Battle of Hazir

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Hazir.
partof=Muslim conquest of Syria
Byzantine-Arab Wars


caption=
date=June 637 AD
place=Syria
result=Decisive Rashidun Caliphate victory
combatant1=Rashidun Caliphate
(Mobile guard)
combatant2=Byzantine Empire
commander1=Khalid ibn al-Walid
commander2=Menas†
strength1=4,000 cavalry
strength2=3,000-4,000
casualties1=Minimal
casualties2=Entire Force

Battle of Hazir took place between the Byzantine army and Rashidun army's elite cavalry the Mobile guard, in June 637, 3 miles east of Qinnasrin at Hazir in present days Syria.

Background

After the conquest of Jerusalem Caliph Umar went back to his capital city of Madinah and Following the Caliph's instructions, Yazeed proceeded to Caesarea and once again laid siege to the port city. Amr bin al-A’as and Sharhabeel marched to reoccupy Palestine and Jordan, which task was completed by the end of this year. Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and Khalid ibn Walid, with an army of 17,000 men, set off from Jerusalem to conquer all of Northern Syria.Abu Ubaidah marched to Damascus, which was already in Muslim hands, and then to Emesa, which welcomed his return. His next objective was Qinnasrin, and towards this the army advanced with Khalid and the Mobile guard in the lead. After a few days the Mobile Guard reached Hazir, 3 miles east of Qinnasrin, and here it was attacked in strength by the Byzantines. The Byzantine garrison commander at Qinnasrin was a general named Meenas, a distinguished soldier who was loved by his men. Meenas knew that if he stayed in Qinnasrin, he would be besieged by the Rashidun army and would eventually have to surrender, as at present no help could be expected from the Emperor. He therefore decided to take the offensive and attack the leading elements of the Rashidun army well forward of the city and defeat them before they could be joined by the main body. With this plan in mind, Meenas attacked the Mobile guard at Hazir with a force whose strength is not recorded; He either did not know that Khalid was present with the leading elements of the Muslim army or did not believe all what he had heard about Khalid ibn Walid.

Battle

The Battle began at Hazir, which was a farming village, on a plain 3 miles east of Qinnasrin. Khalid threw his Mobile guard into fighting formation for battle, Meenas arranged his army in one center and two wings and was himself leading the army in the front ranks like Khalid, and soon a fierce action was raging at Hazir. The battle was still in its early stages when Meenas was killed; and as the news of his death spread among his men, the Byzantine soldiers went wild with fury and attacked savagely to avenge their beloved leader's death. But they were up against the finest body of men of the time. Khalid took a cavalry regiment and manoeuvred from a side of one of the wing and attacked the Byzantine army from the rear soon the whole army encircled and their very desire for vengeance proved their undoing for not a single Roman survived the Battle of Hazir. [Tabari: Vol. 3, p. 98.]

Aftermaths

As soon as the battle was over, the people of Hazir came out of their town to greet Khalid. They pleaded that they were Arabs and had no intention to fight him. Khalid accepted their surrender, and advanced to Qinnasrin.At Qinnasrin the part of the Roman garrison which had not accompanied Meenas to Hazir shut itself up in the fort. As soon as Khalid arrived, he sent a message to the garrison: cquote|"If you were in the clouds, Allah would raise us to you or lower you to us for battle.". [Tabari: Vol. 3, p. 98.] Without further delay Qinnasrin surrendered to Khalid. The Battle of Hazir and the surrender of Qinnasrin took place about June 637.When Caliph Umar received reports of the Battle of Hazir, he made no attempt to conceal his admiration - for the military genius of Khalid. Umar exclaimed.. cquote| "Khalid is truly the commander, May Allah have mercy upon Abu Bakr. He was a better judge of men than I have been."This was Umar's first admission that perhaps he had not judged Khalid rightly after he had dismissed Khalid from the command of Muslims army. [ Tabari: Vol. 3, p. 98.]

External links

* [http://www.swordofallah.com/html/bookhome.htm A.I. Akram, "The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns" Lahore, 1969]

References

ources

*A.I. Akram, "The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns", Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) ISBN 978-0-7101-0104-4.