Abū 'Ubayd ibn Mas'ūd ibn 'Amr ibn 'Umayr ibn 'Awf ibn Uqda ibn Ghayra ibn Awf ibn Thaqif al-Thaqafiأسد الغابة، جـ6/ص 201
(also al-Thaqīfī) ( ar, أبو عبيد بن مسعود بن عمرو بن عمير بن عوف بن عقدة بن غيرة بن عوف بن ثقيف الثقفي), or simply Abu Ubayd (), was a commander in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

of the Rashidun Caliphate. He was from

Ta'if Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...

in western

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

, and belonged to the tribe Banu Thaqif. Al-Muthanna, commander of the Muslim Arabs in

al-Hira Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. History Kingdom of the Lakhmids Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre- I ...

, had asked

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...

and later

Caliph Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

for reinforcements against

Sasanians The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

in Mesopotamia, who were fighting him back. Umar chose Abu Ubayd who volunteered first, although he was not among the Muhajirun or Ansar (the Companions of Muhammad), and dispatched him. Abu Ubayd arranged a force of 1,000 from his

Thaqif The Banu Thaqif ( ar, بنو ثقيف, Banū Thaqīf) is an Arab tribe which inhabited, and still inhabits, the city of Ta'if and its environs, in modern Saudi Arabia, and played a prominent role in early Islamic history. During the pre-Islamic ...

tribe and increased his numbers in the way north. He took over command from al-Muthanna for the second time, becoming commander of the forces in

region. The combined Arab forces conducted raiding in the plains between al-Hira and Ctesiphon (the

Sawad Sawad was the name used in early Islamic times (7th–12th centuries) for southern Iraq. It means "black land" or "arable land" and refers to the stark contrast between the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Desert. Under the Umayyad ...

). The commander of the Sasanian army

Rustam Farrukhzad Rostam Farrokhzād ( fa, رستم فرخزاد) was an Iranian dynast from the Ispahbudhan family, who served as the ''spahbed'' ("military marshal") of the northwestern quarter (''kust'') of Adurbadagan during the reign of Boran () and Yazdeger ...

dispatched an army under

Bahman Jadhuyih Bahman Jādhūyah/Jādūyah (also Jādhōē/Jādōē; New Persian: ), or Bahman Jādhawayh (Middle Persian: ''Vahūman Ĵādaggōw'') was an Iranian general of the Sasanians. He is mostly known to have led the Sasanians to victory against the Arabs ...

to attack them. In the upcoming battle at the bank of the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

river near Babylon, known as the

Battle of the Bridge The Battle of the Bridge or the Battle of al-Jisr ( ar, معركة الجسر) was a battle at the bank of the Euphrates river between Arabs led by Abu Ubaid al-Thaqafi, and the Persian Sasanian forces led by Bahman Jaduya. It is traditionally ...

, a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

war elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elepha ...

tore Abu Ubaid from his horse with its trunk, and trampled him under its foot. The Arab forces panicked and were defeated. His brother al-Hakam and his son Jabr were also killed after him.Richard Nelson Frye, ''The Cambridge History of Iran: The period from the Arab invasion to the Saljuqs'', (Cambridge University Press, 1975), 8-9. Abu Ubayd was also the father of the revolutionary leader

al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi ( ar, المختار بن أبي عبيد الثقفي, '; – 3 April 687) was a pro-Alid revolutionary based in Kufa, who led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in 685 and ruled over most of Iraq f ...

, who rebelled against the Umayyads to revenge the Karbala event during the Second Fitna. Safiyah, wife of Abdullah ibn Umar, was also his daughter.Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. Jariah, another of his daughters, was married to

Umar ibn Sa'ad ʿUmar ibn Saʿd () (fl. 620–686) was a son of Muhammad's companion, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. He was born in Medina and later moved to Kufa, which was founded by his father and stayed there until his death. He took orders from Ubaydullah ibn Ziya ...

References

{{reflist Generals of the Rashidun Caliphate People of the Muslim conquest of Persia People from Taif 634 deaths Date of birth unknown Banu Thaqif Companions of the Prophet Governors of the Rashidun Caliphate