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CHAPTER XV
EVENTS FOLLOWING THE BATTLE OF AL-KADISIYA. CAPTURE OF AL-MEDAIN
A.H. 15-16. / A.D. 636-637
Sa'd reoccupies Hira, end of 13 A.H., Jan. 636 A.D.
BY desire of the Caliph, Sa'd paused for a while to let the weary troops refit. Fragments of the defeated host escaped in the direction of Babylon, and rallied there. After two months' rest, Sa'd, now recovered from sickness, advanced to attack them. On the march he re-entered Al-Hira. It was the third time the unfortunate city had been taken. Punishment for the last helpless defection was now the doubling of its tribute. Soon supplanted by Al-Kufa, a few miles distant, the once royal city of Al-Hira speedily dwindled into insignificance. But the neighbouring palace of the Khawarnak, beautiful residence of a bygone Dynasty, was still left standing by the Lake of Najaf, and was sometimes visited as a country-seat by the Caliphs and their Court in after days.
Plain of Dura cleared.
The scattered Persian troops rallied first at the Tower of Babel, and then, recrossing the Euphrates, halted under the great mound of Babylon. Driven from thence, they fell back upon the Tigris. Sa'd pitched a standing camp at Babylon, from whence he cleared the plain of Dura, fifty miles broad, from the Euphrates to the Tigris. The territorial chiefs from all sides now came in, some as converts, some as tributaries; and throughout the tract between the two rivers, Muslim rule again became supreme. Several months passed; and at last, in the summer, Sa'd found himself able, with the full consent of 'Omar, now in the second year of his reign, to advance upon Al-Medain. 114
Medain, capital of Persia.
The royal City was built on both banks of the Tigris, at a sharp double bend of the river, fifteen miles below the capital of modern Baghdad. Seleucia, on the right bank, was the seat of the Alexandrian conquerors. On the opposite shore had grown up Ctesiphon, residence of the Persian monarchs. The combined City had for ages superseded Babylon as the capital of Chaldæa. Repeatedly taken by the Romans, it was now great and prosperous, but helplessly torn by intrigue and enervated by luxury. The main City, with its Royal palaces, was on the eastern side, where the noble arch, the Tak i Kesra, still arrests the traveller's eye as he sails down the Tigris. Sa'd now directed his march to the quarter which lay upon the nearer side. On the way he was attacked by the Queen-mother. Animated by the ancient spirit of her race, and with a great oath that so long as the Dynasty survived the empire was invincible, she took the field with an army commanded by a veteran General, "the lion of Chosroes." She was utterly discomfited, and her champion slain by the hand of Hashim.
Quenn mother discomfited.
Sa'd then marched forward; and, drawing a lesson from the vainglorious boast of the vanquished Princess, publicly recited before the assembled troops this passage from the sacred text:—
"Did ye not swear aforetime that ye would never pass away? Yet ye inhabited the dwellings of a people that had dealt unjustly by their own souls; and ye saw how We dealt with them. We made them warning and example unto you."—(Sura xiv. 46 f.)
Siege laid to western quarter. Summer 15 A.H., 636 A.D.
In this spirit they came upon the river; and lo! the famous Iwan, with its great hall of white marble, stood close before them on the farther shore. "Good heavens!" exclaimed Sa'd, dazzled at the sight; Allahu Akbar! What this but the White Pavilion of Chosroes! Now hath the Lord fulfilled the promise which He made unto His Prophet." And each company shouted Allahu Akbar! Great is the Lord! as they came up and gazed at the Palace almost within their grasp. But the City was too strong to storm, and Sa'd sat down before it. Warlike engines were brought up, but they made no impression on ramparts of sunburnt brick. The besieged issued forth in frequent sallies; it was the last occasion on which the warriors of Persia 115
adventured themselves in single combat with the Arabs. The investment was strict, and the inhabitants reduced to great straits. The army lay for several months before the City; but Sa'd was not inactive in other directions. Bands were despatched wherever the great landholders failed to tender their submission. These ravaged Mesopotamia, and brought in multitudes as prisoners; but, by 'Omar's command, they were dismissed to their homes. Thus the country from Tekrit downwards, and from the Tigris to the Syrian desert, was brought entirely and conclusively under Muslim sway.
Western quarter evacuated, end of 15 A.H., Jan. 637 A.D.