James Baquet

The Rashidun Army was a ferocious armed force fighting under the Rashidun Caliphate, a Muslim state that was the first of the four such caliphates to rule after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. A caliph was a political and religious successor to Muhammad, and the Rashidun Caliphs were considered to be “Rightly Guided.”

This was the time of the expansion of Islam, characterized today as the Muslim conquests of the 7th century. The army itself expanded from approximately 13,000 men in 632 to 100,000 by 657.

It was near the early part of this period, in 637, that the army met and conquered the Byzantine Army, helping to bring an end to the rule of that empire in Syria. After their critical victory at the Battle of Yarmouk (which we have discussed before), they continued their successful campaign with victories at Jerusalem and Aleppo. On their way to take Antioch, they encountered resistance from the Byzantines at what is now called the Battle of the Iron Bridge, named after a stone bridge with nine arches and iron-trimmed gates, spanning the Orontes River adjacent to the battle scene.

The Byzantines defending Antioch had sallied forth about 20 kilometers from the city. The details of the encounter are somewhat obscure, but we do know that Khalid ibn al-Walid, a general who is considered one of history’s great tacticians, and who had led the Battle of Yarmouk, was still in charge. As he had done in that battle, he used his mobile guard, a crack squad of mounted soldiers, to effectively destroy the Byzantine Army. Their losses here were the third-highest in their Syrian defense; only Ajnadayn and Yarmouk exceeded them.

The remaining Byzantines straggled back to Antioch, where, after a siege ended Oct. 30, 637, the defeated Byzantine soldiers were released.

The Rashidun Army continued its campaign, moving southward along the Mediterranean coast, as other troops continued mopping up. By early 638, the campaign was over. Syria was in Muslim hands, and they held the territory all the way to the Taurus Mountains in modern Turkey.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. people who specialize in planning military action

2. going across

3. extremely fierce

4. moved in a disorderly way

5. went out from a well-defended position

6. extremely important

7. extremely effective, first-rate

8. finishing an operation, cleaning up

9. next to

10. the process of becoming larger, or covering more area