User:Mohammad adil/sandbox3

The Battle of Yarmouk (also spelled Yarmuk, Yarmuq or Hieromyax) took place between the Muslims and the Byzantine Empire in 636. It is considered by some historians to have been one of the most significant battles in the history of the world, since it marked the first great wave of Muslim conquests outside Arabia, and heralded the rapid advance of Islam into Christian Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia.The battle took place only four years after the prophet Muhammad died in 632. He was succeeded by the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, who sought to bring all the Arabians under Muslim control. In 633 Muslim armies invaded Syria, and after raids and skirmishing quickly captured Damascus once a stronghold of byzantine Empire in 635, and continue there conquest across the Levant, soon after the conquest of Damascus Muslims defeated a large Byzantine army at Battle of Ajnadayn and Battle of Fahal.

Background
Heraclius decided to organize a massive army such an army as had never been seen in Syria, and with this army he would bring the Muslims to the battle, this was to turn defeat of Byzantine Empire into a glorious triumph.

In late 635 A.D Heraclius begins the preparations for his great maneuver, by May 636 A.D an army of 150,000 was put under arms and was concentrated at Antioch and northern Syria, for this purpose entire corps had been gathered from all parts of the empire including many dignitaries of Church. This powerful military force consisted of contingents of Russians, Slavs, Franks, Romans, Greeks, Georgians, Armenians and Christian Arabs.

This force was organised into five armies, each of about 30,000 soldiers. The commanders of these armies were: Mahan, King of Armenia who commanded a purely Armenian army; Qanateer, a Russian prince commanded all the Russians and Slavs; Jabla bin AI Eiham King of the Ghassanid Arabs commanded an exclusively Christian Arab force.The remaining contingents (all European) were placed under Gregory and Dairjan. Mahan was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the entire Imperial army.

At this time the Muslims were split in four groups: Amr bin Al Aas in Palestine, Shurahbil in Jordan, Yazeed at Caesarea, and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah along with Khalid ibn al-Walid at Emesa and to the north, this situation was fully exploited by Heraclius in the plan which he put into execution to attack and destroy each of the Muslim’s corps separately putting a large concentration of army against them in the battle field. Reinforcement was sent to Caesarea under Heraclius’s son Constantine probably to tie down Yazeed’s forces there so that it would not move to join other Muslim’s corps to help them. The rest of the imperial army was to operate on the following plan:

a. Qanateer would move along the coastal route up to Beirut, then approach Damascus from the west and cut off Abu Ubaidah. b. Jabla would march from Aleppo on the direct route to Emessa via Hama, and hold the Muslims frontally in the Emessa region. The Christian Arabs would be the first to contact the Muslim Arabs. c. Dairjan would move between the coast and the Aleppo road and approach Emessa from the west, thus striking the Muslims in their flank while they were held frontally by Jabla. d. Gregory would advance on Emessa from the north-east and attack the Muslims in their right flanks at the same time as they were struck by Dairjan. e. Mahan’s army would advance behind the Christian Arabs and act as a reserve. .

The imperial army was launched from Antioch and Northern Syria some time in the middle of June 636 A.D. It was at Shaizar, through Roman prisoners, that the Muslims first came to know of the preparations being made by Heraclius. Khalid ibn al-Walid advised Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah to pull back from North and Central Syria, as well as from Palestine, and concentrates the whole army so that strong, united opposition could be put up against the Byzantine Forces, and in case of retreat the Arabian Desert will not be too far. . Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah ordered the commanders to give up the territory in their occupation and withdrawal the army to Jabiya he also ordered the commanders to return the Jizya (tribute) to the people who had paid it. .

In the middle of the July 636 A.D in a council of war Khalid bin Walid gave his plan to Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, the commander in chief of the Muslim’s army.

“"Know, O Commander, that if you stay at Jabiys, you will be helping the enemy against you. In Caesarea, which is not far from Jabiya, there are 40,000 Romans under Constantine, son of Heraclius . I advise you to move from here and place Azra behind you and be on the plain of Yarmuk. Thus it would be easier for the Caliph to send reinforcements and ahead of you there would be a large plain, suitable for the charge of cavalry.".

The Muslim’s army moved to wards yermuk plane during which there was a skirmish between Khalid‘s mobile guard and Byzantine cavalry. The Muslims established a line of camps in the eastern part of plain of yermuk. Here Abu Ubaidah was joined by the corps of Shurahbil, Amr ibn al-A'as and Yazeed.

A few days later the Byzantine army, proceeded by the lightly armed Christian Arabs of Jabla, moved up and established their camps just north of the Wadi-ur-Raqqad.

The Early Muslim historian Muhammad bin Umar Al-Waqidi Al-Aslami describes it as To the Muslims the Romans looked like 'a swarm of locusts.

Heraclius Instructed Mahan the commander in Chief of the imperial army to not to start battle until all avenues of peaceful negotiation had been explored. Mahan sent Gregory to hold talks with Muslims if they would agree to retire to Arabia and not come back again but he failed, later Jabla was sent but no results came. Before the Battle, on Mahan’s invitation Khalid also went to hold talks but still no results. Caliph Umar sent the reinforcement of 6000 mostly from Yemen. Muslims now had an army of 40,000 warriors, including 1,000 Sahaba, and these in turn included 100 veterans of the Battle of Badr the first battle of Islam. The army included citizens of the highest rank, such as Zubair, Abu Sufyan and his wife, Hind. .

Byzantine Army
Mahan deployed the Imperial Army forward of Allan. He used his four regular armies to form the line of battle which was 12 miles long, extending from the Yarmuk to south of the Hill of Jabiya. The right wing was commanded by Gregory and on his left the army of Qanateer. The centre was formed by the army of Dairjan and the Armenian army of Mahan-both under the command of Dairjan. The Roman regular Cavalry was distributed equally among the four armies, and each army deployed with its infantry holding the front and its cavalry held as a reserve in the rear. Ahead of the front line, across the entire 12-mile front, Mahan deployed the Christian Arab army of Jabla, which was all mounted-horse and camel.This army acted as a screen and Skirmish line, until they would be joined by the main army. The army of Gregory, which formed the right wing, used chains to link its 30,000 foot soldiers. . All these 30,000 foot soldiers had taken the oath of death. These chains were in 10-men lengths, and were used 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 a break-through by enemy cavalry.

Muslim’s army
During a council of war Khalid ibn Walid, conqueror of Iraq and a former commander in chief of the muslim's army at campaign of syria, offered his services as a commander of muslim's army untill the battle was over, and command of muslim's army was given to him that day. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah was a respected man and was a fearless fighter, but his militery prowess were not like that of legendary General Khalid ibn Walid. . Khalid after taking the command reorganized the army in to infantry and cavalry regiments. Muslims had 40,000 men amoung which 10,000 was the cavalry. Khalid divided the army in to 36 infantry regiments, with 800-900 men each and 4 cavalry regiments. Three regiments with 2000 horse men each and a reserve mobile guard of 4000 horse men. The army was lined over a front of 11 miles, with it's left on Yarmouk River a mile before the ravine began and right on Jabiya road. The Center of the army was under the command of Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (left half) and Shurhabeel bin Hassana (right half). The left wing was under the command of Yazeed and the right wing was under Amr ibn al-A'as command.Left and right wings were given the cavalry regiment under command which will be used as a reserve for counter attack incase they would be pushed back by the Byzantine army. Behind the center stood one cavalry regiment and stood a mobile guard under personal command of Khalid, at a time when Khalid would be busy in the conducts of the battle Zirrar ibn al-Azwar will be the commander of mobile guard.The commanders of the cavalry regiments were Qais bin Hubaira, Maisara bin Masruq and Amir bin Tufail. Each of the four corps had nine infantry regiments, which were all reformed on a tribal and clan basis, so that every man would fight next to well-known comrades, and corps pushed out a line of scouts to keep the Byzantine under observation. . . In late July 636 A.D, Mahan sent Jabla with his Christian Arabs forces to check the strength of the Muslim's front, before Jabla could reached with his army to the muslim's front Khalid with his mobile guard attacked and droved back the Jabla's corps.. .After this operation nothing happned for a month. At muslim's camp womens were instructed by Abu Ubaidah that they should safeguard them selves during the battle from the Byzantine forces and also to check the retreat of the muslims corps.

The battlefield
The battlefield lies about 40 miles from Golan heights disputed upland region on the border between Israel and Syria, northeast of the Sea of Galilee. . . The battlefield which stretched between the two camps consisted of the Plain of Yarmouk which was enclosed on its western and southern sides by deep ravines, known as Wadi-ur-Raqqad with the banks about 1000 feet deep,this ravine joins Yarmouk River on it's southern side.On the south of the battle field lies the Yarmouk River with is a tributary of River Jordan, this stream have very steep banks from 300-1000 feet deep. .On the northern side of the battle field lies the Jabiya road and on the eastern side lies Azra hills, but these hills were out side the actual battlefield. . There was only one prominance in the battlefield a 300 feet high elevation known as hill of Jamu'a(gathering), because part of muslim's corps was concentrated over it as it gives a good view of the plane of Yermouk. In 636 A.D The ravine at the west of the battlefield was crossable at a few places but there was only one main crossing, at a ford, where the village of Kafir-ul-Ma stands today. .

The Battle
The battle begun in the third weak of August 636 A.D At dawn both armies lined up for the battle and were a little less then a mile apart. A Byzantine general George emerged and called for khalid, khalid rode towards him delighted that the battle will start with a duel between him and a roman, but he was surprised that the roman was not willing to fight but he instead asked Khalid that why he is known as Sword of Allah ? , after a long explanation given by Khalid to him he, some how accepted Islam and came with Khalid to the Muslim’s army he died on the same day while fighting from the side of Muslims. On the auspicious note of this conversion began the Battle of Yarmuk. .

Day– 1
Next came the phase of duels between champions of both sides, for it acted as a kind of warming up. Scores of officers rode out of the Muslim army,many champions from both side emerged some on instructions from commanders and others on their own, and throwing their individual challenges, Practically all these Romans were killed in combat, From the Muslims side the  honors of the day going to Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Bakr, son of late caliph Abu Bakr who killed five Byzantine officers, one after the other. . The dueling went on till midday, Mahan now decided to launch a general attack, as for dueling, many Byzantine officers were killed and it was affecting the army’s moral.At midday one-third of the infantry of each of the four corps of Byzantine, advanced to battle, they were subjected to intense archery, which caused some casualties and soon both sides were locked in combat. The Roman assault was not a determined one, Mahan had attempt a limited offensive on a broad front to test the strength and strategy of the Muslim army, and if possible, achieve a breakthrough wherever the Muslim front was weak. Many of the soldiers of the Imperial army were unused to battle and were unable to press the attack as the Muslim’s veterans did. On some parts of the front the fighting was more violent than on others, but on the whole the action of this day could be described as steady and moderately hard. The Muslims held their own. The Romans did not reinforce their forward infantry, and at sunset the action ended with the two armies separating and returning to their respective camps. Casualties were light on this day, though higher among the Byzantines than the Muslims. .

Day– 2
Mahan in a council of war decided to launch his attack at dawn, so that muslims will be cought unprepared, he ordered the prepration of attack during the hours of darkness, his plan was to engage the two of his central armies with the muslim's central armies to tie them down and the main thrust would be to the left and right wings, they would be either drove away from the battlefield or being pushed in to the center.To observe the battlefield Mahan had a large pavilion behind the right wing with a bodyguard of 2000 Armenians, he ordered the army to prepare for the surprise dawn attack. .

Byzantines attacked soon after the dawn and muslims were cought probabaly unprepared, but thanks to khalid who already have placed a strong outpost line in front during night which gave muslims time for the preprations of the battle. The sun was not yet up on this second day of battle when the two armies clashed. .At the center, Byzantines were not pressing hard as this was meant to be a limited attack to hold these Muslim central corps in their position .Thus the centre remained stable. On the right wing of the byzantine army commanded by Qanateer having army of mainly slavs attacked and forced muslims to retreat, the infantry was retreated, after which Amr ibn al-A'as ordered his cavalry regiment to counter attack but they too were pushed back and were droved to wards the muslim's camp where they were taunted of cowardice by there wives, who threw stones over them and hitted them tent poles, they thus rushed to wards the battle field to reorganize for the counter attack. . The situation on the Muslim’s left wing was only a little less serious. Here too the byzantines broke through the corps of Yazeed. This was the army of Gregory, with chains, more slow-moving than the others but also more solid. Yazeed too used his cavalry regiment to counter attack and it too was repulsed; and after a period of stiff resistance the warriors of Yazeed fell back to their camp, where the women awaited them, and they did same as was done to the warriors of right wing, they struck them with the tent pole and taunted them, they too went back to there positions and prepared for the counter attack. .



Mahan was getting success according to his plan.It was now about midday, when Khalid finally decided to launch his cavalry reserve to assist the wings in there counter attack to re-establishment of the Muslim's wings positions.

He first turned to the right wing and with his Mobile Guard and one cavalry regiment struck at the flank of the army of Qanateer at the same time as Amr counter-attacked again from the front. Very soon the Romans attacked from two sides, turned and beat a hasty retreat to their original position. Amr regained all the ground that he had lost and reorganized his corps for the next round.

As soon as this position was restored, Khalid turned to the left wing. By now Yazeed had begun a major counter attack from the front to push the Romans back. Khalid detached one regiment under Zirrar ibn al-Azwar and ordered him to attack the front of the army of Deirjan(left half of the center) in order to create a diversion and threaten the withdrawal of the Roman right wing from its advanced position. With the rest of the army reserve he attacked the flank of Gregory. Here again the Romans withdrew under the counter-attacks from front and flank, but more slowly because with their chains the men could not move fast. While the Roman right was falling back, Zirrar ibn al-Azwar broke through the army of Deirjan and killed him. At sunset the central armies also broke contact and withdrew to their original positions and both fronts were restored along the lines occupied in the morning. .

Day–3
The battle on this day begins with the Byzantine attack on the corps of Amr ibn al-A'as and Sharhabeel bin Hasana selecting as the main point of attack the junction between Sharhabeel and Amr bin Al Aas. The initial attacks were repulsed by the muslims but soon the numerical advantage of the Byzantine army begin to tell and the right wing retreated to the camp followed by the retreat of the right half of the Muslim’s center under the command of Sharhabeel bin Hasana. But this day the retreat was not like that of the previous day, the corps reorganized some distance from the Muslim’s camp for a counter attack. Now Khalid launched his cavalry reserve against left the flank of Qanateer's corps (right half of byzantine army's center). At the same time Amr's cavalry regiment maneuvered from the right and struck at right flank, while the infantry of Amr and Sharhabeel counter-attacked frontally. This time the combat was severe many Muslims and Byzantines fell in combat but by dusk the Byzantines were pushed back to their own position and the situation restored as at the beginning of the battle.

Day– 4
The fourth day was going to prove decisive, both the army Generals knew it, Mahan decided to follow the previous day's war plan, as muslim's right wing had suffered a lot so far.



With this plan of battle, the two armies of Qanateer (right wing and right half of the central corps Armenians and slaves respectively) were set in motion against the corps of Amr and Sharhabeel. Amr was pushed back again, but not as far as on the previous day; this time the Muslims were not going to face the ire of their women! Some distance behind its original position, the corps of Amr held the right wing mainly comprises the Slavs and intense fighting started there. In the sector of Sharhabeel, however, the Armenians broke through and pushed the Muslims back towards their camp. The Armenians were strongly supported by the Christian Arabs of Jabla, and this proved the most serious penetration of the Muslim front. Now Khalid bin Walid decided to entered this sector with his cavalry reserve. Khalid feared the attack on the broad front, in this case it would be unable for him to repulse the Byzantine attacks with his mobile guard, and he therefore ordered Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed to attack the Byzantine corps of there respective sides. The attack was to be just to tie down the Byzantine’s left half of the center and left wing. .



Khalid, strike against the Armenians on the right half of the central corps. He divided the army reserve into two equal groups of which he gave one to Qais bin Hubeira and kept the other with himself. Leading his own cavalry group, Khalid galloped round behind the corps of Sharhabeel and appeared against the northern flank of the Armenian. Now began a three-pronged counter attack against the Armenians and Christian Arabs. Khalid from the right Qais from the left and Sharhabeel from the front with his infantry. At last the Armenians retreated towards there own position. The operation against the armenians lasted the whole afternoon.

As the Armenians pulled back, the Slavs, denied the support of the Armenians on their flank, also retired. The positions of Sharhabeel and Amr were now restored. While the operation on the Mulims right was taken place, the same intense situation was there at there left, Khalid's reserve was committed at the right sector therefore left had to rely totally on there own. Khalid ordered the corps of Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed to attack the byzantines from there fronts to tie them down, but soon they were pushed back by the intense byzantine archery which caused heavy casualties on muslims many muslims lost there one eye on that day therefore the day is famous by the name Day of lost eyes.

The armies of Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed retreated except the regiment of Ikramah bin Abu-Jahal, who was at the left of Abu Ubaidah's corps, he called his men to take the oath of death and not to retreat by go down fighting 400 men immediately resoponded and attacked with him to the byzantine army.The suicidal act of Ikrimah’s regiment provided a cover for the retreated corps, they reorganized them, selves and attacked to regain there lost positions. Of the 400 dedicated men who had taken the oath of death, everyone was either killed or seriously wounded, but they accounted for many times their number of byzantines. Ikrimah and his son, Amr, were mortally wounded. .

By dusk the days' action was over. Both armies stood once again on their original lines.Ikrimah and his son Amr, one of the best friends of Khalid ibn Walid died that evening due to the wound he got in his suicidal stand against Byzantine. It had been a terrible day on which the Byzantines came very near to victory. But a glow of pride and satisfaction warmed the hearts of the Muslim warriors; especially Khalid's who knew that the crisis was over. The tide had turned.

Day– 5
Early on the fifth day of battle the two armies again formed up on their lines. One man emerged from the Byzantine centre. This was an emissary of Mahan who brought a proposal for a truce for the next few days so that fresh negotiations could be held. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah nearly accepted the proposal but was restrained by Khalid ibn al-Walid. On Khalid's insistence he sent the envoy back with a negative reply, adding: "We are in a hurry to finish this business!". .

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Khalid knew that the Byzantines were no longer eager for battle. Khalid held some reorganization. All the cavalry regiments were grouped together into one powerful mounted force with the Mobile Guard acting as its hard core. The total strength of this cavalry group was now about 8,000 mounted warriors, and prepared an effective offensive attack for the next day. Khalid's intention with regard to the enemy cavalry was that he had determined to drive the byzantine cavalry off the battlefield so that the infantry, which formed the bulk of the byzantine army, would be left without cavalry support and thus be helpless when attacked from flank and rear.

Day– 6
The sixth day of the battle started with a duel between Byzantine’s left wing commander Gregory and Muslim’s commander of the central army Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. It was 4th week of August 636 A.D. Gregory, before the battle start, came out from the Byzantine center and called the muslims’ commander for a duel the aim of which was to weaken the Muslim’s moral, Abu Ubaidah rushed to him though it was suggested that Khalid should go for a duel. Abu Ubaidah killed him after a long fight and return back as he returned Khalid ibn al-Walid ordered a general attack along the entire Byzantine front. . . The Muslim centre and left wing engaged the Byzantine armies on their front but did not press the attack. .

Khalid according to his plan galloped his cavalry and attacked the Byzantine’s left flank, he also dispatched a regiment to engage the Byzantine cavalry of the left wing, in the same time Amr attacked from the front, the left wing of Byzantine mainly of slavs resisted a lot against this double sided attack but getting no support from there cavalry they fell back into the left half of the centre -the Armenians. As Byzantine’s left wing retreated Amr with his corps of Muslim’s left wing attacked the Byzantine left half of the center from the left flank, which was already in imbalance due to the retreating corps , at the same time Sharhabeel bin Hassana attacked from the front.



Khalid took his cavalry to join the dispatched regiment where the Byzantine cavalry of left wing was drove off from the battle field to wards north. While this maneuver was taking place at left, Mahan concentrated all his calavry regiments behind the center to counterattack the Muslim’s advancing cavalry.



Before Mahan could do so Khalid galloped his cavalry to attack the concentrating Byzantine’s cavalry, he attacked them from the front and at the flank. Muslim’s lightly armed horse men were superb for these fluid situations, as they were able to attack, disengage maneuver and strike again, soon the Byzantine cavalry broke the contact and leave the infantry to it’s fate and retreated north towards Damascus. This also included the mounted corps of Jabla.



As the Byzantine cavalry retreated, Khalid attacked the Armenian’s corps from the rear. Armenians were strong fighters and resisted but at last retreated due to three pronged attack of the muslims, Khalid’s cavalry from the rear Amr’s infantry from the left and Shurhabeel’s infantry from the front.



As Armenians retreated, the Byzantine army was in full retreat a part retreated in panic and a part retreated in good manner west towards Wadi-ur-Riqqad. . As the retreat begun Khalid took his cavalry towards north so that no army could escaped from there, though before he could seal all the ways thousands of Byzantine troops escaped from there other simply head there way towards the ford which was the only safe crossing from the ravine of Waddi-ur-Riqqad.



As the Byzantine troops reached there they found a cavalry regiment under Zirrar ibn al-Azwar blocking the way at the ford. Khalid a night before sent 500 mounted troops to wards that 500 meter wide ford to block the passage and this was the rout to wards Khalid ibn Walid wanted Byzantines to retreat. Now Muslim’s infantry reached there from the east and cavalry under Khalid’s command reached from the north a regiment was blocking the passage from west at south lies the deep ravine of Yarmouk River, already defeated Byzantine troops were traped. .



The final phase of the battle begun the exhausted Byzantine corps were pushed back towards the ravine from the front and from the flanking side they were pushed towards the center so that imbalance could be created in the army they that mach pushed they were unable to use there weapon freely soon they retreated to find a way through a ravine but fell in the ravine and finally died. About 1/3 of the Byzantine army was there among which most of the troops died by felling in the ravine other fell fighting. The last phase ended with a mass slaughter of Byzantine army.

Aftermaths
Immediately after this operation was over Khalid ibn al-Walid with a regiment of his cavalry moved to wards north to follow the retreated soldiers, he met them near Damascus and attacked them in which the Commander in Chief of the Imperial army Mahan was killed, from there Khalid entered Damascus where he was well come by the local residents, thus recaptured the city. . When news of the disaster reached Heraclius at Antioch, it is said that he bade a last farewell to Syria, saying, "Farewell Syria, my fair province. Thou art an enemy's now" Byzantine Emperor Heraclius left Antioch for Constantinople. Heraclius began to concentrate his remaining forces on a defense of Egypt instead.