Battle of Baykand

Part of the Umayyad-Turgesh Wars and the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana

Map of Khurasan and Transoxiana in the 8th century

Date	729 CE
Location	Baykand () and Bukhara (modern Uzbekistan) 39°39′43″N 64°04′16″E / 39.662°N 64.071°E / 39.662; 64.071
Result	Narrow Arab victory

Belligerents

Umayyad Caliphate

Turgesh Khaganate and Transoxianian allies

Commanders and leaders

Ashras ibn Abdallah al-Sulami
Qatan ibn Qutayba
Ghurak

Suluk

The Battle of Baykand was fought in 729 between the Turkic Turgesh khaganate and its Soghdian allies and the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate at Baykand, a town near Bukhara in Transoxiana (in modern Uzbekistan). The Arab army, under the governor of Khurasan Ashras ibn Abdallah al-Sulami, campaigned across the Oxus River to suppress a large-scale rebellion of the subject Soghdian princes, that had broken out the previous year and received Turgesh support. As the Arab army advanced on Bukhara, it was encircled by the Turgesh and cut off from water. A series of engagements followed that almost ended in a disaster for the Arabs like the "Day of Thirst" five years earlier, but in the end, through the inspirational bravery of a few Arab leaders and the actions of the vanguard under al-Harith ibn Surayj and Qatan ibn Qutayba, the Arabs broke through and reached Bukhara, which they laid siege to.

The region of Transoxiana (Arabic: Ma wara' al-nahr) had been conquered by the Umayyad leader Qutayba ibn Muslim in the reign of al-Walid I (reigned 705–715), following the Muslim conquests of Persia and Khurasan in the mid-7th century. The loyalties of Transoxiana's native Iranian and Turkic populations and of the autonomous local rulers remained questionable, however: in 719 the Transoxianian princes sent a petition to the Chinese court and their Turgesh vassals for military aid against the Umayyad Caliphate's governors. In response, from 720 on the Turgesh launched a series of attacks against the Muslims in Transoxiana, coupled with uprisings against the Caliphate among the local Sogdians. The Umayyad governors initially managed to suppress the unrest, although control over the Ferghana Valley was lost. In 724 governor Muslim ibn Sa'id al-Kilabi and his army suffered a heavy defeat (the so-called "Day of Thirst") at the hands of the Turgesh when he tried to subdue Ferghana. This defeat pushed the Arabs on the defensive, and even though no pitched battles took place, over the next few years the Arab position in Transoxiana collapsed swiftly.

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