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CHAPTER XVI
BATTLE OF JALULA. REDUCTION OF MESOPOTAMIA. AL-KUFA AND AL-BASRA FOUNDED
16 A.H. / 637 A.D.
Persian advance.
'OMAR was satisfied, as well he might be, with the success achieved. His old spirit of caution revived, and beyond the plain skirted by the hilly range to the east, he strictly forbade a forward movement. Summer of the 16th year of the Hijra was passed in repose at Al-Medain. The King, with his broken troops, had fled into the Persian mountains; and the people on either bank of the Tigris, seeing opposition vain, readily submitted to the conqueror.
Battle of Jalula.
In the autumn, the Persians, resolving again to try the chance of arms, flocked in great numbers to Yezdejird at Holwan, about one hundred miles north of Al-Medain. From thence part of the force advanced to Jalula, a fortress held to be impregnable, surrounded by a deep trench, and the outlets guarded by chevaux de frise and spikes of iron. With 'Omar's sanction, Sa'd pushed forward Hashim and Al-Ka'ka' at the head of 12,000 men, including the flower of Mecca and Medina; and they sat down in front of the Citadel. The garrison, reinforced from time to time by the army at Holwan, attacked the besiegers with desperate bravery. Fresh troops were despatched from Al-Medain, and the siege was prolonged for eighty days. At length, during a vigorous sally, a storm darkened the air; and the Persian columns, losing their way, were pursued to the battlements by Al-Ka'ka', who seized one of the gates. Thus cut off they turned in despair upon the Arabs, and a general engagement ensued, which was not "surpassed by the Night of Clangour excepting that it was 119
shorter."
Persians routed and Jalula taken, end of 16 A.H., Dec. 637 A.D.
Beaten at every point, many Persians in the attempt to flee were caught by the iron spikes. They were pursued, and the country strewn with corpses. Followed by the fragments of his army, Yezdejird fled to Ar-Reiy in the direction of the Caspian Sea. Al-Ka'ka' then advanced to Holwan, and defeating the enemy, left that stronghold garrisoned with Arab levies as the farthest Muslim outpost to the north.
The spoil.
The spoil again was rich and plentiful. Multitudes of captive women, many of gentle birth, were distributed, a much loved prize, part on the spot, and part sent to the troops at Al-Medain. The booty was valued at thirty million dirhems, besides vast numbers of fine Persian horses, which formed a welcome acquisition to the army, nine falling to the lot of every combatant.
Ziyad sent with the Fifth to 'Omar.
In charge of the fifth, Sa'd despatched to Medina a youth named Ziyad, of doubtful parentage (of which more hereafter), but of singular readiness and address. In presence of the Caliph, he harangued the Citizens, and recounted in glowing words the prize of Persia, rich lands, endless spoil, slave-girls, and captive princesses. 'Omar praised his speech, and declared that the troops of Sa'd surpassed the traditions even of Arab bravery. But next morning, when distributing the rubies, emeralds, and vast store of precious things, he was seen to weep. "What!" exclaimed 'Abd ar-Rahman; "a time of joy and thankfulness, and thou sheddest tears!" "Yea," replied the simple-minded Caliph; "it is not for this I weep, but I foresee that the riches which the Lord bestoweth on us will be a spring of worldliness and envy, and in the end a calamity to my people."
'Omar refuses an advance on Persia.
Ziyad was also the bearer of a petition for leave to pursue the fugitives across the border into Khorasan. 'Omar, content with the present, wisely forbade the enterprise. I desire," he replied, "that between Mesopotamia and the countries beyond, the hills shall be a barrier, so that the Persians shall not be able to get at us, nor we at them. The plain of Al-'Irak sufficeth for our wants. I would rather the safety of my people than thousands of spoil and further conquest." The thought of a world-wide mission was yet in embryo; obligation to enforce Islam by a universal Crusade had not yet dawned upon the Muslim mind; and, 121
in good truth, an empire embracing Syria, Chaldæa, and Arabia might have satisfied the ambition even of an Assyrian or Babylonian monarch. The equal mind of 'Omar, far from being unsteadied by the flush and giddiness of victory, cared first to consolidate and secure the prize already in his hands.
Operations in Mesopotamia. Hit and Kirkisiya taken. Summer 16 A.H., 637 A.D.