Episode 20: Life of Umar ibn al-Khattab
Aftermath of Nahavand – Hamedan’s Betrayal:
After Al-Qa’qa ibn Amr killed Fayruzan, the people of Hamedan agreed to a peace treaty with the Muslims.
As Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman and the Muslim army were heading back, news reached Hudhayfah that the people of Hamedan had broken the conditions of the treaty and were preparing to fight the Muslims.
The Muslim army surrounded the city and the Persians knew that they were not going to defeat the Muslims, so they surrendered, asking for another chance to sign a peace treaty.
The Muslims agreed to this and the Persians of Hamedan were allowed to stay in the city, live under Muslim rule and pay the Jizyah.
Expansion to Surrounding Areas:
The people in surrounding areas decided to come together and form armies in order to fight off the Muslims.
However, the Muslim army were able to defeat the Persians and take over these lands as well.
When they took over the city of Ar-Ray, the spoils of war that they took from the city were equivalent to the spoils they attained from Mada’in, which was capital of the Persian Empire.
When the rest of the Persian neighbouring cities saw this, they decided to surrender and agreed to live under Muslim rule.
Umar ibn al-Khattab’s Strategy to Finish Persia:
Umar ibn al-Khattab saw that the strength of the Persian resistance had weakened and realised that this was a great opportunity to finish the Persians once and for all.
Umar then sent a number of armies to different regions of the Persian Empire to complete the Muslim expansion.
The city of Khorasan was conquered by Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays and this was the region where Yazdegerd was situated.
Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays wanted to finish the threat of Yazdegerd and as he was moving towards Khorasan, he reached and conquered Kharot (in Afghanistan).
Al-Ahnaf then continued north towards Khorasan and when Yazdegerd heard that Al-Ahnaf was coming, he ran away to another part of the city.
Yazdegerd in Khorasan:
Yazdegerd panicked as he realised that his own Persian army would not be able to fight the Muslims anymore. He knew that he needed outside support so he sent letters to the kings of the Turks, the kings of the Mongols and the Emperor of China.
In his letter, he wrote: you better come and help me because these Muslims are not going to stop. Once they take over Persia, you will be the next targets.
The Turks, the Mongols and the Chinese agreed to help Yazdegerd and they started to prepare their armies.
Pre-emptive Muslim Strike:
Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays was notified about Yazdegerd’s plan so he ordered his army to attack Yazdegerd before the outside support came.
Yazdegerd then ran away again to Balkh (in Afghanistan), and Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays sent a letter to Kufa requesting for more support to fight the Persians in Balkh.
Yazdegerd was waiting in Balkh for the support of the Turks, the Mongols and the Chinese.
The Muslim army from Kufa arrived before the army of Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays.
Yazdegerd came up with another idea and decided to fight the Muslims that came from Kufa, as he believed the army was quite small.
Yazdegerd’s First Command:
This was the first time that Yazdegerd personally himself commanded an army as all of his military generals had been defeated in previous battles.
Another Muslim Victory:
The Muslim army of Kufa defeated Yazdegerd’s army and once again, he ran away.
Yazdegerd began to cross the Jayhun river but as he was crossing it, he saw the support of the Turks and the Mongols approaching.
Yazdegerd and his Wealth:
When Yazdegerd realised that this support was coming, he turned around and returned to Khorasan.
Yazdegerd left the Turks and the Mongols to face the Muslim army led by Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays and he went to the other part of the city where he originally was.
This is where his jewels and treasures were and at this point, Yazdegerd did not want to fight anymore, he just wanted to take his wealth and find a place to live.
Collapse of Yazdegerd’s Authority:
Yazdegerd tried to convince the people of Khorasan to migrate with him to a non-Persian land.
The residents of Khorasan said to Yazdegerd: As for these Arabs, we have now some experience with their rule, they are good people, they are fair and just. They do not oppress anyone. We would rather stay here under the Muslim rule, rather than go to China or Uzbekistan, and live under their rule when we don’t even know how they are going to treat us. We are going to stay here.
Yazdegerd replied: I will not live under Muslim rule, we have to leave here!
However, the residents of Khorasan refused. These same Persians used to worship the Kisra, Yazdegerd, but now he had lost all of the honour and respect that the people had for him.
Yazdegerd said: I am going to leave. The Persians of Khorasan replied: if you want to leave, you can leave, but we are not going with you and the treasures, they stay here. You cannot take the treasures with you.
Yazdegerd decided to leave the Persian land and lost all of his treasures. He decided to go to the land of the Turks and at this point, he left the land that he once ruled as the most powerful king in the world, with nothing.
Withdrawal of the Turk and Mongol Forces:
The Turks and the Mongols saw that Yazdegerd, the one that called them to fight, now did not want to fight and they decided to withdraw their forces.
The residents of Khorasan made a peace treaty with the Muslims and they also surrendered the treasures of Yazdegerd to them.
Islam in Khorasan:
After living under Muslim rule, they witnessed the beautiful characteristics of the Muslims and most of the Persians in Khorasan, accepted Islam.