Battle of the Zab

The Battle of the Zab (Arabic: معركة الزاب), also referred to in scholarly contexts as Battle of the Great Zāb River, took place on January 25, 750, on the banks of the Great Zab^[6] in what is now the modern country of Iraq. It spelled the end of the Umayyad Caliphate and the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate, which would last from 750 to 1258.

Main article: Abbasid Revolution

Battle of the Zab
Part of the Abbasid Revolution
Greater Zab River Map in Iraq
Date January 25, 750 Location near the Great Zab Result Abbasid victory Territorial changes Overthrow of the Umayyads by the Abbasids
Belligerents
Abbasid Caliphate	Umayyad Caliphate
Commanders and leaders
Saffah[1] Abu Muslim[2] Abd Allah ibn Ali[3][4] Abu Awn Musa ibn Ka'b al-Tamimi	Marwan II
Strength
10,000–30,000[5]	100,000–150,000[5]

Background

In 747, a major rebellion broke out against the Umayyad Caliphate, which ruled from southern Gaul to the western periphery of China from 661 to 750. The principal cause of the rebellion was the increasing gap between the outlying peoples of the Caliphate and the Damascus-based Umayyad government. The Umayyad-appointed governors of the Caliphate's various provinces were corrupt and interested only with personal gains. Additionally, the Umayyads claimed no direct descent from Muhammad, while the Abbasids did (they descended from Muhammad's uncle Abbas—a fact the latter used extensively during the revolution).

Armies

In 750, the army of the Umayyad caliph Marwan II fought a combined force of Abbasid, Shia, Khawarij, and Iraqi forces. Marwan's army was, on paper at least, far larger and more formidable than that of his opponents, as it contained many veterans of earlier Umayyad campaigns against the Byzantine Empire; its support for the caliph, however, was only lukewarm. The morale of the Umayyads had been damaged by the series of defeats inflicted earlier in the rebellion, while the morale of the Abbasid armies had increased.^[7]

Battle

The Abbasid army formed a spear wall, a tactic they had adopted from their Umayyad opponents, presumably from witnessing it in earlier battles. This entailed standing in a battle line with their lances pointed at the enemy (similar to the stakes used by English longbowmen at Agincourt and Crécy many centuries later). The Umayyad cavalry charged, possibly believing that with their experience they could break the spear wall. This was a mistake on their part, however, and they were all but butchered. The Umayyad army fell into retreat, its morale finally shattered. Many were cut down by the zealous Abbasids or were drowned in the wintertime River Zab.^[8][9]

Aftermath

Marwan II fled at last to Abusir a small town in the Egyptian Nile Delta. There, a few months after the battle, he was found hiding in a church by a small Abbasid detachment under the command of Abu Awn He was overpowered and slain. His head was sent to the commander Salih ibn Ali Uncle of Al-Saffah, who had the tongue cut out and thrown to a cat in contempt. The disfigured head was then delivered to Al-Saffah (r. 750–754), who bowed in thanks to God, recited a verse of vengeance, and assumed the caliphate—bringing Umayyad rule in the Middle East to an end.^[10][11]

See also

• Battle of Talas was a military engagement between the Abbasid Caliphate against the Chinese Tang dynasty in July 751 AD.