Read The Great Arab Conquests Online
Authors: Hugh Kennedy
The Great Arab Conquests (24 page)
Soon, the Christian author goes on, only Susa and Tustar held out. Susa was one of the homes of the great Achaemenid rulers of ancient Iran; its palaces rivalled those of Persepolis in size and splendour. Alexander the Great sacked it, plundering its fabulous riches, and it was there that he arranged his famous mass wedding, when 10,000 Greeks and Persians were legendarily united in marriage. Later, in Sasanian times, it became an important Christian centre and, as a result, was destroyed by the Sasanian king Shapur II (309-79), who pursued an actively anti-Christian policy. It had recovered enough by the time of the Muslim conquest to put up some resistance, and the Muslims later built one of the earliest surviving mosques in Iran there. The site today is dominated by a castle, erected not by some medieval potentate, but by the French archaeological mission at the end of the nineteenth century to protect themselves against Bedouin attack. For the early Muslims, however, the most noteworthy feature of the town was not the Achaemenid heritage but the fact that it housed the tomb of the prophet Daniel. The Muslims took the city after a few days and killed all the Persian nobles there. In the Arabic sources the fall of the city is described as a sort of miracle.
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Apparently the Christian monks and priests had appeared on the battlements, taunting the attackers and saying that no one could take Susa unless the Antichrist was in their army. If he was not among them, they went on, the attackers might as well not bother and should go away now. One of the Muslim commanders, in fury and frustration, went up to one of the gates and kicked it. Instantly the chains snapped, the locks broke and it flew open. The inhabitants could only beg for peace.
72
Apparently the Christian monks and priests had appeared on the battlements, taunting the attackers and saying that no one could take Susa unless the Antichrist was in their army. If he was not among them, they went on, the attackers might as well not bother and should go away now. One of the Muslim commanders, in fury and frustration, went up to one of the gates and kicked it. Instantly the chains snapped, the locks broke and it flew open. The inhabitants could only beg for peace.
They also seized the ‘House of Mār [Saint] Daniel’ and took the treasure that had been kept there on the orders of the Persian kings since the days of Darius and Cyrus, another example of the dethesaurization of precious metals that so often accompanied the Arabic conquest. They also broke open the silver coffin and carried off the mummified corpse within: ‘many said it was Daniel’s but others claimed it was Darius’. Daniel was much revered and the emperor Heraclius is said to have tried to take the body away to join his great relic collection in Constantinople. Daniel, unlike many Old Testament figures, does not appear in the Koran and the initial Muslim impulse seems to have been to destroy the cult, the caliph Umar ordering that the body be reburied under the river bed. The Muslims had removed the signet ring, which carried a picture of a man between two lions, from the corpse, and Umar ordered that it be returned.
73
But Daniel soon became a cult figure for the Muslims too. Muslims began to make pilgrimages to the site and the tomb of Daniel still exists in the heart of the city, a tall whitewashed dome overlooking the river. This is a very early example of the way in which Islam appropriated and Islamized an ancient pre-existing cult.
73
But Daniel soon became a cult figure for the Muslims too. Muslims began to make pilgrimages to the site and the tomb of Daniel still exists in the heart of the city, a tall whitewashed dome overlooking the river. This is a very early example of the way in which Islam appropriated and Islamized an ancient pre-existing cult.
With the fall of Susa, only Tustar remained. The city was situated on a rocky outcrop beside the river and was defended by a castle, remains of which still survive. The river had been dammed by a weir and a bridge, both massive engineering projects which are said to have been constructed by Roman prisoners of war after Shapur I defeated the emperor Valerian in 260. It is known to this day as Bandi Qaysar, or Caesar’s dam, and Arab authors considered it one of the wonders of the world; much of it still exists. Behind the dam two tunnels were cut in the rock on which the city stood to lead water away to irrigate more fields to the south. The Khuzistān Chronicle describes it graphically: ‘this Shushtra [Tustar] is very extensive and strong, because of the mighty rivers and canals that surround it on every side like moats. One of these was called Ardashīragān after [the Sasanian king] Ardashīr who dug it. Another, which crossed it was called Samīrām after the Queen and another Dārāyagān after Darius. The largest of them all was a mighty torrent which flowed down from the northern mountains.’
Hurmuzān determined to make a last stand here and, according to the Khuzistān Chronicle, Tustar held out for two years. In the end it was treachery not military force which led to the fall of the city; two men with houses on the city walls conspired with the Arabs: in return for a third of the spoils, they would let them in.
74
Accordingly tunnels were dug under the city walls and the Arabs were able to enter the walls through them. Hurmuzān retreated to the citadel (
qal
c
a
) and was taken alive, but a local bishop, along with ‘students, priests and deacons’, was killed.
74
Accordingly tunnels were dug under the city walls and the Arabs were able to enter the walls through them. Hurmuzān retreated to the citadel (
qal
c
a
) and was taken alive, but a local bishop, along with ‘students, priests and deacons’, was killed.
The story of the conquest of Khuzistān has a curious coda in the accounts of the fate of Hurmuzān.
75
As in the case of the wise but pessimistic Rustam, the defeated general at Qādisiya, the personality of Hurmuzān is elaborated to make certain points about the differences between Arab and Persian, Muslim and non-Muslim and the connections between the two. After his surrender at Tustar, he was brought to Medina to be presented to the caliph. Before he and his escort entered the city, they arrayed him in all his finery, his brocade and cloth-of-gold robes and a crown studded with rubies. Then they led him through the streets so that everyone could see him. When they reached Umar’s house, however, they found he was not there, so they went to look for him in the mosque but could not find him there either. Finally they passed a group of boys playing in the street, who told them that the caliph was asleep in a corner of the mosque with his cloak folded under his head for a pillow.
75
As in the case of the wise but pessimistic Rustam, the defeated general at Qādisiya, the personality of Hurmuzān is elaborated to make certain points about the differences between Arab and Persian, Muslim and non-Muslim and the connections between the two. After his surrender at Tustar, he was brought to Medina to be presented to the caliph. Before he and his escort entered the city, they arrayed him in all his finery, his brocade and cloth-of-gold robes and a crown studded with rubies. Then they led him through the streets so that everyone could see him. When they reached Umar’s house, however, they found he was not there, so they went to look for him in the mosque but could not find him there either. Finally they passed a group of boys playing in the street, who told them that the caliph was asleep in a corner of the mosque with his cloak folded under his head for a pillow.
When they returned to the mosque they found him as the boys had said. He had just received a delegation of visitors from Kūfa and, when they had left, he had simply put his head down for a nap. Apart from him there was no one in the mosque. They sat down a little way from him. Hurmuzān enquired where his guards and attendants were but was told he had none. ‘Then he must be a prophet,’ the Persian said. ‘No,’ his escort replied, ‘but he does the things prophets do.’ Meanwhile more people gathered round and the noise woke Umar up. He sat up and saw the Persian and the escort asked him to talk to the ‘king of Ahvaz’. Umar refused as long as he was wearing all his finery, and only when the prisoner had been stripped as far as decency allowed and reclad in a coarse robe did the interrogation begin.
Umar asked Hurmuzān what he thought about the recent turn of events, to which the Persian replied that in the old days God was not on the side of the Persians or the Arabs and the Persians were in the ascendancy, but now God was favouring the Arabs and they had won. Umar replied that the real reason was that the Persians had previously been united while the Arabs had not. Umar was inclined to execute him in revenge for the Muslims he had slain. Hurmuzān asked for some water, and when it was given to him he said he was afraid he would be killed while he was drinking. The caliph replied that he would not be killed before he had drunk the water, whereupon Hurmuzān allowed his hands to tremble and the water was spilled. When Umar again threatened to kill him, the Persian said that he had already been given immunity: after all, he had not drunk the water. Umar was furious, but the assembled company agreed that Hurmuzān was right. In the end, he was converted to Islam, allowed to live in Medina and given a substantial pension. The story of Hurmuzān’s trick is probably a folk motif grafted on to historical events, but it serves its purpose to illustrate the contrast between Persian pride and luxury and Muslim simplicity, the honesty of the Muslims and the integration of elements of the Persian elite into the Muslim hierarchy.
A notable feature of the conquest of Iraq, and one that certainly aided the Muslims, was the defection of substantial numbers of Persian troops to the Arab side and the willingness of the Muslims to incorporate these renegades into their armies and pay them salaries. Among these were the Hamra
76
(the Reds), some of whom defected to the Muslims before the battle of Qādisiya and participated in the division of the booty that had been taken from their old comrades in arms.
77
Others joined them afterwards and fought in the Muslim army at Jalūlā. Among them were 4,000 men from the mountains of Daylam, at the south-east corner of the Caspian Sea, who seem to have been an elite unit of the army (
jund
) of the Shahanshah. Many of them subsequently settled in the Muslim new town of Kūfa, where they had their own quarter.
78
76
(the Reds), some of whom defected to the Muslims before the battle of Qādisiya and participated in the division of the booty that had been taken from their old comrades in arms.
77
Others joined them afterwards and fought in the Muslim army at Jalūlā. Among them were 4,000 men from the mountains of Daylam, at the south-east corner of the Caspian Sea, who seem to have been an elite unit of the army (
jund
) of the Shahanshah. Many of them subsequently settled in the Muslim new town of Kūfa, where they had their own quarter.
78
Another group of defectors were the Asāwira,
79
a group of 300 heavily armed cavalry, many of aristocratic origins. Yazdgard III had sent them on as his advance guard as he left Iraq for Iran but, perhaps because they had no faith in his leadership, they went over to the Muslim side and settled in Basra.
80
Like the Hamra of Kūfa, they too were given a privileged position in the Muslim forces.
79
a group of 300 heavily armed cavalry, many of aristocratic origins. Yazdgard III had sent them on as his advance guard as he left Iraq for Iran but, perhaps because they had no faith in his leadership, they went over to the Muslim side and settled in Basra.
80
Like the Hamra of Kūfa, they too were given a privileged position in the Muslim forces.
The Muslims had now conquered a vast and wealthy country. They were a small number, probably no more than fifty thousand men among a much larger population. The question that confronted them was how they were going to hold it and exploit its resources. In the immediate aftermath of the victory in Iraq, the Muslims settled in two new, purpose-built towns, Kūfa and Basra. We are told that Umar ordered the Muslims not to disperse through the small towns and countryside of Iraq, nor to revert to a Bedouin lifestyle in the nearby desert. Instead they were to come together in newly constructed cities, which were to form their homes and their military bases.
We know much more about the foundation of Kūfa than of Basra and Sayf b. Umar gives a full account of what they did and why. Immediately after the fall of the Persian capital of Ctesiphon, the Muslim army had settled, or rather camped, there, as expeditions fanned out, east to Hulwān at the foot of the Zagros and north of Qarqīsiyā on the Euphrates. The climate in the old Persian capital was said to be unhealthy. Umar, we are told, noted that Arabs returning from there were looking worn out. Furthermore, they were putting on weight and their muscles were becoming flabby. One Arab commander arriving at the site asked, ‘Do camels thrive in this place?’ On being told that the answer was no, he commented that Umar had said that ‘Arab tribesmen will not be healthy in a region in which camels do not thrive’.
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81
Two men were sent out to look for a site on the desert margins. Separately they prospected along the banks of the Euphrates from Anbār to the south until they came together at a place called Kūfa, close to Hīra. Here they found three small Christian monasteries with huts made of reeds scattered between them. Both men decided there and then that they had found what they were looking for. They both dismounted and performed a ritual prayer. One of them also recited a poem, remarkable for what appears to be its pagan imagery:
O God, Lord of heaven and what it covers
Lord of the earth and what it carries
By the wind and what it scatters
By the stars and what they topple
By the seas and what they drown
By the demons and what they delude
By the spirits and what they possess
Bless this gravelly site and make it an abode of firmness.
Sa
c
d came from Ctesiphon and clearly decided that this was to be the place. He explained its advantages to Umar thus: ‘I have taken up residence on a site covered with pebbles; it is situated between Hīra and the Euphrates, one side borders on the dry land, the other borders on the water. Dry as well as tender thistles abound there. I have left a free choice to the Muslims in Ctesiphon and those who prefer to stay there I allowed to remain as a garrison.’
c
d came from Ctesiphon and clearly decided that this was to be the place. He explained its advantages to Umar thus: ‘I have taken up residence on a site covered with pebbles; it is situated between Hīra and the Euphrates, one side borders on the dry land, the other borders on the water. Dry as well as tender thistles abound there. I have left a free choice to the Muslims in Ctesiphon and those who prefer to stay there I allowed to remain as a garrison.’
This, at least, is how the choice of the site was remembered in Tabarī’s
History
. The word may never have been spoken as reported but the motives are convincing. Ctesiphon may well have been unhealthy for the Bedouin and their beasts and Kūfa provided much better pasture. There were probably other considerations as well. One was the need to maintain good communications with Medina, but perhaps the most important was to keep the Muslims together, manageable and militarily effective, rather than see them disperse and lose their coherence.
History
. The word may never have been spoken as reported but the motives are convincing. Ctesiphon may well have been unhealthy for the Bedouin and their beasts and Kūfa provided much better pasture. There were probably other considerations as well. One was the need to maintain good communications with Medina, but perhaps the most important was to keep the Muslims together, manageable and militarily effective, rather than see them disperse and lose their coherence.
Most of the Muslims in Ctesiphon elected to move to the new site, and it has been plausibly suggested that the adult male population in this first phase of the growth of the city was around twenty thousand,
82
though this was soon to be swelled by new immigrants from Arabia, hoping for a share of the action. Along with the rest of their possessions, they are said to have brought with them the doors of their houses to hang on their new residences. The first houses were built of the local reeds, but after a fire that damaged many of them, they asked Umar’s permission to build in mud brick (
laban
). This was granted on condition that no one built a house with more than three apartments (
abyāt
) and that the buildings did not become too high: once again we see the emphasis on modesty and equality among the Muslims.
82
though this was soon to be swelled by new immigrants from Arabia, hoping for a share of the action. Along with the rest of their possessions, they are said to have brought with them the doors of their houses to hang on their new residences. The first houses were built of the local reeds, but after a fire that damaged many of them, they asked Umar’s permission to build in mud brick (
laban
). This was granted on condition that no one built a house with more than three apartments (
abyāt
) and that the buildings did not become too high: once again we see the emphasis on modesty and equality among the Muslims.
The new settlement was planned with some care by a man called Abū’l-Hayyāj, who has claims to have been the first Muslim city planner. Roads radiated out from a central point and men were settled in their tribal groups along these routes so that, initially at least, men of different tribes were established in the same area. It must have reinforced tribal solidarity and rivalries between tribes. Umar is said to have specified the widths of the streets: 20 metres for the main roads (40 cubits), with side streets of 15 and 10 metres; the smallest alleys were to be 3.5 metres and no passage was to be narrower than that.
83
This was to be a clearly laid-out city, not a tangle of winding alleyways where people settled and built as they wished.
83
This was to be a clearly laid-out city, not a tangle of winding alleyways where people settled and built as they wished.
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