KAZIMA - v1.0 (MEDIEVAL 2)
early April 633

By Chris Jackson
SYMBOL SET REQUIRED: Master 1


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Once Arabia was re-united in February 633, caliph Abu Bakr ordered Khalid to proceed to Iraq.
The most fertile and wealthy possession of the Persian Empire, Iraq was occupied by both
Persians and Arabs and made a logical target for Arabia. In March Khalid set out from Yamama
with a force of 18,000 men, the largest Muslim army yet. The military governor of the 
frontier district of Dast Meisan (in present-day Kuwait) was Hormuz, an experienced veteran 
who held the rank second only to Emperor. The Persians may have been weakened by the long war
with Byzantium, but were still a powerful military force stronger than Arabia. 

Khalid planned to exploit the one weakness of the Persian army: lack of mobility. By marching
and counter-marching between Kazima and Hufeir, Khalid could wear down the Persians and then
attack them when they were exhausted. This is what he did and in early April 633, Khalid
came out of the desert and prepared for a battle on a scrub-filled plain in front of Kazima.
Khalid and Hormuz fought in the traditional pre-battle duel; Hormuz was killed. The Persians
were dismayed by this loss but were still more numerous than the Arabs and were confident of
victory. The Persians were linked together by chains to show they would fight to the death.

The faster-moving Arab army was repelled several times, but were eventually able to break 
through the line of tired Persians. The chained Persians were unable to run away and
many were cut down. Two weeks later the Arabs won another, very similar victory on the south
bank of the Maqil River over the forces of another top-ranked general, Qarin bin Qaryana, who
also died in the preceding duel. Once again the lightly-armed Muslims caught up with the 
weighed-down Persians and killed them. The Arabs had won two quick and decisive victories, but
were still only on the fringes of the empire and the Persians still had many more soldiers at
their disposal.


SOURCES

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

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

"Islam", Encyclopedia Britannica. www.britannica.com


BATTLE NOTES

This scenario is very winnable as the Arabs if they exploit their advantage in mobility. To
reflect the Persians being tired, they have a Peasant quality rating, low morale, and only
4 movement points per regular cavalry unit (they are also chained together, after all). The 
center wing of Persians is also leaderless. They can still do a lot of damage with cheap arrow 
attacks, and they do have higher numbers and better equipment. The Arab player needs to avoid 
running headlong into the arrows (let them close some of the gap themselves) and look for every 
opportunity to swing around the Persians and strike in the rear.


- Chris Jackson, August 6, 2000
  chrisbjackson@hotmail.com
