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Battle of Yarmouk
Part of the
Yarmouk River
Result Decisive
Muslim
victory
Belligerents Roman (Byzantine) Empire Rashidun CaliphateCommanders and leaders

Mahan Baänes,King of Armenia

Qanateer
Jabla bin AI Eiham
Dairjan
Gregory
Amr ibn al-A'as

Yazeed bin Abu-Sufyan
Shurhabil bin HassanaStrength About 140,000 - 160,000[1] About 40,000[2]Casualties and losses Heavy; 70,000+
4000


The Battle of Yarmouk (also spelled Yarmuk, Yarmuq or Hieromyax) took place between the

Byzantine army at Battle of Ajnadayn and Battle of Fahal
.

Background

Muslims to the battle, this was to turn defeat of Byzantine Empire into a glorious triumph
.

In late 635 A.D

Arabs[3]
.


This force was organised into five armies, each of about 30,000 soldiers. The commanders of these armies were: Mahan

Christian Arab force.The remaining contingents (all European) were placed under Gregory and Dairjan[5]
. 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

Muslim
’s corps separately putting a large concentration of army against them in the battle field. Reinforcement was sent to
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.[6].

The imperial army was launched from

A.D
. It was at Shaizar, through Roman prisoners, that the Muslims first came to know of the preparations being made by
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.[8]
.

In the middle of the

Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah
, the commander in chief of the Muslim’s army.



The Muslim’s army moved to wards yermuk plane during which there was a skirmish between Khalid‘s mobile guard and

Amr ibn al-A'as
and Yazeed.

A few days later the

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

[11].

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[12].

Abu Sufyan and his wife, Hind.[15]
.

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

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.[16]. 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.[18]
. Khalid after taking the command reorganized the army in to
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
Byzantine under observation. .[19]
. In late
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.[21]
.

File:Ravine of Waddi-ur-Riqqad-mohammad adil rais-.JPG
Google earth image of Ravine of Waddi-ur-Riqqad west of the Battle field


.

The battlefield which stretched between the two camps consisted of the Plain of

River Jordan, this stream have very steep banks from 300-1000 feet deep.[22]
.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.

File:The ford-zoom-mohammad adil rais-.JPG
Google Earth image of the Ford

.

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

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.[23]
.

The Battle

The battle begun in the third weak of

A.D
At dawn both armies lined up for the battle and were a little less then a mile apart.

File:Arrangment-mohammad adil rais.JPG

A

Muslims. On the auspicious note of this conversion began the Battle of Yarmuk.[24]
.

Day– 1

Next came the phase of duels between

Byzantine officers, one after the other.[25]
. The dueling went on till midday, Mahan now decided to launch a general attack, as for dueling, many
archery
, which caused some casualties and soon both sides were locked in combat.

Day-1 Battle

The

Muslims.[27]
.

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.[28].

Muslim central corps in their position[30]
.Thus the centre remained stable. On the right wing of 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.[31]
. The situation on 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.[32]
.

Byzantine attack

Mahan was getting success according to his plan.It was now about midday, when Khalid finally decided to launch his

Muslim
's wings positions.

Muslim's counterattack Phase-1


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.


Muslim's counterattack Phase-2


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.[33] 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.[34].

Day–3

The battle on this day begins with the

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.

Byzantine attack

The initial attacks were repulsed by the

Muslim’s camp for a counter attack[36]
.

Muslim's counterattack

Now Khalid launched his cavalry reserve against left the

Byzantines were pushed back to their own position and the situation restored as at the beginning of the battle[37]
.

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.

Byzantine attack

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

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’s left half of the center and left wing.[38]
.

Muslim's counterattack

Khalid, strike against the

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

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[39]
.

The armies of Abu Ubaidah and Yazeed retreated except 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.[40]
.

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

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

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:

.[41].

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Khalid knew that the

byzantine army, would be left without cavalry
support and thus be helpless when attacked from flank and rear.

Day– 6

Muslim's army arrangement on Day-6

The sixth day of the battle started with a duel between

Byzantine front. .[42]
. The
Byzantine armies on their front but did not press the attack.[43]
.

Muslim's attack Phase-1

Khalid according to his plan galloped his cavalry and attacked the

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.

Muslim's attack Phase-2

Khalid took his

Muslim’s advancing cavalry
.

Muslim's attack Phase-3

Before Mahan could do so Khalid galloped his cavalry to attack the concentrating

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.

Muslim's attack Phase-4

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.

Muslim's attack Phase-5

As

Byzantine army was in full retreat a part retreated in panic and a part retreated in good manner west towards Wadi-ur-Riqqad.[44]
. 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.

Retreat towards ravine

As the

Byzantines
to retreat. Now
Byzantine troops were traped.[45]
.

The last phase

The final phase of the battle begun the exhausted

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.[46]. When news of the disaster reached Heraclius at Antioch, it is said that he bade a last farewell to Syria, saying,

Byzantine Emperor Heraclius left Antioch for Constantinople. Heraclius began to concentrate his remaining forces on a defense of Egypt
instead.

Notes

  1. ^ Byzantinian sources placed the size of their army to 140,000 (Gibbon Volume 5, p325). Muslim estimates vary from 100 000 - 200,000. The usually reliable Ibn Ishaq gives the number as 100,000 against 24,000 muslims, according to the modern historians belived that the size of respective armier were about 20,000-50,000 for byzantines and 7500-24,000 for the muslims,claiming the exaggrations on the both sides by the historians.these figures has been developed by studying the logistical capabilities of the combatants, the sustainability of their respective bases of operations, and the overall manpower constraints affecting Byzantium and the Arab world.
  2. ^ Muslim sources place this number to be 40,000, modern estimation are between 7500-24,000
  3. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 100.
  4. ^ In early Islamic sources the name mentioned is Jaban, as well as Mahan, David nicolle wrote it to be Vahan, while A.I.Akram in his book “Sword of Allah” (ISBN 0-71010-104-X) mentioned it to be Mahan.
  5. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 106
  6. ^ The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns: page no:562 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram. Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4
  7. ^ The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns: page no:564 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram. Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 0-71010-104-X.
  8. ^ al-Balazuri: page no:143
  9. ^ According to Gibbon (Vol. 5, page no: 333) Constantine, commanding at Caesarea, was the eldest son of Heraclius
  10. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 109
  11. ^ al-Waqidi: page no:118
  12. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 128
  13. Prophet Mohammad
  14. Prophet Mohammad
    ’s cousin and one of the Blessed Ten
  15. ^ The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns: page no:571 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram. Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4
  16. ^ Edward Gibbon Vol no:5 page no: 325
  17. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah the new commander in chief ,also see of Khalid
  18. ^ The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns: page no:576 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  19. ^ The Sword of Allah”: page no:577-578, by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  20. ^ The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns: page no:570 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  21. ^ Administered by Syria until 1967, it was first occupied and then, in 1981, annexed by Israel. Area: 1,250 sq km/483 sq mi
  22. ^ The Sword of Allah: page no:572-573 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  23. ^ The Sword of Allah: page no:574 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  24. ^ The Sword of Allah: page no:558-586 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  25. ^ The Sword of Allah” : page no:586 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  26. ^ [1]
  27. ^ The Sword of Allah” : page no:586-587 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  28. ^ The Sword of Allah” : page no:588 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  29. ^ The Sword of Allah” : page no:589 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  30. ^ http://www.renaissance.com.pk/jaletf95.html
  31. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 140
  32. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 141
  33. ^ [2]
  34. ^ " Sword of Allah: by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  35. ^ http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/muslimwars/articles/yarmuk.aspx
  36. ^ al-Waqidi: page no:142
  37. ^ Sword of Allah page no:597-599 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  38. ^ [3]
  39. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 148
  40. ^ Sword of Allah: Page no:605-606 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  41. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 153
  42. ^ al-Waqidi: page no: 153
  43. ^ http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/volume2/chap512.htm
  44. ^ Sword of Allah: Page no:611-620 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  45. ^ Sword of Allah: Page no:620 by Lieutenant-General Agha Ibrahim Akram, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
  46. ^ , Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 0-71010-104-X.

External links

Further reading

  • Donner, Fred. The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton, 1981.
  • Haldon, John. The Byzantine Wars, Tempus Publishing, 2001.
  • Kaegi, Walter E. Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests, Cambridge, 1992.
  • Kaegi, Walter E. Heraclius: Emperor of Byzantium, Cambridge, 2003.
  • Nicolle, David. Yarmuk 636 A.D.: The Muslim Conquest of Syria, Osprey Campaign Series #31, Osprey Publishing, 1994.
  • Treadgold, Warren. Byzantium and Its Army: 284-1081, Stanford, 1995.
  • Treadgold, Warren. A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford, 1997.
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