Battle of Hazir

Battle of Hazir

battle

Part of	Muslim conquest of Syria
Country	Syria
Ein location	Qinnasrin
Coordinate location	35°59′45″N 37°3′27″E
Point for tym insyd	June 637
Participant	Rashidun Caliphate, Byzantine Empire

De Battle of Hazir anaa Ma'arakah al-Haadhir (Arabic: معركة الحاضر) take place between de Byzantine army den de Rashidun army ein elite cavalry, de Mobile guard. E take place insyd June 637, three miles east of Qinnasrin at Al-Hadher insyd present-day Syria.

Background

After de conquest of Jerusalem, Caliph Umar go back to ein capital city of Madinah while Commander Yazeed proceed to Caesarea den once again laid siege to de port city. Commanders Amr bin al-A’as den Sharhabeel march to reoccupy Palestine den Jordan, wich dem plete by de end of de year. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah den Khalid ibn Walid, plus an army of 17,000 men, set off from Jerusalem to conquer all of northern Syria.

Abu Ubaidah march to Damascus, wich already be insyd Muslim hands, den then to Emesa, wich welcome ein return. Ein next objective be Qinnasrin wich be approached plus Khalid den de Mobile Guard insyd de lead. After a few days de Mobile Guard reach Hazir, three miles east of Qinnasrin, wer e be attacked in strength by de Byzantines.

De Byzantine garrison commander at Qinnasrin be a general dem name Menas, a distinguished soldier wey ein men love am. Menas know say if he stay insyd Qinnasrin, he go be besieged by de Rashidun army den go eventually have to surrender, as he fi expect no help from de emperor. He therefore decide to take de offensive den attack de leading elements of de Rashidun army well forward of de city den attempt to defeat dem before dem fi be joined by de main body. Plus dis plan in mind, Menas attack de Mobile Guard at Hazir plus a force wey ein strength be about 7,000 men; insyd dis effort, he either no know say Khalid be present plus de leading elements of de Muslim army anaa he no believe all dat he hear about Khalid ibn Walid.

According to Peter Crawford, de numbers dem record for de subsequent Battle of Hazir be disputed. Secof de mass evacuation of Syria wey Heraclius order, e go be surprising if Menas get even a tenth of dis recorded figure, while e be sam wat unlikely Abu Ubayda den Khalid go get as many men as dis plus de detachment of de corps of Yazid, Shurahbil, den Amr.

Battle

De battle begin on a plain three miles east of Qinnasrin at Al-Hadher, wich be a farming village. Khalid deploy ein Mobile Guard into ein fighting formation for battle. Menas arrange ein army insyd one center den two wings wey ein einself insyd de front ranks wey dey lead de army like Khalid. Soon fierce clashes break out at Hazir. De battle be still insyd ein early stages wen dem kill Menas. As de news of ein death spread among ein men, de Byzantine soldiers go wild plus fury wey dem savagely attack to avenge dema leader ein death.

At dat time, Khalid take a cavalry regiment wey he maneuver from a wing to attack de Byzantine army from de rear. Soon de entire Roman army be encircled den defeated. Na dem say Menas den ein garrison never suffer such a severe defeat.

Aftermath

As soon as de battle be over, de people of Hazir cam out of dema town to greet Khalid. Dem plead say dem be Arabs wey dem get no intention of opposing am. Khalid accept dema surrender wey he advance to Qinnasrin. Insyd anoda account, however, Ibn al-Adim suggest say Khalid kill sam of de townspeople although Yohann Friedmann, de translator of Tabari no dey gree.

At Qinnasrin, de part of de Roman garrison wich no accompany Menas to Hazir shut einself up insyd de fort. As soon as Khalid arrive, he send a message to de garrison:

Widout further delay, Qinnasrin surrender to Khalid. De Battle of Hazir den de surrender of Qinnasrin take place insyd about June, 637. Wen Caliph Umar receive reports of de Battle of Hazir, he make no attempt to conceal ein admiration for de military genius of Khalid. Umar exclaim:

Dis be Umar ein first admission say perhaps he no judge Khalid rightly after he dismiss Khalid from de command of de Muslim army.

External links

• Akram, A.I. The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns, Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.
• Muhammad Ubaid al-Rifai, Mansur (207). Ra'd al-Shabaab Khalid bin Walid. p. 254.
• "بغية الطلب في تاريخ حلب". islamport.com. Muuqa Al-Warraq.
• Zubdat al-Halab fi ta'arikh Halab (زبدة الحلب في تأريخ حلب; The cream of the history of Aleppo) written by Ibn al-Adim