Battle of al-Anbar 633
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 633 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Iraq | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Muslim conquest of Persia | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 33.9911, 43.9394 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Al-Anbar (Arabic: معركة الأنبار) was between the Muslim Arab army under the command of Khalid ibn al-Walid and the Sasanian Empire. The battle took place at Anbar which is located approximately 80 miles from the ancient city of Babylon. Khalid besieged the Sassanian Persians in the city fortress, which had strong walls. Scores of Muslim archers were used in the siege. The Persian governor, Shirzad, eventually surrendered and was allowed to retire. The Battle of Al-Anbar is often remembered as the "Action of the Eye" since Muslim archers used in the battle were told to aim at the "eyes" of the Persian garrison.
During the battle, 1,000 Muslim arrows were shot at the Persians from the ramparts. After the 1,000 archers in the front row had finished, it was the turn of the 1,000 archers in the second line to fire their arrows. Over a thousand of Sheerzad's troops lost their sight from the Muslim arrows. Seeing the Muslims gaining the upper hand, Sheerzad sent an envoy offering peace on terms, but Khalid, who wanted an unconditional surrender, rejected the offer. The battle continued, with Khalid attempting to scale the ramparts by constructing a moat bridge and ladders.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of al-Anbar (revision 1380199738), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Muslim conquest of Persia
- Battle of Ayn al-Tamr 633
- Battle of Ullais 633
- Battle of Burs 636
- Battle of al-Qadisiyyah 636
- Battle of Jalula 637
- Siege of Ctesiphon (637) 637
- Battle of Nahavand 642
All 8 battles of the Muslim conquest of Persia →
Browse more: battles in Iraq · Asia · Medieval battles