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Battle of Khazir
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Battle of Khazir
The Battle of Khazir (Arabic: يوم الخازر, romanized: 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 Fitna and was part of the larger struggle for control of Iraq between the Syrian-led Umayyad Caliphate, the Kufan Partisans of Ali under Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, and the Meccan caliphate of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. It ended with the Umayyad forces being routed and resulted in the expansion of Mukhtar's control over the Mosul region.
The Second Fitna left the Umayyad realm restricted to Damascus and its environs, after most of its territories came under the control of Ibn al-Zubayr. 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 toward Mosul precipitated the Battle of Khazir. Ubayd Allah, its commander, was a sworn enemy of the Alids. To halt the Umayyad advance, Mukhtar deployed his mawali-dominated forces under the command of Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar to confront the predominantly Syrian Arab army. During the initial combat, part of Ibn al-Ashtar’s forces were put to flight, but they regrouped under his leadership and charged the Umayyad center. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides, and Ubayd Allah along with several of his lieutenants was killed. The Umayyad commander Umayr ibn al-Hubab al-Sulami and his Sulami tribesmen deserted during the battle, while the Kufan forces pursued the retreating Umayyad troops, many of whom drowned in the Khazir River.
Khazir was a major setback for the Umayyads, who did not launch another invasion of Iraq until 691. However, Mukhtar’s victory was short-lived, as he was killed a year later when the Zubayrid forces took over Kufa. Meanwhile, the Qays-Yaman rivalry within the Umayyad Caliphate intensified due to Umayr’s mid-battle defection and his later attacks on the tribes of Taghlib and Banu Kalb. In these later conflicts, the Kalb were led by Humayd ibn Hurayth ibn Bahdal, an Umayyad commander who survived Khazir.
The Umayyad Caliphate was shaken by the deaths of Caliph Yazid I and his successor Mu'awiya II in 683 and 684, respectively, amid the Second Muslim Civil War. In the aftermath, they lost authority over Iraq (the part of Mesopotamia south of Tikrit) while the governors of northern Syria and Palestine switched their allegiance to Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, the anti-Umayyad claimant to the caliphate. These and other defections restricted Umayyad rule to the region of Damascus. After the Umayyad governor of Iraq, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, was forced out of his province, he left for Damascus to prop up Umayyad rule. As a result of his efforts and with the support of loyalist Arab tribal factions, particularly southern Arab tribal groups later identified with the Yaman, Marwan ibn al-Hakam was proclaimed caliph in June 684.
In August 684, the Umayyads and their tribal allies routed the Zubayrid-aligned Qaysi tribes at the Battle of Marj Rahit. Thevictory secured Marwan’s control over Syria, but also deepened the long-running Qays–Yaman tribal divide. With Syria consolidated under Umayyad authority, Marwan dispatched an army led by Ubayd Allah to recover Iraq., where authority remained fragmented among anti-Umayyad forces, including the Partisans of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, other pro-Alid groups, and supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr. Marwan promised Ubayd Allah the governorship of all territories he could reconquer. Marwan promised Ubayd Allah the governorship of all the territories that he conquered. In early January 685, Ubayd Allah was mobilizing his troops at the Euphrates River town of Jisr Manbij. Around that time, his second-in-command, Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni, destroyed the Penitents, a Pro-Alid band led by Sulayman ibn Surad, at the Battle of Ayn al-Warda in modern-day Ras al-Ayn. Marwan died in the spring of 685, while Ubayd Allah's army was camped at Raqqa, and Marwan's son Abd al-Malik succeeded him as caliph.
In the eighteen months following the Umayyad victory at Ayn al-Warda, Ubayd Allah's troops were bogged down by struggles with the Qaysi tribes of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) led by the Zubayrid loyalist Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi. In the summer of 686, Ubayd Allah's troops advanced toward Mosul, long controlled by a Kufan military elite, with the ultimate aim of conquering Iraq. Mukhtar, who in the weeks prior had seized Kufa from Ibn al-Zubayr's governor, rapidly organized and dispatched a force under his commander, Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar, to confront the Umayyad army. Ubayd Allah defeated this force on 9–10 July 686. Meanwhile, Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr and the ashraf (Arab tribal nobility) of Kufa used the absence of Mukhtar's forces as an opportunity to recapture Kufa. The attempt failed as Mukhtar was able to recall his troops and defeat the Zubayrid forces by the end of July. With Kufa secured, Mukhtar again dispatched Ibn al-Ashtar to confront Ubayd Allah's army.
The ranks of Ubayd Allah's 60,000-strong army consisted of Arab tribesmen from Syria and as such was referred to in medieval sources as jumū' ahl al-Shām (host of the Syrians). At the time, according to one report cited by 9th-century historian al-Tabari, "[Caliph] Marwan's army was from Kalb and their commander was Ibn Bahdal", while "the whole of Qays was in al-Jazira and were opponents of Marwan and the family of Marwan". Historian Hugh N. Kennedy asserts that this "report is exaggerated" because Ubayd Allah recruited commanders from both Qays and Yaman (the latter were dominated by the Kalb), "but it does point to a general problem" regarding the effect of the Qaysi–Yamani rivalry on the Umayyad army.
Mukhtar's forces were smaller than Ubayd Allah's army, but the morale of his men was high due to their victory in Kufa and their desire to avenge Husayn ibn Ali and Ibn Surad's Penitents, whose deaths were attributed to Ubayd Allah. The report of the Arabic historian Abu Mikhnaf (d. 774) has Ibn al-Ashtar's army as a well-organized, 20,000-strong cavalry force, while the account of the contemporary Syriac historian John bar Penkaye describes this force as a rag-tag army of 13,000 foot soldiers. The foot soldiers were referred to as Mukhtar's shurṭa (select troops).
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Battle of Khazir
The Battle of Khazir (Arabic: يوم الخازر, romanized: 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 Fitna and was part of the larger struggle for control of Iraq between the Syrian-led Umayyad Caliphate, the Kufan Partisans of Ali under Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, and the Meccan caliphate of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. It ended with the Umayyad forces being routed and resulted in the expansion of Mukhtar's control over the Mosul region.
The Second Fitna left the Umayyad realm restricted to Damascus and its environs, after most of its territories came under the control of Ibn al-Zubayr. 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 toward Mosul precipitated the Battle of Khazir. Ubayd Allah, its commander, was a sworn enemy of the Alids. To halt the Umayyad advance, Mukhtar deployed his mawali-dominated forces under the command of Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar to confront the predominantly Syrian Arab army. During the initial combat, part of Ibn al-Ashtar’s forces were put to flight, but they regrouped under his leadership and charged the Umayyad center. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides, and Ubayd Allah along with several of his lieutenants was killed. The Umayyad commander Umayr ibn al-Hubab al-Sulami and his Sulami tribesmen deserted during the battle, while the Kufan forces pursued the retreating Umayyad troops, many of whom drowned in the Khazir River.
Khazir was a major setback for the Umayyads, who did not launch another invasion of Iraq until 691. However, Mukhtar’s victory was short-lived, as he was killed a year later when the Zubayrid forces took over Kufa. Meanwhile, the Qays-Yaman rivalry within the Umayyad Caliphate intensified due to Umayr’s mid-battle defection and his later attacks on the tribes of Taghlib and Banu Kalb. In these later conflicts, the Kalb were led by Humayd ibn Hurayth ibn Bahdal, an Umayyad commander who survived Khazir.
The Umayyad Caliphate was shaken by the deaths of Caliph Yazid I and his successor Mu'awiya II in 683 and 684, respectively, amid the Second Muslim Civil War. In the aftermath, they lost authority over Iraq (the part of Mesopotamia south of Tikrit) while the governors of northern Syria and Palestine switched their allegiance to Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, the anti-Umayyad claimant to the caliphate. These and other defections restricted Umayyad rule to the region of Damascus. After the Umayyad governor of Iraq, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, was forced out of his province, he left for Damascus to prop up Umayyad rule. As a result of his efforts and with the support of loyalist Arab tribal factions, particularly southern Arab tribal groups later identified with the Yaman, Marwan ibn al-Hakam was proclaimed caliph in June 684.
In August 684, the Umayyads and their tribal allies routed the Zubayrid-aligned Qaysi tribes at the Battle of Marj Rahit. Thevictory secured Marwan’s control over Syria, but also deepened the long-running Qays–Yaman tribal divide. With Syria consolidated under Umayyad authority, Marwan dispatched an army led by Ubayd Allah to recover Iraq., where authority remained fragmented among anti-Umayyad forces, including the Partisans of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, other pro-Alid groups, and supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr. Marwan promised Ubayd Allah the governorship of all territories he could reconquer. Marwan promised Ubayd Allah the governorship of all the territories that he conquered. In early January 685, Ubayd Allah was mobilizing his troops at the Euphrates River town of Jisr Manbij. Around that time, his second-in-command, Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni, destroyed the Penitents, a Pro-Alid band led by Sulayman ibn Surad, at the Battle of Ayn al-Warda in modern-day Ras al-Ayn. Marwan died in the spring of 685, while Ubayd Allah's army was camped at Raqqa, and Marwan's son Abd al-Malik succeeded him as caliph.
In the eighteen months following the Umayyad victory at Ayn al-Warda, Ubayd Allah's troops were bogged down by struggles with the Qaysi tribes of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) led by the Zubayrid loyalist Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi. In the summer of 686, Ubayd Allah's troops advanced toward Mosul, long controlled by a Kufan military elite, with the ultimate aim of conquering Iraq. Mukhtar, who in the weeks prior had seized Kufa from Ibn al-Zubayr's governor, rapidly organized and dispatched a force under his commander, Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar, to confront the Umayyad army. Ubayd Allah defeated this force on 9–10 July 686. Meanwhile, Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr and the ashraf (Arab tribal nobility) of Kufa used the absence of Mukhtar's forces as an opportunity to recapture Kufa. The attempt failed as Mukhtar was able to recall his troops and defeat the Zubayrid forces by the end of July. With Kufa secured, Mukhtar again dispatched Ibn al-Ashtar to confront Ubayd Allah's army.
The ranks of Ubayd Allah's 60,000-strong army consisted of Arab tribesmen from Syria and as such was referred to in medieval sources as jumū' ahl al-Shām (host of the Syrians). At the time, according to one report cited by 9th-century historian al-Tabari, "[Caliph] Marwan's army was from Kalb and their commander was Ibn Bahdal", while "the whole of Qays was in al-Jazira and were opponents of Marwan and the family of Marwan". Historian Hugh N. Kennedy asserts that this "report is exaggerated" because Ubayd Allah recruited commanders from both Qays and Yaman (the latter were dominated by the Kalb), "but it does point to a general problem" regarding the effect of the Qaysi–Yamani rivalry on the Umayyad army.
Mukhtar's forces were smaller than Ubayd Allah's army, but the morale of his men was high due to their victory in Kufa and their desire to avenge Husayn ibn Ali and Ibn Surad's Penitents, whose deaths were attributed to Ubayd Allah. The report of the Arabic historian Abu Mikhnaf (d. 774) has Ibn al-Ashtar's army as a well-organized, 20,000-strong cavalry force, while the account of the contemporary Syriac historian John bar Penkaye describes this force as a rag-tag army of 13,000 foot soldiers. The foot soldiers were referred to as Mukhtar's shurṭa (select troops).