Battle of the Yarmuk
| Battle of Yarmuk | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Muslim conquest of Syria (Arab–Byzantine wars) | |||||||||
Illustration of the Battle of Yarmuk by an anonymous Catalan illustrator (c. 1310 – 1325) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Rashidun Caliphate |
Byzantine Empire Ghassanid Kingdom Tanukhids | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Umar ibn al-Khattab Khalid ibn al-Walid Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah Amr ibn al-As Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan Shurahbil ibn Hasana Ikrima ibn Amr † Zubayr ibn al-Awwam Al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr al-Tamimi Amru bin Ma'adi Yakrib Dirar ibn al-Azwar Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr Ubadah ibn al-Samit Hind bint Utba |
Heraclius Theodore Trithyrius † Vahan † Jabalah ibn al-Aiham Dairjan † Niketas the Persian Buccinator (Qanatir) Gregory | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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15,000–40,000 (modern estimates) 24,000–40,000 (primary Arab sources) |
40,000–50,000 (primary Roman sources) | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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4,000 killed Total casualties: 5,000–17,000 |
70,000–120,000 killed (primary Arab sources) 10,000–50,000 killed (modern estimates) | ||||||||
Battle location on a map of modern Syria Battle of the Yarmuk (Levant) Battle of the Yarmuk (Middle East) | |||||||||
The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk; Arabic: معركة اليرموك) was a major battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate near the Yarmouk River in Byzantine Syria that marked a crucial point in the Muslim conquest of Syria. The result of the battle was a decisive Arab victory that effectively ended Byzantine rule in Syria.
The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636, near the Yarmouk River (called the Hieromykes River by the Greeks), along what are now the borders between Syria and Jordan and Syria and Israel, southeast of the Sea of Galilee. To check the Arab advance and to recover lost territory, Emperor Heraclius had sent a massive expedition to the Levant in May 636. As the Byzantine army approached, the Arabs tactically withdrew from Syria and regrouped all their forces at the Yarmuk plains close to the Arabian Peninsula, where they were reinforced, and defeated the numerically superior Byzantine army.
The Battle of the Yarmuk is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history. It was also Khalid ibn al-Walid's greatest military victory and cemented his reputation as one of the greatest tacticians and cavalry commanders in history. The battle marked the culmination of the first great wave of early Muslim conquests after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, which witnessed the rapid advance of the Rashidun Caliphate into both the Sasanian Empire and the Byzantine Empire.