The Battle of the Iron Bridge was fought between the Muslim

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 ...

and the Byzantine army in 637 AD. The battle took its name from a nearby nine-arch stone bridge (also known as

Jisr al-Hadid The glossary of Arabic toponyms gives translations of Arabic terms commonly found as components in Arabic toponyms. A significant number of them were put together during the PEF Survey of Palestine carried out in the second half of the 19th centu ...

) spanning the

Orontes River The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Asi ( ar, العاصي, , ; tr, Asi) is a river with a length of in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Turkey. A ...

which had gates trimmed with iron. It was one of the last battles fought between the Byzantines and

Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...

in the province of

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 ...

. The aftermath of the battle marked the nearly complete annexation of the province into the

with the fall of its

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

Background

The Rashidun army had achieved a decisive victory at the

Battle of Yarmouk The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk) was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636, ...

. Following this victory, they managed to gain control of the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

. Jerusalem was conquered shortly afterwards. Rashidun forces then marched north, conquering other portions of the Levant. They penetrated into northern Syria near its borders with

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

intending to capture

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

, and to secure the conquered lands from any possible threat from the north. After the conquest of Aleppo,

Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ ( ar, عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح; 583–639 CE), better known as Abū ʿUbayda ( ar, أبو عبيدة ) was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Islamic prophet ...

sent a column under Malik al-Ashtar to capture

Azaz Azaz ( ar, أَعْزَاز, ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 in the 2004 census.

in Northern Syria, east of the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğird ...

. The capture and clearance of Azaz was essential to ensure that no large Byzantine forces remained north of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, from where they could strike at the flank and rear of the Rashidun army during the operation against Antioch. As soon as Malik rejoined the army, Abu Ubaidah marched westwards to capture Antioch, with

Khalid ibn 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 ...

leading the advance guard with his

Mobile guard The Fursan unit, or the early Muslim cavalry unit, was the cavalry forces of Rashidun army during the Muslim conquest of Syria. The division which formed the early cavalry corps of the caliphate were commonly nicknamed the Mobile Guard (Arabic: � ...

. The army marched westward directly from Aleppo via Harim and approached Antioch from the east.

The battle

Twenty kilometers (12 mi) from the city, near modern-day ''Mahruba'', a bridge of iron spanned the River Orontes. It was here that the battle was fought between the Rashidun army and the Byzantine garrison defending Antioch. A major battle was fought, the details of which are not recorded. Khalid ibn Walid played a prominent role with his Mobile guard, as he had done during the

. The Byzantine forces suffered heavy losses and were defeated. The Byzantine casualties in this battle were the third highest in the

Muslim conquest of Syria The Muslim conquest of the Levant ( ar, فَتْحُ الشَّام, translit=Feth eş-Şâm), also known as the Rashidun conquest of Syria, occurred in the first half of the 7th century, shortly after the rise of Islam."Syria." Encyclopædia Br ...

, only exceeded by the battles of Ajnadayn and Yarmouk. The remnants of the defeated Byzantine force fled to Antioch. The Rashidun army later moved up and laid siege to Antioch. The city surrendered on 30 October, 637. According to the pact, the defeated Byzantine soldiers were allowed to depart in peace.

Aftermath

Following the surrender of Antioch, Rashidun army columns moved south along the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

coast and captured

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

Jablah ) , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = Jableh Collage.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater• A ...

and

Tartus ) , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...

(Syria), thus capturing most of north-western

. Other columns were sent to subdue the remaining resistance in northern Syria. Khalid ibn Walid was sent with his cavalry on a raid eastwards, up to the

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

in the vicinity of

Manbij Manbij ( ar, مَنْبِج, Manbiǧ, ku, مەنبج, Minbic, tr, Münbiç, Menbic, or Menbiç) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of the Euphrates. In the 2004 census by the Cen ...

, but found little opposition. The campaign was ended in early January 638. After the defeat of pro-Byzantine

Christian Arab Arab Christians ( ar, ﺍَﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ, translit=al-Masīḥīyyūn al-ʿArab) are ethnic Arabs, Arab nationals, or Arabic-speakers who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who l ...

s from Al Jazira, who laid the siege of Emessa in March 638, Abu Ubaidah sent more columns under Khalid ibn Walid and Iyad ibn Ghanm to subdue Jazira near the Syrian frontiers and in Anatolia. These columns went northwards as far as the Ararat plain and west towards the

. The Taurus Mountains in

thus marked the westernmost frontier of the

in Anatolia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Iron Bridge Iron Bridge Iron Bridge Iron Bridge Iron Bridge 637 630s in the Byzantine Empire Iron Brigde Iron Bridge Muslim conquest of the Levant