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"And the day we surrounded
the citadels
One after another, at calm Hirah.
We forced them down from their thrones,
Where they had acted as cowardly opponents."
[ Al-Qa'qa' bin Amr, commander in Khalid's army]1
In the middle of May 633
(beginning of Rabi-ul-Awwal, 12 Hijri) Khalid marched from Ullais
towards Amghishiya. This place was very near Ullais; in fact Ullais
acted as an out post of Amghishiya! 2 The
same morning the army reached Amghishiya, and found it a silent
city.
Amghishiya was one of the great cities of
Iraq-a rival the richness to Hira in size, in the affluence of its
citizens and in find the and splendour of its markets. The Muslims
arrived to city intact, and its markets and buildings abundantly
stocked with wealth and merchandise of every kind; but of human
beings there was no sign. The flower of Amghishiya's manhood had
fallen at Ullais. Those who remained-mainly women and children and
the aged-had left the city in haste on hearing of the approach of
Khalid and had taken shelter in the neighbouring countryside, away
from the route of the Muslim army. The fear which the name of Khalid
now evoked had become a psychological factor of the highest importance
in the operations of his army.
The Muslims took Amghishiya as part of the
legitimate spoils of war. They stripped it of everything that could
be lifted and transported, and in doing so accumulated wealth that
dazzled the simple warriors of the desert. After it had been thoroughly
ransacked, Khalid destroyed the city. 3
It is believed that the spoils taken here were equal to all the
booty that had been gained from the four preceding battles in Iraq;
and as usual, four-fifths of the spoils were distributed among the
men while one-fifth was sent to Madinah as the share of the State.
By now the Caliph had become accustomed
to receiving tidings of victory from the Iraq front. Every such
message was followed by spoils of war which enriched the state and
gladdened the hearts of the Faithful. But even Abu Bakr was amazed
by the spoils of Amghishiya. He summoned the Muslims to the mosque
and addressed them as follows:
"O Quraish! Your lion has attacked
another lion and overpowered him. Women can no longer bear sons
like Khalid!" 3
This was one of the finest compliments ever
paid to Khalid bin Al Waleed.
These were difficult days for Azazbeh, governor
of Hira. He had heard of the disaster that had befallen the Persian
army, at Kazima, at the River, at Walaja and at Ullais; and
it was obvious that Khalid was marching on Hira. If those large
armies, commanded by distinguished generals, had crumbled before
the onslaught of Khalid, could he with his small army hope to resist?
There were no instructions from the ailing Emperor.
Azazbeh. was the administrator of Hira as
well as the commander of the garrison. He was a high official of
the realm-a 50,000 dirham-man. The Arab king of Hira, Iyas bin Qubaisa
who has been mentioned earlier, was a king in name only. Other chieftains
who were like princes of the realm also had no governmental authority
except in purely Arab or tribal matters. It fell to Azazbeh to defend
Hira; and as a true son of Persia, he resolved to do his best.
He got the army garrison out of its quarters
and established a camp on the outskirts of Hira. From here he sent
his son forward with a cavalry group to hold the advance of Khalid,
and advised him to dam the Euphrates in case Khalid should think,
of moving up in boats. This young officer rode out to a place where
the River Ateeq joined the Euphrates, 12 miles downstream from Hira.
Here he formed a base, from which he sent a cavalry detachment forward
as an outpost to another river junction a few miles ahead, where
the Badqala flowed into the Euphrates, a little above Amghishiya.
5
1. Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Dar
Abi Hayyan, Cairo, 1st ed. 1416/1996, Vol. 6 P. 425.
2. Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 563; Amghishiya was
also known as Manishiya.
3. Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 563.
4. Ibid.
5. The River Ateeq still exists. It is a
small river, hardly more than a large stream, and may have been
a canal in those days. Taking off from the area of Abu Sukhair,
the Ateeq flows west of Euphrates, going up to 5 miles away from
the main river, and rejoins the Euphrates a mile above modern Qadisiya
(which is 8 miles south-east of the old, historical Qadisiya). In
the latter part of its journey, this stream is also known as Dujaij.
The Badqala was a canal or channel which joined the Euphrates near
Amghishiya (Tabari: Vol. 2, p. 563). In his account of this operation,
Tabari is both confusing and confused, and has got the two river
junctions mixed up.
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