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Battle of Walaja
Part of Campaigns of Khalid ibn al-Walid
Map showing the region where Battle of Walaja was fought.
Date May 633 A.D Location Mesopotamia (Iraq) Result Decisive Rashidun Caliphate victory
Belligerents
Rashidun Caliphate	Sassanid Persian Empire, Arab allies
Commanders and leaders
Khalid ibn al-Walid	Andarzaghar, Bahman
Strength
15,000	30,000-50,000
Casualties and losses
~1000+	20,000-30,000

The Battle of Walaja was a battle fought in Mesopotamia (Iraq) in May 633 between the Muslim Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid against the Persian Empire and its Arab allies. The strength of the Persian army at the battle was at least three times the size of the Muslim army.

Khalid decisively defeated the numerically superior Persian forces using a variation of the double envelopment tactical manoeuvre, similar to the manoeuvre Hannibal used to defeat the Roman forces at the Battle of Cannae, though Khalid developed his version independently.

Background

Muslims invaded the Sassanid Persian Empire in april 633 A.D, under the command of Khalid ibn Walid, the army defeated Sassanid army in tow consecutive battles, Battle of Chains and Battle of River. Muslims objective was to capture Hira, after the Battle of River, Muslim army under Khalid ibn Walid once again set out for Hira, meanwhile the news of defeat at Battle of River reached Ctesiphon. The commanders of these Persian armies were not only the most experienced but also the most highly regarded figures of the Persian court so Ardashir III decided not to take chances.

Concentration of Persian army

The Sassanian Emperor, Ardashir III ordered the concentration of another two armies; he gave this order on the very day on which the Battle of River was fought. Following the orders of Ardashir III, the Persian forces began to gather at the imperial capital. They came from all towns and garrisons except those manning the western frontier with the Eastern Roman Empire. In a few days the first army was ready. The Persian court expected the Muslims to proceed along the Euphrates to North-Western Iraq, as they knew that no Arab force would move away from the Desert which they used to retreat to in case of defeat. Expecting the Muslim army to move west, Ardashir III picked Walaja as the place at which to stop Khalid ibn al-Walid and destroy his army. The first of the new Persian armies raised at Ctesiphon was placed under the command of Andarzaghar, who until recently had been the military governor of the frontier province of Khurasan. Andarzaghar was ordered to move his army to Walaja, where he would soon be joined by the second army. He set off from Ctesiphon, moved along the east bank of the Tigris, crossed the Tigris at Kaskar, moved south-west to the Euphrates, near Walaja, crossed the Euphrates and established his camp at Walaja.

On his way to Walaja, the Persian general picked up thousands of Arabs who were willing to fight under his standard. He had also met and took command of the remnants of the army that fought in the Battle of River. When he arrived at Walaja he waited for Bahman who was to join him in a few days. Bahman was the commander of the second army, one of the top personalities of the Persian military hierarchy. He was ordered by the Emperor to take the second army to Walaja where Andarzaghar would await him. The plan was for Bahman to be the commander of both the armies, and with this enormous might would fight and destroy the Muslim Army in one great battle. Bahman moved on a separate route to Andarzaghar's. From Ctesiphon, he marched south between the two rivers, heading directly for Walaja, but he left Ctesiphon several days after the first army started marching, causing delays.

Preparation of Muslim’s army

The Battle of River had been an important victory for the Muslims. Sustaining few casualties, the Muslims had defeated a large Persian Army and acquired a vast amount of booty. Now the Muslims begin to realize the immensity of the resources of the Persian Empire, they had fought two battles with two separate Persian armies and drove them both from the battlefield, but he was still only on the fringes of the Empire. The Persians could field many armies like the ones he had fought at Kazima and the River. By now Khalid had organised an efficient network of intelligence agents. The agents were local Arab traitors who were hostile to the Persians. The agents informed Khalid about the concentration of new Persian armies and their joining at the area of Walaja and their much greater numbers. Khalid had to get to Hira, and Walaja was directly on his route.

Maneuver of Khalid

Number of Sassanian Persians who fled from earlier fought battles take up arms again, for instance, the survivors of Battle of Chains had joined Qarin and fought at the Battle of River. The survivors of the Battle of River had joined Andarzaghar and were now moving towards Walaja. The two problems that advancing Muslim army encountered were :

1. The first was strategical: two Persian armies were about to combine to oppose him. To this problem Muslims commander in chief Khalid ibn Walid found a masterly strategical solution: advance rapidly and fight and eliminate one army (Andarzaghar's) before the other army (Bahman's) arrived on the scene.
2. The second problem was tactical: how to prevent enemy warriors escaping from one battle whereby they would fight another subsequent battle. To this Khalid decided to kill as many persian soldiers as he can in the battle field and for this he developed a tactical solution, it was to surround the Sassanid army during the battle by attacking them at the rear and to destory the army at the field, it was a variation of the double envelopment tactical manoeuvre developed by Khalid independently.

Khalid gave instructions to Suwaid bin Muqarrin to see to the administration of the conquered districts with his team of officials, and posted detachments to guard the lower Tigris against possible enemy crossings from the north and east and to give warning of any fresh enemy forces coming from those directions.

Battle

With an army of about 15,000 men, Khalid set off in the direction of Hira, moving at a fast pace along the south edge of the great marsh. According to Khalid's plan, a few days before Bahman was expected, the Muslim army appeared over the eastern horizon and camped a short distance from Walaja. However, Andarzaghar was not worried; he had a large army of Persians and Arabs and felt confident of victory. He did not even bother to withdraw to the river bank, a mile away, so that he could use the river to guard his rear. The battle was thus prepared at Walaja. The battlefield consisted of an even plain stretching between two low, flat ridges which were about 2 miles apart and 20 to 30 feet in height. The north-eastern part of the plain ran into a barren desert. A short distance beyond the north-eastern ridge flowed a branch of the Euphrates now known as the River Khaseef. On May 633, the armies deployed for battle, each with a center and wings. The Muslim corps of the wings were again commanded by Asim bin Amr and Addi bin hatim. The Persians deployed in the centre of this plain, facing east-south-east, with the western ridge behind them and their left resting on the north-eastern ridge. Khalid formed up his army just forward of the north-eastern ridge, facing the Persian army. The center of the battlefield, i.e. the mid-point between the two armies, was about 2 miles south-east of the present Ain-ul-Muhari, and 35 miles south-east of present Najaf and 6 miles south-east to the present Ash Sinafiyah.

The Persians found most of the Muslim forces comprising of infantry, cavalry was absent. Persians had expected Khalid's army to be much larger then what was deployed at the battle field.

The night before the Battle of Walaja was fought, Khalid had sent for two of his officers, Busr bin Abi Rahm and Saeed bin Marra making them each, the commander of a mobile striking force of about 2,000 cavalry and instructed them as follows:

1. . They would take their cavalry out during the night and move wide round the south of the Persian camp.
2. . On arrival on the far side of the ridge which stretched behind the Persian camp, they would conceal their men but keep them ready to move at short notice.
3. . When battle was joined in the morning, they would keep their men mounted behind the crest of the ridge and position observers to watch for the signal of Khalid.
4. . When Khalid gave the signal, the two striking forces would charge the Persian army in the rear, each group echeloned a bit to one flank.

Necessary orders were issued by Khalid to those who had to be in the know of the plan, so that the organisation and preparation of the striking forces could be carried out without a hitch; but the utmost secrecy was maintained and the Muslim rank and file knew nothing of the planned double envelopment manoeuvre.

Khalid formed up the rest of his army, about 10,000 men in front of the Sassanid Persian army. The strategy developed by the Persian commander in chief Andarzaghar, was to being defensive and let the Muslims charge first and hold there attacks untill they wear out, then luanching a Counter-attack to rout the weary Muslim army. The first phase of the battle gose all according to what Andarzaghar planned. Khalid ibn Walid orders for a general attack. The Sassanid army had reserves which they employed to replace their men in the front line giving them an upper hand to the Muslim army and helping them to carry out there maneuver of wearing out the Muslim army effectively. During this Khalid's duel with a Persian champion of gigantic proportions known as Hazar Mard and killed him, this was physicological vicotry for Muslims. The first phase was over. The second phase of the battle began with the counter-attack of the Sassanid Persian army. Perhaps seeing signs of fatigue from the Muslim soldiers, Andarzaghar judged that this was the right moment for his counter-attack, At this command the Sassanians surged forward and struck at the Muslims. The Muslims were able to hold them for some time, but the Persians pressed on, the vaguely retreating Muslim army was to hold the attack untill further instructions from Khalid ibn Walid.

Khalid eventually gave the signal to press forward. The next moment, over the crest of the ridge which stretched behind the Sassanian army appeared two divisions of mounted warriors-one from the Persian left-rear, the other from the right-rear. The main body of Muslims center under Khalid ibn al-Walid resumed the attack against the Persian front, at the same time extending its flanks to join hands with the cavalry and completely surround the Persians. The army of Andarzaghar was caught in a trap and could not escape. Recoiling from the assaults that came from all directions, the Sassanid army gathered in an unwieldy mass, unable to use their weapons freely or avoid the blows of their assailants. Those who wanted to fight did not know whom to fight. Those who wanted to flee did not know where to go. The battle was over with heavy casualties inflicted on Sassanid army. Though the Muslims succeeded in carrying out the maneuver effectively but a few thousand imperial warriors managed to escape. Andarzaghar himself, strangely enough, managed to escape, but he moved towards Arabian desert instead of Euphrates region and died of thrist.

Aftermath

After the battle Khalid got his exhausted men together as he realized that the battle had imposed a terrible strain upon his troops despite the sound victory over the Sassanians. The battle of Walaja had been the longest and fiercest of battles which the Muslims had so far fought in Iraq; and Khalid ibn al-Walid sought to ensure the high Muslim morale.

He addressed the men. He started by praising Allah and calling his blessings upon Muhammad. Then he continued:

“ Do you not see the wealth of the land of the Persians? Do you not remember the poverty of the land of the Arabs? Do you not see how the crops in this land cover the earth? If the holy war were not enjoined by Allah, we should still come and conquer this rich land and exchange the hunger of our deserts for the abundant eating which is now ours ”

.

Annihilating an other army of Sassanid Persians and Christian Arab allies at Battle of Ullais, Muslims Conquered Hira, the capital city of Mesopotamia in late May 633 A.D. Followed by the conquest of Al-Anbar and siege of Ein-al-Tamr which surrendered shortly after the siege. With the fall of the main cities the whole of southern and central Iraq came under Muslims control. In 634 A.D Abu Bakr ordered Khalid ibn Walid to proceed to Syria with half of his army to command the Invasion of Byzantine Empire. Misna bin Haris was left as the successor of Khalid. Persians under new emperor Yazdgerd III, concentrated new armies and defeated Muslims in the Battle of Bridge, and re-captured Iraq. The second invasion of Iraq was undertaken under Sa`d ibn Abī Waqqās who after defeating the Sassanid army at Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in 636 A.D captured Ctesiphon. Followed by the whole scale invasion of Sassanid Persian Empire.

Online resources

• A.I. Akram, The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns Lahore, 1969

Category:Muslim history Category:Battles of Khalid ibn Walid Category:Battles involving the Sassanid Empire Category:Battles involving the Rashidun Caliphate