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The Euphrates and the Tigris
have been known to change their course more than once since the
time of Babylon. The maps in this book indicate the course which
these rivers followed in the early days of Islam. The main difference
from today is in the course of the Tigris. In pre-Islamic times
it had flowed in what is its present channel, which is known as
Dijlat-ul-Aura (the One-Eyed Tigris), but then it had abandoned
this channel and adopted a new course from Kut downwards, along
the Dujaila (the Little Tigris) and the Akhzar, to enter a region
of lakes and marshes comprising an area about 100 miles square,
just north-west of Uballa. The old bed of the river had then become
a dry, sandy bed. The marshes extended much farther north than they
do today (the area shown as marshland in Map 10 below is not exact);
and the Tigris picked its way through these marshes to rejoin the
bed of the One-Eyed Tigris in the region of Mazar (the present Azeir),
whence it flowed south and south-east into the Persian Gulf. 1
But the Tigris changed its course again in the Sixteenth Century
and returned to its old bed, the one marked on all maps now as the
Tigris. This, however, is not the largest branch of the Tigris,
for the Gharraf, taking off from Kut and joining the Euphrates at
Nasiriya, is larger. The Dujaila, which in the early days of Islam
was the main channel, is now a modest river-the third largest branch
of the Tigris, after the Gharraf and the One-Eyed Tigris.
The Euphrates followed a clear course down
to the present Hindiya, whence it split into two main channels as
it does today-both sizable rivers: the Hilla branch and the main
Euphrates. The main branch (the western one) again split up, flowing
generally in one large and several subsidiary channels, which over
the centuries have changed course several times, though not as drastically
as the Tigris. The two main branches reunited at Samawa, whence
the Euphrates flowed towards the region of lakes and marshes. While
some of the water of the river lost itself in the marshes, one clear
channel marked on today's maps as the Euphrates retained its distinct
identity as it flowed eastwards to join the Tigris at Qurna. The
marshes were drained by a large river known as Maqil, which emptied
into the Tigris a little north of Basra; and from this junction
all these waters flowed into the Persian Gulf as one great river,
known today as the Shatt-ul-Arab. (See Map 10 above).
Many changes have taken place in the bends
and twists of these rivers. I have not shown these details on the
maps as there is no way of knowing how they appeared then. Hence,
only the main branches of these rivers are shown on our maps, and
without all the twists and turns which must undoubtedly have existed.
This then was how Iraq stood politically
and geographically, when the Caliph launched Khalid on it. It was
a land occupied by Persians and Arabs, and ruled by the Persian
court. The Empire had begun to decline politically, but it would
be wrong to imagine that it had declined militarily. The military
effectiveness of an empire may remain at a high level for decades
after its political disintegration has set in. And so it was with
the Persians in the year 633.
The Persian army, including its Arab auxiliaries,
was the most formidable and most efficient military machine of the
time. Led by experienced and dedicated veterans, it was a proud,
sophisticated and well?tried force which gloried in its past achievements
and its present might. The Persian soldier was the best-equipped
warrior of his day. He wore a coat of mail or a breast-plate; on
his head rested a helmet of either chain mail or beaten metal; his
forearms were covered by metal sleeves, and his legs, were protected
by greaves (like leg-guards covering the front part of the leg).
He carried a spear, lance or javelin, a sword, and either an axe
or an iron mace (the latter was a favourite and much-feared Persian
weapon). He also carried one or two bows with 30 arrows and two
spare bowstrings hanging from his helmet. 2
Thus, powerfully equipped and armed was the Persian soldier. But,
and this was inevitable, he lacked mobility. In the general, set-piece
battle he acknowledged no equals; and in this he was right, until
Khalid's lightly armed and fast-moving riders came along.
It all started with Muthanna bin Harithah.
A tiger of a man who later died of wounds suffered in battle with
the Persians, Muthanna was a chief of the tribe of Bani Bakr, which
inhabited the north-eastern part of the Arabian peninsula and southern
Iraq. It is not certain that Muthanna had become a Muslim during
the time of the Prophet. He probably had, because a delegation from
the Bani Bakr had travelled to Madinah during the Year of Delegations
and had accepted Islam at the hands of the Prophet. But there is
no actual record of Muthanna's conversion.
1. Ibn Rusta: pp. 94-5. At Mazar (Azeir)
today only a small river flows into the Tigris from the west-certainly
too small to form the bed of the old Tigris. The old bed has probably
silted up and ceased to be discernible.
2. Dinawari: p. 73.
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