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1/I used to deliver classes on the medieval history of Islamic Iran. The Arab Conquests of Iran were always fun. A short (but not too detailed) thread.
2/Before the advent of Islam in the early decades of the seventh century AD some Arabs of the Bakr b. Wāʾil tribes lived in Iran. There were also known Arab merchants in the Persian Gulf. The nomadic Bakr moved steppes on the lower Euphrates when the Taghlib, rivals, vacated.
3/Relations between Persian and pre-Islamic Arabs is not easy to pin down to one perspective. Politically the traditional view is Arabs were between Sasanian tributaries and Byzantium clients. Irfan Shahid monumental works is a classic and worth reading.
4/Persian kings recognised strategic significance of Arabia. Khusrau (reigned 531-579 AD) intervened in Yemeni affairs under pretext of aiding Arabs against Byzantium. Key Arab polities were Nasrids in east, Iraq (inappr. Lakhmids) & Jafnids (misleadingly Ghassanids) in Levant
5/Evidence suggest some tribes of Bakr b. Wāʾil converted to Christianity before the advent of Islam. It was these Arab Christian tribes that defeated the Sassanian armies in the Battle of Dhū Qār in c. 611 AD (attested by, inter alios, in ninth/third century Muslim sources).
6/The first major encounter between Muslims (or Arabs?) and Persians came during the reign of Caliph Abū Bakr (r. 632-634). It seems that the caliphal authority was confined to the shaded green areas in the Hijaz region.
7/The rest of Arabian Peninsula was under control or influence of numerous sub-tribes of Bakr b. Wāʾil. Situation changed after Apostasy Wars (حروب الردة) thanks to the military efforts of Khālid b. Walīd. Some Arab tribes (i.e., Shaybān) carried out raids against the Persians.
8/Khālid's success and growing repute meant Bakrī tribes faced two choices: ally with Arab Muslims or concede to Sasanian Empire. al-Muthannā b. Ḥāritha (d. 635), chief of Bakrī tribes, converted to Islam in Medina. Caliph made him representative of Muslims in southern Iraq.
9/By caliphal orders Khālid was appointed as military commander with 18000 soldiers under his command to lead offensive in lower Iraq against Persians. Abū Bakr was preoccupied in wars in Syria and Palestine.
10/The showdown between the Muslim armies and the Persians, led by Hurmuzd, came to be known as the Battle of Chains (معركة ذات السلاسل) which took place at Kāẓima (modern-day Kuwait). Skirmishes developed into regular warfare in southern Iraq.
11/Spurred by his successful campaign in 634 AD Khālid marched north towards al-Ḥīra taken at the Battle of Kaskar (معركة كسكر). The loss of al-Ḥīra alarmed the Persians. The Bakrī tribes sought military reinforcement from Medina, but Abū Bakr died in 634.
12/The new caliph ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb appointed Abū ʿUbayd al-Thaqafī as commander of Iraq. Khālid had been ordered to decamp and head to Syria. al-Ṭabarī tells us the new commander volunteered, to encourage other Muslims to enlist in the armies, most were feared the Persians
13/The ensuing showdown resulted in the Battle of the Bridge (معركة الجسر) on the bank of the Euphrates river near modern-day Kufa. The Arabs decided to re-focus on Iran in 634 AD after securing Syria. Many Persian soldiers fled leaving the Arabs with much gained booty.
14/In 636 AD after Battle of Yarmouk in Syria, caliph ʿUmar ordered army to march toward the Persian front. Saʿd b. Abī Waqqās took command of the Muslim/Arab armies in the famous Battle of al-Qādisiyya (معركة القادسية) - rich in Arab memory - in 637 AD.
15/Stand-off lasted for four months at first. The Persian general Rostam Farrokhzād preferred negotiations. The battle lasted for four days. Rostam was killed with heavy loss on Persian side.
16/The fall of of the legendary city of Ctesiphon came after Qādisiyya. The Arabs gained luxurious booty, such as carpets, jewels, new military arms, etc. The Sassanian king Yazdegerd III fled making way for Salmān the Persian (Muslim) the new governor. Coin shows Yazdgerd III.
17/Caliph ʿUmar did not push to extended conquests into Iran. Later, in 641-642 AD, near the province of Media, the Battle of Nihavand (معركة نهاوند) took place. It was hailed as the "victory of victories" bringing about the total collapse of the Sassanian Empire.
18/Scholars proffer various reasons for decline & fall of Sassanian Empire. Some suggest it fell because of the ingrained social inequality. Others point to corruption of the mobads, Zoroastrian clerics. While some speak of disturst between ruling class & lower strata of society
19/Fifteen years after Nihavand most of Sasanian realm under Muslim rule. It seems that there was no coordinated resistance. The complete conquest came in Umayyad times (i.e., from 661 AD onwards). There were Locals revolts, of course. Coin issued under Umayyads (with Pahlavi).
20/Arabs established garrison towns in western and southern Iran. Local rulers paid jiziya and received continued privileges. Most immigrants to Iran came from Kufa and Basra. Shiʿi Arabs were strongly represented in the waves of Arab migration. Why?
21/Most likely because Umayyad spies and rulers subjected the Shiʿi communities to severe persecution and marginalisation, forcing them to flee to peripheries of power. In Iran intermarriages between Arabs and Persians brought about a new class of Muslims.
22/In 672 fifty thousand Arab soldiers moved to Iran. Even then a few small pockets of Iranian regions refused to submit to new Arab religion, such as the areas near the Caspian Sea. END.
