AJNADEIN - v1.0
July 30, 634

By Chris Jackson
SYMBOL SET REQUIRED: Master 1


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

After the conquest of Iraq, the Arabs next turned to the Byzantine province of Syria.
It was another key economic region with many trading ties to Arabia, and the Holy Land
was also of great religious importance to the new Islam faith that claimed to be the
continuation of the earlier prophets. The Byzantine Empire, though avoiding disaster
two decades previously, was still very weak, even weaker than the Persian Empire that the
Arabs had already defeated. In early April 634 the Muslims began to move under four
commanders, and at the beginning of June, Khalid himself marched from Hira through the
desert.

The first important Syrian town to fall was Busra after a short siege in mid-July. The
Byzantines were concentrating their army all into one point, and after two months had
90,000 men at Ajnedein under the generals Werdan and Qubuqlar. The Arabs, with about
32,000 men (9000 veterans), decided to take them head-on rather than be restricted by 
Byzantine actions around them. 

On the morning of July 30 both sides assembled for battle at Ajnadein, south west of
Jerusalem. Khalid stretched his army across a wide front to avoid the risk of the Byzantines
flanking them. The massive Byzantine army formed a similar arrangement, only deeper because 
of its size. Werdan arranged a front line of archers and slingers. The early phase of the battle
favoured the Byzantines because their bows had better range. Then the missile weapons fell 
silent as personal duelling was waged which restored the balance. Then Khalid ordered a general
assault that resulted in a straight-forward, line-on-line slugging match until late
afternoon when both sides were too tired to continue and bell back.

At the beginning of the next day Werdan was killed and Qubuqlar took over command. Once
again both sides became exhausted, and Khalid threw his reserve of 4000 men led by
Yazeed into the battle. The Arabs broke through in several areas and when Qubuqlar was
killed, the Byzantines turned to flight. A sizeable portion was able to escape but the
first great battle between Chrstians and Muslims was a victory for the latter. On August 22
caliph Abu Bakr died, having overseen the crucial first two years of post-Muhammad Arabia.

SOURCES

Akram, A.I. "The Sword of Allah", Dacca: National Publishing House, 1970.

Donner, Fred. "The Early Islamic Conquests". Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.


BATTLE NOTES

Up to this point I have always used numbers as a starting point, getting the proportions of the
armies right and then trying to tweak the unit qualities. This is the first time that I didn't
feel I was able to. The Byzantines have a 2-1 advantage instead of almost 3-1, and I had to 
jack up the Byzantine surrender point up to 50 as it was. 
The best way to beat the computer while playing the Arabs yourself is to let the enemy come to
you. You'll get some archery shots in first because the computer doesn't stay in formation too
well when it's on the move. If you see what looks like a good flanking chance, beware. The AI
is very good about defending from these with so many men at its disposal. It will send a 
contingent to wheel around behind you and trap you. The AI when on the offense will put its
archers to the back in a cluster, and any one trying to punch through will get showered with
arrows. The best way to win as the Arabs is to play a defensive game trying to wear down the
Byzantine morale, exploiting weak enemy units only when safe.

- Chris Jackson, August 15, 2000
  chrisbjackson@hotmail.com
