Battle of Hazir
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The Battle of Hazir or ''Ma'arakah al-Haadhir'' ( ar, معركة الحاضر) took place between the Byzantine army and the
Rashidun army The Rashidun army () was the core of the Rashidun Caliphate's armed forces during the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century. The army is reported to have maintained a high level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization, granti ...
's elite cavalry, the
Mobile guard The Fursan unit, or the early Muslim cavalry unit, was the cavalry forces of Rashidun army during the Muslim conquest of Syria. The division which formed the early cavalry corps of the caliphate were commonly nicknamed the Mobile Guard (Arabic: ط ...
. It took place in June 637, three miles east of
Qinnasrin Qinnasrin ( ar, قنسرين; syr, ܩܢܫܪܝܢ, ''Qinnašrīn'', lit=Nest of Eagles), also known by numerous other romanizations and originally known as ( la, Chalcis ad Belum; grc-gre, Χαλκὶς, ''Khalkìs''), was a historical town in ...
at Al-Hadher in present-day
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
.


Background

After the conquest of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
,
Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
went back to his capital city of
Madinah Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
while Commander Yazeed proceeded to Caesarea and once again laid siege to the port city. Commanders Amr bin al-A’as and Sharhabeel marched to reoccupy
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
and
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, which was completed by the end of the year.
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ ( ar, عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح; 583–639 CE), better known as Abū ʿUbayda ( ar, أبو عبيدة ) was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Islamic prophet M ...
and
Khalid ibn Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially headed campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career i ...
, with an army of 17,000 men, set off from
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
to conquer all of northern Syria. Abu Ubaidah marched to
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
, which was already in
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
hands, and then to
Emesa Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...
, which welcomed his return. His next objective was Qinnasrin which was approached with Khalid and the Mobile Guard in the lead. After a few days the Mobile Guard reached Hazir, three miles east of Qinnasrin, where it was attacked in strength by the Byzantines. The Byzantine garrison commander at Qinnasrin was a general named Menas, a distinguished soldier who was loved by his men. Menas knew that if he stayed in Qinnasrin, he would be besieged by the Rashidun army and would eventually have to surrender, as he could expect no help from the emperor. He therefore decided to take the offensive and attack the leading elements of the Rashidun army well forward of the city and attempt to defeat them before they could be joined by the main body. With this plan in mind, Menas attacked the Mobile Guard at Hazir with a force whose strength was about 70,000 men; in this effort, he either did not know that Khalid was present with the leading elements of the Muslim army or did not believe all that he had heard about Khalid ibn Walid. According to Peter Crawford, the numbers recorded for the subsequent Battle of Hazir are disputed. Due to the mass evacuation of Syria ordered by Heraclius, it would be surprising if Menas had even a tenth of this recorded figure, while it is somewhat unlikely Abu Ubayda and Khalid would have as many men as this with the detachment of the corps of Yazid, Shurahbil, and Amr.


Battle

The battle began on a plain three miles east of Qinnasrin at Al-Hadher, which was a farming village. Khalid deployed his Mobile Guard into its fighting formation for battle. Menas arranged his army in one center and two wings and was himself in the front ranks leading the army like Khalid. Soon fierce clashes broke out at Hazir. The battle was still in its early stages when Menas was killed. As the news of his death spread among his men, the Byzantine soldiers went wild with fury and savagely attacked to avenge their leader's death. At that time, Khalid took a cavalry regiment and maneuvered from a wing to attack the Byzantine army from the rear. Soon the entire Roman army was encircled and defeated. It is said that Menas and his garrison had never suffered such a severe defeat.


Aftermath

As soon as the battle was over, the people of Hazir came out of their town to greet Khalid. They pleaded that they were
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
s and had no intention of opposing him. Khalid accepted their surrender and advanced to Qinnasrin. In another account, however,
Ibn al-Adim Kamāl al-Dīn Abū ʾl-Ḳāsim ʿUmar ibn Aḥmad ibn Hibat Allāh Ibn al-ʿAdīm (1192–1262; ) was an Arab biographer and historian from Aleppo. He is best known for his work ''Bughyat al-Talab fī Tārīkh Ḥalab'' (; ''Everything Desirable a ...
suggested that Khalid killed some of the townspeople although Yohann Friedmann, the translator of Tabari did not agree. At Qinnasrin, the part of the Roman garrison which had not accompanied Menas to Hazir shut itself up in the fort. As soon as Khalid arrived, he sent a message to the garrison: Without further delay, Qinnasrin surrendered to Khalid. The Battle of Hazir and the surrender of Qinnasrin took place in about June, 637. When Caliph Umar received reports of the Battle of Hazir, he made no attempt to conceal his admiration for the military genius of Khalid. Umar exclaimed: This was Umar's first admission that perhaps he had not judged Khalid rightly after he had dismissed Khalid from the command of the Muslim army.


Citations


References

* * * *


General references

* Akram, A.I. ''The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns'', Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) . * } *{{cite web , url= http://islamport.com/w/tkh/Web/363/172.htm , title= بغية الطلب في تاريخ حلب , website=islamport.com , publisher= Muuqa Al-Warraq * Zubdat al-Halab fi ta'arikh Halab (زبدة الحلب في تأريخ حلب; The cream of the history of Aleppo) written by
Ibn al-Adim Kamāl al-Dīn Abū ʾl-Ḳāsim ʿUmar ibn Aḥmad ibn Hibat Allāh Ibn al-ʿAdīm (1192–1262; ) was an Arab biographer and historian from Aleppo. He is best known for his work ''Bughyat al-Talab fī Tārīkh Ḥalab'' (; ''Everything Desirable a ...


External links


A.I. Akram, ''The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns'' Lahore, 1969
Hazir Hazir Hazir Hazir Hazir 630s in the Byzantine Empire Muslim conquest of the Levant