Essay on the History of Arabian Peninsula

At the time of Prophet Muhammads death, much of the Arabian Peninsula was under the control of the Muslims. The death of Muhammad brought about strain amongst some newly conquered states. The reason for these tension was that, the states only binding factor to the newly formed Arabian federation was their allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad. However, the Muslims managed to organize themselves and chose Abu Bakr, the Prophet Muhammad's father-in-law. Abu Bakr became the first Caliph an Arabic term meaning successor. becoming the first Caliph or successor in Arabic. Through the Apostasy or Ridda wars, the new Caliph managed to consolidate the Arabian Peninsula into a single Islamic nation. Caliph Abu Bakrs reign lasted only two years. Upon his death in 634 CE, he was succeeded by Umar who has later succeeded by Othman in 644 CE. One distinct factor about these three caliphs was that they had been companions of the prophet Muhammad. In addition to Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, who took over from Othman in 656, the four caliphs formed the Rashidun, which translates to the righteous ones and are credited with the rapid spread of Islam throughout Persia, Syria, North Africa, Egypt and Part of Europe.

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Certainly, the Muslims were a united front. Guided by religion as a major justification of their conquest, and greed and other politics being the other reasons, The Arabian armies were an enthusiastic lot that had all the motivations to fight. However, the Persian army far outnumbered that of the Arabs and was certainly more organized and battle experienced. So how did the Arabs succeed in defeating such a formidable foe? The answer lies within the two belligerents themselves.

A Weakened Empire

The rule of the Sasanian dynasty experienced some of the worst conflicts with the Byzantine Empire of Rome. This was the further compounded by infighting and civil unrest within the empire, brought about by high taxation on the people by the rulers to facilitate their war effort. The Byzantine-Sasanian war lasted close to ten years and is thought to be the most important contributing factor for the decline of the Sasanian empire. Though successful at first, the war crippled the treasury of the empire paving the way for defeat by the Byzantines and eventual conquest by the advancing Arabs

In what is described as the second golden era, the initial campaigns against the Romans began under the reign of Kavadh I. at the initial stages Theodosiopilis in Armenia fell to the Persians but was lost soon afterward. An attempt was again made for Amida, with little success and the territory was returned to the Romans. Tensions, however, remained high between the Persians and the Romans.

Persian invasions still continued through the years. Key battles were fought during this conflicts. The first of these battles, notably the Battle of Dara, took place near the Roman city of Dara where Kavadhs army was defeated. The second battle took place near the city of Satala where the Persians suffered a second defeat. After the humiliating defeat at the hands of the Roman General Belisarius, at the Battle of Callinicum, the warring parties agreed to peace, providing the Persian leader Kavadh an opportunity to focus on affairs affecting his empire. Kavadh founded several cities, regulated the taxation methods and straightened out administration issues.

After the death of Kavadh I, Khosrau I, his son, ascended the throne. Khosrau spearheaded the reforms in the government of the Sasanians that had mostly comprised of elderly members. Khosrau also furthered the taxation regime that was initiated by his father before his death. The dehqans, the Iranian version of a knight, were also created under the rule of Khosrau I. This new shift, brought the army in closer control of the government which suited the ruling emperor.

However, the reign of Khosrau, just like that of his father before him, was characterized by conflicts with the Romans. The conflicts began after Khosrau I broke the treaty and invaded Syria and imposed its own form of taxation. The success in Syria paved the way for further success, notably in Armenia and Lazica, where the King had defected to Persia in 541 BCE. The Romans lost their stronghold at Petra but launched counter-offensives that initiated the Lazic wars.

During his reign, local land nobles rose to power and benefited largely from the provincial systems and the tax regimes. Khosraus reign also saw the rebuilding of structures destroyed during the conflict and further fortifications and armed the local tribes to guard against invaders. Zoroastrianism became the main religion of the empire although the emperor was tolerant to other religions.

Khosrau I was the succeeded by Hormizd, who took the throne around 579 BCE. Even under the new rule, the Byzantine-Persian wars still continued to rage. However, a turning point came when Bahram Chobin, a dismissed general rose in revolt against the empire in 589. Hormizd was overthrown by his son Khosrau II, in a palace coup in the year 590 BCE. However, the Bahram revolt continued on. Khosrau II was eventually defeated by Bahram's forces forcing him to flee. Khosrau II then approached the Byzantine emperor Maurice and agreed to cede control of the caucuses if the Romans would agree to help him thwart the rebellion in his land. The Byzantines agreed and in 591 Bahram was defeated at the battle of Marathon. Khosrau kept his promise and ceded control of the caucuses marking the beginning of peace. However, this peace did not last. After the death and overthrow of Maurice by Phocas in 602 BCE, Khosrau II, launched a campaign, capturing Mesopotamia, Armenia, Jerusalem, and Alexandria.

However, Khosrau IIs success was short-lived. With an exhausted army and treasury, the war became unsustainable. In desperation, Khosrau II overtaxed the population to try to maintain the war, though in vain. Heraclius, the new byzantine emperor, also in an uncomfortable financial position, launched an offensive against the Persians in Anatolia and the Caucasus, a campaign that turned out to be victorious. Khosrau II tried without success to besiege Constantinople, later suffering a great defeat in winter invasion of Mesopotamia in 627BCE.

The disgraceful defeats at the hands of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius led to the overthrow and death of Khosrau II at the hands of his son Kavadh II. In his very short reign (died within months) Kavadh II pulled out troops from all occupied territories and brought an end to the war. After his death, the Sasanian empire fell into Chaos and civil war, and over four with five successive rulers, the empire weakened tremendously. By the time of the Arab invasions, the empire was deeply divided and was under the leadership of a young and inexperienced king, Yazdegerd III. In combination with other factors such as an equally weakened Byzantine empire, heavy taxation in the Sasanian empire, and an unstable political environment paved the way for the Arab conquests of the Persian empire.

The Arab Conquest of Iran

The invasion of Persia began with the first invasion of Mesopotamia in 633. Under Abu Bakr, the Muslims laid down strategies to ensure victory. One of their strategies was to use the nomadic Arab tribes that formed a buffer of sorts between Persia and the Byzantine empire. Caliph Abu Bakr hoped that these Arabs would accept Islam and help spread it throughout Persia. Secondly, the people of Persia and Roman-Byzantine empires suffered huge taxations and Abu Bakr hoped to gain their support for the invasion in exchange for a relief from the tax burden. Furthermore, with the successful defeat of Iraq and Syria, Abu Bakr and his forces could launch raids into Mesopotamia from the desert and disappear back without the Persians chasing after them.

Abu Bakrs army, under the command of Khalid Ibn al-Walid, mainly consisted of volunteers and numbered ten thousand men. In collaboration with four local tribal chiefs, each having two thousand men, Khalid entered Mesopotamia with a strong force of eighteen thousand men, with Al-Hirah as their main objective. In the end, Khalid won the key battles of chains, river, Walaja and Ullais eventually capturing the city of Hira from the Persians after a siege. Khalids army laid siege to the city of Al Anbar, capturing i...