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With these words ringing
in his ears, Yazeed set off from Madinah. The invasion of Syria
had been launched.
Yazeed made good speed on the road to Tabuk. Behind
him marched the corps of Shurahbil, and behind that the corps of Abu Ubaidah,
each a day's march from the other. Amr bin Al Aas marched with his corps
on the western route to Eila. Yazeed had advanced two or three stages
beyond Tabuk when he first contacted the enemy-a force of Christian Arabs
sent forward by the Romans as a reconnaissance element. These Arabs withdrew
hastily after a brush with the Muslim advance guard. Following their withdrawal,
Yazeed made for the Valley of Araba where it meets the southern end of
the Dead Sea. (See Map 16)
Yazeed arrived at the Valley of Araba at
about the same time as Amr bin Al Aas reached Eila. Both corps now
made contact with Roman forces of about equal strength which had
been sent forward from the main Roman army to prevent the Muslims
from entering Palestine. Both Yazeed and Amr bin Al Aas fought the
Roman detachments facing them and drove them back with heavy losses.
When the Romans defeated by Yazeed withdrew in precipitous haste,
Yazeed sent a fast column which overtook the retreating detachment
at Dasin, some distance short of Gaza, and caused it considerable
damage before rejoining Yazeed at the Valley of Araba. Meanwhile
Amr bin Al Aas was moving north along this valley. These engagements
took place within a fortnight of the start of the Muslim march from
Madinah.
While these actions were being fought by
the corps of Yazeed-which had strayed from the objective given by
the Caliph-Shurahbil and Abu Ubaidah continued their march northwards
on the main route: Ma'an-Mutah-Amman. They were followed a little
later by Yazeed. By the end of the month of Safar (early May) Shurahbil
and Abu Ubaidah had got to the region between Busra and Jabiya;
1 Yazeed was camped somewhere in North-Eastern
Jordan; and Amr waited by the Valley of Araba. It was at this stage
that the Muslims came to realise that the Roman eagle was stirring.
Indeed the Roman eagle was already on the wing!
The Emperor Heraclius was in Emessa, planning
countermeasures against the Muslims. When he first heard of the
crushing defeats suffered by the Persian Army at the hands of Khalid,
he was not a little surprised, for he had had no higher opinion
of the Arabs than did the Persian court once have. But he was not
unduly worried. Then came news of the fiasco of Khalid bin Saeed,
and Heraclius felt reassured. However, as a precaution, he ordered
the positioning of several Roman legions at Ajnadein, whence they
could operate against any Muslim force entering Palestine or Jordan.
As the Muslim corps set off from Madinah,
the Roman army received intelligence of the move from Christian
Arabs. Apprised of the latest situation and the direction of the
Muslim movement, Heraclius realized that this was a serious attempt
at the invasion of his domain. Soon after this he heard of the defeat
of the Roman covering forces sent from Ajnadein at the hands of
the leading corps of the Muslim army. He decided to punish these
rough intruders and throw them back into the desert whence they
had come. On his orders, large detachments of the Roman army began
preparations for a move to Ajnadein from garrisons in Palestine
and Syria.
By now the Muslim commanders had established
contacts with the local population and laid the foundations of an
intelligence network. They had already come to know of the existence
of a Roman army at Ajnadein. A few days later they received intelligence
of the movement of more Roman legions in the direction of Ajnadein;
and all corps commanders sent messages to Abu Ubaidah informing
him of these moves. Three corps of the Muslim army were in more
or less the same region-i.e., Eastern Jordan and Southern Syria-and
Abu Ubaidah at once took these corps under his command. Amr bin
Al Aas was more isolated from the others and felt that the Roman
preparations were being made against his corps. He therefore sought
help from Abu Ubaidah.
1. Masudi (Muruj, Vol. 4, p. 66)
gives the location of Jabiya as 2 miles from Jasim. It was a little
to the west of the present Jasim-Nawa line, and after the arrival
of the Muslims, became known as a military cantonment.
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