The Battle of Dhi Qar, by Professor Joel Hayward

The Battle of Dhi Qar
“‫قار‬ ‫ذي‬ ‫”يوم‬
Professor Joel Hayward

By the end of this lecture students should be able to:
 Understand Middle Eastern political and strategic dynamics in late antiquity
 Analyze the nature of Arab-Persian relations
 Analyze the causes, the course, and the consequences of the Battle of Dhi Qar

“It is related from the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬ that when he heard the news of Rabi'ah’s defeat of Kisra's
army, he exclaimed, ‘This has been the first day in which the Arabs have secured their just
due from the Persians, and it was through me that they were given the victory.”
― ‘Ali ibn al-Athir, The Complete History ( ‫الكامل‬
‫في‬
‫التاريخ‬ ) (Beirut: Baktaba al-Assrya, 2013
ed.), Vol. 1, p. 339.

Byzantine Empire: the eastern portion of the formerly
united Roman Empire
 In 330, Emperor Constantine moved the empire’s
capital to Byzantium, renamed Constantinople
 Although Eastern Orthodox and Greek speaking, the
Byzantines called their polity Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων
(“Roman Empire”) and themselves Ῥωμαῖοι
(“Romans”)

The Sassanid (or Sassanian) Empire
 Persian dynasty from 224 to 651 AD. Capital was Ctesiphon
(‫)المدائن‬
 Ardashir I, grandson of Sasan, founded this empire in 224
by defeating last Parthian king, Artabanus IV
 With the title Shahanshah, Ardashir claimed descent from
Darius III, the last Archaemenid emperor

 A highly literate, administratively stable, city-building empire, it enjoyed
civilizational equality with the Byzantines
 Religion was mainly Zoroastrianism. Their god was Ahura Mazda (“Wise Lord”).
Great guide was Zoroaster (6th or 7th Century BCE)

Byzantine strategy was essentially defensive
 Primary concern was continued harassment from the Avars in the northwest
 Preferred diplomacy and payment of tribute to continuous warfighting
 Used client states as buffer zones
Sassanid strategy was relentlessly offensive, unlike the Parthians, their immediate
predecessors, but much like the Archaemenids
 Faced threats from four regions; therefore kept four standing armies, each
commanded by its own general
 Constructive border walls and maintained strong garrisons
 Required massively heavy taxation
 Also used client states

Roman Emperor Valerian bows before Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa, 260

 Client states bordered more powerful states or empires
 Through war or treaty have accepted a subordinate status in return for peace
 They either pay tribute or provide military support; for example, promising the
security of a certain border region
 In return they enjoy political, cultural and religious freedom
 Two Arab client states existed in the sixth century: Ghassanids and Lakhmids

Ghassanids (‫الغساسنة‬, al-Ghasāsinah, also Banu Ghassan)
 Was the Roman vassal state protecting Roman Syria’s southern border. Had
their own authority over some subordinate tribes in the south
 Largely embraced Christianity
 After the spread of Islam, hardly any Ghassanids converted to Islam. Most
stayed Christian and they remain the mainstay of the Syrian Church

Lakhmids (‫ن‬ ‫و‬‫و‬‫اللخمي‬, al-Lakhmiyun, also Banu Lakhm ‫و‬‫و‬‫خلخ‬ ‫و‬‫و‬‫بن‬ or al-Manathirah
‫)المناذرة‬
 Capital city was Al-Hira, near the Euphrates River close to Ctesiphon
 325 Shapur II defeated the Lakhmids who were constantly raiding, and made
them a Sassanid vassal state protecting the Empire’s southern border.
 Pagans, Manichaeans, and later Christians
 After the spread of Islam, most Lakhmids embraced Islam

Lakhmids were politically ambitious. They saw themselves as the natural rulers
of all the Arabs
“This is the funerary monument of Imru' al-Qays, son of 'Amr, king of all the Arabs,
who owned the crown … Oh the good fortune of those who were his friends!”
— Namara Inscription, dated 328 CE

 From c. 527, the Ghassanids began to confront the Lakhmids
 Their long conflict was a type of Byzantine vs. Sassanid proxy war
 Religious differences also fueled the fire: most Ghassanids were Monophysites
and Tritheists, while Lakhmid Christians were mainly Nestorians
 In 531, the Sassanids defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Callinicum near
Edessa southeastern Turkey, with the help of the Lakhmids
 In 578 the Ghassanids overran the Lakhmids and burned al-Hira

The Immediate Context:
The Exhaustion of the Empires

 Khosrow II (‫كسرى‬, “Parves,” the Victorious) was defeated and overthrown in 590
by a renegade general Bahram Chobin
 Khosrow fled to Byzantine Emperor Maurice, who sent an massive Roman army
into Persia to restore him to the Sassanid throne in 591
 Established an “eternal peace” and married each other’s sisters

 When Maurice was then deposed and executed by renegade general Flavius
Phocas in 602, Khosrow began war against the Byzantines (602-628)
 Phocas’s cruel and exploitative leadership caused mass revolts
 A civil war between Phocas and Heraclius, Exarch of Africa, enabled Khosrow
to defeat and capture:
• Armenia
• Syria
• Palestine
• Egypt
• Arabian Gulf coastline

Ctesiphon
Constantinople
Damascus captured 613
Jerusalem captured
614
Egypt captured
618
. Edessa captured in 604
. Antioch captured in 613

Ctesiphon
Constantinople
Besieged 621

Ctesiphon
Constantinople
The Sassanid Empire
at its Greatest Extent
621 CE

Ctesiphon
Constantinople
The Sassanid Empire
621 CE
Heraclius Fights Back
622- 628 CE

Ctesiphon
Constantinople
Heraclius Fights Back
622- 628 CE
Battle of Ninevah 627
Göktürks
Khosrow II flees
Army replaces him
with Kavad II

 Kavad II offers Heraclius a ceasefire
 Both sides were economically and military exhausted
 There was no possibility of further fighting
 Heraclius demanded the return of the empires to their prewar borders

Ctesiphon
Constantinople
The Sassanid Empire
621 CE
Return of All Territories
628 CE

Ctesiphon
Constantinople
Return of All Territories
628 CE

Dhi Qar
An Arab Victory over a Persian Army

 Muslim traditions state that the Battle of Dhi Qar took place in the year 623 or 624
 Many modern historians date it a decade or more earlier
 Either way, it occurred DURING the exhausting Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602-628
 Significance: Khosrow’s main armies were fighting elsewhere, far from home

 The Shahanshah himself appointed the Lakhmid kings. i.e the kingship was not
heredity nor was it a choice of the tribes
 In 582, on the advice of his secretary ‘Adai ibn Zayd al-‘Ibadi, Khosrow appointed al-
Nu’man ibn al-Munthir ( ‫النعمان‬
‫بن‬
‫المنذر‬ ), a Nestorian Christian, as Lakhmid king
 Their relationship soon deteriorated

 Khosrow never forgave Nu’man for refusing in 591 to help him against Bahram
Chobin
 In 595 Khosrow was furious when Nu’man had ‘Adai ibn Zayd imprisoned (where he
was murdered)
 The last straw was when Nu'man refused to give Khosrow his daughter in marriage,
and for allegedly insulting Persian women (calling them “cows” ‫)بقر‬
 In 602, Khosrow deposed Nu'man and ended the Lakhmid kingdom
 For the first time in 300 years the Sassanid Empire had no southern safety buffer
against the Arab tribes

Al-Hira
Bakr ibn Wa’il
Lakhm (Lakhmids)
Sassanid Empire

Bakr ibn Wa’il
Al-Hira
Sassanid Empire
Dhi Qar

 Khosrow entrusted the rule of al-Hira to Iyas ibn Qabisah at-Ta‘i ( ‫إياس‬
‫بن‬
‫قبيصة‬
‫الطائي‬ )
alongside Nakhiragan, a Persian noble
 Khosrow wanted to repay Iyas for giving him a horse and slaughtering a camel for
him while he was escaping from Bahram Chobin a decade earlier
 Subsequently Khosrow sent Iyas ibn Qabisah against the Banu Shayban, a branch of
the Banu Bakr ibn Wa'il confederacy
 Hani' ibn Qabisah ibn Hani' ibn Mas'ud al-Shayban ― married to two of Nu’man’s
daughters ― had refused to hand over Nu'man’s women and the Lakhmid armor
(400-800 suits) and weapons

 Banu Taghlib, at war with the Banu Bakr ibn Wa'il for forty years, formed the main
force under Iyas
 This force numbered 2,000 Persian soldiers plus 3,000 from Banu Taghlib, Banu Iyad,
and other tribes
 The Banu Bakr ibn Wa'il may have had as few as 2,000 soldiers
 The most prominent constituent tribe was Banu Shayban
 Other groups included Banu ‘ijl, Banu Yashkur, Banu Dhuhl, Banu Qays ibn Tha’laba,
Banu Taym-Allah ibn Tha’laba.

Euphrates River
Day 1
Banu Bakr and Banu ‘Ijl vanguard reach the Euphrates to
collect water

Euphrates River
Day 1
Persian vanguard unexpectedly arrive desperate for water
Arabs
Persians

Euphrates River
Day 1
Sassanid medium cataphract

Euphrates River
Day 1
Hanthela ibn Tha‘labah ibn Sayyar al-‘Ijli
ordered the Arabs to stand and fight
He even cut the luggage camels’ girth
straps to prevent them fleeing
Arabs fought fiercely for three hours to
prevent Persians collecting any water

Euphrates River
Wells of Al-Jubabat
Day 1
Persians need water so they try to retreat to Al-Jubabat

Euphrates River
Wells of Al-Jubabat
Day 1
Arabs rush to intercept them

Euphrates River
Wells of Al-Jubabat
Day 1
Fierce fighting all
afternoon. Arabs
prevent Persians
watering

That night, Banu Iyad, reluctant auxiliaries with the Persians, sent a secret
message to the Banu Bakr:
“What is more attractive to you? That we should sneak away under cover of
darkness? Or stay here tonight, and leave the battlefield when you begin the
combat?”

“No. Stay here tonight. But after the combat becomes fierce, take to flight.”
The Banu Bakr answered:
“No. Stay here tonight. But after the combat becomes fierce, take to flight.”

Day 2
Yazid ibn Himar as-Sukruni
of the Banu Shayban
hid at al-Jubb

Day 2 Hanthela ibn Tha‘lebah ordered the straps of all the camels carrying wives to be cut

Day 2
Hani ibn Qabisa
Hanthela ibn Tha‘lebah Yazid ibn Mus‘hir al-Shaybani
Jalabzin
Al-Harmaz
Hormazan

Day 2
Burd ibn Haritha ibn Yashkuri won a single
combat against General al-Harmaz and
broke the moral of the enemy flank

Day 2
As promised, the Banu Iyad left the battlefield

Day 2
Yazid ibn Himar as-Sukruni and the Banu Shayban fall
upon the enemy rear

 News of the Dhi Qar victory quickly spread throughout Arabia
 It helped to create a new spirit of confidence and a belief in unity
 Far from being inferior, Arabs had a future on their own terms
 This new confidence entered the Arabs at precisely the right moment, coming exactly
at the birth of Islam

 The Banu Bakr ibn Wa’il, and especially the Banu Shayban, followed a distinct anti-
Sassanian policy after Dhi Qar
 Began sustained raids against southwestern Sassanid lands which now had no
Lakhmid protection
 Banu Shayban tribesmen, led by Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha, notably assisted the
Islamic army in the conquest of western Persia
 Coupled with disastrous instability in Ctesiphon after the downfall of Khosrow in 628,
and plague in 627-8, these events enabled the decisive Battle of Qadisiyya in 636 and
the Muslim conquest of Persia

The Battle of Dhi Qar, by Professor Joel Hayward

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