Battle of al-Qādisiyyah | |||||||||
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Part of the Muslim conquest of Persia | |||||||||
Depiction of the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah from a manuscript of the Persian epic Shahnameh. |
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Sasanid Empire | Rashidun Caliphate | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Rostam Farrokhzād † Bahman Jadhuyih † Hormuzan Jalinus † Shahriyar bin Kanara † Mihran Razi Piruz Khosrow Kanadbak Grigor II Novirak † Tiruyih Mushegh III † Javanshir Nakhiragan |
Sa`d ibn Abī Waqqās Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha Al-Qa'qa'a ibn Amr at-Tamimi Asim ibn Amr Abdullah ibn Al-Mutim Shurhabeel ibn As samt Zuhra ibn al-Hawiyya Jarreer bin Abdullah Al-Bijli Tulayha Amru bin Ma'adi Yakrib |
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Strength | |||||||||
80,000–200,000 (medieval estimates) |
30,000–40,000 | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
22,000 (medieval estimate) |
8,500 |
The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (Arabic: معركة القادسيّة; transliteration, Ma'rakatu al-Qādisiyyah; alternative spellings: Qadisiyya, Qadisiyyah, Kadisiya, Ghadesiyeh, Persian: نبرد قادسی; transliteration: Nabard-e Qādsi), fought in 636, was a decisive battle between the Arab Muslim army and the Sassanid Persian army during the first period of Muslim expansion. It resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia and was key to the conquest of Iraq, which was a Persian territory at that time. The battle also saw the alleged alliance of Emperor Yazdegerd III with Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, who married his granddaughter Manyanh to Yazdegerd as a symbol of alliance.
During the lifetime of Islamic prophet, Muhammad, Persia was ruled by Emperor Khosrau II, who waged a war against the Byzantine Empire to avenge the murder of Emperor Maurice. The Sassanid army invaded and captured Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia, and the True Cross was carried away in triumph. Emperor Heraclius succeeded Phocas in 610 and led the Byzantines in a war of reconquest, successfully regaining territory lost to the Sassanid Empire. He defeated a small Persian army at the final Battle of Nineveh and advanced towards Ctesiphon. After a successful coup by one of Khosrau's sons, Kavadh II, the new ruler ordered the execution of his father along with all his brothers and half-brothers, which included Mardanshah, the favorite son of Khosrau II, who was heir to the Sasanian throne. His next move was to make peace with the Romans and return all captured territories. At the same time Turks had attacked the North of Persia with a massive army. Heraclius ordered his armies to retreat after a pact was signed with Kavadh. According to the pact, the True Cross would be given back to Heraclius, and all Byzantine territory that the Persians had captured would be evacuated.