Battle of Siffin 657
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 657 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Syria | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | First Fitna | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Rashidun Caliphate | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 35.9500, 39.0167 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Siffin (Arabic: معركة صفّين, romanized: Maʿraka Ṣiffīn) was fought in 657 CE (37 AH) between the forces of the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and the forces of the Umayyad governor of Syria, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. The battle is named after its location Siffin on the banks of the Euphrates river. The fighting stopped after Mu'awiya's Syrian army called for arbitration when Ali's Iraqi army started to gain the upper hand, to which Ali reluctantly agreed under pressure from the majority of his troops. The arbitration process ended inconclusively in 658 though it strengthened the Syrians' support for Mu'awiya and his political position while weakening the authority of Ali and causing dissension among the Iraqis. The battle was part of the First Fitna and is considered a major step towards the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Siffin (revision 1378650664), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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