Between the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate. This battle largely defined the fate of Eastern Mediterranean, but to the East, Caliphate had another global power to contend with - the Sassanid Empire. Two empires fought each other for more than 20 years, across dozens of battles with the campaign of the Muslim general Khalid ibn al-Walid in 633 and the battle of al-Qadissiyah that took place in 636 being the most crucial among them.
This video was suggested by our patreon supporter Cooperator Supporting us on patreon is the best way to propose and sponsor a new video In one of our previous videos we depicted the six-day Battle of Yarmulke between the Byzantine Empire and the rash dun caliphate But the early Muslim incursion was not limited to the lands of the Roman emperors To the east the forces of the Caliphate attached the mighty Sassanid Empire and fought a 20 year war culminating in the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah The Byzantine and Sassanid empires forge each other in many conflicts through the centuries But none of them was as bloody and fruitless as the war of 602 - 628.
This conflict weakened and exposed both empires Meanwhile to the south the Prophet of Islam Muhammad had United most of Arabia by 630 His successor caliph Abu baker faced a massive rebellion against his rule This conflict later known as the ridda wars continued until February of 633 With the peninsula back under his control Abu Baker started thinking about expansion early Muslim sources do not offer a justification, but in March of 633 he sent his best general Khalid ibn Alwaleed to attack the Sassanid Empire In April al walid and his 18,000 troops entered modern-day Kuwait The local governor Hormozd had 20,000 men under his command and moved to intercept al walid near kazimah But the Arab army was more mobile and our lead was able to outflank the Sassanid to move on her fear That forced Hormozd to march towards who fear to defend it, but al walid again moved quicker now threatening kazimah again The Sassanid’s had to move back.
All this marching tired the forces of Hormozd And they eventually had to fight exhausted in the engagement that would later be known as the Battle of Chains The battle began with a duel between the generals in which Hormozd was killed The Sassanid footman in the center had been chained to each other to allow them to hold the line while cavalry waited on the flanks The death of their general affected morale, but they managed to repel the initial Muslim attack Still for Sassanid’s were exhausted from marching and eventually their cavalry started to give ground and had to retreat This turned into a general retreat, but with the center slowed by the chains most of the Sassanid infantry was killed However a bigger Sassanid army under Qarin was on route Qarin across the Tigris in late April and set up his camp near the river the remainder of Hormozds troops joined him as well Al-Walid was moving to the north to cross the river, but had to stop as his 17000 were now facing 40,000 foes.
Once again the armies formed up with infantry in the center and cavalry on the flanks and once again the battle started with Duels During which Qarin and two of his generals were killed Al-Walid led a frontal attack and the leaderless Sassanid’s were slaughtered the Muslim troops killed around 20,000 enemies The Sassanid court learned about the losses by the end of April and gathered two more armies
The first army led by and Andarzaghan were sent to the city of were larger to intercept the Muslims as it was expected that Al-Waleed would move to the west along the Euphrates Indeed Al-Waleeds army was marching as predicted.
He had a number of spies in the area and knew that the second Sassanid army under Barman would soon Reinforce Andarzaghan so he decided to attack the first Sassanid force The two armies met in early May near were larger in a field between two Hills Alwaleed had 10,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry against 30,000 Sassanid troops initially Andarzaghan was planning to wait for barman, so he didn’t attack the Muslims on the first day Al-Walid needed to lure his enemy out so during the night. He sent his cavalry away the Sassanid leader fell right into the trap He ordered his troops to attack head-on and the Muslim army started retreating under pressure towards the hill behind it.
Al-Walid Center allowed itself to be pushed back at his army formed a crescent Andarzaghan concluded that it was a great moment to move all of his cavalry against the flanks of the enemy and encircle the Muslims that Was the moment Al-Walid cavalry was waiting for?
It was hidden behind the opposite hill and charged into the enemy at a crucial moment the forces of Andarzaghan were now encircled In a battle eerily reminiscent of the classical Battle of Cannae the Sassanid’s lost more than 20 thousand warriors Al-Walid continued moving to the west Six more Sassanid armies were sent against him between May and November of 633, but each of these armies was defeated However movement into the central part of the Sassanid Empire was still impossible and a letter from the Caliph ordered Al-Walid to move into Syria instead He won another battle against the Allied Sassanid Byzantine army near Firaz in late 633 and move on to fight the Romans Modern-day Iraq was now under Muslim control.
Sources are not clear on what happened in the next two years, but it seems that the region changed hands a few times The only significant engagement during this period called the Battle of the bridge was won by the Sassanid’s In May of 636 the new caliph Umar recruited a new army 30,000 troops commanded by Saad ibn Abi Waqas entered Iraq in July The Sassanid army under Rostam was already nearby in the area called al-qadisiyyah near modern-day Kufa in Iraq It had around 70,000 troops Both sides, built a fortified camp, but as negotiations were going on the battle would not start for a few more months the victory over the Byzantines at Yarmouk allowed the caliph to divert more than six thousand veterans of the Syrian campaign to al-qadisiyyah.
Which they probably reached in late October?
By the time of the battle the sassanids had about 50,000 infantry 15,000 cavalry and 40 elephants Meanwhile the army of the caliphate had around 30,000 footmen and 8,000 cavalry Rostam divided his infantry cavalry and the elephants into four groups with elephants in front infantry in the second line and cavalry in the third The Muslim troops were formed into four infantry divisions in the first line and four cavalry divisions in the second The Battle of Al-Qadisiyyah took place between November 16th and 19th 636 the first day started with traditional personal combat It is not clear which side had the upper hand But later in the day Rustam sent his entire left flank forward to attack the right flank of the enemy The Muslims attempted to use their cavalry to outflank and kill the elephants, but were counter-attacked by the Sassanid heavy cavalry.
Both the infantry and the cavalry of Saad right flank had to retreat The Muslim cavalry division in the right-center was sent to outflank the Sassanid cavalry While one of the infantry units of the right-center was ordered to attack the enemy infantry and the elephants from the left This allowed the right side of the Muslim army to push the enemy back The Sassanid right and right-center were also commanded to attack Initially the elephants broke the enemy lines But support from the Muslim Center repelled the elephants and soon the Muslim infantry managed to counter-attack and drive the Sassanids back Saad ordered his cavalry on the flanks to attempt an envelopment and that put pressure on the Sassanid cavalry But eventually Rostam moved into the fray himself with the central units and drove the foe Back the first day ended in conclusively.
The Muslim army received a number of reinforcements throughout the second day And as the enemy elephants were not in position Saad decided to go on the offensive His right flank cavalry was able to push their counterparts back and that allowed the Muslim infantry to gain an advantage against the sassanids Once more rostam joined the battle and counter attacked Saad units needed to retreat and the second day. Also had no breakthrough At the beginning of the third day.
Rostam commanded his troops to attack the enemy as he was eager to end the battle before more Muslim reinforcements arrived The charge started with a skirmish in which the Sassanid archers got the better of their counterparts Soon the elephants attacked and Saad army retreated under this pressure Rostam tried to end the battle by killing the enemy leader, but his cavalry was stopped Muslim forces across the front finally maimed the elephants enough to drive them into a rage mAll the beasts that didn’t die on the spot panics and move towards the river which broke the Sassanid formation The Muslims attempted to counter-attack, but Rostam reformed his lines yet again and another day ended with no results There was no pitched battle in the early hours of the fourth day and that made the sassanids complacent.
Before the troops got into position the Muslims sent her left cavalry charged behind enemy lines and achieved its goal of killing Rostam Although the sassanids eventually pushed this cavalry division away and built a front the death of their leader demoralized the army The full charge of the Muslim army finally sent the sassanids into full retreat The Muslims lost around 10,000 men in this battle while the casualties of their foes were more than 25,000 Soon the Sassanid capital Ctesiphon fell the war would continue until 654 with various Sassanid generals and governors attempting to mount resistance.
But it was too late the battle of al-qadisiyyah sealed the fate of the Empire and the Middle East Thank you for watching our documentary on the Battle of Al-Qadisiyyah We would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters who make the creation of these videos possible Patreon is the best way to suggest a new video learn about our schedule and so much more This is the kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one.
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