Muslim conquest of Syria chap. I
Part of the Muslim conquests and Byzantine-Arab Wars
Date 634-638
Location Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestain and South Eastern Anatolia.
Result Rashidiun victory
Territorial
changes Levant annexed by Muslims
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire
Ghassanid Kingdom Rashidiun Caliphate
Commanders
Heraclius
Jabalah Ibn Al-Aiham
Theodore Trithyrius
Vahan
Vardan
Thomas
Buccinator
Gregory Khalid ibn al-Walid
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah
Amr ibn al-A'as
Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan
Shurahbil ibn Hassana
Byzantine–Arab Wars
Early conflicts
Mutah – Tabouk – Dathin – Firaz
Rashidiun conquest of Roman Syria
Qarteen – Bosra – Ajnadayn – Marj-al-Rahit – Fahl – Damascus – Maraj-al-Debaj – Emesa – Yarmouk – Jerusalem – Hazir – Aleppo
Rashidun conquest of Roman Egypt
Heliopolis – Alexandria – Nikiou
Umayyad conquest of North Africa
Sufetula – Carthage
Umayyad invasions of Anatolia and Constantinople
Iron Bridge – Kahramanmaraş – Phoenix – 1st Constantinople – 2nd Constantinople – Akroinon
Arab campaigns in Southern Italy
Sicily – Mainland
Later Byzantine campaigns
Campaigns of John Kourkouas – Campaigns of Nikephoros II – Campaigns of John I – Campaigns of Basil II – George Maniakes in Sicily – Damietta
The Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century,[1] and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria. Arab forces had appeared on the southern borders even before the death of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in 632, resulting in the Battle of Mu'tah in 629, but the real invasion began in 634 under his successors, the Rashidun Caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar ibn Khattab, with Khalid ibn al-Walid as their most important military leader.
Byzantine Syria
Syria had been under Roman rule for seven centuries prior to the Arab conquest and had been invaded by the Sassanid Persians on a number of occasions during the third, sixth and seventh centuries; it had also been subject to raids by the Sassanid's Arab allies the Lakhmids. The region was known as the Iudaea Province of the Byzantine (Roman) Empire and the their Arab client state of the Ghassanids (symmachos). During the last of the Roman-Persian Wars, beginning in 603, the Persians under Khosrau II had succeeded in occupying Syria, Palestine and Egypt for over a decade before being forced by the victories of Heraclius to conclude the peace of 628. Thus, on the eve of the Muslim conquests the Romans were still in the process of rebuilding their authority in these territories, which in some areas had been lost to them for almost twenty years. Politically, the Syrian region consisted of two provinces: Syria proper stretched from Antioch and Aleppo in the north to the top of the Dead Sea. To the west and south of the Dead Sea lay the province of Palestine, which included the holy places of the three Abrahamic religions. Syria was partly an Arab land, especially in its eastern and southern parts. The Arabs had been there since pre-Roman times, and had embraced Christianity since Constantine I legalized it in the fourth century. The Arabs of Syria were people of no consequence until the migration of the powerful Ghassan tribe from Yemen to Syria, who thereafter ruled a semi-autonomous state with their own king under the Romans. The Ghassan Dynasty became one of the honoured princely dynasties of the Empire, with the Ghassan king ruling over the Arabs in Jordan and Southern Syria from his capital at Bosra. The last of the Ghassan kings, who ruled at the time of the Muslim invasion, was Jabla bin Al Aiham. Emperor Heraclius, after re-capturing Syria from the Sassanids, set up new defense lines from Ghazzah to the south end of the dead sea. These lines were only designed to protect communications from bandits, and the bulk of the Byzantine defenses were concentrated in Northern Syria facing the traditional foes, the Sassanid Persians. This defense line had as a drawback that it enabled the Muslims, who emerged from the desert in the south, to reach as far north as Ghazzah before meeting regular Byzantine troops. 7th century A.D was a time of fast military changes in the Byzantine empire. The empire was certainly not in a state of collapse when it faced the new challenge from Arabia after being exhausted by recent Roman-Persian Wars, but failed completely to tackle the challenge effectively.
Rise of Caliphate
The Islamic Prophet Mohammad died in June 632, and Abu Bakr was appointed Caliph and political successor at Medina. Soon after Abu Bakr's succession, several Arab tribes revolted against him in the Ridda wars (Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy). 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 Medina.
Whether Abu Bakr intended a full-out imperial conquest or not 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, starting with a confrontation with the Persian Empire under the general Khalid ibn al-Walid.
Expedition to Syria
Map detailing Rashidun Caliphates invasion of the Levant. see pic.:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2922319&op=2&o=global&view=global&subj=177792917975&id=791001191
After successful campaigns against the Sassanids and the ensuing conquest of Iraq Khalid established his stronghold in Iraq. While engaged with Sassanid forces, confrontation also ensued with the Byzantine Arab clients, the Ghassanids. Tribal contingents were soon recruited to the call from Medinah from all over the Arabian peninsula. Only those who had rebelled during the Ridda wars were excluded from the summons and remained excluded from Rashidun armies until in 636 when Caliph Umar fell short of manpower for the Battle of Yarmouk and the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah. The tradition of raising armies from tribal contingents remained in use until 636, when Caliph Umar organised the army as a state department. Abu Bakr organised the army into four corps, each with its own commander and objective.
Amr ibn al-A'as: Objective Palestine. Move on Elat route, then across Valley of Arabah.
Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan: Objective Damascus. Move on Tabuk route.
Shurahbil bin hassana: Objective Jordan. Move on Tabuk route after Yazid.
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah: Objective Emesa. Move on Tabuk route after Shurahbil.
Not knowing the precise position of the Byzantine army, Caliph Abu Bakr ordered that all corps should remain in touch with each other so that they could help each other if the Byzantines were able to concentrate their army in any sector of operation. In case the corps had to concentrate for one major battle, Abu Ubaidah was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the entire army. In the first week of April 634, the Muslim forces began to move from their camps outside Madina. The first to leave was Yazid's corps, followed by Shurahbil, Abu Ubaidah and Amr, each a day's march from the other. Caliph Abu Bakr walked for a short distance by the side of each corps commander. His parting words he repeated to the each corps commanders, were as follows:
“ In your march be not hard on yourself or your army. Be not harsh with your men or your officers, whom you should consult in all matters. Be just and abjure evil and tyranny, for no nation which is unjust prospers or achieves victory over its enemies. When you meet the enemy turn not your back on him; for whoever turns his back, except to manoeuvre for battle or to regroup, earns the wrath of Allah. His abode shall be hell, and what a terrible place it is! And when you have won a victory over your enemies, don't kill women or children or the aged and do not slaughter beasts except for eating. And break not the pacts which you make. You will come upon a people who live like hermits in monasteries, believing that they have given up all for God. Let them be and destroy not their monasteries. And you will meet other people who are partisans of Satan and worshippers of the Cross, who shave the centre of their heads so that you can see the scalp. Assail them with your swords until they submit to Islam or pay the Jizya. I entrust you to the care of Allah. ”
//Muslim conquest of Syria//
Moving to their assigned target beyond Tabouk, Yazid's corps made contact with a small Christian Arab force that was retreating after a skirmish with the Muslim advance guard, after which Yazid made for the Valley of Araba where it meets the southern end of the Dead Sea. As the main Byzantine defence line started from the coastal regions near Ghazahh, Yazid arrived at the Valley of Araba at about the same time as Amr bin Al Aas reached Elat. The two forward detachments sent by the Byzantine army to prevent the entry of Yazid's and Amr's corps, respectively, into Palestine, were easily defeated by them, though they did prevent the Rashidun forces from reaching their assigned objective. Abu Ubaidah and Shurhabil, on the other hand, continued their march, and by early May 634 they reached the region between Bosra and Jabiya. The Emperor Heraclius, having received intelligence of the movements of the Muslim armies from his Arab clients, began to plan countermeasures. Upon Heraclius orders, Byzantine forces from different garrisons in the North started moving to gather at Ayjnadyn. From here they could engage Amr's corps and maneuver against the flank or rear of the rest of the Muslim corps that were in Jordan and Southern Syria. The strength of the Byzantine forces, according to rough estimates, was about 100,000. Abu Ubaidah informed the Caliph about the preparations made by the Byzantines in the third week of May 634. Because Abu Ubaida didn't have the experience as a commander of military forces in such major operations, especially with the powerful Roman Army, Abu Bakr decided to send Khalid ibn Walid to the Syrian front to command the Muslim army. According to early Muslim chronicles Abu Bakr said:
“ By Allah, I shall destroy the Romans and the friends of Satan with Khalid Ibn Al Walid. ”
//Conquest of Syria under Caliph Abu Bakr//
Map detailing the route of Khalid ibn Walid's invasion of Syria. see pic.:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2922329&op=2&o=global&view=global&subj=177792917975&id=791001191
Khalid was immediately dispatched to the Syrian front. He set out for Syria from Hira, in Iraq in early June 634, taking with him half his army, about 8000 strong. There were two routes towards Syria from Iraq: one was via Daumat-ul-Jandal, and the other was through Mesopotamia, passing through Ar Raqqah. The Muslim armies in Syria were in need of urgent reinforcement, so Khalid avoided the conventional route to Syria via Daumat ul Jandal, as it was the longer route, and would take weeks to reach Syria. Khalid avoided the Mesopotamia’s route because of the presence of Roman garrisons in Northern Syria and Mesopotamia. To engage them at a time when Muslim armies were being outflanked in Syria was not a wise idea. Khalid selected a shorter route to Syria, an unconventional route passing through the Syrian Desert. He boldly marched his armies through the desert. It is recorded that his soldiers marched for two days without a single drop of water, before reaching a pre-decided water source at an oasis. Khalid thus entered Northern Syria and caught the Byzantines at their right flank. According to modern historians, it was this ingenious strategic maneuver of Khalid, his perilous march through the desert and appearing at the north-eastern front of the Byzantines while they were occupied in tackling the Muslim armies in southern Syria, that unhinged the Byzantine defenses in Syria.
//Conquest of southern Syria//
Sawa, Arak, and the historical city of Tadmur were first to fall to Khalid. Sukhnah, Qaryatayn and Hawarin were captured after the Battle of Qarteen and the Battle of Hawareen. After dealing with all these cities, Khalid moved towards Damascus, passing though a mountain pass which is now known as Sanita-al-Uqab (Uqab pass) after the name of Khalid's army standard. From here he moved away from Damascus, towards Bosra, the capital of Ghassanid Arab kingdom, a vassal of the Eastern Roman empire. He ordered other Muslim commanders to concentrate their armies, still near the Syrian-Arabian border at Bosra. At Maraj-al-Rahab, Khalid defeated a Ghassanid army of Christian Arabs in a quick battle, called the Battle of Marj-al-Rahit. Meanwhile Abu Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah, the supreme commander of the Muslim armies in Syria, had ordered Shurhabil ibn Hasana to attack Bosra. The latter laid siege of Bosra with his small army of 4000 men. The Roman and Ghassanid Arab garrison, noticing that this might be the advance guard of the larger Muslim army to come, decided to attack and destroy Shurhabil’s army. They came out of the fortified city and attacked Shurhabil, surrounding him from all sides; Khalid reached the arena with his advance guard cavalry and saved the day for Shurhabil. The combined forces of Khalid, Shurhabil and Abu Ubaidah then laid siege to the city of Bosra, which surrendered some time in mid July 634. This effectively ended the Ghassanid Dynasty.
Geographical Map detailing the route of Khalid ibn Walid's invasion of Syria. see pic.:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2922317&op=3&o=global&view=global&subj=177792917975&id=791001191
Here Khalid took over the command of the Muslim armies in Syria from Abu Ubaidah, according to the instructions of the Caliph. Massive Byzantine armies were concentrating at Ajnadayn to push the invading armies back to the desert. Early Muslim sources have mentioned its size to be 90,000, while most of the modern historians doubt the figures, but consider this battle to be the key that broke the Byzantine power in Syria. According to the instructions of Khalid all Muslim corps concentrated at Ajnadayn, where they fought a decisive battle against the Byzantines on 30 July 634. The defeat of the Byzantines at the Battle of Ajnadayn left Syria vulnerable to the Muslim invaders. Khalid decided to capture Damascus, the Byzantine stronghold. At Damascus Thomas, son in law of Emperor Heraclius, was in charge. Having received intelligence of Khalid’s march towards Damascus he prepared for the defence of Damascus. He wrote to Emperor Heraclius, who was at Emesa that time, for reinforcements. Moreover Thomas, in order to get more time for preparation of a siege, sent armies to delay or if possible halt Khalid’s march to Damascus. One of these armies was defeated at the Battle of Yaqusa in mid-August 634 near Lake Tiberias 90 miles from Damascus. Another army that tried to halt the Muslim advance to Damascus was defeated in Battle of Maraj as Saffer on 19 August 634. These engagements delayed Khalid’s advance and gave Thomas enough time to prepare for a siege. Meanwhile a reinforcement reached the city, which Heraclius had dispatched after hearing the bad news of Ajnadyn. But before another regiment of Heraclius could reach Damascus, Khalid had already lied siege to Damascus. Khalid reached Damascus the 20th August and besieged the city. To isolate the city from the rest of the region Khalid placed detachments south on the road to Palestine and in the north at the Damascus-Emesa route, and several other smaller detachments on routes towards Damascus. Heraclius reinforcement was intercepted and routed at the Battle of Sanita-al-Uqab 20 miles from Damascus. Khalid's forces withstood three Roman sallies that tried to break the siege. Khalid finally attacked and conquered Damascus on 18 September 634 after a 30 days siege, although according to some sources the siege lasted for four or six months. Heraclius, having received the news of the fall of Damascus, left for Antioch from Emesa. A peace agreement was made: the citizens were given peace on the terms of annual tribute and the Byzantine army was given a three day peace period to go as far as they could. After the deadline of three days was over, the Muslim cavalry under Khalid's command, attacked the Roman army, catching up on them using an unknown shortcut, at the Battle of Maraj-al-Debaj, 190 miles north of Damascus. Abu Bakr died during the siege of Damascus and Umar became the new Caliph. He dismissed his cousin Khalid ibn al-Walid from command and appointed Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah as the new commander in chief of the Islamic army in Syria. Abu Ubaidah got the letter of his appointment and Khalid's disposal during the siege, but he delayed the announcement until the city was conquered.
/Conquest Under Caliph Umar/
Dismissal of Khalid from command
On 22 August 634, Abu Bakr died, having made Umar his successor. Umar's first move was to relieve Khalid from command and appointing Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah as the new commander in chief of the Islamic army. The relationship between Khalid and Umar was already tense since the incident of Malik ibn Neuwera. There was an air of distrust between Khalid and Caliph Umar, which resulted in the dismissal of Khalid from supreme command then and later in 638 from military services. Later on, Khalid gave a pledge of loyalty to the new Caliph and kept on serving as an ordinary commander under Abu Ubaidah. He is reported to have said:
“ If Abu Bakr is dead and Umar is Caliph, then we listen and obey. ”
There was inevitably a slowdown in the pace of military operations, as Abu Ubaida moved more slowly and steadily. The conquest of Syria continued under him. Abu Ubaidah, being an admirer of Khalid, made him commander of the cavalry and relied heavily on his advice during the whole campaign.
/Conquest of Central Levant/
Soon after the appointment of Abu-Ubaidah as commander in chief, he sent a small detachment to the annual fair held at Abu-al-Quds, modern day Abla, near Zahle 30 miles east of Beirut. There was a Byzantine and Christian Arab garrison nearby, but the size of the garrison was miscalculated by the Muslim informants. The garrison quickly encircled the small Muslim detachment, but before it was completely destroyed, Khalid came to the rescue of the Muslim army. Abu Ubaidah, having received new intelligence, had sent Khalid. Khalid reached the battlefield and defeated the garrison in the Battle of Abu-al-Quds on 15 October 634 A.D and returned with tons of looted booty from the fair and hundreds of Roman prisoners. By capturing central Syria, the Muslims had given a decisive blow to the Byzantines. The communication between Northern Syria and Palestine was now cut off. Abu Ubaidah decided to march to Fahl, which is about 500 feet below sea level, where a strong Byzantine garrison and survivors of Battle of Ajnadayn were present. The region was crucial because from here the Byzantine army could strike eastwards and cut Muslim’s communications with Arabia. Moreover, with this large garrison at their rear Palestine could not be invaded. These were the reasons why the Muslim army moved against Fahl. Khalid commanded the advance guard and reached Fahl first and found that the plains were flooded by the Byzantines who had blocked the River Jordan. The Byzantine army was eventually defeated at the Battle of Fahl on the 23rd of January 635 A.D.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=177792917975&topic=11461Meilleures salutations. Youssef CHARHABAILI.
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