The Battle of Marj Rahit () was a minor conflict fought between the

Ghassanid The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levan ...

Arab allies of

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and the

Rashidun army The Rashidun army () was the core of the Rashidun Caliphate's armed forces during the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century. The army is reported to have maintained a high level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization, granti ...

under the command of

Khalid bin Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially headed campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career in ...

in April 634. The morning after the Battle of Huwwarin, Khalid moved his army of 9000 towards

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

. Approximately 20 miles from Damascus there lies a pass with an elevation of 2000 feet above the surrounding countryside. The associated ridge is part of the range known as Jabal-ush-Sharq, which is an offshoot of the

Anti-Lebanon Mountains The Anti-Lebanon Mountains ( ar, جبال لبنان الشرقية, Jibāl Lubnān ash-Sharqiyyah, Eastern Mountains of Lebanon; Lebanese Arabic: , , "Eastern Mountains") are a southwest–northeast-trending mountain range that forms most of th ...

and runs in a north-easterly direction to

Tadmur Palmyra (; ar, تَدْمُر, Tadmor; Palmyrene: ''Tadmor'') is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert northeast of Damascus and southwest of the Eu ...

. The pass itself, although not formidable, is quite long. Khalid stopped at the peak and planted his standard. As a result of this action, the pass became known as Saniyyat-ul-Uqab (), i.e. the Pass of the

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

, after the name of Khalid's standard. From that place, Khalid moved his army to Marj Rahit, a large meadow near the current city of

Adra The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA or ADRA International) is a humanitarian agency operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the purpose of providing individual and community development and disaster relief. I ...

, northwest of Damascus.

The battle

The battle took place on

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

, 24 April 634. A large number of refugees from the region where Khalid had recently campaigned had gathered at Marj-al-Rahit, and these refugees mingled with the crowds celebrating the Easter festival. The Ghassanids were not unmindful of the danger that Khalid's entry into

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

posed for them and had positioned a strong screen of warriors on the route from Tadmur, below the pass. This force, however, was scattered quickly by the swift charge of Khalid's cavalry. Although some Ghassanid resistance continued as the Muslims advanced, it ceased once the main body of the Muslim army reached and raided the town. After collecting a large amount of booty and a number of captives, Khalid's forces left the town and returned to their encampment. The battle itself was not a major battle but allowed Khalid's army to protect its rearguard and enabled them to progress their attack and siege larger cities with relative ease.

Aftermath

On the following morning, Khalid sent a mounted column towards Damascus with the task of raiding the Ghouta. After sending a messenger to Abu Ubaidah with instructions to report to him at Bosra, Khalid then set off for Bosra with the main body of the army, by-passing Damascus. The mounted column sent to Damascus reached the neighborhood of the city, picked up additional booty and captives, and then rejoined Khalid's main force while they were still on the march. The minor operations following Khalid's entry into

were now over. Khalid then moved to conquer Bosra city.

Citations

References

General references

* Akram, A.I.
The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaign
', Nat. Publishing. House, Rawalpindi (1970) . * {{cite book , last = Donner , first = F. , authorlink = Fred Donner , title = The Early Islamic Conquests , url = https://archive.org/details/earlyislamicconq00donn , url-access = registration , publisher = Princeton University Press , year = 1981 , isbn = 0-691-05327-8 , pages
124
125 , ref=none Marj-al-Rahit Marj-al-Rahit Marj-al-Rahit Marj-al-Rahit 630s in the Byzantine Empire Muslim conquest of the Levant 634 7th century in the Byzantine Empire