabitants paid a large tribute to spare the city, and agreed
to act as spies against the Sasanians, just as the inhabitants of Ullais had.