Key Facts
- Date
- November 636 AD (began ~16 November)
- Duration
- ~3 days of fighting
- Result
- Decisive Rashidun Caliphate victory
- Key Sasanian loss
- General Rostam Farrokhzad killed in battle
- Consequence
- Sasanian Empire fully annexed by 651 AD
- Site identified
- ~19 km south of modern Kufa (confirmed 2024)
Strategic Narrative Overview
The battle commenced around 16 November 636 and lasted approximately three days. Rashidun forces under their commanders engaged a Sasanian army that included war elephants. The engagement turned decisively when the Sasanian general Rostam Farrokhzad was killed under uncertain circumstances, throwing the Persian troops into disarray. The collapse of the Sasanian defensive line was total, and the Rashidun army exploited the victory to advance on Ctesiphon, the ancient Persian capital.
01 / The Origins
By the 630s, the Rashidun Caliphate under the early Muslim caliphs had launched expansive military campaigns into territories bordering Arabia. The weakened Sasanian Empire, exhausted by decades of war with the Byzantine Empire, controlled Mesopotamia but struggled to mount effective resistance. Muslim forces advanced into the Sasanian province of Asoristan, compelling the Persians to assemble a major army to halt the invasion. A Byzantine–Sasanian alliance was reportedly attempted, motivated by simultaneous Rashidun advances into the Levant and Egypt.
03 / The Outcome
Following the defeat, the Sasanian army could not mount a coherent defense of Ctesiphon, which fell to the Rashidun besiegers. Persian forces were compelled to withdraw from all of Mesopotamia. The victory was followed by further Rashidun offensives at Jalula and Nahavand, progressively dismantling Sasanian resistance. By 651, the Sasanian Empire had been fully annexed, ending over four centuries of Persian imperial rule and integrating the region into the expanding Muslim world.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas.
Side B
1 belligerent
Rostam Farrokhzad.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.