page_title: Battle of al-Qadisiyyah
section_title: Day 2
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of al-Qadisiyyah / The battle / Day 2
context_page_description: The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah also spelled Qadisiyah, Qadisiyya, Ghadesiyeh or Kadisiya, fought in 636, was a decisive battle between the Arab Muslim army and the army of the Sasanian Empire of Persia during the first period of Muslim conquests.
  Although the description of this battle has had an important place in Islamic historiography, much of the material has little historical value. The battle took place at an uncertain date at the small frontier town of Qadisiyyah. The larger Sasanian army was headed by the important military and political figure Rostam Farrokhzad, who died in uncertain circumstances during battle, and a collapse of the Sasanian army led to an Arab Muslim victory.
  The Muslim victory was key to the conquest of Asorestan, and was followed by major engagements at Jalula and Nahavand. The battle also saw the alleged alliance of Emperor Yazdegerd III with Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who married his granddaughter Manyanh to Yazdegerd as a symbol of alliance.
context_section_description: On 17 November, like the previous day, Sa'd decided to start the day with the Mubarizuns to inflict maximum morale damage on the Persians. At noon, while these duels were still going on, reinforcements from Syria arrived for the Muslim army. First, an advance guard under Al-Qaqa ibn Amr al-Tamimi arrived, followed by the main army under its commander Hashim ibn Utbah, nephew of Sa'd. Qa’qa divided his advance guard into several small groups and instructed them to reach the battlefield one after the other, giving the impression that a very large contingent of reinforcements had arrived. This strategy had a very demoralizing effect the Persian army.
  On this day, Qa’qa is said to have killed the Persian general Bahman, who had earlier commanded the Sassanid army at the Battle of Bridge.
  As there were no elephants in the Sassanid fighting force that day, Sa'd sought to exploit this opportunity to gain any breakthrough if possible, so he ordered a general attack. All four Muslim corps surged forward, but the Sassanids stood firm and repulsed repeated attacks. During these charges, Qa’qa resorted to the ingenious device of camouflaging camels to look like strange monsters. These monsters moved to the Sassanid front; seeing them, the Sassanid horses turned and bolted. The disorganization of the Sassanid cavalry left their left center infantry vulnerable. Sa'd ordered the Muslims to intensify the attack. Qa’qa ibn Amr, now acting as the field commander of the Muslim army, planned to kill Rostam, and led a group of Mubarizuns, from his Syrian contingent who were also veterans of the Battle of Yarmouk, through the Sassanids' right center towards Rostam's headquarters. Rostam once again personally led a counterattack against the Muslims, but no breakthrough could be achieved. At dusk, the two armies pulled back to their camps.
caption: Rustam ordered a general attack on the Muslim front
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