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“When they appeared before Jalut (Goliath) and his army, they said: “Our Lord! Pour patience on us, strengthen our feet and help us to win victory over unbelieving people.
(Koran. Sura second. Cow (Al-Baqara). Semantic translation into Russian by E. Kuliev)

Even the Roman emperors made it a rule to recruit from the Arabs, the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, auxiliary detachments of light cavalry. Following them, this practice was continued by the Byzantines. However, repelling the attacks of nomads in the north, they could hardly even imagine that in the first half of the 7th century, numerous armed detachments of Arabs, moving on camels, horses and on foot, would break out of Arabia and become a serious threat to them in the south.

At the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th centuries, a wave of Arab conquerors captured Syria and Palestine, Iran and Mesopotamia, Egypt and the regions Central Asia. In their campaigns, the Arabs reached Spain in the west, the Indus and Syr Darya rivers in the east, the Caucasus Mountains in the north, and in the south they reached the shores of the Indian Ocean and the barren sands of the Sahara Desert. On the territory they conquered, a state arose, united not only by the power of the sword, but also by faith - new religion which they called Islam!
Muhammad (on horseback) receives the consent of the Bani Nadir clan to leave Medina. Miniature from the book Jami al-Tawarikh written by Rashid al-Din in Tabriz, Persia, 1307 AD.

But what was the reason for such an unprecedented rise in military affairs among the Arabs, who in a short time managed to create a power greater than the empire of Alexander the Great? There are several answers here, and all of them, one way or another, stem from local conditions. Arabia is for the most part desert or semi-desert, although there are also extensive pastures suitable for horses and camels. Despite the fact that there is not enough water, there are places where sometimes it is only necessary to rake the sand with your hands to get to the underground waters. In the south-west of Arabia, there are two rainy seasons every year, so settled agriculture has been developed there since ancient times.

Among the sands, where water broke through to the surface, there were oases of date palms. Their fruits, along with camel milk, served as food for nomadic Arabs. The camel was also the main source of livelihood for the Arab. Even murder was paid with camels. For a man killed in a fight, it was required to give as many as one hundred camels in order to avoid blood feud from his relatives! But the horse, contrary to popular belief, did not play a significant role. The horse needed good food, and most importantly - a lot of clean, fresh water. True, in conditions of starvation and lack of water, the Arabs taught their horses to eat anything - when there was no water, they were given milk from camels, fed them with dates, sweet pies and even ... fried meat. But Arabian horses never learned to eat camel food, so only very wealthy people could keep them, while camels were available to everyone.

The entire population of the Arabian Peninsula consisted of separate tribes. At the head of them, like the northern nomads, were their leaders, who were called by the Arabs sheikhs. They also had large herds, and in their tents, covered with Persian carpets, one could see beautiful harness and precious weapons, fine utensils and delicious treats. The enmity of the tribes weakened the Arabs, and the merchants, whose essence of life consisted in caravan trade between Iran, Byzantium and India, had a particularly bad time. Ordinary Bedouin nomads robbed caravans and settled peasants, because of which the rich Arab elite suffered very heavy losses. Circumstances demanded an ideology that would smooth out social contradictions, put an end to the reigning anarchy and direct the pronounced militancy of the Arabians to external goals. Muhammad gave it. At first, ridiculed for his obsession and having survived the blows of fate, he managed to unite his fellow countrymen under the green banner of Islam. Now is not the place to discuss this respected man, who openly admitted his weaknesses, renounced the glory of a miracle worker and well understood the needs of his followers, or talk about his teachings.

Muhammad's army fights the Meccan army in 625 at the Battle of Uhud, in which Muhammad was wounded. This miniature is from a Turkish book around 1600.
For us, the most important thing is that, unlike other, earlier religions, including Christianity, Islam turned out to be much more specific and convenient, primarily because it first of all established the order of life on earth, and only then promised paradise to someone. , and to whom the afterlife torments in the next world.

The moderate tastes of the Arabs also corresponded to the rejection of pork, wine, gambling and usury, which ruined the poor. Trade was recognized as charitable deeds and, which was very important for the warlike Arabians, the “holy war” (jihad) against the infidels, i.e., non-Muslims.

The spread of Islam and the unification of the Arabs happened very quickly, and troops were already being equipped to march on foreign countries, when the prophet Muhammad died in 632. But the unabashed Arabs immediately chose his "deputy" - the caliph, and the invasion began.

Already under the second caliph Omar (634–644), the holy war brought Arab nomads to Asia Minor and the Indus Valley. Then they captured fertile Iraq, western Iran, established their dominance in Syria and Palestine. Then came the turn of Egypt - the main breadbasket of Byzantium, and at the beginning of the 8th century the Maghreb - its African possessions to the west of Egypt. After that, the Arabs also conquered most of the kingdom of the Visigoths in Spain.

In November 636, the Byzantine army of Emperor Heraclius attempted to defeat the Muslims at the Battle of the Yarmuk River (a tributary of the Jordan) in Syria. It is believed that the Byzantines had 110 thousand soldiers, and the Arabs only 50, but they attacked them decisively several times in a row, and finally broke their resistance and put them to flight (See more: Nicolle D. Yarmyk 630 AD. The Muslim conquest of Syria, L.: Osprey, 1994)
The Arabs lost 4030 people killed, but the losses of the Byzantines were so great that their army practically ceased to exist. The Arabs then laid siege to Jerusalem, which surrendered to them after a two-year siege. Along with Mecca, this city has become an important shrine for all Muslims.

One after another, the dynasties of caliphs succeeded each other, and the conquests continued and continued. As a result, by the middle of the VIII century. a truly grandiose Arab caliphate * was formed - a state with a territory many times larger than the entire Roman Empire, which had significant territories in Europe, Asia and Africa. Several times the Arabs tried to take Constantinople and kept it under siege. But the Byzantines managed to repel them on land, while on the sea they destroyed the Arab fleet with "Greek fire" - a combustible mixture, which included oil, because of which it burned even on water, turning the ships of their opponents into floating fires.
It is clear that the period of victorious wars of the Arabs could not last forever, and already in the VIII century their advance to the West and East was stopped. In 732, at the Battle of Poitiers in France, the army of Arabs and Berbers was defeated by the Franks. In 751, near Talas (now the city of Dzhambul in Kazakhstan), the Chinese defeated them.

Caliphs for a special tax guaranteed the local population not only personal freedom, but also freedom of religion! Christians and Jews were also considered (as adherents of monotheism and "people of the Book", that is, the Bible and the Koran) quite close to the Muslims, while the pagans were subjected to merciless persecution. This policy turned out to be very reasonable, although the Arab conquests were mainly promoted not so much by diplomacy as by force of arms.

Arab warriors should not at all be imagined only as horsemen, wrapped from head to toe in all white, and with crooked sabers in their hands. To begin with, they didn’t even have any crooked sabers then! All Muslim warriors depicted in the Arabic miniature of 1314 - 1315. next to the Prophet Muhammad during his campaign against the Jews of Khaybar, armed with long and straight double-edged swords. They are narrower than contemporary European swords, they have a different crosshair, but these are indeed swords, not sabers at all.

Almost all of the first caliphs also had swords that have survived to the present day. However, judging by the collection of these blades in Istanbul's Topkapi Palace Museum, the Prophet Muhammad still had a saber. It was called "Zulfi-kar", and its blade was with elmanyu - a widening located at the end of the blade, the severity of which gave the blow a much greater force. However, it is believed that she is not actually of Arab origin. One of the swords of Caliph Osman also had a straight blade, although it has one blade, like a saber.

Interestingly, the banner of the Prophet Muhammad at the very beginning was also by no means green, but black! All other caliphs, as well as various Arab tribes, had the corresponding color banners. The first were called "laiva", the second - "raya". One and the same leader could have two banners: one - his own, the other - tribal.

We will also not see any protective weapons, except for small round shields, on the above-mentioned miniature among the Arabs, although this does not mean anything at all. The fact is that wearing protective armor under clothing was even more widespread in the East than in Europe, and the Arabs were no exception. It is well known that the Arab craftsmen were famous not only for their edged weapons, which they made from Indian damask steel, but also for their mail armor**, the best of which were made in Yemen. Since Islam forbade images of people and animals, weapons were decorated with floral ornaments, and later in the 11th century with inscriptions. When Damascus became the main city of the Muslim world, it also became a center for the production of weapons.

It is not for nothing that blades made of especially high-quality steel covered with patterns were colloquially called "Damascus", although they were often produced in a variety of places. The high qualities of Damascus steel were explained in the East not only by the technology of its manufacture, but also by a special method of hardening the metal. The master, having taken out a red-hot blade from the forge with tongs, passed it to the rider, who was sitting on horseback at the door of the workshop. Taking the blade, clamped in tongs, the rider, without wasting a second, let the horse run at full speed and rushed like the wind, letting the air flow around it and cool it, as a result of which hardening occurred. The weapons were richly decorated with gold and silver notches, precious stones and pearls, and in the 7th century even in excess. The Arabs were especially fond of turquoise, which they received from the Sinai Peninsula, as well as from Persia. The cost of such weapons was extremely high. According to Arabic sources, a well-crafted sword could cost up to a thousand gold denarii. If we take into account the weight of the gold denarius (4.25 g), it turns out that the cost of the sword was equivalent to 4.250 kg of gold! In fact, it was a fortune.

The Byzantine emperor Leo, reporting on the army of the Arabs, mentioned only one cavalry, consisting of horsemen with long spears, horsemen with throwing spears, horsemen with bows and heavily armed horsemen. Among the Arabs themselves, the horsemen were divided into al-muhajirs - heavily armed and al-sansars - lightly armed warriors.

However, the Arab army also had infantry. In any case, at first the Arabs lacked horses so much that in 623, during the Battle of Badr, two people sat on each horse, and only later the number of riders increased. As for heavy armor, it is unlikely that anyone among the Arabs wore them all the time, but the entire supply of protective weapons was used in the battle. Each horseman had a long spear, a mace, one or even two swords, one of which could be a konchar - the same sword, but with a narrow three- or four-sided blade, most convenient for defeating the enemy through ringed armor.

Having become acquainted with military affairs from the Persians and the Byzantines, the Arabs, like them, began to use horse armor, as well as protective shells made of metal plates that were linked together and worn over chain mail. Interestingly, the Arabs did not know stirrups at first, but very quickly learned to use them, and they themselves began to make first-class stirrups and saddles. The Arab cavalry could dismount and fight on foot, using their long spears as lances, like those of the Western European infantry. In the era of the Umayyad dynasty, the tactics of the Arabs resembled the Byzantine. Moreover, their infantry was also divided into heavy and light, consisting of the poorest Arab archers.

The cavalry became the main striking force of the army of the Caliphate during the Abbasid dynasty. She was a heavily armed horse archers in chain mail and lamellar shells. Their shields were often of Tibetan origin, made of perfectly dressed leather. Now most of this army was made up of Iranians, not Arabs, as well as immigrants from Central Asia, where at the very beginning of the 9th century an independent state of the Samanids was formed, which broke away from the Caliphate of the rulers of Bukhara. Interestingly, although by the middle of the 10th century the Arab Caliphate had already disintegrated into a number of separate states, the Arabs did not experience a decline in military affairs.

Fundamentally new troops arose, consisting of ghulams - young slaves specially bought for use in military service. They were carefully trained in military affairs and armed with funds from the treasury. At first, the ghouls played the role of the Praetorian Guard (personal bodyguards of the emperors of Rome) with the person of the caliph. Gradually, the number of gulams increased, and their units began to be widely used in the army of the Caliphate. The poets who described their weapons noted that they shone, as if "consisting of many mirrors." Contemporary historians noted that it looked “like Byzantine”, that is, people and horses were dressed in armor and blankets made of metal plates (Nicolle D. Armies of the Caliphates 862 - 1098. L .: Osprey, 1998. P. 15).

Now the Arab troops were an army of people who had a common faith, similar customs and language, but continued to maintain their national forms of weapons, the best of which were gradually adopted by the Arabs. From the Persians they borrowed the scabbard of swords, in which, in addition to the sword itself, darts, a dagger or a knife were placed, and from Central Asia - a saber ...

Eighth Crusade 1270 Louis IX's crusaders land in Tunis. One of the few medieval miniatures depicting oriental warriors with sabers in their hands. Miniature from the Chronicle of Saint-Denis. Around 1332 - 1350. (British Library)

In the battle, complex tactical formations were used, when infantry, consisting of spearmen, was placed in front, archers and javelins behind them, then cavalry and (when possible) war elephants. Ghulam cavalry was the main striking force of such a formation and was located on the flanks. In combat, the spear was used first, then the sword, and finally the mace.
Cavalry detachments were subdivided according to the weight of the armor. The horsemen had monotonous weapons, since warriors on horseback with protective shells made of metal plates could hardly be used to pursue a retreating enemy, and felt blankets worn by lightly armed horsemen were not sufficient protection against arrows and swords during an attack against infantry.

Indian shield (dhal) made of steel and bronze. The Mughal Empire. (Royal Ontario Museum, Canada)

In the countries of the Maghreb (on the territory of North Africa), the influence of Iran and Byzantium was less noticeable. Local weapons were preserved here, and the Berbers, the nomads of North Africa, although they converted to Islam, continued to use light javelins rather than heavy spears.

The way of life of the Berbers, known to us from the descriptions of travelers of that time, was closely connected with the conditions of their existence. Any nomad from distant Mongolia would find here almost the same thing as in his homeland, in any case, the orders both there and here were very similar.

“The king ... gives people an audience in a tent to analyze incoming complaints; around the tent during the audience are ten horses under gilded bedspreads, and behind the king are ten young men with leather shields and swords decorated with gold. To his right are the sons of the nobility of his country in beautiful clothes, with golden threads woven into their hair. The ruler of the city sits on the ground in front of the king, and viziers also sit on the ground around him. At the entrance to the tent there are thoroughbred dogs with gold and silver collars, to which many gold and silver badges are attached; they do not take their eyes off the king, protecting him from any encroachment. The royal audience is announced by drumming. The drum called "daba" is a long hollow piece of wood. Approaching the king, his co-religionists fall on their knees and sprinkle ashes on their heads. This is their greeting to the king, ”reported one of the travelers who visited the Berber tribes of North Africa.

The black warriors of Africa took an active part in the Arab conquests, which is why the Europeans often confused them with the Arabs. Negro slaves were even specially bought in order to make warriors out of them. There were especially many such warriors in Egypt, where at the beginning of the 10th century they accounted for almost half of the entire army. Of these, the personal guards of the Egyptian Fatimid dynasty were also recruited, whose warriors each had a richly decorated pair of darts and shields with convex silver plaques.

In general, in Egypt during this period of time, the infantry prevailed over the cavalry. In battle, its units were built on a national basis and used their own types of weapons. For example, the warriors of the northwestern Sudan used a bow and javelins, but did not have shields. And other warriors had large oval shields made of East Africa, which were said to be made from elephant skin. In addition to throwing weapons, a sabardarakh (eastern halberd) was used five cubits long, and three cubits were occupied by a wide steel blade, often slightly curved. On the opposite border of the Arab possessions, the inhabitants of Tibet fought with large white leather shields and quilted protective clothing (See more: Nicolle D. The Armies of Islam 7th - 11th centuries. L .: Osprey. 1982.).

By the way, quilted clothes, despite the heat, were also worn by the city militias - Arabs, and also by many African warriors, which is quite surprising. Thus, in the 11th century, Islam was adopted by the inhabitants of the African state of Kanem-Bornu, located in the region of Lake Chad. Already in the XIII century, it was a real "equestrian empire", numbering up to 30,000 equestrian warriors dressed ... in thick quilted shells made of cotton fabrics and felt. With quilted blankets, these "knights of Africa" ​​protected not only themselves, but also their horses up to late XIX century - they seem to be so convenient for them. The warriors of the Begharmi people, neighboring Bornu, also wore quilted armor, which they reinforced with rows of rings sewn on them. But the Bornu used small squares of fabric sewn on them, inside of which there were metal plates, due to which the outside of their armor resembled a patchwork quilt with a two-color geometric ornament. The horse's equipment included a copper browband lined with leather, as well as exquisite chest guards, collars and undertails.

As for the Moors (as the Europeans called the Arabs who conquered Spain), their weapons began to resemble in many ways the weapons of the Frankish warriors, whom they constantly encountered in the days of peace and war. The Moors also had two types of cavalry: light - Berber-Andalusian, which even in the 10th century did not use stirrups and threw darts at the enemy, and heavy, dressed from head to toe in European look chain mail hauberk, which in the 11th century became the main armor of horsemen in Christian Europe. In addition, the Moorish warriors also used bows. In addition, in Spain they wore it a little differently - over clothes, while in Europe they put on a surcoat (a patchwork cape with short sleeves), and in the Middle East and North Africa - caftans. The shields were usually round, and made of leather, metal or wood, which again were covered with leather.

Of particular value in the Arab East were shields made of Damascus steel, cold-forged from iron and possessing high hardness. In the process of work, cracks formed on their surface, which, in the form of a notch, were filled with gold wire and formed patterns of irregular shape. Rhino skin shields were also valued, which were made in India and among African peoples, and they were very brightly and colorfully decorated with painting, gold and silver.

Such shields had a diameter of no more than 60 cm and were extremely resistant to being struck by a sword. Very small shields made of rhinoceros skin, the diameter of which did not exceed 40 cm, were also used as fist shields, that is, they could strike in battle. Finally, there were shields made of thin fig tree twigs, which were woven with silver braid or colored silk threads. Graceful arabesques were obtained, because of which they looked very elegant and were distinguished by high strength. All round leather shields were usually convex. At the same time, the fastenings of the belts by which they were held were covered with plaques on the outer surface, and a quilted pillow or fabric was placed inside the shield, softening the blows applied to it.

Another variety of the Arab shield, the adarga, was so widespread in the 13th and 14th centuries that it was used by Christian troops in Spain itself, and then came to France, Italy and even England, where such shields were used until the 15th century. The old Mauritanian adarga was in the shape of a heart or two fused ovals and was made from several layers of very tough, durable leather. They wore it on a belt over the right shoulder, and on the left they held it by the fist handle.

Since the surface of the adarga was flat, it was very easy to decorate, so the Arabs decorated these shields not only from the outside, but also from the inside.
Along with the Norman knights, Byzantines and Slavs, at the beginning of the 11th century, the Arabs used shields that had the shape of a “reverse drop”. Apparently, this form turned out to be convenient for the Arabs, however, they usually cut off the sharpest lower corner. We note the well-established exchange of weapons, during which the most successful forms of it passed to different peoples not only in the form of war trophies, but through the usual sale and purchase.

The Arabs rarely suffered defeat on the battlefield. For example, during the war against Iran, it was not the heavily armed Iranian horsemen that seemed especially terrible to them, but the war elephants, who snatched the soldiers from the saddle with their trunk and threw them under their feet on the ground. The Arabs had never seen them before and believed at first that they were not animals, but ingeniously made war machines, against which it was useless to fight. But soon they learned to fight with elephants and ceased to be afraid of them as at the beginning. For a long time, the Arabs did not know how to take fortified cities by storm and had no idea about siege-assault equipment. It is not for nothing that Jerusalem surrendered to them only after a two-year siege, Caesarea held out for seven and for five whole years the Arabs unsuccessfully besieged Constantinople! But later they learned a lot from the Byzantines themselves and began to use the same technique as they did, that is, in this case they had to borrow the experience of an older civilization.

The initial letter "R", depicting the Sultan of Damascus Nur-ad-Din. Interestingly, the Sultan is depicted with bare feet, but in chain mail and a helmet. He is pursued by two knights: Godfrey Martel and Hugues de Lusignan the Elder, in full mail armor and helmets similar to those in the Maciejowski Bible. Miniature from the "History of Outremer". (British Library)

Muhammad at the Battle of Badr. Miniature of the 15th century.

Thus, we see that the armies of the Arab East differed from the European ones in the first place not at all by the fact that some had heavy weapons, while others had light ones. Costumes similar to quilted caftans can be seen on the "linen from Bayeux". But they were also among the mounted warriors of sultry Africa. Both Byzantine, Iranian, and Arab cavalrymen had scaly (lamellar) shells and horse blankets, and it was precisely in the era when Europeans did not even think about all this. The main difference was that in the East infantry and cavalry complemented each other, while in the West there was a continuous process of displacement of infantry by cavalry. Already in the 11th century, the infantrymen accompanying the knights were, in fact, just servants. No one tried to properly train and equip them, while in the East enough was devoted to the monotonous armament of troops and their training. great attention. The heavy cavalry was supplemented with detachments of light cavalry, used for reconnaissance and starting the battle. Both here and there, professional soldiers served in the heavily armed cavalry. But western knight, although at that time he was armed lighter than similar warriors of the East, he had much more independence, since in the absence of good infantry and light cavalry, it was he who was the main force on the battlefield.

The Prophet Muhammad admonishes his family before the Battle of Badr. Illustration from the "General History" by Jami al-Tawarikh, 1305 - 1314. (Khalili Collections, Tabriz, Iran)

Arab horsemen, just like European horsemen, needed to be able to accurately strike the enemy with a spear, and for this it was necessary to constantly train in the same way. In addition to the European technique of attacking with a spear at the ready, eastern riders learned to hold a spear with both hands at the same time, holding the reins in their right hand. Such a blow tore even a two-layer chain mail shell, and the tip of the spear came out of the back!

To develop accuracy and force of impact, the game of birjas was used, during which riders at full gallop struck with spears at a column made up of many wooden blocks. With spear strikes, it was necessary to knock out individual blocks, and in such a way that the column itself would not crumble.

Arabs besiege Messina. Miniature from the "History of the Byzantine Emperors in Constantinople from 811 to 1057, written by curopalate John Skylitzes." (National Library of Spain, Madrid)

But their similarities were by no means limited to weapons. Arab knights, like, for example, their European counterparts, had extensive land holdings, which were not only hereditary, but also granted to them for military service. They were called in Arabic ikta and in the X-XI centuries. turned entirely and completely into military fiefs, similar to the landed possessions of knights Western Europe and professional soldiers of many other states on the territory of Eurasia.

It turns out that the knightly estate was formed in the West and in the East almost simultaneously, but for a long time they could not measure their strength. The exception was Spain, where the border war between Christians and Muslims did not subside for a single moment.

On October 23, 1086, a few miles from Badajoz, near the town of Zalac, the army of the Spanish Moors met in battle with the royal knights of the Castilian king Alfonso VI. By this time, feudal fragmentation already reigned on the lands of the Arabs, but in the face of the threat from the Christians, the emirs of southern Spain managed to forget their long-term enmity and called in their African co-religionists, the Almoravides, to help. The Arabs of Andalusia considered these warlike nomadic tribes to be barbarians. Their ruler, Yusuf ibn Teshufin, seemed to the emirs a fanatic, but there was nothing to be done, and they opposed the Castilians under his command.

Armor of a Sudanese Warrior 1500 (Higgins Museum of Armor and Weapons, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA)

The battle began with an attack by the Christian knightly cavalry, against which Yusuf set up infantry detachments of the Andalusian Moors. And when the knights managed to overturn them and drove them to the camp, Yusuf calmly listened to the news of this and only said: “Do not rush to help them, let their ranks thin out even more - they, like Christian dogs, are also our enemies.”

Meanwhile, the Almoravidian cavalry was waiting in the wings. She was strong both in her numbers and, above all, in discipline, which violated all the traditions of knightly war with her group fights and duels on the battlefield. The moment came when the knights, carried away by the pursuit, scattered throughout the field, and that's when the Berber horsemen attacked them from the rear and from the flanks from an ambush. The Castilians, sitting on already tired and lathered horses, were surrounded and defeated. King Alfonso, at the head of a detachment of 500 horsemen, managed to escape from the encirclement and escaped with great difficulty from the chase.

This victory and the subsequent unification of all the emirates under the rule of Yusuf made such a strong impression that there was no end to the jubilation of the Arabs, and Christian preachers beyond the Pyrenees immediately issued a call for a crusade against the infidels. A whole ten years before the well-known first crusade against Jerusalem, the crusading army was assembled, invaded the Muslim lands of Spain and ... again suffered a defeat there.

*Caliphate - Muslim feudal theocracy, headed by the caliph, a secular-religious ruler, who was considered the legitimate successor of Muhammad. The Arab Caliphate, centered in Medina, lasted only until 661. Then power passed to the Umayyads (661-750), who moved the capital of the Caliphate to Damascus, and from 750 to the Abbasids, who moved it to Baghdad.

** The oldest mention of chain mail is found even in the Koran, which says that God softened the iron with the hands of Daud and at the same time said: “Make a perfect shell out of it and connect it thoroughly with rings.” The Arabs called the chain mail - the armor of Daud.

Under the first successors of the Prophet Muhammad, a Muslim state took shape - the Arab Caliphate with its capital in Medina. It established itself throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and then began to fight for the spread of its influence in other lands.

By the middle of the 7th century the Arabs conquered Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Iran, Transcaucasia, in North Africa they subjugated Egypt, Libya (find these territories on the map).

At the beginning of the 8th century the Arabs, who by that time had created a powerful fleet, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and invaded European territory. They defeated the Visigothic kingdom in Spain, and then headed north into the lands of the Franks. Their further advance was suspended after the Battle of Poitiers (732), where the Arab army was defeated by the Franks, led by Charles Martell. But almost the entire Iberian Peninsula fell under the rule of the Arabs. A caliphate was formed here with its center in Cordoba, and after its collapse (in the 11th century), the Emirate of Granada existed for several more centuries.

/\ How are the Arab warriors depicted? On what basis did you determine this?

The onslaught of the Arabs stunned the attacked peoples. Subsequently, historians wondered: how did a small group of tribes manage to conquer so much in a short time. ^ large areas? Can

give some explanation. In-

First, the Bedouin Arabs, who made up the bulk of the army, were distinguished by great militancy and courage, as well as discipline (since relations in the tribe taught them to unquestioning obedience to their elders). Their cavalry units were fast, mobile in battle. Secondly, the campaigns were carried out with the aim of spreading the religion, which every Muslim considered the only true one. Faith gave strength to the Arab warriors. Wherein

Arabian

Directions of the Arab conquests Territories conquered by the Arabs by 750

The boundaries of the Arab Caliphate during its heyday (750)

the occupied lands and valuables were considered the property not of individual warriors, but of the Muslim community as a whole. For example, about one-fifth of the spoils of war were to be handed over to fellow believers in need.

Over time, the Arab army, originally consisting of a militia, became mercenary. Guard detachments appeared in it - professional warriors (Mamluks), trained in accordance with the requirements of the most severe discipline from boys of other faiths, bought on the slave market or forcibly taken out of their native lands.

So for a little over a hundred years in the life of the Arabs there have been huge changes. From a group of disparate tribes, they turned into a people united by a single Islamic religion, a single political and spiritual authority. They conquered vast territories in Asia, North Africa and created one of the largest states of its time - the Arab Caliphate.

Questions and tasks 1.

Tell us about the living conditions and occupations of the Arab tribes. 2.

When and how did Islam originate? What role did the Prophet Muhammad play in this? 3.

Tell, using a map, about the Arab conquests. 4.

Explain what changed in the life of the Arabs with the advent of Islam. 5.

What was the peculiarity of the power of the Prophet Muhammad, and then the caliphs in Muslim society? 6.

What books or collections contain the most important provisions of Islam? Explain how important they are to the daily life of a Muslim (including today). 7.

Explain why the Arabs were able to subjugate such vast territories.

Arabs and their swift conquests. The state of the Arabs arose along with Islam. The founder of both is considered the Prophet Muhammad, who lived until 632 and died of illness at the age of 60 years. He was at the head of the state for less than three years. And from the first days of his power, he developed grandiose plans for conquering new territories and spreading a new doctrine. His mighty neighbors were Byzantine Empire and Sasanian Iran. The Arabs made the first military campaigns during his lifetime, and they were so successful that they inspired the soldiers. And here a special role belongs to Islam, because it united the disparate tribes of the Arabs, subordinated them to religious discipline and gave them confidence in the rightness of their cause, in invincibility, which created superiority over the well-armed and trained armies of Byzantium and Iran.

During the short 30 years of the reign of the first successors of Muhammad, who are usually called "righteous caliphs", i.e. "Deputies of Muhammad", the Arabs conquered almost the entire vast Sasanian state, which included the regions of modern Iraq, Iran and a number of other lands, successfully annexed the African and Asian territories that belonged to Byzantium. By the end of the 7th century they were already at Gibraltar, from where the path to Europe opened. At the beginning of the next century, they crossed the strait and began to subjugate the Iberian Peninsula. He was in their hands in a matter of years. For about seven years they conquered this part of Europe and kept it in their hands for about seven centuries.

Stages of the conquest of Sasanian Iran. The first successes of the Arabs were especially stunning - they completely conquered huge Iran and 2/3 of the great Byzantium. They conducted military operations with their neighbors in different ways. The most fierce were the battles in the Sasanian state, which was otherwise called the heiress ancient persia. Its 20-year conquest is usually divided into three stages: 633-636, 637-644, 644-651. The first stage was decisive in many respects. It ended with one of the largest and most famous battles, which largely predetermined the further course of the conquests, the battle of Cadiz.

How do you know about the battle of Cadiz. The history of the Arabs and their conquests has found a place on the pages of many writings in three languages: Greek, Arabic and Syriac. Of course, most of the chronicles and stories were left by Arab authors. The most detailed story about the first three centuries of the history of the Muslim state came from an outstanding historian of the second half of the 9th-first quarter of the 10th century. Al-Tabari. He called his work "History of the Prophets and Kings" and collected in it everything that could be found from earlier authors.

Instructions of Caliph Abu Bakr. When the first caliph, who came to power after the death of Muhammad, sent on campaigns, he always instructed the soldiers that if Allah gives victory, then one should not be spiteful in a conquered city or village, mutilate the bodies of enemies, kill children, old people, women. He forbade the burning of palm trees, fruit trees, cut more livestock than you need for food. In a word, he wanted Muslims not to loot, simple people feared them less and had no reason to hate them.

Arab army. It consisted of large associations. By the time of the battle of Cadiz, the main units were the right and left wings, center, vanguard, rearguard. In addition, a special role was played by the reserve, reconnaissance, infantry, archers, and a caravan of camels. Each large association was divided into small detachments. Often the detachment united members of the same tribe or clan, had its own banner. The army was mixed: foot soldiers and cavalry. Initially, in the regions of Sasanian Iran, the Arabs adhered to the rule that came from military experience: not to go far into foreign territory, to fight on the border of the steppe, so that in case of failure, hide from persecution.

Events in that region of the state, which has the historical name of Iraq and in which Cadiz is located, developed rapidly. There, at first, they did not attach to the raids of the Arabs of great importance, because they were always afraid of major wars with Byzantium, a powerful and formidable neighbor, especially since the Arabs lost in several battles. The affairs of the Arabs began to improve only after the caliph himself turned to the closest companions of Muhammad and their sons with a request to join the Arab army and march towards Iraq. In a few months, a fairly large army gathered, although only 4,000 soldiers marched from Medina, the main city of the Prophet Muhammad. On the way, several more such detachments joined them, so that before the battle with the Persians, the army numbered 25-30 thousand people. It was divided into 10 battle groups, each of which knew exactly what it was supposed to do. As always, she had a commissioner for the division of booty with her. This time it was expected big. Therefore, the commissioner was appointed by the caliph himself.

Persian army. The Shah of Iran was alarmed. Having received a message about the appearance of a large Arab army, he ordered to gather a large army and put an end to the attempts of the Arabs to seize foreign territories. Warriors gathered from all over Iran. And there were about 40 thousand, and even more than 30 war elephants.

Neither the Arabs nor the Persians were in a hurry to start the main battle. They tried to negotiate, during which the Arabs demanded to divide all the lands and convert to Islam, and the Persians categorically rejected all this, because they could not imagine that half-impoverished Arabs would live and rule on an equal footing with them. Both armies sent forward detachments, between which small battles took place. Sometimes civilians were also attacked. Once the Arabs attacked the wedding train, killed the head of the guard, seized the jewels, the harem and the servants. This went on for three or four months. At the same time, not only the Arabs, but also the Persian soldiers behaved with the locals as in a conquered country, first of all they stole cattle. The Arabs did not follow the instructions of Abu Bakr very well. Often the local population bought off their property, and if they did not want to do this, the Arabs could kill, and take prisoner, and ruin the house.

Camp near Cadiz. This city was located on the edge of the desert, just between the fertile land of the Persians and the rocky steppe of the Arabs, which could save them in case of defeat. The capital of the Persians was not far from him. Therefore, it was important for the Arabs to make Cadiz theirs. By the end of November, they approached him and set up camp. The Persians sent there, under the guise of a merchant, one scout who knew Arabic. When he approached the camp, he saw one of the Arabs. He sat outside the camp, eating bread and cleaning insects from his clothes. The scout spoke to him in Arabic, asking him: "What are you doing? He replied: "Here, as you can see, I introduce the new and bring out the old and kill the enemies." The scout was cunning, he understood the riddle and was very upset. He said to himself : "The new people enter, and the old one goes out, and the Persians are killed."

But when he returned to the Persian camp, he said out loud to everyone: "I saw an ugly people, barefoot, naked, hungry, but very brave, you know the rest." And then he approached the commander, secretly revealed everything that he saw and heard and what he guessed.

Together, the Persians unanimously reached Cadiz and began to prepare for battle with the Arabs. Contemporaries define the day of the beginning of the battle in different ways. Now historians have come to the conclusion that it was the end of September 636. The Persians put up their entire army of 40 thousand people. They pinned special hope on war elephants, powerful and terrifying to the Arabs, who had not seen such animals before the start of the war with the Sassanids. The Persians chained the mercenary warriors so that they would not dare to flee from the battlefield. The Persians contacted their capital with the help of messengers who brought letters and orders back and forth.

The beginning of the battle. First day. The fight, as usual, began with fights. Muslims read before this the prescribed prayers and a special chapter from their Holy Book - the Koran, which is called "War".

After the fights, the Persians released all the elephants on the battlefield at once - 18 were in the center, 7 - on one flank, the same number - on the other. The Arab cavalry retreated, but the infantry held out until fresh forces arrived.

For 3 days and 3 evenings, the battle went on until dark. Only in the morning after the first bloody day, both sides took a break in order to collect and bury many dead soldiers. The wounded were handed over to the women. But by noon the battle broke out again.


Standard bearers, drummers and
trumpeters of the Arab army

Already on the first day, despite the horror, the Arabs managed to damage most of the towers of the elephants. The bravest Muslims gouged out their eyes with spears or cut off their trunks. In addition, the Muslims themselves decided to scare the Persians, or rather, their horses. They built some kind of palanquin-tents on their camels, so that the horses began to snore and shied away.

On the very first day, the famous, jeweled battle flag of Iran, covered with glorious legends, fell into the hands of the Arabs. This banner, as the Iranians believed, once belonged to the legendary blacksmith hero Kava. He raised people to fight against the foreign villain-tyrant Zahhak, who seized the royal throne in Iran. The invader ruled for a whole thousand years and established a kingdom of evil. Kava led the people, making a leather blacksmith's apron a banner, and overthrew the villain.

Third and fourth day. The third day remained in the memory of the participants of the event as "the day of bitterness." The Persians again sent elephants into battle. Now they were accompanied by foot soldiers and horsemen for protection. But the Arabs still found a way to hit the trunks and eyes of the two main elephants, and they turned around in a rage and dragged the rest with them. By evening, most of the Arab riders jumped off their horses to defeat the foot Persian warriors. The battle went on until complete darkness. That evening, the obstinacy of the Muslims broke the Persian army.

On the morning of the next day, the soldiers fought with all their might. At the same time, he began to blow in the face of the Persians strong wind who brought with him clouds of black dust. A hurricane tore off and threw into the water a canopy that was stretched over the throne of the Persian commander. And then the Arabs made their way to him and killed him. The death of the commander, of course, caused confusion in the army of the Persians. It started to recede. There was a wide stream on the way, and the soldiers drowned during the crossing. It was easiest for the Arabs to finish off those warriors who were chained. Here, even women took spears in their hands and deprived their enemies of life. In the middle of the last, fourth day of the battle, the Arabs captured Cadiz. The victory came at a high price. Only on the last day and night, 6 thousand people died, in addition, in the previous days another 2500. Almost a third of the army was killed near Cadiz, not to mention the wounded. Persians died almost twice as many as Arabs.

The Arabs took not only the precious banner, but also so many horses that from that time their army became completely mounted. Let's not forget that each warrior had to have at least two or three horses.

There was another important result. It was here that they learned to use siege weapons.

The Arabs secure the victory: Ctesiphon. The victory at Cadiz opened the way to the capital of Iran - Ctesiphon. But the Arabs were in no hurry to go there. For two months they rested, gathered with renewed vigor. A messenger was sent to the Caliph for orders. He ordered to attack the capital. But do not take women and children with you.

An important defense of Ctesiphon was the Tigris River. The Persians cut off all the bridges across it so that the Arabs could not cross over to the other side. One coast was separated from the other by as much as 300 meters. But the Arabs were not afraid. They were full of joy and strength after the victory at Cadiz. And therefore they admired the view of the huge and rich city and said to each other: "God Allah, who helped us on earth, will save us on the water." First, a detachment of volunteers, and then the rest, rode in a convenient place directly on horseback into the Tigris, and every one of them crossed, not a single animal died. The warriors supported each other, the weaker ones were tied to the stronger ones. Ctesiphon surrendered almost without a fight. But it was one of the greatest capitals middle ages. There was not a soul on the streets of the city: its inhabitants fled. The booty surpassed the imagination of the Arabs. Countless carpets, dishes, goods fell into their hands. Some of the Arabs exchanged gold for silver, not knowing what was more expensive. Someone salted food with precious incense.

They could not figure out what to do with a magnificent carpet measuring 30 by 30 m, i.e. 900 sq. m. He covered the throne room of the ruler of Iran. A blooming garden was embroidered on it with gold, silver, and precious stones. He was sent to the caliph in Medina, but there they nevertheless divided it into pieces, because there was no such hall where it could be spread out in all its glory. The first caliph lived almost as modestly as an ordinary warrior.

And in Ctesiphon, the commissioner for the division of spoils had to work hard. After all, things were first evaluated, and then they were divided. They even arranged auctions, sales, and sometimes participated in them. locals. One share went to an infantryman, three to a cavalryman.

Significance of the Arab victory at Cadiz. It became a decisive event, opened the way to other cities. It took a little over a decade to conquer all of Iran. In 651, the last "ruler of Iran," the "king of kings" (shah-in-shah) was killed, and soon his state fell. He was only 16 years old, and fate had prepared for him a dramatic lot. After capturing the capital, he wandered throughout the country ", stopped in one city, then in another. In reality, he did not control military operations. According to one legend, he was killed by a miller, in whom he found shelter. The miller was seduced by jewelry and clothes.

Thus perished one of the young rulers themselves and one of the oldest states.

But his culture, his cities, his economy did not die. The Arabs began to eagerly learn everything, and then teach others. In this regard, their conquests, in terms of their scope and degree of influence on world culture, were one of the most major events middle ages.

Hardened in battle, animated by a religious enthusiasm that gave them the strength to defy death, the Muslim troops crossed under the first caliph, Abu Bakr, beyond the borders of Arabia and under the second caliph, Omar, simultaneously waged victorious wars against the powerful sovereigns of the East, the Byzantine emperor and the Persian king. Persia (Iran) and Byzantium, which until recently fought among themselves for dominion over Western Asia, were now attacked from the south by a new enemy, who at first was looked upon with contempt and who, taking advantage of their internal unrest, quickly overthrew the throne of the Persian king and took away many possessions from Byzantine emperor. It is said that during the ten-year reign of Omar (634-644), the Saracens destroyed 36,000 cities, villages and fortresses, 4,000 Christian churches and Persian temples in the lands of the infidels, and built 1,400 mosques.

Arab invasion of Iraq. "Battle of the Chains", "Battle of the Eyes", and "Battle of the Bridge"

Even under Abu Bekr, Usama, the son of Zayd, resumed his campaign in Syria, interrupted by the death of the Prophet Muhammad. The caliph sent him to subdue the rebellious Arab tribes of the Syrian border. Setting an example of humility and discipline to the soldiers, Abu Bakr went on foot to escort the army and went part of the way, not allowing the commander to get off the camel in order to seat him or walk next to him. Suppressing revolts against Islam in Arabia itself, Abu Bakr gave a wider scope to campaigns for conquest. commander Khalid, "the sword of God and the scourge of the infidels", entered Iraq (632). The Persian (Iranian) state was then very weakened by civil strife and bad government. Approaching the border, Khalid wrote to the Persian commander Gormuz: “Convert to Islam and you will be saved; give yourself and your people our patronage and give us tribute; otherwise blame only yourself, because I go with the warriors, loving death no less than you love life." Gormuz's answer was a challenge to a duel. The troops met at Khafir; this battle is called by the Arabs the “Chain Battle”, because the Persian warriors were connected to each other by chains. And here, and in the next three battles, the enemy troops were defeated by the art of Khalid and the courage of the Muslims. On the banks of the Euphrates, so many prisoners were killed that the river turned red with their blood.

The black eagle, which was the banner of Khalid, became the terror of the infidels and inspired the Muslims with confidence in victory. Khalid approached the city of Hira, where the Arab Christian Lakhmid dynasty had reigned for several centuries, settling with his tribe west of Babylon on the outskirts of the desert under the supreme authority of the Persian state. The chiefs of the city entered into negotiations with Khalid and bought peace for the citizens, agreeing to pay tribute, their example was followed by other Arabs of the Babylonian plain. As far as the Iranian troops left them, they submitted to the caliph, who ordered his commander to deal with the new subjects mercifully. After the victory in the "battle of the eyes", so called because many Persians were wounded in the eyes by Arab arrows, the fortified city of Anbar, which stood near the battlefield on the banks of the Euphrates, surrendered to Khalid. This completed the conquest of the entire western part of the Euphrates plain. Khalid went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and then was sent by the caliph to the army that conquered Syria.

Khalid ibn al-Walid's invasion of Iraq (634)

But when Abu Bekr recalled Khalid from the Euphrates, the Arab military operations there went badly, because their other commanders were less brave and cautious than Khalid, and the energetic queen Ardemidokht, daughter of Khosrow II, began to rule the Persians. Unfortunately for the Persians, her reign was short; she was killed by the commander Rustum in revenge for the death of his father Gormuz. 40 days after the victory won by the Arab troops at Yarmouk, the Muslims in the east, who crossed the Euphrates, were completely defeated in the battle, which they call the "battle of the bridge" (October 634). Long after that they could only hold out in the Babylonian desert. The Iranians did not completely defeat the Muslims only because violent upheavals were taking place in the Ctesiphon palace of their sovereigns, which interfered with the conduct of the war. Conspiracies of nobles, intrigues of women quickly enthroned and overthrew one king after another. Finally, the Persians placed the bloodied diadem on the young man. Yazdegerda and hoped that now the turmoil would stop. But Caliph Omar at that time sent reinforcements to the Arab army and appointed a talented commander, Saad Ibn Abu Waqqas, as commander-in-chief. This gave the war a new turn and, by a strange coincidence of facts, the “era of Yazdegerd”, established by Persian astronomers, began to designate the era of the fall Sassanid dynasty and the Iranian national religion Zoroaster.

Battle of Cadisia (636)

Saad sent an embassy to Yazdegerd demanding that he convert to Islam or pay tribute. The young Persian king expelled the ambassadors and ordered his commander Rustum to go across the Euphrates to drive the Muslims back to Arabia. Rustum joined them in the battle of Cadisia, on a sandy plain at the edge of the desert. She walked for four days (636), but, despite the numerical superiority of the Iranians, the Arabs won complete victory. The state banner of the Sassanids, leopard skin, embroidered with pearls and adorned with expensive stones, became the prey of the victors. After the victory at Qadisiyah, all of Iraq submitted to the caliph.

Battle of Cadisia. Miniature to the manuscript"Shahnameh" Ferdowsi

In order to consolidate this conquest, the Arabs built the Basra fortress on the western bank of the Shatt al-Arab, approximately equidistant between the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris and the mouth of the river. The location of the city was advantageous for trade with India; the soil of its surroundings, white earth' was fertile. From a small fortress, Basra soon became huge trading city, and the fleet built in her shipyards began to dominate the Persian Gulf.

Capture of Ctesiphon (Madain) by the Arabs (637)

Crossed by rivers and canals, having many fortresses, Iraq could present great difficulties to the troops of the Arab conquerors, whose main force was the cavalry; the strong walls of the Sasanian capital of Mada'in ( Ctesiphon), who resisted the rams of the Romans, could have defended themselves from the Arabs for a long time. But the energy of the Persians was suppressed by the belief that the hour had come for the destruction of their kingdom and religion. When the Mohammedans crossed the Euphrates, they found almost all the cities left without defenders: the Persian garrisons left at their approach. Almost without resistance, the Arabs crossed to the eastern bank of the Tigris and moved to Madain. Shah Yazdegerd, taking with him the sacred fire and part of the royal treasury, fled to the mountains of Media and locked himself in Holvan, leaving his capital to the mercy of the Arabs. Entering a huge city abandoned by almost all the inhabitants, with magnificent palaces and gardens, Saad uttered the words of the Koran: “How many gardens they left, and streams and fields, how many beautiful places they enjoyed! God has given all this to another people, and neither heaven nor earth weeps for them.” He ordered that all the riches of the city be taken to the White Palace, where he settled, and, having separated by law a fifth share for sending to the Caliph's treasury in Medina, to divide the rest of the spoils among the soldiers. It was so huge that each of the 60,000 soldiers received 12,000 dirhems (drachmas) of silver for their share. The jewels that were in the halls of the White Palace amazed the Muslims: they looked at gold, silver things, decorated with expensive stones and at the works of Indian industry, not being able to understand what all this served for, not being able to evaluate these things.

The most amazing of the works of art found by the Arabs in the palace was a carpet 300 long, 50 cubits wide. The drawing on it depicted a garden; flowers, fruits and trees were embroidered with gold and lined with expensive stones; all around was a wreath of greenery and flowers. Saad sent this extremely expensive carpet to the caliph. Omar did not know how to understand the charm of a marvelous work of art and diligence, cut the carpet and distributed the pieces to the companions of the prophet. One piece that was given to Ali cost 10,000 dirhams. In the halls of the White Palace, the ruins of which have survived to this day, the Arabs found many weapons adorned with expensive stones, a royal crown with huge diamonds, a golden camel, huge masses of musk, amber, sandalwood and camphor. The Persians mixed camphor with wax for candles that lit the palace. The Arabs took camphor for salt, tasted it and marveled that this salt had a bitter taste.

Founding of Kufa

With the entry of Muslims into Madain (637), the decline of this magnificent capital of the Sassanids began. On the right bank of the Euphrates, south of the ruins of Babylon, the Arabs built the city of Kufa. The ruler of Mesopotamia began to live in this city. Omar was afraid that if Madain was made the center of government, then the Arabs in this luxurious city would forget the simplicity of morals, adopt the effeminacy and vices of its Persian inhabitants, therefore he ordered to build new town for the governor's residence. The location was chosen healthy and consistent with military needs. The dwellings were built of brick, thatch and asphalt. The first settlers were old warriors; other Arabs who settled in Kufa learned from them to be proud, always ready to rebel. Kufa soon became dangerous to the Caliph with its arrogance, so that Omar was already forced to appoint Mughira, the most ruthless of his commanders, as the ruler of this city, so that he would curb the recalcitrant.

Arab warriors of the era of great conquests

Arab conquest of Iran

Having mastered Madain, the Arabs went north to the Median mountains. Shah Yazdegerd fled from Holvan further to safer areas, leaving the people to their fate. The people were more courageous than the king. While Yazdegerd was hiding in the inaccessible mountains of northeastern Iran, his troops fought bravely at Jalula and Nehavende south of Hamadan (Ekbatana). They were defeated, but by their courage they restored the honor of the Persian name. Having taken Holvan and Hamadan, the Arabs followed in the footsteps of the fleeing king to the northeast, penetrated to the mountains south coast The Caspian Sea, where luxurious valleys lie between heights where blizzards rage, and have taken possession of the fertile fields of the area where Tehran now stands and the ruins of ancient Ray testify to former wealth and education.

Omar considered it premature for the Arabs to move further into the unknown mountain regions; he believed that first it was necessary to master the south of Iran, where the magnificent cities of Susa and Persepolis once stood, as well as northern Mesopotamia and Armenia. By order of the caliph, Abdallah Ibn Ashar crossed back over the Tigris south of Mosul, conquered Mesopotamia and at Edessa joined the victorious Syrian army. At the same time, Saad went from Kufa and Basra to Khushtan (Susiana), captured the city of Shuster after a stubborn battle and sent the brave satrap Gormuzan (Gormozan) taken prisoner to Medina so that Omar himself would decide his fate. The Persian nobleman rode into Medina splendidly dressed in purple and wearing a tiara richly adorned with costly stones; he was amazed to find the ruler of the Muslims in simple woolen clothes sleeping on the threshold of the mosque. Omar ordered that the signs of his high rank be torn from Gormuzan and said that he should be executed for stubborn resistance, which cost the lives of many Muslims. The Persian nobleman did not flinch and reminded the caliph that he was fulfilling the duty of a loyal subject. Omar stopped threatening; Gormuzan accepted faith in Allah, who destroyed the Persian kingdom and the religion of Zoroaster, and became one of the favorites of Omar. Susiana and Farsistan, where the ruins of Persepolis stand in the Merdashta valley, were subjugated by the Arabs after rather weak resistance; both of these areas and all the lands up to Kerman and to the desert were given under the control of Muslim chiefs. The caliph ordered a census of the people, an assessment of property, and the establishment of the amount of tax from agricultural products and herds.

Death of the last Sasanian Shah Yazdegerd

The Muslims marched in large troops and small detachments further along Iran, and the unfortunate Yazdegerd, who fled to the eastern border, asked for help from the Turks and Chinese. The Arabs captured Isfahan, Herat, Balkh. Everything from the beautiful Shuster valley to Kelat, Kandahar and the ridge separating Persia from India was conquered by the warriors of Islam. Omar had already died when the fate of Iran and the last Iranian king was decided. Yazdegerd, having gathered the remnants of the Persian troops and received help from Turks came to Khorasan. After a long struggle, he was killed by a traitor (about 651). Where and when it was, we do not know with accuracy; only the news has come down to us that, while crossing a certain river, a miller killed him in order to take possession of his rings and bracelets.

So the grandson died Khosrow the Great; his son Firuz, who continued to call himself the king of Persia, lived at the court of the emperor of China; with the grandson of Yazdegerd, the male line of the Sassanids ceased. But the princesses of the Persian dynasty, taken prisoner, were made wives or concubines of the victors, and the offspring of the Arab caliphs and imams were ennobled by the admixture of the blood of the Persian kings.

Zoroastrianism and Islam after the Arab conquest of Iran

With the death of the Sassanids, the religion of Zoroaster was also doomed. The Persians did not convert to Islam as quickly as the Syrian Christians, because the difference between the dualism of the Persian religion and the monotheism of Islam was very great, and the Zoroastrian magicians enjoyed a strong influence on the people. Nor was there in Persia that assistance to the spread of Islam, which was given to it in Syria by the neighborhood of Arabia. On the contrary, the proximity of pagan India served as support for the religion of Zoroaster: moreover, the Iranian hill tribes were very stubborn in their habits. Therefore, it is not surprising that the ancient Persian faith fought against Islam for a long time, and its adherents at times staged violent uprisings. But the religion of Zoroaster, originally imbued with lofty ideas and distinguished by the purity of its moral teaching, had long been distorted by foreign influences, lost its moral purity amid the luxury and debauchery of the Persians, became an empty formality, and therefore could not withstand the struggle against new faith, which not only promised its followers heavenly bliss, but also gave them earthly benefits. The enslaved Persian became the brother of his conquerors by accepting their faith; because the masses of Iranians converted to Islam. At first, they got rid of this from paying tribute and paid only on a par with the Arabs themselves a tax intended to benefit the poor. But, by accepting Islam, they brought into it their former religious concepts, and they brought their literary memoirs into the Arab schools. Shortly after the death of Yazdegerd, the Arabs crossed over the Oxus (Amu Darya) and Jaksart (Syr Darya), revived the remnants ancient culture in Bactria, in Sogdiana and spread the teachings of Muhammad in the regions along the upper Indus. The cities of Merv, Bukhara, Balkh, Samarkand, surrounded by a vast circle of walls, inside which there were gardens and fields, became strongholds of these regions from the invasions of the Turks and nomadic tribes, became important trading centers in which there was an exchange of eastern goods for western ones.

The Iranian Zend language was forgotten, and the Pahlavi language fell into disuse. The books of Zoroaster were replaced by the Koran, the altars of the service of fire were destroyed; only among some tribes living in the middle of the desert or in the mountains, the former religion was preserved. In the mountains of Elbrus and in other inaccessible mountainous areas, fire-worshippers (gebras), faithful to the religion of their ancestors, kept for several centuries; the Muslims at times persecuted them, at times ignored them; their number decreased; some emigrated, the rest converted to Islam. A small community of Parsis, after long disasters and wanderings, found shelter on the Gujarat Peninsula in India, and the descendants of these fire worshipers still preserve the faith and customs of their ancestors. The Persians conquered by the Arabs soon acquired a moral influence on them, became teachers in the new Mohammedan cities, and became Arab writers; their influence became especially great when the caliphate came under power Abbasid dynasty who patronized the Persians. Bidpai's fables and the "Royal Book" were translated from the Pahlavi language into Arabic.

Soon the inhabitants of Bukhara and Turkestan accepted Islam. During the reign of Mu'awiya, the brave Mukhallab and the brave son of Ziyad, Abad, conquered the country from Kabul to Mekran; other commanders went to Multan and Punjab. Islam spread in these lands as well. It became the dominant religion in western Asia. Only Armenia remained faithful to Christianity; but the Armenians constituted a separate church, separated from the universal one, and paid tribute to the Mohammedans. Subsequently, the Muslims reached the Caucasus, fought there with Khazars and acquired Islam followers in Tbilisi and Derbent.

Islam is not a religion, like Christianity, but a military-political organization of the people...
(Hans Delbrück, vol. III; p. 149)

The role of the army in the caliphate was largely determined by the doctrine of Islam. The main strategic task of the caliphs was considered to be the conquest of the territory inhabited by infidels (non-Muslims) through a "holy war". All adult and free Muslims were obliged to take part in it, only in last resort it was allowed to hire infidels to participate in the holy war.

Battle of heavily armed horsemen. Wall painting from the palace in Penjikent, Sogdiana, 7th–8th centuries

At the first stage of the conquests, the Arab army was a tribal militia. However, the need to strengthen and centralize the army caused a series of military reforms at the end of the 7th - the middle of the 8th century. The Arab army began to consist of two main parts - a permanent army and volunteers, and each was under the command of its commander. In the permanent army, a special place was occupied by privileged Muslim warriors.
The main arm of the army was the cavalry. But since the Arabs were a warlike tribe in which every adult Arab was a warrior, and not everyone could acquire and maintain a horse, there were numerous infantry in the army of the Arab Caliphate. To speed up the march of the infantry, the Arabs used camels, which significantly increased the mobility of the army. Camel-mounted warriors armed themselves with long spears to fight.
Full armament the Arabian rider was very rich and varied; two strong and thick bows with thirty arrows, a long bamboo spear with an iron tip, a throwing disc with sharp edges, a stabbing and chopping sword capable of cutting the enemy’s horse, a fighting club or a double-edged ax, 30 stones in two bag bags. The Arabs also widely used siege weapons - ballistas, catapults and battering rams. Their invention was pots of burning oil, which, with the help of catapults, were thrown over the walls of besieged fortresses, causing fires. The protective armament of the Arab consisted of a shell, a helmet worn over a hat, handrails, greaves and legguards.
The strength of the Arab army was in mobility - the ability to move quickly and appear in the most unexpected places for the enemy, as well as in the well-organized interaction of infantry and cavalry. Stopping for the night or making a long halt, the Arab army, as a rule, built a fortified camp, protecting it from all sides with a rampart and a moat. Delbrück quotes from an Arabic text:
cite“As soon as the camp is set up, the emir first of all orders to dig a ditch on the same day without delay or delay; this ditch serves to cover the army, prevents desertion, prevents attempts to attack and protects against other dangers that may arise due to the cunning of the enemy and all sorts of unexpected events.

Infantry fighting. Wall painting from the palace in Penjikent, Sogdiana, 7th–8th centuries

The Arabs made extensive use of ambushes, raids and surprise attacks - mainly at dawn, when sleep is especially strong. Many victories were ensured by the active use of spies, not only for reconnaissance, but also for subversive work among the enemy. The command did not shun anything for this; bribery, intimidation, coaxing, and outright treachery were used. This practice, most likely, helped them to prevail in the described battle.