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81-521: The origins of the Judham are not clear. They may have been descendants of the northern Arabs , though the tribe itself claimed Yamanite (southern Arab) origins, perhaps in order to associate themselves with their Yamanite allies in Syria . Before the advent of Islam in the early 7th century, the Judham nomads roamed the desert frontier areas of Byzantine Palestine and Syria , controlling places such as

162-429: A skirmishing force, screening the main army until its arrival. Early Muslim sources mention that the army of Gregory had used chains to link together its foot soldiers, who had all taken an oath of death. The chains were in 10-man lengths as a proof of unshakeable courage on the part of the men, who thus displayed their willingness to die where they stood and not to retreat. The chains also acted as an insurance against

243-528: A breakthrough by enemy cavalry. However, modern historians suggest that the Byzantines adopted the Graeco-Roman testudo military formation in which soldiers would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with shields held high and an arrangement of 10 to 20 men would be completely shielded on all sides from missile fire, each soldier providing cover for an adjoining companion. The Byzantine cavalry was armed with

324-523: A call to arms for the invasion of Syria in February 634. The Muslim invasion of Syria was a series of carefully planned and well-co-ordinated military operations, which employed strategy, instead of pure strength, to deal with the Byzantine defensive measures. The Muslim armies, however, soon proved to be too small to handle the Byzantine response, and their commanders called for reinforcements. Khalid

405-473: A council of war to launch his attack just before dawn, to catch the Muslim force unprepared as they conducted their morning prayers. He planned to engage his two central armies with the Muslim centre in an effort to stall them while the main thrusts would be against the wings of the Muslim army, which would then be driven away from the battlefield or pushed towards the centre. To observe the battlefield, Vahan had

486-405: A decisive battle forced the Byzantines to concentrate their five armies in response. The Byzantines had for centuries avoided engaging in large-scale decisive battles, and the concentration of their forces created logistical strains for which the empire was ill-prepared. Damascus was the closest logistical base, but Mansur, leader of Damascus, could not fully supply the massive Byzantine army that

567-801: A descendant of Adnan and Ma'ad. Some other poems also celebrated and honored the victory of the people of Ma'ad against the tribe of Madh'hij in South Arabia. When the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II attacked the Qedarite Arabs during the time of Adnan , Ma'ad was sent away by his father, and after the defeat of the Qedarite and the death of both Adnan and Nebuchadnezzar II , many Adnanites who were not forced to live in Mesopotamia have fled away to Yemen , but Ma'ad, as

648-530: A letter to the Himyarite king ordering him to assemble an army of Himyarite soldiers and from Ma'ad under the leadership of a king of the nation of Ma'ad named " Kaisus " (Qays), in order to attack the borders of the Sasanian Empire , and then approved the leader of Ma'ad as a king on the region. The tradition of Ibn Ishaq states that Muhammad was the son of 'Abdullah, b. 'Abdu'I-Muttalib (whose name

729-401: A long sword, known as the spathion . They would also have had a light wooden lance , known as a kontarion and a bow ( toxarion ) with forty arrows in a quiver, hung from a saddle or from the belt. Heavy infantry, known as skoutatoi , had a short sword and a short spear. The lightly armed Byzantine troops and the archers carried a small shield, a bow hung from the shoulder across the back and

810-404: A mile apart. It is recorded in Muslim chronicles that before the battle started, George, a unit commander in the Byzantine right centre, rode up to the Muslim line and converted to Islam; he would die the same day fighting on the Muslim side. The battle began as the Byzantine army sent its champions to duel with the Muslim mubarizun . The mubarizun were specially trained swordsmen and lancers, with

891-399: A quiver of arrows. Cavalry armour consisted of a hauberk with a mail coif and a helmet with a pendant: a throat-guard lined with fabric and having a fringe and cheek piece. Infantry was similarly equipped with a hauberk, a helmet and leg armour. Light lamellar and scale armour was also used. Khalid's strategy of withdrawing from the occupied areas and concentrating all of his troops for

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972-797: A simultaneous counterattack in Iraq , in what was meant to be a well-coordinated effort. When Heraclius launched his offensive in May 636, Yazdegerd could not co-ordinate with the maneuver, probably owing to the exhausted condition of his government, and what would have been a decisive plan missed the mark. Byzantine preparations began in late 635 and by May 636 Heraclius had a large force concentrated at Antioch in Northern Syria. The assembled Byzantine army contingents consisted of Slavs , Franks , Georgians , Armenians , Christian Arabs , Lombards , Avars , Khazars , Balkans and Göktürks . The force

1053-484: Is Theophanes, who wrote a century later. Accounts of the battle vary, some stating it lasted a day, others six days. During a council of war, the command of the Muslim army was transferred to Khalid by Abu Ubaidah, Commander in Chief of the Muslim army. After taking command, Khalid reorganized the army into 36 infantry regiments and four cavalry regiments, with his cavalry elite, the mobile guard, held in reserve. The army

1134-632: Is the son of Adnan , the father of a group of the Ishmaelite Arabs who inhabited West and Northern Arabia. Adnan is believed by Arab genealogies to be the father of many Ishmaelite tribes along the Western Hijaz coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Najd . As it was reported, Ma'ad was first born of Adnan, his year of birth being 598 BCE. Ma'ad was the father of four sons: Nizar , Quda'a , Qunus and Iyad. Quda'a

1215-708: The Arab advance and to recover lost territory, Emperor Heraclius had sent a massive expedition to the Levant in May 636. As the Byzantine army approached, the Arabs tactically withdrew from Syria and regrouped all their forces at the Yarmuk plains close to the Arabian Peninsula , where they were reinforced, and defeated the numerically superior Byzantine army. The battle is widely regarded to be Khalid ibn al-Walid 's greatest military victory and to have cemented his reputation as one of

1296-640: The Banu Sakhr tribe inhabiting the province of al-Karak in modern Jordan belonged to the Judham, though in the Banu Sakhr's modern-day oral traditions, they claim descent from an 18th-century tribe of the Hejaz which entered modern Jordan in the 19th century. Their presence in Egypt is also reported by David E. Millis, Reuven Aharonia and others in the form of the al-Ayed/Aydeh clan the head of which married

1377-708: The Caucasus and Armenia , Heraclius launched a winter offensive against the Persians in Mesopotamia in 627, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Nineveh , thus threatening the Persian capital city of Ctesiphon . Discredited by the series of disasters, Khosrow II was overthrown and killed in a coup led by his son Kavad II , who immediately sued for peace and agreed to withdraw from all occupied territories of

1458-580: The Circassian maternal founder of Egypt's Abaza family during the reign of the Circassian Mamluks . Ma%27add Ma'ad ibn Adnan ( Arabic : مَعَدّ ٱبْن عَدْنَان , romanized :  Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān ) is an ancient ancestor of Qusai ibn Kilab and his descendant the Islamic prophet Muhammad . He is featured in ancient Arabic literature. According to traditions, Ma'ad

1539-783: The Madyan , Amman , Ma'an , Adhruh , Tabuk as far south as Wadi al-Qura . On the eve of the Muslim conquests , they dominated the territory extending from the environs of Tabuk northward to the areas east of the Wadi Araba valley and the Dead Sea , including the Balqa region around modern Amman. The origins of the Judham are obscure. They were a brother tribe of the Lakhm and Amila , with whom they dwelt and were closely allied. According to

1620-810: The Namara inscription as a nation that was conquered by the Lakhmid king Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr , along with other Arab nation from North, Central-West and South Arabia. From some of the reports of about the relations between the Lakhmids and the nation of Ma'ad, it can be concluded that the kings of the Northern Arab kingdoms feared them and viewed them as mighty opponent because of their powerful war tactics, even when they conquered them, they treated their kings with high respect as important people, and gave them large conquered colonies to rule, as reported in

1701-480: The Namara inscription . Such views are also supported by the Classical Arabic writings. The nation of Ma'ad was mentioned by the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (c. 500 CE – c. 565 CE) in his historical record of the wars of Justinian I . He mentioned that a Saracen nation named " Maddeni " (Ma'ad) were subjects with the kingdom of the " Homeritae " ( Himyarites ), and that Justinian sent

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1782-492: The 8th-century genealogist Muhammad ibn Sa'ib al-Kalbi declared the tribe to be autochthonous descendants of the Biblical Midianites . The Judham served as foederati (tribal confederate troops) of the Byzantines and through their contact with the latter became Christians, albeit superficially. However, their Christianity was disputed by the 9th-century historian Hisham ibn al-Kalbi who asserted that during

1863-541: The Amila other than they were an ancient tribe. The Judham emerged as a tribe later than its two counterparts but was considerably larger than both. Nonetheless, it probably incorporated elements of much older populations in the southern Syrian region, according to Caskel. Although supporting evidence is lacking, a saying attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad declares the Judham to be the people of Shu'ayb ( Jethro ) and

1944-781: The Byzantine Empire. Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem with a majestic ceremony in 629. Meanwhile, there had been rapid political development in the Arabian Peninsula, where Muhammad had been preaching Islam and, by 630, had successfully annexed most of Arabia under a single political authority. When Muhammad died in June 632, Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph and his political successor. Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, and several Arab tribes openly revolted against him. He declared war against

2025-525: The Byzantine army in the Balqa. A certain leader of the Judham in the area of Amman or Ma'an, Farwa ibn Amr , embraced Islam and was consequently crucified by the Byzantine authorities, though the historian Fred Donner holds the story of Farwa "may be merely a pious legend". After the death of Muhammad in 632, the Dhubayb defected from the nascent, Medina -based Muslim state and was the target of an assault by

2106-582: The Byzantine army. On Khalid's advice the Muslim forces retreated to Dara'ah (or Dara) and Dayr Ayyub, covering the gap between the Yarmuk Gorges and the Harra lava plains, and established a line of camps in the eastern part of the plain of Yarmuk. This was a strong defensive position, and the maneuverers brought the Muslims and Byzantines into a decisive battle, which the latter had tried to avoid. During

2187-480: The Byzantine assault lacked determination; many Byzantine soldiers were unable to press the attack against the Muslim veterans. The fighting was generally moderate although in some places, it was especially intense. Vahan did not reinforce his forward infantry , two thirds of which was kept in reserve with one third deployed to engage the Muslims, and at sunset, both armies broke contact and returned to their respective camps. Phase 1: On 16 August, Vahan decided in

2268-467: The Byzantine battle line at 13 kilometres (8.1 mi). The centre of the army was under the command of Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (left centre) and Shurahbil bin Hasana (right centre). The left wing was under the command of Yazid and the right wing was under Amr ibn al-A's. The centre, left and right wings were given cavalry regiments, to be used as a reserve for a counterattack if they were pushed back by

2349-503: The Byzantine era, the Judham worshiped the pagan idol al-Uqaysir. Some sections were also inclined towards Judaism, however, few actually converted to the faith. The Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir in Yathrib (Medina) descended from the Judham. During the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , the Judham rejected Islam and remained loyal to the Byzantine Empire. They blocked Muhammad's northward expansion into Syria by fighting alongside

2430-401: The Byzantines at the Battle of Mu'ta in 629. One of their clans, the Dhubayb, afterward converted to Islam, but the tribe as a whole still opposed the Muslims, who launched punitive expeditions against them under the command of Zayd ibn Haritha and Amr ibn al-As . The Islamic prophet's expedition to Tabuk in 630 was partly a response to reports that the Judham and Lakhm were mobilizing with

2511-415: The Byzantines or the Muslims. Though the Judham and Lakhm converted to Islam as the Muslim conquest of Syria proceeded, their earlier service with Byzantines was likely the reason Caliph Umar ( r.  634–644 ) excluded the two tribes from the distribution of war spoils during a summit of the Muslim armies at Jabiya in 637 or 638. In the Muslim military administration of Syria , the Judham became

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2592-499: The Byzantines, who fearing that the Muslims with such reinforcements would grow powerful, decided that they had no choice but to attack. The reinforcements that were sent to the Muslims at Yarmuk arrived in small bands, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements to demoralize the Byzantines to compel them to attack. The same tactic would be repeated again during the Battle of Qadisiyah . The battle began on 15 August. At dawn, both armies lined up for battle less than

2673-524: The Byzantines. Behind the centre stood the mobile guard under the personal command of Khalid. If Khalid was too occupied in leading the general army, Dharar ibn al-Azwar would command the mobile guard. Over the course of the battle, Khalid would repeatedly make critical and decisive use of that mounted reserve. Khalid sent out several scouts to keep the Byzantines under observation. In late July, Vahan sent Jabalah with his lightly armoured Christian-Arab forces to reconnoitre-in-force, but they were repulsed by

2754-536: The Judham infantry led by Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari . Natil belonged to the Judham's preeminent clan, the Sa'd ibn Malik, and was referred to in the sources as sayyid Judhām bi-l-Shām (leader of the Judham of Syria). Rawh was younger than Natil and hailed from the Sa'd ibn Malik's brother clan, the Wa'il ibn Malik. The Sa'd traditionally provided the chiefs of at least a large part of the Judham and there are no indications in

2835-744: The Judham under Natil allied with Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr , a rival, Mecca -based claimant to the caliphate, while Rawh supported the Umayyad Marwan I . Following Marwan's victory over the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr at the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684, the Quda'a and the Kalb changed genealogical affiliation to the Qahtan and formed the Yaman (Yemenite) confederation in opposition to the pro-Zubayrid Qays tribes of northern Syria. The Judham remained allies of

2916-724: The Kalb and together the two tribes formed the linchpin of the Yaman confederation in Syria during the struggle with the Qays . Natil fled Palestine or was killed and by the reign of Caliph Abd al-Malik ( r.  685–705 ), Rawh became the undisputed leader of the Judham. The tribe remained closely allied with the Umayyads until their demise in 750. A branch of the Judham called the Banu Bayadh or al-Bayyadhiyin were recorded as inhabiting

2997-460: The Monophysite and Chalcedonian factions, of negligible direct impact, certainly inflamed underlying tensions. The effect of the feuds was decreased coordination and planning, one of the reasons for the catastrophic Byzantine defeat. The battle lines of the Muslims and the Byzantines were divided into four sections: the left wing, the left centre, the right centre and the right wing. Note that

3078-621: The Muslim forces were geographically divided, Heraclius sought to exploit that situation and planned to attack. He did not wish to engage in a single pitched battle but rather to employ central position and fight the enemy in detail by concentrating large forces against each of the Muslim corps before they could consolidate their troops. By forcing the Muslims to retreat, or by destroying Muslim forces separately, he would fulfil his strategy of recapturing lost territory. Reinforcements were sent to Caesarea under Heraclius' son Constantine III , probably to tie down Yazid's forces, which were besieging

3159-456: The Muslim general Usama ibn Zayd at the beginning of Caliph Abu Bakr 's reign (632–634). The Judham formed part of the Arab contingents of Byzantine emperor Heraclius 's army at the Battle of Yarmouk in 636, but were defeated. A number of Judham clans also fought in the Muslims' ranks at Yarmouk, suggesting political divisions within the tribe played a role determining a clan's allegiance with

3240-494: The Muslim troops concentrated there, the hill gave a good view of the plain of Yarmuk. The ravine on the west of the battlefield was accessible at a few places in 636 AD, and had one main crossing: a Roman bridge ( Jisr-ur-Ruqqad ) near Ain Dhakar Logistically, the Yarmuk plain had enough water supplies and pastures to sustain both armies. The plain was excellent for cavalry maneuvers. Most early accounts place

3321-530: The Muslims encamped at the Yarmuk plain, the Byzantine army, preceded by the lightly armed Ghassanids of Jabalah, moved forward and established strongly fortified camps just north of the Wadi-ur-Ruqqad. The right flank of the Byzantine army was at the south end of the plains, near the Yarmuk River and about a mile before the ravines of Wadi al Allan began. The left flank of the Byzantines was at

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3402-410: The Persians from Anatolia but was decisively defeated in 613 when he launched a major offensive in Syria against the Persians. Over the following decade, the Persians were able to conquer Palestine and Egypt . Meanwhile, Heraclius prepared for a counterattack and rebuilt his army. In 622, Heraclius finally launched his offensive. After his overwhelming victories over the Persians and their allies in

3483-698: The Qanas branch of the Ma'add tribe or the Banu Asad , another branch of the Ma'add. As Rawh sought to forge stronger ties to the Banu Kalb, he petitioned Yazid to recognize the Judham as descendants of Ma'add and thus kinsmen of the Quda'a; Natil opposed Rawh's initiative and insisted on affiliation with Qahtan, the progenitor of the Yemenite tribes. Following the death of Yazid's son and successor Mu'awiya II in 684,

3564-536: The Rashidun stronghold of Najd, if retreat became necessary. Instructions were also issued to return jizya (tribute) to people who had paid it. However, once concentrated at Jabiyah, the Muslims were subject to raids from pro-Byzantine Ghassanid forces. Encamping in the region was also precarious as a strong Byzantine force was garrisoned in Caeseara and could attack the Muslim rear while they were held in front by

3645-593: The Roman gladius and Sassanid long swords were used; long swords were usually carried by horsemen. Swords were hung in baldrics . Bows were about 2 metres (6.6 ft) long when unbraced, similar in size to the famous English longbow. The maximum useful range of the traditional Arabian bow was about 150 m (490 ft). Early Muslim archers, while being infantry archers without the mobility of horseback archer regiments, proved to be very effective in defending against light and unarmoured cavalry attacks. A few days after

3726-849: The Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk ) was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate . The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636, near the Yarmouk River (also called the Hieromyces River), along what are now the borders of Syria–Jordan and Syria-Israel , southeast of the Sea of Galilee . The result of

3807-602: The Yarmuk River, a tributary of the Jordan River , on its south. The stream had very steep banks, ranging from 30 m (98 ft)–200 m (660 ft) in height. On the north is the Jabiyah road and to the east are the Azra hills although the hills were outside the actual field of battle. Strategically, there was only one prominence in the battlefield: a 100 m (330 ft) elevation known as Tel al Jumm'a , and for

3888-400: The battle was a decisive Muslim victory that ended Roman rule in Syria after about seven centuries. The Battle of the Yarmuk is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, and it marked the first great wave of early Muslim conquests after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , heralding the rapid advance of Islam into the then-Christian/Roman Levant . To check

3969-490: The battle, on Vahan's invitation, Khalid came to negotiate peace, with a similar end. The negotiations delayed the battles for a month. On the other hand, Umar, whose forces at Qadisiyah were threatened with confronting the Sassanid armies , ordered Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas to enter negotiations with the Persians and to send emissaries to Yazdegerd III and his commander Rostam Farrokhzād , apparently inviting them to Islam. That

4050-687: The caliphs' courts. The other tribes in Syria sought to join or oust the Quda'a from its position of power. From the pre-Islamic period until the end of the Sufyanid period in 684, the Quda'a claimed genealogical descent from the Ma'add , a northern Arabian tribe mentioned in the 4th-century Namara inscription . During the Sufyanid period, the Judham (along with the Lakhm and Amila tribes) were held by most sources to be of Yemeni (south Arabian) descent, though there were also sources which claimed they were descendants of

4131-466: The descriptions of the Muslim and the Byzantine battle lines are exactly each other's opposite: the Muslim right wing faced the Byzantine left wing (see image ). Vahan was instructed by Heraclius not to engage in battle until all avenues of diplomacy had been explored, probably because Yazdegerd III 's forces were not yet ready for the offensive in Iraq . Accordingly, Vahan sent Gregory and then Jabalah to negotiate, but their efforts proved futile. Before

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4212-412: The famous Seven Mu'allaqat . From those poems, it can be seen that Ma'ad was venerated by Pre-Islamic Arabs , and for some reason, they believed that all the glories throughout the whole Arab history is considered nothing when compared to the glory of Ma'ad. From some other poems, it appears that the nation of Ma'ad presented a large majority among Pre-Islamic Arabs . Ma'ad was mentioned by name in

4293-473: The friend of the Compassionate. Battle of Yarmouk This is an accepted version of this page The Levant Egypt North Africa Anatolia & Constantinople Border conflicts Sicily and Southern Italy Naval warfare Byzantine reconquest Ridda Wars Conquest of Sasanian Persia Conquest of Byzantine Syria Campaigns in Africa Campaigns in Armenia and Anatolia The Battle of

4374-402: The greatest tacticians and cavalry commanders in history. In 610, during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 , Heraclius became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, after overthrowing Phocas . Meanwhile, the Sasanian Empire conquered Mesopotamia and in 611 they overran Syria and entered Anatolia , occupying Caesarea Mazaca (now Kayseri , Turkey). In 612, Heraclius managed to expel

4455-409: The historian Werner Caskel , the three tribes were not actually related. Rather, their genealogical relationship was forged to seal their political alliance, either after they entered Palestine in the mid-7th century or before, when their abodes were concentrated east of the Dead Sea and Arabah Valley . The Lakhm emerge in the historical record no later than the 3rd century CE and little is known of

4536-414: The largest tribe in Jund Filastin (the military district of Palestine). In the First Muslim Civil War , the Judham fought in the army of Syria's governor, Mu'awiya I , against the Iraq-based forces of Caliph Ali ( r.  656–661 ). At the Battle of Siffin in 657, they formed the following contingents: the Judham of Palestine led by Rawh ibn Zinba , the Judham and Lakhm under Natil ibn Qays , and

4617-413: The left by Qanatir. The centre was formed by the army of Dairjan and the Armenian army of Vahan, both under the overall command of Dairjan. The Byzantine regular heavy cavalry , the cataphract , was distributed equally among the four armies, each army deploying its infantry at the forefront and its cavalry as a reserve in the rear. Vahan deployed Jabalah's Christian Arabs , mounted on horses and camels, as

4698-421: The maneuvers, there were no engagements except for a minor skirmish between Khalid's elite light cavalry and the Byzantine advance guard. The battlefield lies in the plain of Jordanian Hauran , just southeast of the Golan Heights , an upland region currently on the frontier between Jordan and Syria, east of the Sea of Galilee . The battle was fought on the plain east of Raqqat stream ravine. That ravine joins

4779-749: The mobile guard. After the skirmish, no engagement occurred for a month. Helmets used included gilded helmets similar to the silver helmets of the Sassanid empire. Mail was commonly used to protect the face, neck, and cheeks as an aventail from the helmet or as a mail coif. Heavy leather sandals, as well as Roman-type sandal boots, were also typical of the early Muslim soldiers. Armour included hardened leather scale or lamellar armour and mail armour . Infantry soldiers were more heavily armoured than horsemen. Large wooden or wickerwork shields were used. Long-shafted spears were used, with infantry spears being 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long and cavalry spears being up to 5.5 m (18 ft) long. Short infantry swords like

4860-425: The north, a short distance before the Hills of Jabiyah began, and was relatively exposed. Vahan deployed the Imperial Army facing east, with a front about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) long, as he was trying to cover the whole area between the Yarmuk gorge in the south and the Roman road to Egypt in the north, and substantial gaps had been left between the Byzantine divisions. The right wing was commanded by Gregory and

4941-430: The northern Sinai Peninsula by the 10th-century geographer al-Hamdani and later inhabiting the Syrian Desert oasis of Qatya in the 13th-century. At least part of the Judham eventually fused with the Amila in the Galilee area, and in the early 11th century, they moved into southern, present-day Lebanon. In the Mamluk era in the 13th–15th centuries, the historians Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari and al-Qalqashandi mention that

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5022-402: The objective to slay as many enemy commanders as possible to damage their morale. At midday, after losing a number of commanders in the duels, Vahan ordered a limited attack with a third of his infantry forces to test the strength and strategy of the Muslim army and, using their overwhelming numerical and weaponry superiority, achieve a breakthrough wherever the Muslim battle line was weak. However

5103-413: The operation from Antioch. Byzantine sources mention Niketas, son of the Persian general Shahrbaraz , among the commanders, but it is not certain which army he commanded. The Rashidun army was then split into four groups: one under Amr in Palestine, one under Shurahbil in Jordan, one under Yazid in the Damascus - Caesarea region and the last one under Abu Ubaidah along with Khalid at Emesa. As

5184-504: The rebels. In what became known as the Ridda wars of 632–633, Abu Bakr managed to defeat his opponents and unite Arabia under the central authority of the caliph at Medina . Once the rebels had been subdued, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest, beginning with Iraq . His most brilliant general, Khalid ibn al-Walid , conquered Iraq in a series of successful campaigns against the Sassanid Persians. Abu Bakr's confidence grew, and once Khalid had established his stronghold in Iraq, Abu Bakr issued

5265-406: The series of setbacks, Heraclius prepared for a counterattack to reacquire the lost regions. In 635 Yazdegerd III , the Emperor of Persia , sought an alliance with the Byzantine Emperor. Heraclius married off his daughter (according to traditions, his granddaughter) Manyanh to Yazdegerd III, to cement the alliance. While Heraclius prepared for a major offensive in the Levant, Yazdegerd was to mount

5346-410: The size of the Muslim forces between 36,000 and 40,000 and the number of Byzantine forces between 60,000 and 70,000 (This number has been estimated by taking into account the logistical situation of the Empire and with the view that they could never have mustered such troops when the Empire was at its apex but especially not with the especially weak and exhausted realm of 628 onwards). Modern estimates for

5427-430: The sizes of the respective armies vary: some estimates for the Byzantine army are around 40,000 at most, while other estimates are 15,000 to 20,000. Estimates for the Rashidun army are between 15,000 and 40,000, most likely around 36,000. Original accounts are mostly from Arab sources, generally agreeing that the Byzantine army and their allies outnumbered the Muslim Arabs by a 2 to 1. The only early Byzantine source

5508-407: The sources of a rivalry between the Sa'd and Wa'il clans during the pre-Islamic period . Rivalries for leadership of the tribe between Natil and Rawh developed during the caliphate of Mu'awiya I (661–680). During the reigns of Mu'awiya I and Yazid I ( r.  680–683 ), the Quda'a tribal confederation, of which the Banu Kalb were the leading component, obtained high ranks and privileges in

5589-477: The successor of his father, ordered them to return to Hijaz and Northern Arabia . The defeat and displacement of the people of Ma'ad seemed to be viewed by Pre-Islamic Arabs as a disastrous event, so that it was used as a proverbial measure in describing the horror of their later defeats. Ma'ad, unlike his father, was mentioned countless times by Pre-Islamic Arab poets across the whole Arabian Peninsula , including Ghassanid and Christian poets, even in

5670-415: The town. The Byzantine imperial army moved out from Antioch and Northern Syria in the middle of June 636. The Byzantine imperial army was to operate under the following plan: The Muslims discovered Heraclius' preparations at Shaizar from Byzantine prisoners. Alert to the possibility of being caught with separated forces that could be destroyed, Khalid called a council of war and advised Abu Ubaidah to pull

5751-441: The troops back from Palestine and Northern and Central Syria and concentrate the entire Rashidun army in one place. Abu Ubaidah ordered the concentration of troops in the vast plain near Jabiyah , as control of the area made cavalry charges possible and facilitated the arrival of reinforcements from Umar, so that a strong, united force could be fielded against the Byzantine armies. The position also benefited from close proximity to

5832-534: The various Byzantine commanders were also fraught with tension. There was a struggle for power between Trithurios and Vahan, Jarajis, and Qanatir (Buccinator). Jabalah, the Christian Arab leader, was largely ignored, to the detriment of the Byzantines given his knowledge of the local terrain. An atmosphere of mistrust thus existed between the Romans, Armenians and Arabs. Longstanding ecclesiastical feuds between

5913-430: Was Shayba), b. Hashim (whose name was 'Amr), b. Abd Manaf (whose name was al-Mughira), b. Qusay (whose name was Zayd), b. Kilab , b. Murrah , b. Ka'b, b. Lu'ayy , b. Ghalib, b. Fihr , b. Malik , b. al-Nadr , b. Kinana , b. Khuzayma , b. Mudrika (whose name was 'Amir), b. Ilyas , b. Mudar , b. Nizar , b. Ma'add , b. Adnan , b. Udd (or Udad),....b. Ya'rub, b. Yashjub, b. Qedar , b. Isma'il , b. Ibrahim ,

5994-434: Was a citizen army , in contrast to a mercenary army, the age of the soldiers ranged from 20 (in the case of Khalid's son) to 70 (in the case of Ammar). Three of the ten companions promised paradise by Muhammad , namely Sa'id, Zubayr and Abu Ubaidah, were present at Yarmuk. Umar, apparently wanting to defeat the Byzantines first, used the best Muslim troops against them. The continuing stream of Muslim reinforcements worried

6075-431: Was gathered at the Yarmuk plain. Several clashes were reported with local citizens over supply requisition, as summer was at an end and there was a decline of pasturage. Greek court sources accused Vahan of treason for his disobedience to Heraclius' command not to engage in large-scale battle with Arabs. Given the massing of the Muslim armies at Yarmuk, however, Vahan had little choice but to respond in kind. Relations between

6156-981: Was most probably the delaying tactic employed by Umar on the Persian front. Meanwhile, he sent reinforcements of 6,000 troops, mostly from Yemen, to Khalid. The force included 1,000 Sahaba (companions of Muhammad), among whom were 100 veterans of the Battle of Badr , the first battle in Islamic history, and included citizens of the highest rank, such as Zubayr ibn al-Awwam , Abu Sufyan , and his wife Hind bint Utbah . Also present were such distinct companions as Sa'id ibn Zayd , Fadl ibn Abbas , Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr (the son of Abu Bakr ), Abdullah ibn Umar (the son of Umar ), Aban ibn Uthman (the son of Uthman ), Abdulreman ibn Khalid (the son of Khalid), Abdullah ibn Ja'far (the nephew of Ali ), Ammar ibn Yasir , Miqdad ibn Aswad , Abu Dharr al-Ghifari , Malik al-Ashtar , Abu Ayyub al-Ansari , Qays ibn Sa'd , Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman , Ubada ibn as-Samit , Hisham ibn al-A'as , Abu Huraira and Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl . As it

6237-499: Was organised in the Tabi'a formation, a tight, defensive infantry formation. The army was lined up on a front of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi), facing west, with its left flank lying south on the Yarmuk River a mile before the ravines of Wadi al-Allan began. The army's right flank was on the Jabiyah road in the north across the heights of Tel al Jumm'a , with substantial gaps between the divisions so that their frontage would match that of

6318-633: Was organized into five armies, the joint leader of which was Theodore Trithyrius . Vahan, an Armenian and the former garrison commander of Emesa, was made the overall field commander, and had under his command a purely Armenian army. Buccinator (Qanatir), a Slavic prince, commanded the Slavs and Jabalah ibn al-Aiham , king of the Ghassanid Arabs, commanded an exclusively Christian Arab force. The remaining contingents, all European, were placed under Gregory and Dairjan. Heraclius himself supervised

6399-478: Was replaced by Abu Ubaidah . Having secured southern Palestine, Muslim forces now advanced up the trade route, and Tiberias and Baalbek fell without much struggle and conquered Emesa early in 636. The Muslims then continued their conquest across the Levant . Having seized Emesa, the Muslims were just a march away from Aleppo , a Byzantine stronghold, and Antioch , where Heraclius resided. Seriously alarmed by

6480-583: Was sent by Abu Bakr from Iraq to Syria with reinforcements and to lead the invasion. In July, the Byzantines were decisively defeated at Ajnadayn . Damascus fell in September, followed by the Battle of Fahl , in which the last significant garrison of Palestine was routed. After Abu Bakr died in 634, his successor, Umar , was determined to continue the Caliphate 's expansion deeper into Syria. Though previous campaigns led by Khalid had been successful, he

6561-550: Was the first-born and so Ma'ad ibn Adnan was known by his Kunya "Abu Quda'a." From the poems composed by Pre-Islamic poets, and from their statements, it can be concluded that Ma'ad was more venerated and more important than his father Adnan , evidenced by the number of times when he was mentioned in Pre-Islamic poetries, and how he was described and honored by his descendants' tribes when boasting against other tribes, some other poets even considered it as "disgrace" not to be

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