The Battle of Nishapur was fought in 652 between the Karen family and the Rashidun Caliphate along with their allies, the Kanārangīyān family.

Background

In 651,

Yazdegerd III Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at the ...

was murdered by Mahuy Suri, the ''

marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the suffix ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ''Marzbān'') were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension milita ...

'' of Marw.

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...

was afterwards invaded by the Muslim Arabs, who were defeated at the battle of Ruyan by the Zoroastrian Dabboyids.

Farrukhzad Farrukhzad ( pal, script=Latn, Farrūkhzādag; New Persian: ), was an Iranian aristocrat from the House of Ispahbudhan and the founder of the Bavand dynasty, ruling from 651 to 665. Originally a powerful servant of the Sasanian king Khosrow II (r. ...

, the previously minister of Yazdegerd, and ruler of Tabaristan, managed to repel the Arabs with the aid of Gil Gavbara and make a treaty with them. The Arabs then invaded Khorasan, and made a treaty with the ''

kanarang The ''kanārang'' ( fa, کنارنگ) was a unique title in the Sasanian military, given to the commander of the Sasanian Empire's northeasternmost frontier province, Abarshahr (encompassing the cities of Nishapur, Tus and Abiward). In Byzant ...

'' of

Tus Tus or TUS may refer to: * Tus (biology), a protein that binds to terminator sequences * Thales Underwater Systems, an international defence contractor * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language, ISO 639-3 code Education * Technological Univ ...

Kanadbak Kanadbak, also known as Kanara, was an Iranian nobleman, who was the ''kanarang'' during the reign of the Sasanian king Khosrau II (r. 590–628), and various other Sasanian monarchs, which includes Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651), the last Sasanian ki ...

. In the treaty Kanadbak agreed to pay tribute to the Arabs while still remaining in control of his territories in Tus. In order to strengthen the weakened Karen family, and to reclaim lost Karenid territory, Burzin, along with another Karenid named Sawar Karin, made resistance to the

Arabs 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, ...

and tried to reclaim territory from the Kanārangīyān family. In promise of regaining his lost territories, Kanadbak agreed to aid Abdullah in capturing Nishapur from the Karenid rebels.

Battle

Abdullah and Kanadbak started pillaging the areas of Nishapur, and fought heavily to capture the city. Sawar then tried to make peace with Abdullah, and told him that he would open the gates of Nishapur if the latter pardoned him. Abdullah agreed, however, when the gates were opened, he entered the gate with his army, and started to plunder the city and killing citizens, until

said to him: "O amir, once you have been victorious and triumphant forgiveness is a higher irtuethan revenge and retribution." Abdullah then did as the latter said and restored the city to Kanadbak's domains.Pourshariati (2008), pp. 272, 275–276

References

Sources

*{{cite book, last=Pourshariati, first=Parvaneh, title=Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran, location=London and New York, publisher=I.B. Tauris, year=2008, isbn=978-1-84511-645-3, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ 652 Nishapur Muslim conquest of Persia Nishapur