CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE: May 29,1453 A.D.

Mehmed II made it clear at the meeting of his courtiers which decided and agreed to proceed with the conquest of Constantinople, that the Byzantine Empire had given refuge to claimants to the Ottoman throne, thus causing frequent civil wars. They also discussed that it was the Byzantine Empire which had been the main instigator of crusades. Constantinople, if surrendered to Western Catholics, as Salonica was, would mean that Ottoman Empire would never be fully integrated. The siege of Constantinople lasted for fifty-four days, April 6—May 29,1453.
News had come of preparations by the Hungarians and leaving the ports by Venetian navy to help Byzantine Emperor XI Palaeologus. Mehmed II ordered his army to deliver a general assault. The enemy barricaded the Bay of Constantinople to block the penetration of the Ottoman fleet. Mehmed ordered transportation of his fleet to the other side of the city. His soldiers managed it through the desert, considered inaccessible so far, and reached the back gates of Constantinople. The Constantinople fell. The Greeks were allowed to return to Constantinople, who, after the conquest paid ransom. They were granted immunity from taxation for a certain period. The day after the conquest, Chandarle, Grand Wazir of Constantinople, was dismissed and imprisoned. In his place his rival, Zaganuz, was appointed. The conquest of Constantinople turned Mehmed II overnight the most celebrated Sultan in the Muslim World.

"The ghazwa is our basic duty, and it was in the case of our fathers. The conquest of Constantinople is, therefore, essential to the future and the safety of the Ottoman state".

MEHMED II

MONGOLS BEATEN: 1260 AD.

The Armenian-Mongol alliance, however, was a reality of some importance in the great Mongol offensive. Baghdad had fallen to Mongols in 1258, Aleppo in 1260 and entered undefended city of Damascus the same year. Of the old heartlands of Islam, only Egypt and Arabia remained inviolate.
A Mongol ambassador went to Cairo to demand the submission of the Sultan Qutuz, who had succeeded to sultanate in 1259. Sultan refused the demand and defiantly put the ambassador to death. Kitbuga Noyon, with his Mongol troops and his Armenian and Georgian auxiliaries, had crossed the Jordon into Galilee. The Mamluk army, camping in the neighbourhood of Acre in August, moved southeast to meet the Mongols.The two armies clashed at a place called 'Ayn Jalut', 'the Spring of Goliath', a village between Baysan and Nabulus. In this famous battle, the Mamluks lured the enemy into a trap. They destroyed the Mongol army, captured its commander and put him to death. This was the first time that Mongol army suffered defeat in a pitched battle—the unconquerable had been conquered on Friday 3 September, 1260.
Egypt was saved from the Mongols. The captured cities of Syria at once rose against their Mongol garrisons and welcomed the victorious Mamluks.

"The terror of the mongols preceded them. Scattered tribes and broken armies, fleeing before the Mongol invaders of the Muslim East—had begun to move westward— as raiders, a freebooters and as condottieri willing to serve any prince".

CONQUEST OF AJMER& DELHI 1192 A.D.

Shahabuddin was a great warrior and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghaurid forces. He wanted to win for his house large empire than even Mahmud had been able to acquire. He invaded India first in 1175 and conquered Multan. Then he reached south to Uch, which is now in Bahawalpur Division. The battle for India was to come, and Shahabuddin had a much stronger foe to contend with, Prithvi Raj, the Raja of Ajmer and Delhi, and a great fighter. The first time they met, Prithvi Raj had the advantage. Shahabuddin was defeated at Tarain near Thanesar in south-east Punjab and although he fought with great valour, he was grievously wounded. The Ghauri soldiers fled. The Ghauri felt greatly ashamed and punished all those soldiers of his army who had turned their backs on the enemy.

In 1192 he came back with preparations and commanding a strong force. Prithvi Raj moved forward with his allies and a fierce battle ensued between the Hindus and the Muslims, but this time Shahabuddin was victorious. Prithvi Raj died in the battle. Raja Jaichand of Kannawj put up a good resistance but Shahabuddin defeated him. Raja died in the field.

"The Ghauri felt greatly ashamed and punished all those soldiers of his army who had turned their backs on the enemy".

RETAKING JERUSALEM: 1187A.D.

Salah al-Din served with his uncle, Shirkuh, under Nur al-Din Zangi. At the age of 31 he was made Commander of Syrian forces and Chief Minister of Egypt and in 1186 assumed sole rule of all Egypt and Muslim Syria. Salah al-Din sent his brother, Turan Shah,with an army into al-Hijaz which he conquered along with Yemen. He now turned to the Christians. He first attacked Tiberias and took it on 1 July, 1187. Crusaders with a large army came to meet him. He fell on them with such a fury that he cut them to pieces and captured the King of Jerusalem. Salah al-Din, however, killed, with his won sword, Reginald of Chitillon, a treacherous Christian nobleman, who had broken his word to Salah al-Din, again and again, ill-treated Muslims, looted caravans of pilgrims and molested the innocents and the weak. The Muslim troops advanced rapidly, winning a decisive victory at the battle of Hattin, captured Jerusalem, together with a number of other Crusading outposts. Jerusalem was taken by Muslims after 88 years.
The fall of Jerusalem made a tremendous impact on both Islam and Christendom. From Europe it brought the Third Crusade, and a mighty but vain effort to recover what had been lost. After hard fighting and protracted negotiations, the two sides came to terms on 2-3 September, 1192. The peace recognized Salah al-Din's gains. All Palestine, save a coastal strip, was now Muslim, the Crusaders reserving only the right of unarmed pilgrimage to the holy places. Salah al-Din died in 1193 in Damascus.

"Crusaders carved four states—County of Edessa, Anti-och, County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem on the straits. The Muslims and Jewish population of the city, men, women and children were massacred by the victorious Crusaders. By next day Jerusalem was a Christian City".

FIRST CRUSADE-1099

NUR AL DIN ZANGI & CRUSADERS: 1147-1174 A.D.

After the first Crusade, the Muslims were subdued. Gradually Muslim world began to realise that stranger was in its midst, though it must not be forgotten that the Muslim world was no longer one continuous belt from Kashghar to Cordova as before. Imad Al-Din Zangi moved to west and had gradually made himself master of the area between Mosul and Aleppo. He was a strong man and a fearless fighter and was soon at grips with Christians. He conquered al-Ruha town which lay on the caravan route from Syria to Baghdad and was under the rule of Christians.

The news of al-Ruha'sfall was received with concern by Pope Eugenius III and preparations were madeforthe Second Crusade. The German Emperor, Conrad III, and the King of France, Louis VII, answered the call. The Crusaders besieged Damascus, but they did not succeed in their venture. At the same time King of Sicily attacked the Muslim Islands in the Aegean Sea and drove the Muslim out of them all. This was a great blow to the prestige of Islam and it was widely resented. Nur al-Din, a very capable son of Imdad al-Din Zangi, had succeeded his father in 1146. He immediately set about fighting Crusaders systematically. He captured the entire district of al-Ruha and imprisoned its governor, Count Jocelin II. He later attacked the ruler Antioch, Bohemund II, defeated them and captured them too. Nur al-Din became a terror to the Christians. He died in 1174.


"For the first time the Crusaders confronted a united and powerful Muslim state in Syria and Mesopotamia—increasingly affected by the new mood of Holy War against the Christian invaders".

CONQUEST OF SOMNATH: 998-1038 A.D.

Sebuktigin succeeded to power at Ghazni in 962 and started vigorously to expand his dominion. Jayapal of Hind saw danger in the consolidation of the Kingdom of Ghazni and decided to destroy it. He invaded, but was defeated and agreed to pay an indemnity. He defaulted, took to field again and was once more defeated.

The great Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, who made the name of the Ghaznavids famous in Asia, succeeded his father. Jayapal stopped indemnity. Mahmud defeated him in 1001 and he immolated himself by fire. Later, Jayapals's son Anandapai, formed a confederacy of the Hindu rulers of Ujjain, Gwalior, Kalinjar, Kannawj, Delhi and Ajmer. The confederacy was also beaten by Mahmud at Peshawar in 1008 and Sultan appointed a governor to reside at Lahore.
Mahmud made 17 invasions. Nagarkot, Thanesar, Kannawj and Kalinjar were all conquered but left in the hands of the Hindu vassals. His most famous attack was the one on Somnath, famous place of Hindu worship in Gujrat, Kathiawar. Crossing the difficult Rajputana desert, he reached there and faced the combined forces of almost all the Hindu rajas of India. He was a great military commander and his courage knew no bounds. He defeated them, captured the city and entered the temple. Mahmud was offered fabulous wealth not to enter the temple and destroy the idols, but he refused. He said that he should be known in the history as 'destroyer of idols and not the trader'. The great Sultan at the height of his power ruled over the area between the Jamuna in India and the Tigris in the west.

"For any amount you offer to spare the idols of your god, is not acceptable to me as historians should not mistake me for trader of idols instead of their breaker".

SULTAN MAHMUD GHAZNA VI

CONQUEST OF SIND: 711-713 A.D.

During the early years of the 8th century A.D., men of Sind's Brahmin tyrant, Raja Dahirhad intercepted some Arab navigation from Ceylon. They had confiscated the merchandise and enslaved Muslim families. Ai-Hajjaj sent his son-in-law, Muhammad ibn al~Gasim, with an army consisting of 1000 horse and about the same number of camel-borne troops, altogether not more than 6000 Mujahideen. Young Muhammad was, however, a fine military commander and possessed high ability of fighting. He came by land capturing Mekran on the way and pushing through the already conquered Baluchistan. He attacked Debal, the capital of Raja Dahir's kingdom and crushed the enemy in 712. The Raja fled and Muslim families freed.

Muhammad ibn Al-Qasim then followed the Raja and came up with him near Nirun (now known as Hyderabad). The Raja had assembled a large army of 50,000 strong men to check the advance of Muhammad. Mujahideen defeated the enemy and the Raja fell in the battle. The whole Sind was now conquered but Muhammad did not stop there. He fought another battle at Brahmanabad, pushed upto lower Punjab and reached Multan. Here too he was victorious. His generous treatment and devotion won Mohammad ibn Al-Qasim the hearts of the locals. Thus Muhammad laid the foundation of Muslim Empire in sub-continent.

"Toleration, protection of life and goods with honourable terms in return for loyal submission is offered. If you want to accept Islam, you are to be treated as equals".

MUHAMMAD IBNAL-QASIM

CONQUEST OF SPAIN: 711-715 A.D.

The force of only 7000 men which crossed the straits was commanded by Tariq ibn.Zeyad. In 711 Tariq disembarked at the foot of the mighty rock whose familiar modern name of Gibraltar distorts and abbreviates its Arabic designation of Jabal Tariq. He ordered the burning of the vessels of the fleet which had brought them to Spain. Striking westwards towards the lake or lagoon of Janda, Tariq took up a strong defensive position on the river Barbate, and awaited the march of the Gothic army from the north. Gothic King Roderick who had hastened thither with an army of 1,00,000 which on a single day of July was beaten by Tariq. The King disappeard, probably drowned in the river and then swept to the sea. Tariq reached the capital Toledo and occupied without resistance. Later Musa ibn Nusayr also crossed the straits and after successful attacks against a number of fortified cities across the central uplands, he finally joined Tariq at Toledo. Musa ordered coinage to be struck with formula of the Muslim faith.

Musa and Tariq set out once more on the conquests, but when the former had occupied Saragossa and was about to achieve fresh success, the Caliph ordered both him and Tariq to return to Damascus. After the occupation of the Cantabrian Massif and the neighbouring districts, Musa and Tariq complied with the order. At Damascus, the Caliph aUWahid received the victors with all due ceremony in the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque—an occasion which was long remembered.


"Fight for the glory of Allah and for a home for yourself and your children. Since there is no retreat for you, fight as you were 70,000 instead of 7000. You have defeated the enemy before. You will do so even now. Trust in 'Allah' and in your swords. March onward my young heroes".

TARIQ

CONQUEST OF TURKESTAN: 705-714 A.D.

Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the great Muslim Viceroy of Iraq gave the governorship of Khurasan to Qutaiba ibn Muslim in 705. Qutaiba was also instructed to carry the holy war eastwards into the heart of Asia.
Qutaiba was soldier and diplomat of outstanding ability. The nucleus of his force was the Arab tribal element which had been removedtothisdistantfrontierfromKufa and Basra, but many recruits were obtained from the native Iranian population, a large number of whom had embraced Islam and were willing to fight under Arab leadership against their hereditary enemies, nomads to Turan.
He made Merv his military headquarters from where he made attacks on Transoxiana, the climate of which was not suitable for Mujahideen's attack round the year. During the severe cold weather Qutaiba was obliged to return to Merv and resume attacks when favourable climatic conditions prevailed. He conquered the cities one after another—Sughd, Bukhara, Samarkand, Shash and Farghana. He also struck on Kashghar, a city of Tang Empire on the frontier of China. He had reached deep into eastern Turkestan, a land which even Alexander had never seen. The Mujahideen had also not reached much further east to the land of T'ang Emperor than the Muslim forces under the command of Qutaiba less than a century after Hejira.

"A land which even Alexander the Great had never seen".

CONQUEST OF AFRICA: 662-675 & 682-683 A.D.

Uqbah ibn Nafi, who had already proved his military skills under the command of Amr ibn al A's, was entrusted with conquest of Ifriquiya. He conquered Tunisia and made Qairawan his permanent camp in 670 wherefrom he struck across the central plateau, pushed beyond the Altas, reached the coast of Tangier and turning south reached Morocco. He then took to south with the course of river Sus, upto the point where it falls into Atlantic. He spurred his horse into the waves of Atlantic raising his lance aloft and calling Allah to witness that he had kept his oath to carry Islam to the extreme limits of the world.
Uqbah built the Qairawan as city having residentialquarters for Mujahideen and also a large Jamia Mosque. Thus Uqbah is rightly revered by historians to this day as the founder of Muslim Africa. While on his return journey from expedition, Uqbah divided his troops into small detachments to reach back. He decided to travel with a weak escort when he was surrounded by native Berber rebels and Uqbah died fighting in 683.

"ALLAH! if my advance was not stopped by this sea, I would still go on to the unknown kingdoms of the West, preaching the unity of Thy name, and putting to the sword the unbelieving nations who worship other gods than Thee"

UQBAHIBN NAFI

CONQUEST OF PERSIA 634-R42A0.

Early in 634, Caliph Abu Bakr issued summons for Holy war and sent a force under Tha great Khalid to attack lower Iraq. He routed the persian detachment and received the submission of the Arab Christians of Hira and fortress of Anbar. Ai this time Khalid was withdrawn from The Persian front and was ordered to proceed to Syria. General Mutnanna remained on the front to deal with a vigorous Persian counter-offensive, led by The Sassanid General Rustom. Near the ruins of Babylon, he fell upon the Mujahideen. Persian elephants spread terror among Mujahideen cavalry and the 'Battle of Bridge' (Nov. 634) ended in a disastrous setback to Muslims, injuring Mutnanna fatally and he died later.

Sa'ad ibn Abi Wakkas, a seasoned warrior, who had fought at Badr and Uhud, was given the assignment of Persia by Caliph Omar. Rustom marched out of Ctesiphon and met Mujahideen on the plain of Kadisiya, near Hira. The battle which was fought for four days in 637, was won by Mujahideen as Muslim lancers had discovered how to deal with the elephants by firing at their eyes and trunks. Rustom was killed. Beaten army retreated to Ctesiphon but the capital was ill fitted to stand a siege. The King and the court fled to Hulwan and Muslims occupied Ctesiphon, one of the finest cities in Asia, almost without resistance. Sa'ad pursued the enemy across the Tigris, beat Persians at Jalula and drove King Yazdegird from Hulwan also.


Yazdegird who had retired to holy city Ray and there summoned the nation to a crusade against Muslims, Persians moved from Ray through Hamadan to Tigris. At Nihavand they encountered with Mujahideen, from the garrison of Basra and Kufa. Persians were completely routed. Later, Aizerbaijan was also conquered by Muslims.


"...to do no harm to women, children and old people, to refrain from pillage and the destruction of crops, fruit-tress, flocks herds and to leave in peace such Christian monks and anchorites as might be found in their cells".
CALIPH ABU BAKR

CONQUEST OF EGYPT: 641 AD.

 Amr ibn al-As, having 4000 horsemen set out to conquer Egypt. Egypt was under the rule of Byzantine Emperor Heraculas. Byzantinians were beaten and lost the control of Fayyum and Helliopolis (640). Amr marched on. Defeated Byzantine forces gathered at the fortress of Babylon. Amr lured them out and defeated them there also. Patriach Cyurs, who was the civil governor of the country, seeing critical situation began negotiations for peace and sought approval of his conduct from Heraculas. The Emperor rejected the peace pact and took Cyrus as traitor. The Emperor died in February 641 and Cyrus was able to conclude peace, after the surrender of Babylon in the same year (20 A.H. I. Egypt, except Alexandria, came under the control of Muslims. New Emperor Constantine III sent down a large army to de'end. Amr moved towards Alexandria and with his valour and skill defeated the Byzantine forces again. Alexandria was brought under Muslims control now. Caliph Osman made Amr governor of Egypt.

"If you wish to accept Islam, you are welcome and your people are welcome. If you do so, you will become our brothers. But there is no compulsion in our religion. If, however, you do not wish to become Muslims, you can surrender and pay tributes. We shall treat you well. If you do not agree, then let us fight it out. God will decide".

 —AMRIBNAL-AS

CONQUEST OF SYRIA: 630-638 A.D

In 626, the Holy Prophet sent a message of goodwill and an invitation to accept Islam to Syrians. Ignoring all norms of decency, Byzantine Christian Governor of Syria put the messenger to death. The Prophet called a few thousand volunteers and sent them out under the command of his adopted son Zyed ibn Haritha in 630. Byzantinians brought one lakh well-trained and heavily armed army. The mission failed and Zyed died fighting. Jaffer ibn Abu Talib and Abdullah ibn Rawaha took the command one after the other and died fighting. Khalid ibn al-Walid took over the command and proved excellent swordsman. He inflicted heavy casualties on enemy and managed to withdraw safely from the field. On his return the Holy Prophet conferred on him the title 'SWORD OF ALLAH'.

The first Caliph, Abu Bakr, formed three contingents having 3000 Mujahideen each and sent them out to Syria under the commands of Amr ibn a! As, Yezid ibn Abu Sufiyan and Sharabil ibn Hasanah. Mujahideen gained victories in minor clashes on borders. Byzantine Emperor sent down a large army under his brother, Theodorus to check Muslim advances. The Caliph ordered Khalid to hasten from Persian borders to Syria to take over the command of operations there. Khalid, with his 900 men, crossed water-less desert between Iran and Syria in a record time of 18 days—the swiftest march in history. Thirsty and worn out, but undaunted in spirit this valiant son of Islam suddenly appeared before the walls of Damascus. Theodorus met Mujahideen at Ajnadain. Khalid's skill and valour inflicted on it a decisive defeat (August 634). The discomfited imperialists took refuge in Jerusalem. Cut off from all succour, they offered to surrender to Caliph Omer if he comes in person to accept its submissions. Caliph Omer went to Syria and Jerusalem in the year 637 or 638 and climbed to the terrace where temple of Solomon had once stood. He ordered removal of debris and construction of a mosque there.

THE TAKING OF MAKKAH

"The 21st day of Ramadhan year VIII of the Hejira— January 11,630A.D.

In 630 A.D. the Makkans attacked the Banu Khazaa', a tribe under Muslim protection, and thus violated the pact of Hudaibiya. The stricken tribe sought help from Holy Prophet. The Prophet demanded the Makkans to pay ransom for the slains, to refrain from supporting the attackers and/or declare the cancellation of the pact of Hudaibiya. The Quraish did not respond rather gave the impression that they were no more interested in the pact.

Disappointed with the behaviour of Quraish, the Holy Prophet led an army of 10,000 men towards the Makkah. Abu Sufiyan, the arch enemy of the Holy Prophet and Islam, offered his submission and apart from a minor clash no blood was shed. The Holy Prophet took the possession of the Holy Ka'aba and his birthplace in placid triumph. Makkah, the heart of Arabia now lay before the Prophet. The power of the Quraish had been broken once for all. Instead of being vindictive the Holy Prophet forgave his enemies. He demolished the idols of the Ka'aba and dedicated the Building afresh to the worship of the one true God. He restored the keys of the Sacred House back to the hereditary keepers and told the people to come there in peace. This conduct delighted the Makkans and they considered this generosity of the Holy Prophet the height of nobility and came forward to enter this astonishing religion which turned enemity into love.

THE GHAZWAH OF BADAR 625A.D.

Muslims at Madinah, under the guidance of the Holy Prophet, set up as merchants. They prospered and grew rich. The Prophet preached it openly in the masjid, and prayers were said there everyday. Preachers were sent from Madinah to other cities as Madinah itself became the center of new religion.

The Quraish of Makkah, proud of their strength, wealth and position regarded it as a threat to their very existence. The Makkan conspired against Islam and sent a caravan of 1000 men, fully armed, for conflict and giving crushing defeat to Muslims. They even offered reward for killing the Holy Prophet. The inhabitants of Madinah were frightened when the heard the news. They knew Quraish means the mischief. 300/313 Mujahideen gathered under the Prophet's banner to defend themselves. Though small in number, but imbibed with spirit of Islam, and guided by the Prophet, Mujahideen had solemn belief in their victory. The enemy was led by Chief man of Makkah and arch enemy of Holy Prophet, Abu Sufyan Himself. The Prophet displayed magnificent military skill and forced the enemy to fight at Badar, a small village about eleven miles south-west of Madinah in the year 624- the second year of Hejira. 

The Mujahideen fought very bravely. The swept the Makkan of the field. The Makkan fled giving prisoners and leaving behind 50 dead, including Abu Jahal, the commander who was slain by two young boys. Muslims suffered negligible losses. The Prophet showed great diplomacy and foresight rejecting vengeful advice and held Makkans to ransom and treat them well.