- Battle of Rayy
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Rayy
date=May 1 ,811
place=Rayy ,Iran
result=Abbasid Civil War
DecisiveAl-Ma'mun 's Victory
combatant1=Al-Amin
combatant2=Al-Ma'mun
commander1= Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan†|commander2=Tahir ibn Husayn
strength1=Around 50,000
strength2=>10,000
casualties1=High
casualties2=LowThis Battle of Rayy (one among many) was fought on
May 1 ,811 CE as part of anAbbasid civil war between the two half-brothers,al-Amin andal-Ma'mun Causes
Caliph Harun al-Rashid (the father of the two brothers) had foreseen that upon his death there would be a struggle between the two forsuccession to theCaliphate (the first born succession concept used in Christianmonarchies was not prevalent inIslam ). Thus he decreed that al-Amin would rule theAbbasid Caliphate until his death, while al-Ma'mun acted as viceroy ofKhurasan province in EasternIran . Then al-Ma'mun or one of his sons would succeed al-Amin as caliph, and in turn be succeeded by someone chosen by al-Amin.Naturally such a scheme, well intentioned as it was, was doomed to fail. Both brothers were influenced by their
vizier s,Fadl ibn Rabi andFadl ibn Sahl respectively, into attempting to claim power. Ultimately al-Amin declared that his sons would reign as Caliphs after he had died, even going as far as to seize the documents binding the brothers to the agreement from the sacred city ofMecca . Al-Ma'mun was much angered by this and prepared for war, his vizier sending a force to defend the key frontier stronghold ofRay y, between the Zagros and Elburz mountain ranges. Meanwhile, al-Amin sent an army out to destroy his brother, which left Baghdad onMarch 14 , 811 CE.Leaders
Al-Amin's army (divided by the numerous tribes within it) was led by Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan, the former governor of Khurasan, who had been ousted by Harun. Al-Ma'mun's army was led by
Tahir ibn Husayn , a Persian noble with some claim to one of the many mountain principalities which were nominallyvassal s to the caliphate.ize of Forces
Ali's army was "the largest and best-equipped" in living memory, numbering perhaps as many as 50,000. Tahir's contained about 10 thousand at best, however, it contained a high proportion of cavalrymen, whereas Ali was relying mostly on infantry.
Battle
Fearing what the citizens would do to rid themselves of his force if he chose to remain within Rayy's walls and defend against a siege, Tahir led his army along the road towards Baghdad until the intruders were in sight. After an uneasy night, Ali's force made an initial charge, which was followed by a brief truce and unsuccessful
negotiation s, in which Tahir's envoy reminded Ali of the solemn agreements al-Amin had torn up. Then the mainbattle began, with a lightning attack force of 700Khwarazm ians, backed by archers, sent to smash the centre of Ali's army, and if possible destroy its command structure. This approach was very effective, swiftly resulting in the death of Ali. How he died is not perfectly clear; one version has it that he was a victim of an arrow-storm sent by Tahir'sBukhara n archers ahead of the attack. Another version claims that he was felled from his horse by a soldier named Dawud Siyah ("Black David")- again possibly with an arrow- but not killed. Tahir ibn al-Taji (not related to the commander Tahir) then approached him and asked if he was really Ali ibn Isa, following which he killed him in single combat. In either case, when he was killed his army scattered in all directions. [Al-Tabari (trans. & ed. Michael Fishbein), "The War Between Brothers (History of al-Tabari, vol. XXXI)" Suny Press (1992) ISBN 0791410854, p. 51]According to
Hugh N. Kennedy ;:"The Battle of Rayy marked the turning point in the military tactics of the Period.The large infantry army was defeated by a smaller cavalry force. This may have marked the end of the large armies of foot soldiers which were typical of the much earlier Islamic warfare and the superiority of the smaller groups of mounted men, either armored spearmen or mounted archers." ["The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State" by Hugh N. Kennedy Published by Routledge, 2001,ISBN 0415250927,p.109]Aftermath
Tahir ibn Husayn recognised his opportunity and, without awaiting further instructions, took his almost-undamaged army on to
Baghdad . After a lengthysiege Baghdad would fall and al-Amin would be killed.ources
*Hugh Kennedy, "The Court of the Caliphs", London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (2004) ISBN 0297830007
ee also
Abbasid Caliphate
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