When the Prophet Muhammad passed away in 632, his entire work was threatened with near dissolution, as his followers argued over the succession. In the end, after an all night debate, the Muslims elected Abu Bakr as Caliph, as successor to the Prophet but was himself not one.
Abu Bakr acted to stop the Arabian tribes from seceding upon the death of Muhammad, and even succeeded in expanding the sphere of Muslim power. At the battle of al-Aqraba in 633, the Muslims defeated a rival tribal confederation and took eastern Arabia as well. The stage was set for a grand entrance on the world stage.
The immediate outcome of this Muslim victory was turmoil for Muslim pressure drove other tribes into the imperial realms of both Persia and Byzantium. The Bakr tribe, which had defeated the Persians in 606, even joined forces with the Muslims to raid southern Iraq. Abu Bakr encouraged these movements, for they corresponded with Muhammad's intentions and helped to recruit bedouins for the Muslim cause.
At first, the Arab raids were mainly for booty, but when the Byzantines sent an army into southern Palestine to deal with them, Abu Bakr sent Khalid b. al-Walid to take command of the Arab clans. At the battle of Ajnadayn in 634, the Arabs inflicted a defeat on the Byzantines. Their appetite whetted, the Arabs began to dream of empire.
They moved swiftly. In 636, the Arabs took Damascus. Baalbek, Homs and Hama surrendered. The rest of the Syrian province continued to resist but Jerusalem fell in 638, followed by Caesarea in 640. Finally in 641, the Arabs took the northern Syrian towns of Harran, Edessa and Nasibin as well, completing their control of all of Roman Syria.
Next, the Arabs turned their attention to Egypt for it was a rich province, was the granary for Constantinople, had important naval yards and was the gateway to North Africa. The Arab general, 'Amr b. al-'As invaded the province on his own initiative in 641. Within the year, he had seized the entire country except for Alexandria, which finally fell in 643.
The next objective was Africa. Tripoli was taken in 643. But then, the Arab onslaught in this direction slowed. They would take another 75 years to conquer all of N Africa. Although Egypt and Syria had been won from the Byzantines, the Romans still controlled Anatolia and the Balkans. The two sides would continually engage in land and sea conflicts, as the Byzantines contested Arab control and attempted to regain their former lands.
The Sassanian empire, on the other hand, was totally conquered. The Arabs defeated the Persians at the battle of Qadisiya in 637 and seized their capital, Ctesiphon. The last Persian emperor, Yazdagird, was forced to flee into Inner Asia and seeked Turkish protection. All of Iraq fell into Arab hands.
However, in Iran, the resistance continued. The problem for the Arabs was not a strong centralized power resisting them, but a number of small weak principalities in remote locations to be dealt with in turn. It would take the Arabs decades to subdue all the quasi-independent principalities that had made up the Sassanian empire.
In the meantime, the Arabs moved north from the garrison base at Kufa, and occupied Mosul in 641. By 644, Nihawand, Hamadhan, Rayy, Isfahan and all the main cities of western Iran had fallen. The Arabs also captured Azarbayjan, to the west of the Caspian Sea, at around the same time.
Other forces operating from Basra captured Ahwaz (Khuzistan) in 640, but would take until 649 to completely capture the Fars region. Only then could the Arabs go on to subdue the more outlying regions like Armenia and Khurasan. The latter was conquered in 654.
This first wave was followed by grand campaigns several decades later. The Muslims would take all of North Africa by 711 and Spain by 759. To the north, the Arabs attacked Anatolia and launched three ultimately unsuccessful campaigns to capture Constantinople in 660, 668 and 717.
They fought against the Khazars in the Caucasus. They would capture the capitals of Transoxania, Bukhara and Samarqand, in 712 and 713. The Arabs now commanded the whole of the Middle East, as well as North Africa, Spain and Transoxania.
The reasons for the dazzling Arab successes were not hard to fathom. The Byzantines and Sassanians had exhausted themselves in mutual warfare for decades, prior to the Arab onslaught. In addition, the Christians, the Copts in Egypt, the Monophysites in Syria and the Nestorians in Iraq, were disaffected with Byzantine and Sassanian rule. This disaffectation was crucial where Christian Arab tribes and military auxiliaries joined with the new invaders and where fortified cities simply surrendered.
The conquests were possible due to the military weakness of the imperial powers, and were consolidated due to acceptance of local populations of the new order. This was further secured by a mass migration of Arabian peoples to the new territories. A new era had begun.
Abu Bakr acted to stop the Arabian tribes from seceding upon the death of Muhammad, and even succeeded in expanding the sphere of Muslim power. At the battle of al-Aqraba in 633, the Muslims defeated a rival tribal confederation and took eastern Arabia as well. The stage was set for a grand entrance on the world stage.
The immediate outcome of this Muslim victory was turmoil for Muslim pressure drove other tribes into the imperial realms of both Persia and Byzantium. The Bakr tribe, which had defeated the Persians in 606, even joined forces with the Muslims to raid southern Iraq. Abu Bakr encouraged these movements, for they corresponded with Muhammad's intentions and helped to recruit bedouins for the Muslim cause.
At first, the Arab raids were mainly for booty, but when the Byzantines sent an army into southern Palestine to deal with them, Abu Bakr sent Khalid b. al-Walid to take command of the Arab clans. At the battle of Ajnadayn in 634, the Arabs inflicted a defeat on the Byzantines. Their appetite whetted, the Arabs began to dream of empire.
They moved swiftly. In 636, the Arabs took Damascus. Baalbek, Homs and Hama surrendered. The rest of the Syrian province continued to resist but Jerusalem fell in 638, followed by Caesarea in 640. Finally in 641, the Arabs took the northern Syrian towns of Harran, Edessa and Nasibin as well, completing their control of all of Roman Syria.
Next, the Arabs turned their attention to Egypt for it was a rich province, was the granary for Constantinople, had important naval yards and was the gateway to North Africa. The Arab general, 'Amr b. al-'As invaded the province on his own initiative in 641. Within the year, he had seized the entire country except for Alexandria, which finally fell in 643.
The next objective was Africa. Tripoli was taken in 643. But then, the Arab onslaught in this direction slowed. They would take another 75 years to conquer all of N Africa. Although Egypt and Syria had been won from the Byzantines, the Romans still controlled Anatolia and the Balkans. The two sides would continually engage in land and sea conflicts, as the Byzantines contested Arab control and attempted to regain their former lands.
The Sassanian empire, on the other hand, was totally conquered. The Arabs defeated the Persians at the battle of Qadisiya in 637 and seized their capital, Ctesiphon. The last Persian emperor, Yazdagird, was forced to flee into Inner Asia and seeked Turkish protection. All of Iraq fell into Arab hands.
However, in Iran, the resistance continued. The problem for the Arabs was not a strong centralized power resisting them, but a number of small weak principalities in remote locations to be dealt with in turn. It would take the Arabs decades to subdue all the quasi-independent principalities that had made up the Sassanian empire.
In the meantime, the Arabs moved north from the garrison base at Kufa, and occupied Mosul in 641. By 644, Nihawand, Hamadhan, Rayy, Isfahan and all the main cities of western Iran had fallen. The Arabs also captured Azarbayjan, to the west of the Caspian Sea, at around the same time.
Other forces operating from Basra captured Ahwaz (Khuzistan) in 640, but would take until 649 to completely capture the Fars region. Only then could the Arabs go on to subdue the more outlying regions like Armenia and Khurasan. The latter was conquered in 654.
This first wave was followed by grand campaigns several decades later. The Muslims would take all of North Africa by 711 and Spain by 759. To the north, the Arabs attacked Anatolia and launched three ultimately unsuccessful campaigns to capture Constantinople in 660, 668 and 717.
They fought against the Khazars in the Caucasus. They would capture the capitals of Transoxania, Bukhara and Samarqand, in 712 and 713. The Arabs now commanded the whole of the Middle East, as well as North Africa, Spain and Transoxania.
The reasons for the dazzling Arab successes were not hard to fathom. The Byzantines and Sassanians had exhausted themselves in mutual warfare for decades, prior to the Arab onslaught. In addition, the Christians, the Copts in Egypt, the Monophysites in Syria and the Nestorians in Iraq, were disaffected with Byzantine and Sassanian rule. This disaffectation was crucial where Christian Arab tribes and military auxiliaries joined with the new invaders and where fortified cities simply surrendered.
The conquests were possible due to the military weakness of the imperial powers, and were consolidated due to acceptance of local populations of the new order. This was further secured by a mass migration of Arabian peoples to the new territories. A new era had begun.
This goes on to prove that being a nomad goes a long way. I like the size of that empire.
