Battle of Dhi Qar

The Battle of Dhi Qar (Arabic: يوم ذي قار), also known as the War of the Camel's Udder,^[4] was a pre-Islamic battle fought between Arab tribes and the Sasanian Empire in Southern Iraq. The battle occurred after the death of Al-Nu'man III by the orders of Khosru II.^[5]

Battle of Dhi Qar
Date 604–611 Location Sasanian Empire (Dhi Qar, Southern Iraq) Result Arab victory[1][2]
Belligerents
Sasanian Persia	Banu Bakr Banu Ijl Banu Yashkur Banu Dhuhl Banu Qays Banu Taym ibn Tha'labah Abd al-Qays Banu Tamim
Commanders and leaders
Iyas ibn Qabisah al-Ta'i Hamrez al-Tasatturi  † Al-Nu'man bin Zara'a  † Khalid bin Yazid al-Buhrani  † Khanabarin  † Hamarz  † Hormuzan	Hani ibn Qabisa Hanzala ibn Tha'laba al-Ijli Abd Amr ibn Bashar al-Duba'i Jabala ibn Ba'ith al-Yashkuri Al-Harith ibn Wa'la al-Dhuhli Al-Harith ibn Rabi'a al-Taymi
Strength
2,000 Persian soldiers, with 3,000 Arabs[3]	2,000–5,000
Casualties and losses
Almost all the army lost	Minimal

The dating of the event is disputed. The Encyclopædia Iranica entry on the subject says:

"According to certain Muslim traditions, the battle took place in the year 1/623 or 2/624... Ebn Ḥabīb... dated it earlier, between 606 and 622, but modern scholars have narrowed this range to 604–11."^[3]

The battle of Dhū-Qār is reported in many classical works of Arabic history and literature. The longest, but not necessarily most representative, version is Bishr ibn Marwān al-Asadī's Ḥarb Banī Shaybān maʻa Kisrá Ānūshirwān (Arabic: حرب بني شيبان مع كسرى آنوشروان).^[6]

See also

• Fijar Wars
• Al-Nu'man III