Battle of Khazir

Battle of Khazir
Part of the Second Muslim Civil War
Date 6 August 686 Location Bar'ita (Bar'idta), along Khazir River 36°20′00″N 43°24′00″E / 36.33333°N 43.40000°E / 36.33333; 43.40000 Result Pro-Alid victory
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate	Pro-Alid forces of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi
Commanders and leaders
Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad  † Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni  † Humayd ibn Hurayth al-Kalbi Umayr ibn al-Hubab al-Sulami (defected) Shurahbil ibn Dhi'l Kala' al-Himyari  † Al-Rabi'a ibn al-Mukhariq al-Ghanawi  †	Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar Al-Tufayl ibn Laqit Sufyan ibn Yazid al-Azdi Ali ibn Malik al-Jushami  † Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Nakha'i Abu 'Amra Kaysan
Strength
~60,000	13,000–~20,000
Casualties and losses
Heavy	Heavy

The Battle of Khazir (/ALA-LC: Yawm Khāzir) took place in August 686 near the Khazir River in Mosul's eastern environs, in modern-day Iraq. The battle occurred during the Second Muslim Civil War and was part of the larger struggle for control of Iraq between the Syria-based Umayyad Caliphate, the pro-Alid forces of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi and the Medina-based caliphate of Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr. It ended in a rout for the Umayyads and the expansion of al-Mukhtar's rule into the region of Mosul.

The Muslim civil war left the Umayyad realm restricted to Damascus and its environs after most of their territories came under Ibn al-Zubayr's orbit. However, an Umayyad resurgence began with the accession of Caliph Marwan I, who dispatched an army led by Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad to reconquer Iraq. This army's advance into Mosul precipitated the Battle of Khazir and its commander, Ubayd Allah, was an enemy of al-Mukhtar's pro-Alid partisans. Thus, al-Mukhtar quickly moved to halt the Umayyad advance, sending his Persian mawali-dominated forces led by Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar to confront the predominantly Syrian Arab army of the Umayyads. During the initial combat, part of Ibn al-Ashtar's forces were put to flight, but then regrouped under his command and charged against the Umayyad center. This resulted in heavy casualties on both sides and Ubayd Allah and several of his lieutenants were slain. The Umayyad commander Umayr ibn al-Hubab and his Sulaymi tribesmen deserted while the pro-Alids pursued the remaining Umayyad troops, scores of whom drowned in the Khazir River.

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