The Great Arab Conquests (22 page)
Read The Great Arab Conquests Online
Authors: Hugh Kennedy
Persians built like camels were not the only hazards on the way across the Sawād. At one point the Muslims encountered a group of soldiers (
katība
) who had been recruited by Queen Būrān, who had sworn that the kingdom of Persia (
mulk Frs
) would not perish as long as they lived. They had with them a tame lion, called Muqarrat, which belonged to the Persian king. The lion seems to have gone into battle for them but was slain by an Arab soldier who jumped down from his horse and killed it. After this loss, the resistance of the Persians crumbled.
47
The Muslims also came across large numbers of Persian peasants (
fallhīn
) living in the villages along the Tigris. Many had been employed digging protective ditches for the Persian army, but they seem to have been unarmed and in no mood to resist. Shīrzād, a Persian
dehqān
who had come over to the Muslim side, persuaded Sa
c
d that they should not be harmed as they were only underlings of the Persians (
c
ulj ahl furs
) who would never pose any sort of threat; 100,000 of them are said to have had their names recorded, so that taxes could be collected from them, and allowed to go. As long as they paid their taxes and did not undertake any hostile activity, the Muslims had no quarrel with these people and certainly made no attempt to convert them to Islam: it was the Persian aristocracy and army who were the enemy.
katība
) who had been recruited by Queen Būrān, who had sworn that the kingdom of Persia (
mulk Frs
) would not perish as long as they lived. They had with them a tame lion, called Muqarrat, which belonged to the Persian king. The lion seems to have gone into battle for them but was slain by an Arab soldier who jumped down from his horse and killed it. After this loss, the resistance of the Persians crumbled.
47
The Muslims also came across large numbers of Persian peasants (
fallhīn
) living in the villages along the Tigris. Many had been employed digging protective ditches for the Persian army, but they seem to have been unarmed and in no mood to resist. Shīrzād, a Persian
dehqān
who had come over to the Muslim side, persuaded Sa
c
d that they should not be harmed as they were only underlings of the Persians (
c
ulj ahl furs
) who would never pose any sort of threat; 100,000 of them are said to have had their names recorded, so that taxes could be collected from them, and allowed to go. As long as they paid their taxes and did not undertake any hostile activity, the Muslims had no quarrel with these people and certainly made no attempt to convert them to Islam: it was the Persian aristocracy and army who were the enemy.
The next strategic objective was the Sasanian capital at Ctesiphon, 160 kilometres, say three or four days’ journey, across the Sawād to the north-east, and it was from there that King Yazdgard III had tried to direct the battle.
The Persian capital, which is generally known to western historians by the Hellenized name of Ctesiphon, was a sprawling collection of cities, a fact reflected in its Arab name of Madā’in, meaning ‘the Cities’. The site straddles the Tigris, which brought both life-giving water and death-dealing floods to the cities; at times it shifted its course dramatically as it made its way through the flat lands of the Sawād, carving up city centres and isolating one suburb from another. We have no detailed written descriptions of the city at this time, and archaeological excavation has been very patchy. The first major settlement seems to have been the Greek city of Seleucia on the west bank. From about 170 BC Ctesiphon became the winter capital of the Parthian kings of Iran. After they took the city in 224, the Sasanians continued to use it as a capital, although in practice the kings often resided on country estates in the hills. In about AD 230 Ardashīr I, the effective founder of the Sasanian dynasty, laid out a round fortified city on the west bank of the river, but in the middle of the fifth century the river shifted its course, cutting the round city in two. By the time the Muslims arrived, the main part of the city was established on the east bank, though there was still a significant settlement on the west. On the east bank there were palaces, gardens and residential areas where houses for the upper classes have been excavated, but there seem to have been no fortifications to speak of. The largely mud-brick houses have dissolved back into the Mesopotamian plain and the only major building to have survived the ravages of time is part of the great palace known as the Arch of Chosroes. This is the surviving fragment of a huge audience hall, probably built by Chosroes II (591-628) on a scale that far surpassed any other palaces constructed by the Sasanians or their Muslim successors. It has remained a source of awe to later generations and even in its sadly mutilated state still demonstrates something of the power and majesty of the great kings.
Despite the fact that it was the effective capital of the Persian Empire, Ctesiphon was in many ways a very un-Persian city. The vast majority of the inhabitants of the area were probably Aramaic speaking, and there were churches and synagogues but, it would seem, no major fire-temples.
Soon the Muslims approached the sections of Ctesiphon on the west bank of the Tigris. This part of the city was protected by earthworks, guards and other sorts of military equipment. The Muslims began to bombard them with siege engines (
majānīq
and
arrādāt
), which are said to have been constructed by Shīrzād on Sa
c
d’s orders. The reference to siege engines may be anachronistic - there is no confirmation of this fact in other texts. It remains one of the earliest examples of Muslim forces using artillery against fortifications. It also attests once again to a strategic strength of the Muslims, their ability to recruit local troops and put their talents to good use.
majānīq
and
arrādāt
), which are said to have been constructed by Shīrzād on Sa
c
d’s orders. The reference to siege engines may be anachronistic - there is no confirmation of this fact in other texts. It remains one of the earliest examples of Muslim forces using artillery against fortifications. It also attests once again to a strategic strength of the Muslims, their ability to recruit local troops and put their talents to good use.
The Persians continued to defend themselves behind their walls and they made at least one unsuccessful sally in an attempt to break the siege. There are also reports that Yazdgard III, still in the main part of the city on the east bank of the river, sent a message offering to make peace on the basis that the Tigris would form the frontier between the Arabs and the Persian Empire, the Persians holding all the land to the east of the river. The Arab negotiator is said to have replied that there would never be peace between them until the Arabs could ‘eat the honey of Ifridūn [between Rayy and Nishapur in north-east Iran] mixed with the citrons of Kūthā [in Iraq]’ - that is until they had conquered the whole of the lands of Iraq and Iran.
48
The next day, as the Arabs approached the walls again and began bombarding them with their catapults, there was an uncanny silence; no one appeared on the battlements. One man remained, who explained that the Arabs’ self-confident rejection of the terms had led the Persians to abandon the city and evacuate to the east bank. Sa
c
d now moved his men into the fortified enclosure to use it as a base.
48
The next day, as the Arabs approached the walls again and began bombarding them with their catapults, there was an uncanny silence; no one appeared on the battlements. One man remained, who explained that the Arabs’ self-confident rejection of the terms had led the Persians to abandon the city and evacuate to the east bank. Sa
c
d now moved his men into the fortified enclosure to use it as a base.
Now the Tigris, swift flowing and treacherous, lay between them and the main part of the city. There was no bridge and people generally crossed the river by ferry, but the Persians had removed all the boats to the east bank. Crossing the river and attacking the fortified position was thus a very difficult proposition, but Sa
c
d urged his men to try, pointing out that all the land behind them to the west was secure, so that they could save themselves if anything went wrong. Some local people showed the Arabs a place where the bottom of the river was firm and could be crossed on horseback. An advance guard, said to have been sixty men, volunteered to cross first to secure the quays so that the bulk of the army could land in safety. They divided their horses into a squadron of stallions and a squadron of mares, to make them more tractable, it was said, and plunged into the river: 600 more men prepared to follow them.
c
d urged his men to try, pointing out that all the land behind them to the west was secure, so that they could save themselves if anything went wrong. Some local people showed the Arabs a place where the bottom of the river was firm and could be crossed on horseback. An advance guard, said to have been sixty men, volunteered to cross first to secure the quays so that the bulk of the army could land in safety. They divided their horses into a squadron of stallions and a squadron of mares, to make them more tractable, it was said, and plunged into the river: 600 more men prepared to follow them.
The Persians, meanwhile, saw what was happening and they too urged their horses into the water. A battle in mid-stream ensued. The Arab commander shouted to his men, ‘Use your spears! Use your spears! Point them at those horses, aim at their eyes!’ They fought hand to hand until the Persians retreated to the far bank. The Muslims caught up with them on the shore, killing many of them, and taking possession of the quays. The rest of the force followed closely so that the enemy would have no time to regroup: they rode through the waves, the dark waters of the Tigris throwing up white spume. The men kept talking to each other as they swam across, in close-knit groups, chatting as if they were marching on dry ground. They surprised the Persians in a way the latter had not thought possible.
49
We see the Arabic sources stressing the hardiness of the Arabs and their willingness to take risks that more conventional armies would avoid.
49
We see the Arabic sources stressing the hardiness of the Arabs and their willingness to take risks that more conventional armies would avoid.
Stories about the crossing were later bandied around among the soldiers. All the Muslims made the crossing safely, according to one story, apart from one man, who slid off the back of his chestnut mare. ‘I can still see it clearly before my own eyes,’ the narrator went on, ‘as the horse shook its mane free.’ Fortunately a colleague saw he was in distress, urged his horse towards him, grabbed him by the hand and dragged him along until they reached the safety of dry land. The survivor paid his rescuer the ultimate compliment: ‘Even my own sisters would not be able to give birth to someone like you!’
50
50
More trivial incidents were remembered too. It was said that no one lost anything except for one man, whose cup, tied on with a frayed piece of string that broke, floated away in the water. The man swimming beside him remarked that it was God’s decree but the owner remonstrated with him. ‘Why just me? God would never take my only cup from among all the people in the army.’ When they reached the other side, they met a man who had been in the advance guard which had established the bridge-head. He had gone down to the water’s edge to meet the first people in the main force as they reached the shore. The wind and the waves had tossed the cup to and fro until it landed on the bank. The man retrieved it with his lance and brought it to the troops. Here the owner recognized it and took it from him, saying to his companion, ‘Didn’t I tell you ...?’ Such anecdotes, aside from being good stories, were opportunities for Muslims to remember how God had looked after their forebears.
Meanwhile in the city itself the Persians prepared to abandon their capital. Even before the Arabs had crossed the river, Yazdgard had sent his household away. Now he left himself, along the high road to Iran, catching up with the rest of his household at Hulwān. He travelled through a land ravaged by famine and plague, the same plague that caused such devastation in Syria.
51
The men he left in charge seem to have lost the will to resist. Soon they were loading the most precious and portable goods and as much as they could from the treasury on to the backs of their horses and mules. Persian women and children were evacuated too. However, they left behind vast quantities of clothes and all sorts of precious objects, as well as all the cattle, sheep, food and drink they had collected to sustain the siege that never happened.
51
The men he left in charge seem to have lost the will to resist. Soon they were loading the most precious and portable goods and as much as they could from the treasury on to the backs of their horses and mules. Persian women and children were evacuated too. However, they left behind vast quantities of clothes and all sorts of precious objects, as well as all the cattle, sheep, food and drink they had collected to sustain the siege that never happened.
The Arab armies seem to have met little opposition when they entered the almost deserted city. There was some short-lived resistance around the White Palace, but that was soon overcome. Sa
c
d then made it his headquarters and ordered that the great Arch of Chosroes should be made into the Muslims’ place of worship. Early mosques needed very little fixed furniture, possibly a mihrab facing Mecca and a minbar, a pulpit for Friday sermons.
52
The huge arch must have made a grand setting for prayers, very unlike the simple enclosure and shelter of the mosques that the Muslims established in new cities like Kūfa and Basra in the years to come. This early conversion of an important piece of architecture into a mosque may have ensured its survival. Not only was the great arch preserved unharmed but the plaster statues (
tamāthīl
) that decorated it were left in place, even as the Muslims prayed beneath them.
53
c
d then made it his headquarters and ordered that the great Arch of Chosroes should be made into the Muslims’ place of worship. Early mosques needed very little fixed furniture, possibly a mihrab facing Mecca and a minbar, a pulpit for Friday sermons.
52
The huge arch must have made a grand setting for prayers, very unlike the simple enclosure and shelter of the mosques that the Muslims established in new cities like Kūfa and Basra in the years to come. This early conversion of an important piece of architecture into a mosque may have ensured its survival. Not only was the great arch preserved unharmed but the plaster statues (
tamāthīl
) that decorated it were left in place, even as the Muslims prayed beneath them.
53
Then began the division of the spoils. The Arabic sources describe with great relish how the treasures of the Persian kings were divided up among the conquerors.
54
The stories stress two themes: the contrast between the rude simplicity of the Bedouin and the luxury and richness of the Persian court and the scrupulous care and honesty with which the booty was distributed.
54
The stories stress two themes: the contrast between the rude simplicity of the Bedouin and the luxury and richness of the Persian court and the scrupulous care and honesty with which the booty was distributed.
There are stories about the recovery of the Persian royal regalia. According to one version, the Muslim advance guard was pursuing the retreating Persians along the road to the mountains. When they came to the bridge across the Nahrawān canal, the refugees crowded together to cross. A mule was pushed off into the water. With great effort the Persians struggled to retrieve it and the Arab commander observed: ‘By God there must be something important about that mule. They would not have put in so much effort to get it back nor would they have endured our swords in this dangerous situation unless there was something valuable they did not want to give up.’ The Arabs dismounted to engage the enemy, and when they had been routed the commander ordered his men to haul the mule out of the water with all its baggage. It was not until the party returned to the central collecting point in Ctesiphon that they opened the baggage and found it contained ‘all the king’s finery, his clothes, gems, sword belt and coat of mail encrusted with jewels. The king used to don all those when he was sitting in state’.
55
In another version, two mules are captured carrying baskets, one of which contained the king’s crown, which could only be held up by two jewel-encrusted props (
istawntn
), while the other contained his robes, woven with gold thread and encrusted with gems.
56
In a third account, the Arabs also found the king’s swords, aventail (
mighfar
), greaves (
sāqā
) and armplates (
sā
c
idā
) and, in another bag, coats of mail that had belonged to the emperor Heraclius, the Turkish Khaqan, Bahram Chubin, and other foes of the Persian monarchs, kept as trophies.
57
55
In another version, two mules are captured carrying baskets, one of which contained the king’s crown, which could only be held up by two jewel-encrusted props (
istawntn
), while the other contained his robes, woven with gold thread and encrusted with gems.
56
In a third account, the Arabs also found the king’s swords, aventail (
mighfar
), greaves (
sāqā
) and armplates (
sā
c
idā
) and, in another bag, coats of mail that had belonged to the emperor Heraclius, the Turkish Khaqan, Bahram Chubin, and other foes of the Persian monarchs, kept as trophies.
57
Another set of stories deals with the great carpet that adorned the royal palace. This was called the King’s Spring (
Bahri Kisr
) in Persian. It was huge, about 30 metres square. The Persian court kept it for use in the winter, and when they wanted a drinking party, they could sit on it and imagine that they were in a garden with all the flowers blooming. The background was gold coloured, the brocade was inlaid, the fruits depicted were precious stone, its foliage silk and its waters cloth of gold.
58
The question then arose of what to do with this fantastic object. In a different situation, it would probably have adorned the palace of the new ruler as it had that of the old, and indeed some people suggested that the caliph Umar should have it, but the early Muslims were adamant about the fair distribution of the spoils. There was no alternative. It was sent as part of the tribute to the caliph in Medina. Here it was cut up into numerous different pieces. The Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Alī, who had played no active part in the conquests himself, received a fragment which he sold for 20,000 dirhams, and other members of the Muslim elite no doubt had their shares.
59
Bahri Kisr
) in Persian. It was huge, about 30 metres square. The Persian court kept it for use in the winter, and when they wanted a drinking party, they could sit on it and imagine that they were in a garden with all the flowers blooming. The background was gold coloured, the brocade was inlaid, the fruits depicted were precious stone, its foliage silk and its waters cloth of gold.
58
The question then arose of what to do with this fantastic object. In a different situation, it would probably have adorned the palace of the new ruler as it had that of the old, and indeed some people suggested that the caliph Umar should have it, but the early Muslims were adamant about the fair distribution of the spoils. There was no alternative. It was sent as part of the tribute to the caliph in Medina. Here it was cut up into numerous different pieces. The Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law Alī, who had played no active part in the conquests himself, received a fragment which he sold for 20,000 dirhams, and other members of the Muslim elite no doubt had their shares.
59
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