While the victorious Muslim army enjoyed the
fruits of a hard-won victory at Ctesiphon, in Mesopotamia, the army, to which Khalid
Ibn al Walid was attached, continued its conquest of Byzantine lands north towards the very
heart of Heraclius’ empire. Welcome to our second video in the second
season covering the Muslim Conquests of the seventh century, and their continuation with
the battles of Jerusalem, Hazir and Jalula. Shoutout to MagellanTV for sponsoring this
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in the aftermath of Abu Ubaidah and Khalid Ibn al Walid’s triumph over the Romans at
Yarmouk. Exhausted from that long six-day struggle,
the Muslims remained camped around Jabiya for a month, collecting the bounties of war
and recuperating their strength. The scant few of Heraclius’ warriors who
survived the massacre fled north to the relative safety of Northern Syria, leaving Palestine
at the mercy of the Islamic forces. Without an army to check his progress, Abu
Ubaidah assembled his generals in October 636 to decide how best to exploit the situation. Some argued for an attack on the strategic
lynchpin of Caesarea - a coastal fortress whose garrison could be indefinitely reprovisioned
by the Roman navy if besieged, but which could also serve as a potential beachhead for a
counterattack if not taken. If the Muslims got it, the campaign for Palestine
would be over. However, other commanders pointed inland towards
a much simpler and symbolically enticing target - Jerusalem. Not only could this isolated city be strangled
into submission with relative ease, but the loss of their holiest place would be a crushing
blow to Roman Christian morale. Unable to come to a decision, Abu Ubaidah
sent a message to Caliph Umar asking his opinion. The reply was simple - take Jerusalem. So, Abu Ubaidah led the Muslim army straight
at the holy city. Realising what was about to happen, Jerusalem’s
patriarch Sophronius secretly sent the holiest Christian relics, including the true cross,
off to Constantinople by sea. The raiding Arab mobile guard under Khalid
reached Jerusalem sometime in November, just before the rest of the army, and this prompted
the Roman garrison to pull back inside. Discovering to their chagrin that its fortifications
had been reinforced after Yarmouk in anticipation of just such a siege, the five commanders
- Abu Ubaidah, Khalid, Yazid, Amr and Shurahbil, nevertheless blocked off all passage in and
out of Jerusalem. This state of affairs continued for four months
in a relatively uneventful siege of which few details survive. The situation in the city must have become
unbearable though, because in March 637 Sophronius offered to surrender Jerusalem if Umar himself
came and personally signed the treaty with him. When these terms became known, Shurahbil suggested
that Khalid, whose appearance was relatively similar to that of the caliph, should impersonate
their leader and secure a quick surrender. However, this attempt at deception failed
the next morning because Khalid was far too well known in the Levant by this point. When it did, Abu Ubaidah instead dispatched
a message to Medina explaining the situation. A few weeks later, having made the long journey
from Arabia, Caliph Umar arrived near Jerusalem. Khalid and Yazid greeted him, both dressed
in fine silk clothing, but this annoyed Umar - a firm enemy of luxury and a proponent of
the Spartan way of life. Seeing his generals in such a state of apparent
excess, the caliph picked up some pebbles and threw them at the two stunned men, shouting
“Shame on you, that you greet me in this fashion. It is only in the last two years that you
have eaten your fill!”. The caliph’s rage was quickly sated when
Khalid and Shurahbil revealed that they were, in fact, still carrying armour and weapons
beneath their fine outer garments. Drama aside, he quickly got down to business
and negotiated with Sophronius, with the result that Jerusalem was opened to the Muslims by
late April. It is said that the pact between Umar and
Sophronius recognised Christians as a ‘protected people’ with the right to practice their
own religion in return for the Jizya, but this ‘Covenant of Umar’ is probably apocryphal. Now that the holy city of Christendom was
in his hands, the caliph conferred with his commanders and then went back to Arabia. The Syrian army then split into thirds, with
Amr and Shurahbil moving to reoccupy and secure Palestine, Yazid besieging Caesarea, while
Khalid and Abu Ubaidah moved to begin the conquest of Northern Syria. With the situation in the region seemingly
hopeless after the Yarmouk disaster, Emperor Heraclius sailed from Antioch and withdrew
back into Anatolia, intent on consolidating Byzantine military strength and protecting
the remainder of his empire. Once the ship departed, it is said that Heraclius
said the words: “Farewell, a long farewell to Syria, my fair province. You are an enemy’s now. Peace be with you, o’ Syria, what a beautiful
land you will be for the enemy’s hands.” Despite this effective abandonment, some of
the Roman garrisons were still determined to resist the Arab advance. From Jerusalem, a 17,000 strong force under
Khalid and Abu Ubaidah marched unopposed to Damascus, and then even further north to Emesa. From there, Khalid was dispatched with his
elite mobile guard to Chalkis - modern Qinnasrin - but was intercepted on a plain at nearby
Hazir by 7,000 men under the town’s Roman commander - Menas. He deployed his limited forces in three divisions
- a centre and two wings, placing himself at the forefront. Khalid charged with his Arab cavalry and soon
enough a fearsome mounted engagement was underway. After only a short amount of time, however,
Menas was slain amidst heavy fighting, and his troops, who loved their general, went
wild with fury. Despite their numerical inferiority, the Roman
troops matched the Muslims pound-for-pound in the head-on clash, pushing them back a
little but committing themselves too much. To exploit the opportunity, Khalid detached
a unit of cavalry from one of his wings and led it around the Byzantine line, attacking
his enemy from the rear and defeating them. It is said that not a single Roman survived
this engagement at Hazir. Following this victory, in June 637, Khalid
moved on Chalkis itself, where the garrison was stubbornly fortified in the town’s citadel. Rather than launching an assault, the Muslim
general merely demanded those inside and the defenders surrender, which they did soon after. Abu Ubaidah rejoined Khalid at this point
and the pair moved north to Aleppo, where they defeated a minor Byzantine force commanded
by Joachim in a pitched battle outside the city. Much like at Chalkis, the Romans retreated
into their fortifications - a hilltop citadel outside Aleppo itself. Joachim sallied out a few times in an attempt
to break the siege, but failed, and by October 637 the city was in Arab hands. The greatest Roman city in Syria - Antioch,
was now close. To precipitate an attack on it, Ubaidah sent
a strike force to deal with the garrison at Azaz in the north, so that no Roman units
could hit them from the flank as they were taking Antioch. This was done swiftly, and when the strike
force returned Ubaidah’s advance on Antioch began. When the Muslim army was 12 miles from one
of the urban jewels of the Byzantine Empire, they were met at an iron bridge over the Orontes
River by a powerful Roman army who had come from Antioch. Although the details of this ‘Battle of
the Iron Bridge’ are also unknown, it is clear that Khalid used his mobile guard to
superb effect, crushing the Romans in a battle whose casualties were only exceeded by Ajnadayn
and Yarmouk. In the wake of thousands of fleeing enemy
soldiers, the Muslims approached and besieged Antioch, but taking the illustrious capital
of the east was an anticlimax. Only a few days into Abu Ubaidah’s investment
- October 30th, the weakened city surrendered on terms and its defenders were permitted
to withdraw north unmolested. Having cleaved the Eastern Roman Empire into
two disconnected pieces, Abu Ubaidah dispatched Khalid on a daring cavalry raid across the
Taurus Mountains and into the Tarsus region, while the supreme commander himself thrust
south down the Mediterranean coast, capturing seaports such as Laodicea, Gibala, Antarados
and Tripoli making it impossible for emperor Heraclius to use the superior Roman navy to
bring armies into the Levant. Although fighting in the area was far from
over, by late 637 most generals of Syrian campaign settled down to rule their respective
regions as governors1. At Hulwan, Yazdegerd III was still eager to
salvage his crumbling empire after the loss of Ctesiphon. To do this, he ordered the main Persian army
under Mihran and Khurrazad to halt their retreat and turn to face the invaders near Jalula. Armies attempting to push north past the riverside
town were forced to march through a narrow gap between the Tigris’ Diyala tributary
to the west side and an area of barely passable broken ground to the east. If Mihran’s 20-30,000 could hold this position,
the remainder of the northern Suwad and Sassanid territory east of the Zagros Mountains would
be unassailable. With the aim of converting Jalula into an
impenetrable fortress able to resist any enemy thrust, Mihran immediately started digging
in. A ditch was excavated three miles to the south
which connected the broken ground to the river, blocking the gap. Behind this trench were a number of other
fortifications, artillery and thousands of Persian archers, while in front were placed
an array of wooden anti-cavalry caltrops. Recruits were mustered, armed and trained
from the local area, and provisions were gathered from around the nearby countryside. Jalula was to be a crucial battle. The moment Sassanid defensive works began
around Jalula, word reached Sa’d in Ctesiphon that this was happening. As the Muslim general was just as keen to
seize the fertile northern Suwad as his Persian enemies were to keep hold of it, and wanting
to push the defensive frontier eastwards, Sa’d sent his nephew Hashim bin Utba with
12,000 troops to reduce the Persian position. In order to prevent reinforcement or retreat,
Sa’d also dispatched 5,000 men to deal with Persian governor Intaq’s garrison at Mosul. After several attempts at taking that city
by storm, Muslim spies managed to secure the defection of a Christian Arab contingent in
a betrayal which led to the fall of Mosul. In the main force heading for Jalula during
March 637, Hashim brought with him many companions of Muhammed, as well as the ever-ferocious
Qaqa ibn Amr. Also in the Muslim ranks were several thousand
Persian troops along with Sassanid officers who had joined them after Ctesiphon. When the Arabs and their Persian units approached
the Jalula gap after a day’s march from the former Sassanid capital, Hashim constructed
his camp and deployed along the southern arc of Mihran’s protective trench, unwilling
to launch an outright assault against it. So, the situation remained in this manner
for many months, during which reinforcements, provisions and money was channeled into the
fortified city from Hulwan, where Emperor Yazdegerd was continuously rallying additional
forces. Aware that his situation was only going to
worsen with time, Hashim ordered several attempts at storming the fortified ditch. Despite the disconcerting failure of Mihran’s
wooden caltrops to stop Arab cavalry, Persian missile troops managed to overwhelm and repel
these attacks. Afterwards, the Sassanids replaced the wooden
obstacles with more effective iron ones. Demoralised due to their lack of success in
breaking the Persian line, the Muslims ceased offensive actions for a while, and that gave
Mihran an opportunity of his own. Utilising the constant steady stream of reinforcements
coming his way, the Persian general began launching sorties against Hashim’s positions,
inflicting losses and gaining confidence as he did. Although the Muslim army was easily able to
fight up to 80 of these attacks off when they arrived and pushed Mihran back into his fortifications
repeatedly, there was still no way to break the deadlock. With little other option, Hashim sent word
back to Ctesiphon that he required reinforcements. Sa’d initially sent 600 infantry and 400
cavalry to bolster the army at Jalula, but this total was barely enough to replace the
losses suffered during eight months of battle and light siege. So, soon after, another 500 cavalry reinforcements
were dispatched which included many competent Arabic tribal chiefs who had fought against
the Caliphate in the Ridda Wars. The Persians, having been themselves reinforced
by Yazdegerd and emboldened by Muslim inability to break their defences, now decided to go
on the attack before Hashim was further reinforced. Mihran also realised that simply waiting wasn’t
going to win him the battle - the only way to make the Muslim invaders leave was to inflict
a decisive defeat on them. Deployment for an assault began with haste. Such Sassanid preparations for a major attack
could not be concealed, and it immediately attracted Hashim’s attention. This state of affairs was, however, also favourable
to the Muslims, who were utterly sick and tired of sitting helplessly outside Mihran’s
fortifications, So, to facilitate a pitched battle, Hashim withdrew his forces a short
distance to the south and allowed his Persian adversaries to cross their own entrenchments,
thereafter arraying for battle opposite. The actual order of battle at Jalula is obscure
to us, but we do know that two former ‘apostate’ chiefs - Amr bin Madi Karib of the Zubaid
family and Tuleiha bin Khuleiwad of the Banu Asad, were given command of the cavalry and
infantry respectively. Now that the Persian rear was anchored by
their own ditch, the only direction to move was forwards, and that is just what happened. At Mihran’s command, the Battle of Jalula
proper began with a full-scale Sassanid attack along the entire front, with archers and javelineers
loosing their projectiles before melee troops made contact. The charge struck with devastating impact,
but Hashim’s Muslims nevertheless resisted stalwartly for a time, refusing to give an
inch of ground. This didn’t last long however, as the ferocious
assault, fired up by constant shouts swearing vengeance for Qadissiyah and Ctesiphon, began
punching small holes in various places along the Muslim line. These successful thrusts endangered the integrity
of the entire Muslim front, and it was immediately clear to Hashim that the danger of total collapse
was very real, and perhaps imminent. To resolve the problem, Sa’d’s nephew
rode along his buckling line to speak inspirationally to those units which were weakening, proclaiming
that if they persisted, this was the last battle they would have to fight. The present clash between Sassanid and Muslim
troops became increasingly brutal as both sides’ missile units ran out of javelins
and arrows, instead taking up melee weapons and charging into the slog themselves. Both armies had units battered into non-functionality
by the extended fighting, but when this happened the Persians were able to replace them, while
Hashim had no such luxury. Because of this numerical disadvantage, one
Islamic unit gave way and routed to the rear at about noon, leaving a potentially fatal
vacuum in the Muslim line. However, either because Mihran did not notice
the opportunity or due to his soldiers’ exhaustion, an attack on the position was
not ordered and Hashim scraped together some men to fill the position. Witnessing the flight of this unit, Qaqa rode
back and restored order, returning it to the battle. Almost unbearable desert heat and the brutal
fighting led to the Persians halting their offensive just after this, and both sides
disengaged. After a short rest, Mihran planned to keep
piling on the pressure, but Hashim had other plans. As his enemy had before, the Muslim general
ordered his warriors to charge across the entire front, spoiling Mihran’s assault
and initiating another gruelling clash which lasting for over an hour without a decisive
moment. Just before sunset, however, the wind whipped
up and a storm rolled in from the south, a weather phenomenon which affected the Persians
more than the hardy desert nomads. As the wind was now at the Muslims’ back,
granting them momentum in the advance, Hashim signalled Qaqa ibn Amr to embark on a maneuver
they had prepared beforehand. While his general kept Mihran occupied in
front, the buccaneering Arab warrior took a regiment away from the left wing unnoticed
and managed to circle around the Persian rear. Instead of attacking immediately, Qaqa left
most of his outflanking force in a sheltered area to stop them being seen, then took a
few outriders and a man with an incredibly strong voice close to the main crossing point
over the Persian trench. Following the call, multiple things happened
at once. First, the Muslim army, deceived by their
own into believing that their general had reached the trench alone, attacked with renewed
vigour and peak morale. At the same time, worried that large numbers
of Muslims were now behind them, individual Sassanid units, who did not have a strategic
overview of the field, panicked, lost cohesion but did not break. The coup de grace was administered by Qaqa
himself, whose flanking force charged upon hearing the shout, whirling into Mihran’s
flank like a thunderbolt. At the impact, the Sassanid line was rolled
up before being encircled entirely. Still, however, the Persian forces were stalwart,
refusing to collapse utterly despite their unwinnable situation. Muslim forces continued attacking the encircled
but still resistant forces of Mihran all day, losing troops as they did. However, the Sassanid soldiers were only human. At sunset, as the sky began to darken, everything
fell apart and the Persians routed, only to be cut down as they fled. A great mass of them, driven into the ditch
and their own iron stakes by Hashim’s army, perished terribly. Up to half of the Sassanid army perished at
Jalula, while the remainder, including the town garrison, fled in the direction of Hulwan,
and the town itself fell in December 637. Shortly after, Qaqa rode in pursuit of the
retreating enemy and defeated them first at Khaniqeen, before besieging and capturing
Hulwan in January 638. Emperor Yazdegerd retreated beyond the Zagros. When Qaqa subsequently wrote to the caliph
asking permission to operate deeper in Persia, Umar would have absolutely none of it. Forbidding the operation, he replied “I
wish that between the Suwad and the hills were a wall which would prevent them from
getting to us and prevent us from getting to them. The fertile Suwad is sufficient for us, and
I prefer the safety of the Muslims to the spoils of war.” Expansion to the east was halted, but the
Muslims were now looking towards the jewel in the Roman imperial crown - Egypt. Our series will cover the campaign in Egypt
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