Rashidun army
| Rashidun Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 632–661 |
| Country | Rashidun Caliphate |
| Branch | Army |
| Headquarters |
Medina (632–657) Kufa (657–661) |
| Engagements |
Muslim conquest of Persia Arab-Byzantine Wars Muslim conquest of Egypt Arab–Khazar wars Muslim conquest of Transoxiana Arab invasion of Sindh North African conquests |
| Commanders | |
| Supreme-Commander | Caliph |
| Commander-in-Chiefs |
Khalid ibn Walid Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah Amr ibn al-'As |
The Rashidun army was the core of the Rashidun Caliphate's armed forces during the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, serving alongside the Rashidun navy. The Rashidun army maintained a high level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization.
In its time, the Rashidun army was a powerful and very effective force. The size of the Rashidun army was initially 13,000 troops in 632, but as the Caliphate expanded, the army gradually grew to 100,000 troops by 657. The three most successful generals of the Rashidun army were Khalid ibn al-Walid, who conquered Persian Mesopotamia and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah who conquered Roman Syria, and 'Amr ibn al-'As, who conquered Roman Egypt.
Only Muslims were allowed to join the Rashidun army as regular troops. During the Ridda wars in the reign of Caliph Abu Bakr, the army mainly consisted of the corps from Madinah, Mecca and Taif. Later on during the conquest of Iraq in 633 many bedouin corps were recruited as regular troops. During the Islamic conquest of Sassanid Persia (633-656), some 12,000 elite Persian troops converted to Islam and served later on during the invasion of the empire. During the Muslim conquest of Roman Syria (633-638,) some 4,000 Greek Byzantine soldiers under their commander Joachim (later Abdullah Joachim) converted to Islam and served as regular troops in the conquest of both Anatolia and Egypt. During the conquest of Egypt (641-644), Coptic converts to Islam were recruited. During the conquest of North Africa, Berber converts to Islam were recruited as regular troops, who later made the bulk of the Rashidun army and later the Umayyad army in Africa.
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