|
The Conquest of Jordan
 The
battle of Yarmūk was not the first military conflict between the
armies of the Arabs and the Byzantine empire. One of the most
important early encounters was the battle of Mu’ta in 629 C.E. (Hijra
year 8). The exact site of the battle is unknown, but it has
been traditionally associated with the town of Mu’ta on the
Karak plateau (map 1). Later Arabic accounts give a variety of
reasons of the expedition, but it appears that the Prophet
Muhammad dispatched the force of about 3,000 men because he
wanted to bring the Arab population of the south of Jordan under
his control. We know little about the inhabitants of the Karak
plateau at this time, but they probably consisted of both
Christians and pagans. By the sixth century most of southern
Jordan was probably controlled by Arab allies of the Byzantines
known as the Ghassānids. Judging by the account given by the
Byzantine historian Theophanes (died ca.818), it was a
local official (known by the title of vicarius) named
Theodorus who, learning of the planned expedition, gathered the
garrisons of local fortresses and led the attack. The Muslim
army was routed and three of the leaders, Zayd ibn Hāritha,
Ja`far b. Abī Tālib (also known as Ja`far al-Tayyār) and `Abd
Allāh ibn Rawāha were killed. The remnants of the army were
saved by the leadership of Khālid ibn al-Walīd, a general who
was later to become famous for his military successes in Syria.
The shrine of Ja`far – in its present form mainly constructed in
the 14th century – still stands in near the modern town of Mu’ta
[
Photo],
while a modern mausoleum is to be found in the nearby town of
Mazar [
Photo].
Although this battle led to a heavy defeat for the Arab armies,
it nevertheless signalled the wider military intentions of the
Muslims. Further major battles occurred in Ajnādayn in southern
Palestine and Fihl (ancient Pella) in the Jordan valley. It was
the battle of Yarmūk that decisively broke the military strength
of the Byzantine empire in Jordan, Palestine and Syria. Within
seven years of the defeat at Mu’ta the whole of Jordan was under
Muslim control, and this was quickly followed by the fall of
Damascus, and the remainder of Syria and Palestine after 637. |
