Battle of Ayn al-Warda

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Battle of Ayn al-Warda
Part of the
Ras al-Ayn
36°50′27″N 40°04′45″E / 36.84083°N 40.07917°E / 36.84083; 40.07917
Result Umayyad Caliphate victory
Belligerents Umayyad Caliphate Penitents (Pro-Alids)Commanders and leaders Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad
Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni
Shurahbil ibn Dhi'l Kala' al-Himyari Sulayman ibn Surad al-Khuza'i †
Rifa'a ibn ShaddadStrength 20,000 3,000
Battle of Ayn al-Warda is located in Syria
Battle of Ayn al-Warda
class=notpageimage|
Location within modern Syria

The Battle of Ayn al-Warda (

Ras al-Ayn, the small Penitent army was annihilated and its senior leaders, including Ibn Surad, were killed. Nevertheless, this battle proved to be a forerunner and source of motivation for the later more successful movement of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi
.

Background

The first Umayyad caliph

companions of Muhammad, who, according to Islamicist G. R. Hawting, could lay "some claim to be considered as caliphal candidates" by virtue of their descent.[4] They refused to be bribed or cajoled into acknowledging Yazid.[5][4]

After Muawiyah's death in April 680, Yazid ordered the governor of

Iraqi garrison town of Kufa with the invitation to revolt against Yazid and regain his rightful place as the leader of the Muslim community which his father, caliph Ali (r. 656–661), had previously held. Husayn sent his cousin Muslim ibn Aqil to prepare the ground for his arrival. Ibn Aqil sent back a favorable report, urging Husayn to depart for Kufa. Shortly afterwards, Ibn Aqil was apprehended and executed by the Umayyad governor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad and his supporters suppressed. Unaware of the situation, Husayn left for Kufa, but was intercepted and killed just outside of the town. His expected support never arrived.[8][9]

Belligerents

Penitents

A Iranian tile-work depicting the Penitents and their leader Sulayman ibn Surad, on horses, while a faceless men is in center of a group of workers with showels
20th-century tile-work in Kermanshah, Iran, depicting the Penitent army

Some of Husayn's supporters in Kufa, who called themselves

Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia). They were all mounted and well-equipped.[13]

Umayyads

The short reign of Yazid's successor

Muawiyah II ended with his death after a few weeks. With no suitable Sufyanid[c] candidate to succeed him, Umayyad loyalists in Syria chose Marwan ibn al-Hakam, a cousin of Muawiyah I, as the caliph. Marwan's accession was challenged by several north-Syrian tribes led by Banu Qays who supported the cause of the Mecca-based counter-caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.[14] Marwan defeated them with a small army of 6,000 at the Battle of Marj Rahit (684). Following the victory, he sent Ibn Ziyad back to Iraq. Realizing that his forces were not strong enough to reconquer the province, Ibn Ziyad set out to strengthen the Umayyad army by recruiting from various Syrian Arab tribes, which included even the tribes that had opposed Marwan at the Battle of Marj Rahit. By the time he faced the Penitents, Ibn Ziyad had raised a formidable army of Syrians.[15]

Battle

On their march towards Syria, the Penitents made a short stay at

Ras al-Ayn) and arrive there before the Umayyads, as the town could be used as a base of operations in the arid steppes. Given the large numerical disparity, Zufar urged him to avoid a pitched battle and instead divide his cavalry into small detachments and conduct constant skirmishes against their flanks, "firing arrows at them and thrusting at them in an open space for they outnumber you and you cannot be sure that you will not be surrounded".[16] Noticing the absence of infantry in the Penitents' force, Zufar also advised to pair the detachments so that one could fight mounted and the other fighting on foot when needed. Despite showing sympathy, Zufar refrained from joining the Penitents outright, seeing no hope in their endeavor.[16] Nevertheless he offered Ibn Surad to stay in al-Qarqisiya and fight the Umayyads alongside him, but Ibn Surad refused.[17]

Following Zufar's advice, the Penitents camped outside Ayn al-Warda, with the town in their rear. They rested for five days before the Umayyad army arrived. The total strength of the latter was 20,000, but it was divided into two units due to disputes between its two field commanders.

Husayn ibn Numayr. Shurahbil arrived first, ahead of Ibn Numayr, and made camp.[19] The Penitents attacked him and his troops fled.[18][19] The next day, Ibn Numayr arrived with his troops. He called on the Penitents to surrender, who in turn demanded the surrender of the Umayyad army and the handing over of Ibn Ziyad, the supreme commander of the Umayyad forces, to be executed for his involvement in the death of Husayn. The battle began on Wednesday, 4 January.[d] Ibn Surad divided the Penitents into three groups, sending two to attack the Umayyad flanks, while he himself remained in the center. On the first day, the Penitents were able to repel the Umayyads, but on the next day, Ibn Ziyad sent Shurahbil back to fight under the command of Ibn Numayr, and the numerical superiority of the Umayyad army began to prevail. Despite holding the ground, the Penitents suffered severe losses.[20] On the third day of the battle, they were completely surrounded. Ibn Surad ordered his men to dismount and advance on foot to engage in one-on-one combat. The Umayyad army started raining arrows on them and the Penitents were almost annihilated. Ibn Surad fell to an arrow shot, and of the remaining four commanders, three were killed in quick succession. Finally, the Penitents' banner passed to the last commander, Rifa'a ibn Shaddad.[21] At this point, the Penitents received the news that their supporters from al-Mada'in and Basra were on the way to join them,[22] but they had been completely destroyed by now, so instead of waiting for the reinforcements, Rifa'a retreated with a few survivors and escaped to al-Qarqisiya during the night.[21]

Aftermath

The small number of Penitents who survived felt remorse for not having fulfilled their vows of sacrifice.

Nakha tribe, Ibrahim ibn Malik al-Ashtar.[24] With his combined forces, he seized Kufa, and consequently its eastern and northern dependencies, in October 685. Later he sent a considerably large and professional army of 13,000, which consisted mostly of infantry, under Ibn al-Ashtar, to fight the Umayyads. Ibn al-Ashtar destroyed the Umayyad army at the Battle of Khazir and killed Ibn Ziyad, Ibn Numayr, and Shurahbil.[25] Mukhtar controlled most of Iraq, parts of the Jazira, Arminiya, and parts of western and northern Iran (Adharbayjan and Jibal),[26][27] before he was killed by the Zubayrid governor of Basra Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr in April 687.[28]

Notes

  1. ^ The primary source of the Penitents movement is the work of the Iraqi historian Abu Mikhnaf (died 774).[1][2] According to historian Gernot Rotter, the account of Abu Mikhnaf, who is generally considered reliable, is not entirely authentic in this regard.[3]
  2. ^ Political supporters of the fourth caliph Ali and his descendants (Alids).
  3. Abu Sufyan
  4. ^ According to Rotter, this date is fictitious and the battle would have been fought in the summer of 685.[3]

References

  1. ^ Wellhausen 1901, p. 74.
  2. ^ Rotter 1982, p. 93.
  3. ^ a b Rotter 1982, p. 98.
  4. ^ a b Hawting 2000, p. 46.
  5. ^ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 140–145.
  6. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 47.
  7. ^ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 145–146.
  8. ^ Daftary 1990, pp. 49–50.
  9. ^ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 146–147.
  10. ^ Halm 1997, pp. 17–18.
  11. ^ Daftary 1990, p. 51.
  12. ^ Jafri 2000, p. 217.
  13. ^ a b Wellhausen 1901, p. 73.
  14. ^ Donner 2010, pp. 182–183.
  15. ^ Kennedy 2001, p. 32.
  16. ^ a b Kennedy 2001, pp. 27–28.
  17. ^ Jafri 2000, pp. 217–218.
  18. ^ a b Kennedy 2001, p. 28.
  19. ^ a b Hawting 1989, p. 143.
  20. ^ Hawting 1989, p. 144.
  21. ^ a b Kennedy 2001, pp. 28–29.
  22. ^ Hawting 1989, p. 147.
  23. ^ Donner 2010, p. 183.
  24. ^ Daftary 1990, p. 52.
  25. ^ Wellhausen 1901, p. 84.
  26. ^ Donner 2010, p. 185.
  27. ^ Zakeri 1995, p. 207.
  28. ^ Donner 2010, p. 185–186.

Sources

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  • Rotter, Gernot (1982). Die Umayyaden und der zweite Bürgerkrieg (680-692) (in German). Wiesbaden: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft.
    ISBN 9783515029131
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  • OCLC 453206240
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  • OCLC 752790641
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  • Zakeri, Mohsen (1995). Sāsānid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of ʿAyyārān and Futuwwa. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
    ISBN 978-3-447-03652-8
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