Battle of Dawmat al - Jandal The Battle of Daumat - ul - jandal took place between Muslims and Rebel Arab tribes in August 633 AD . This was a part of the Riddah wars . Daumat ul jandal was given to Ayadh bin Ghanam to crush the rebels , but he failed in doing so , and send for help to Khalid ibn Walid who was in Iraq in those days . Background . Dawmat al - Jandal was one of the large commercial towns of Arabia , widely known for its rich and much - frequented market . It was also an important communication centre , a meeting point of routes from Central Arabia , Iraq and Syria . At about the time when Khalid ibn Walid set off from Yamamah for the invasion of Iraq , Abu Bakr had sent Ayadh bin Ghanam to capture Daumat - ul - Jandal and once again bring the northern tribes into submission . Ayadh arrived at Daumat - ul - Jandal to find it strongly defended by the Kalb , a large Christian Arab tribe inhabiting this region and the eastern fringe of Syria . He deployed his force against the southern face of the fort known as Marid , and the situation that now developed was , from the military point of view , absurd . The Christian Arabs considered themselves to be under siege , but the routes from the northern side of the fort were open . The Muslims , engaged closely against the fort , considered themselves so heavily committed that they could not break contact . According to early historians both sides were under siege ! The operations considered mainly of archery and sallies by the garrison of the fort . This state of affairs continued for several weeks until both sides felt equally tired and equally hurt by the stalemate . Then one day a Muslim officer said to Ayadh , " In certain circumstances wisdom is better than a large army . Send to Khalid for help " . Ayadh agreed . He wrote Khalid ibn al - Walid a letter explaining the situation at Daumat - ul - Jandal and seeking his help . This letter reached Khalid as he was about to leave Ain - ut - Tamr for Hira . The situation on the Iraq front was now stable and he had able lieutenants to deal with the Persians . With an army of about 6 , 000 men , he left Ain - ut - Tamr the following day to join Ayadh . The movement of Khalid was discovered by the defenders of Daumat - ul - Jandal a good many days before his arrival , and there was alarm in the fort . With their present strength they could hold off the Muslim force under Ayadh , but they would not have a chance if Khalid ' s army also took the field against them . In desperate haste they sent couriers racing to neighbouring tribes . The Christian Arab tribes responded spiritedly to the appeal for help . Contingents from several clans of the Ghassanid s and the Kalb joined the defenders of the fort , many of them camping under the fort walls because of the insufficient room within the fort . The battle . Khalid ibn al - Walid took Ayadh under command and incorporated his detachment into his own army . He deployed Ayadh ' s men on the south of the fort to block the Arabian route and positioned part of his army of Iraq to the east , the north and the west of the fort , covering the routes to Iraq and Jordan ; and kept the remainder back as a strong reserve . Khalid appreciated that at present the fort was strongly manned and to storm it in its present state would prove a costly operation . He therefore decided to wait , in the hope that the defenders , tiring of the siege , would sally out to fight him in the open . Then he could inflict the maximum damage upon them and storm the fort after the garrison had been weakened . He accordingly held his forces some distance back from the fort . The Christian Arab commander Judi waited for the Muslims to make the first move , but the Muslims remained inactive . When some time had passed and Judi saw that the besiegers were making no attempt to close up on the fort , he decided to attack first ; he ordered two sallies . One group would attack Ayadh on the Arabian route while the other , a large group comprising his own clan , the Wadi ' a , operating under his direct command , would attack Khalid ibn al - Walid ' s camp to the north . Ayadh drove back the Arabs who came out to attack him . The other and larger group — the clan of Wadi ' a operating under Judi — came out at the same time as the group against Ayadh , and made for Khalid , who stood back from the fort and deployed his army for battle . Seeing no move from Khalid ' s side , Judi decided to charge . He formed up his clan for battle and advanced to meet Khalid . The two forces were now very close . Then suddenly Khalid ordered a general attack and struck at Judi with the utmost violence and speed . In minutes they had collapsed . Judi was captured along with hundreds of his clansmen , while the rest , losing all cohesion and order , fled in panic towards the fort . The Arabs who had remained in the fort saw a horde rushing towards the gate of which at least half was Muslim . They closed the gate in the face of their comrades , and the clan of Wadi ' a which had sallied out with Judi was locked out . Hundreds were made prisoner by the Muslims . The rest perished , some in the short violent battle and the rest in the pursuit to and the fighting at the gate . Khalid took Judi and his captive clansmen near the fort for all to see ; on his order Judi and the captives were beheaded . The siege continued for a number of days . Then one day Khalid stormed the fort . The defenders put up such resistance as they could , but against the superb , battle - conditioned troops of Khalid they never had a chance . Most of the garrison was slaughtered , but women and children and many youths were taken captive . This happened in about the last week of August 633 A . D . Aftermath . Khalid spent the next few days in settling the affairs of Daumat - ul - Jandal . Then he set off for Hira , taking Ayadh with him as a subordinate general . Reaching Hira , he found the situation bad once again at the Iraq front . On - line Resources . A . I . Akram , " The Sword of Allah : Khalid bin al - Waleed , His Life and Campaigns " Lahore , 1969