“When they appeared before Jalut (Goliath) and his army, they said:“Our Lord! Shed your patience on us, strengthen our feet and help us to triumph over unbelievers."
(Koran. Sura two. Cow (Al-Bakara). Semantic translation into Russian by E. Kuliev)
Even the Roman emperors made it a rule to recruit auxiliary units of light cavalry from the Arabs, the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. Following them, this practice was continued by the Byzantines. However, reflecting the attacks of the nomads in the north, they could hardly even imagine that in the first half of the 7th century, numerous armed groups of Arabs, moving on camels, horses and on foot, would break out of Arabia and turn into a serious threat for them in the south. In the late 7th - early 8th centuries, a wave of Arab conquerors captured Syria and Palestine, Iran and Mesopotamia, Egypt and regions of Central Asia. In their campaigns, the Arabs reached Spain in the west, to the Indus and Syr Darya rivers in the east, in the north - to the Caucasus Range, and in the south they reached the shores of the Indian Ocean and the barren sands of the Sahara Desert. On the territory they conquered, a state arose, united not only by the power of the sword, but also by faith - a new religion, which they called Islam!
Muhammad (on horseback) receives the consent of the Beni Nadir clan to retire from Medina. Miniature from the book of Jami al-Tawarih, painted by Rashid al-Din in Tabriz, Persia, 1307 AD.
But what was the reason for such an unprecedented rise in military affairs among the Arabs, who in a short time managed to create a power greater than the empire of Alexander the Great? There are several answers here, and all of them, one way or another, stem from local conditions. Arabia is mostly desert or semi-desert, although there are also extensive pastures suitable for horses and camels. Despite the fact that there is not enough water, there are places where sometimes you just have to rake the sand with your hands to get to the subsoil waters. In the south-west of Arabia, there are two rainy seasons every year, so sedentary agriculture has been developed there since ancient times.
Among the sands, where water made its way to the surface, there were oases of date palms. Their fruits, along with camel milk, served as food for the nomadic Arabs. The camel was also the main source of livelihood for the Arab. They even paid for the murder with camels. For a man killed in a fight, it was required to give as many as one hundred camels in order to avoid blood revenge from his relatives! But the horse, contrary to popular belief, did not play a significant role. The horse needed good food, and most importantly, a lot of clean, fresh water. True, in conditions of lack of food and waterlessness, the Arabs taught their horses to eat whatever they wanted - when there was no water, they were given milk from camels, fed them with dates, sweet pies and even … fried meat. But Arab horses never learned to eat camel food, so only very wealthy people could keep them, while camels were available to everyone.
The entire population of the Arabian Peninsula consisted of separate tribes. At the head of them, like among the northern nomads, were their leaders, who were called by the Arabs sheikhs. They likewise had large herds, and in their tents, covered with Persian carpets, one could see beautiful harness and precious weapons, fine utensils and exquisite treats. The enmity of the tribes weakened the Arabs, and it was especially bad for the merchants, the essence of whose life was in the caravan trade between Iran, Byzantium and India. Ordinary Bedouin nomads plundered caravans and sedentary peasants, because of which the rich Arab elite suffered very heavy losses. Circumstances demanded an ideology that would smooth out social contradictions, put an end to the reigning anarchy and direct the pronounced militancy of the Arabians to external goals. It was Mohammed who gave it. At first, ridiculed for his obsession and surviving the blows of fate, he managed to unite his fellow countrymen under the green banner of Islam. Now is not the place to discuss this respected man, who openly admitted his weaknesses, who refused the glory of a miracle worker and well understood the needs of his followers, or talk about his teachings.
Muhammad's army fights the Meccan army in 625 at the battle of Uhud, in which Muhammad was wounded. This miniature is from a Turkish book circa 1600.
For us, the most important thing is that, unlike other, earlier religions, including Christianity, Islam turned out to be much more specific and convenient, first of all, because it first of all established the order of life on earth, and only then promised someone heaven, and to whom and the afterlife torments in the next world.
The moderate tastes of the Arabs were also matched by the rejection of pork, wine, gambling, and usury that ruined the poor. Trade and, which was very important for the militant Arabians, the "holy war" (jihad) against the infidels, that is, not Muslims, were recognized as godly deeds.
The spread of Islam and the unification of the Arabs happened very quickly, and troops were already equipped for a campaign in foreign countries, when in 632 the Prophet Muhammad died. But the not bewildered Arabs immediately chose his "deputy" - the caliph, and the invasion began.
Already under the second caliph Omar (634–644), the holy war brought Arab nomads to Asia Minor and the Indus Valley. Then they took over fertile Iraq, western Iran, established their dominance in Syria and Palestine. Then came the turn of Egypt - the main breadbasket of Byzantium, and at the beginning of the 8th century Maghreb - its African possessions to the west of Egypt. After that, the Arabs conquered most of the Visigoth kingdom in Spain.
In November 636, the Byzantine army of Emperor Heraclius tried to defeat the Muslims in the battle on the Yarmouk River (a tributary of the Jordan) in Syria. It is believed that the Byzantines had 110 thousand warriors, and the Arabs had only 50, but they attacked them decisively several times in a row, and, finally, broke their resistance and put them to flight (See more: Nicolle D. Yarmyk 630 AD. The Muslim conguest of Syria. L.: Osprey, 1994)
The Arabs lost 4030 people killed, but the losses of the Byzantines were so great that their army practically ceased to exist. The Arabs then laid siege to Jerusalem, which surrendered to them after a two-year siege. Along with Mecca, this city has become an important shrine for all Muslims.
One after another dynasties of caliphs succeeded each other, and the conquests continued and continued. As a result, by the middle of the VIII century. a truly grandiose Arab Caliphate * was formed - a state with a territory many times larger than the entire Roman Empire, which had significant territories in Europe, Asia and Africa. Several times the Arabs tried to take Constantinople and kept it under siege. But the Byzantines managed to repel them on land, while at sea they destroyed the Arab fleet with "Greek fire" - a combustible mixture, which included oil, because of which it burned even on water, turning the ships of their opponents into floating bonfires.
It is clear that the period of the victorious wars of the Arabs could not last forever, and already in the VIII century their advance to the West and East was stopped. In 732, at the Battle of Poitiers in France, the army of the Arabs and Berbers was defeated by the Franks. In 751, the Chinese defeated them near Talas (now the city of Dzhambul in Kazakhstan).
For a special tax, the caliphs guaranteed the local population not only personal freedom, but also freedom of religion! Christians and Jews, moreover, were considered (as adherents of monotheism and "people of the Book", ie, the Bible and the Koran) quite close to Muslims, while the pagans were subjected to merciless persecution. This policy turned out to be very reasonable, although the Arab conquests were mainly promoted not so much by diplomacy as by force of arms.
Arab warriors should not at all be imagined only as horsemen, wrapped up from head to toe in all white, and with crooked sabers in their hands. Let's start with the fact that they didn't have any crooked sabers then! All Muslim warriors depicted in the Arab miniature 1314-1315 next to the Prophet Muhammad during his campaign against the Jews of Heibar, armed with long and straight double-edged swords. They are narrower than the modern swords of Europeans, they have a different crosshair, but these are indeed swords, and not sabers at all.
Almost all of the first caliphs also had swords that have survived to the present day. However, judging by the collection of these blades in the Istanbul Topkapi Palace Museum, the Prophet Muhammad still had a saber. It was called "Zulfi-kar", and its blade was with an elmanyu - a widening located at the end of the blade, the weight of which gave the blow much greater force. However, it is believed that she is not of proper Arab origin. One of the swords of the Caliph Uthman also had a straight blade, although it has one blade, like a saber.
It is interesting that the banner of the Prophet Muhammad at the very beginning was also not green, but black! All other caliphs, as well as various Arab tribes, had the corresponding color of the banner. The first were called "live", the second - "paradise". One and the same leader could have two banners: one - his own, the other - tribal.
We will not see any protective weapons, except for small round shields, on the above-mentioned miniature from the Arabs, although this does not mean anything at all. The fact is that wearing protective armor under clothing was even more widespread in the East than in Europe, and the Arabs were no exception. It is well known that Arab masters were famous not only for their cold weapons, which they produced from Indian damask steel, but also for their chain mail armor **, the best of which were made in Yemen. Since Islam prohibited images of people and animals, weapons were decorated with floral ornaments, and later, in the 11th century, with inscriptions. When Damascus became the main city of the Muslim world, it also became a center for the production of weapons.
It is not for nothing that blades made of especially high-quality steel covered with patterns were colloquially called "Damascus", although they were often produced in various places. The high qualities of Damascus steel were explained in the East not only by the technology of its manufacture, but also by a special method of hardening the metal. The master, taking out a red-hot blade from the forge with tongs, handed it to the rider, who was sitting astride a horse at the door of the workshop. Taking the blade, clamped in the tongs, the rider, without wasting a second, let the horse go at full speed and rushed like the wind, letting the air flow around it and cool, as a result of which hardening took place. The weapon was richly decorated with gold and silver notching, precious stones and pearls, and in the 7th century, even in excess. The Arabs especially loved the turquoise, which they received from the Sinai Peninsula, as well as from Persia. The cost of such weapons was extremely high. According to Arab sources, a perfectly crafted sword could cost up to a thousand gold denarii. If we take into account the weight of the gold denarius (4, 25 g), it turns out that the cost of the sword was equivalent to 4, 250 kg of gold! In fact, it was a fortune.
The Byzantine emperor Leo, reporting on the army of the Arabs, mentioned only one cavalry, which consisted of horsemen with long spears, horsemen with throwing spears, horsemen with bows and heavily armed horsemen. Among the Arabs themselves, horsemen were subdivided into al-muhajirs - heavily armed and al-samsars - lightly armed soldiers.
However, the Arab army also had infantry. In any case, at first, the Arabs lacked horses so much that in 623, during the Battle of Badr, two people sat on each horse, and only later did the number of riders increase. As for heavy armor, it is unlikely that anyone among the Arabs wore them on themselves constantly, but the entire supply of protective weapons was used in the battle. Each horseman had a long spear, a mace, one, or even two swords, one of which could be a konchar - the same sword, but with a narrow three- or four-sided blade, most convenient for hitting the enemy through ringed armor.
Having become acquainted with the military affairs of the Persians and Byzantines, the Arabs, like them, began to use horse armor, as well as protective shells made of metal plates that were tied together and worn over chain mail. Interestingly, the Arabs did not know stirrups at first, but very quickly learned to use them, and they themselves began to make first-class stirrups and saddles. The Arab cavalry could dismount and fight on foot, using their long spears as pikes, like the Western European infantry. In the era of the Umayyad dynasty, the tactics of the Arabs were reminiscent of the Byzantine ones. Moreover, their infantry was also divided into heavy and light, consisting of the poorest Arab archers.
The cavalry became the main striking force of the Caliphate's army during the Abbasid dynasty. She was heavily armed horse archers in chain mail and lamellar carapace. Their shields were often of Tibetan origin, of finely crafted leather. Now, most of this army was made up of Iranians, not Arabs, as well as immigrants from Central Asia, where at the very beginning of the 9th century an independent Samanid state was formed, which broke away from the caliphate of the rulers of Bukhara. It is interesting that, although by the middle of the 10th century the Arab Caliphate had already disintegrated into a number of separate states, the decline of military affairs among the Arabs did not occur.
Fundamentally new troops arose, consisting of ghoulams - young slaves specially bought for use in military service. They were thoroughly trained in military affairs and armed with funds from the treasury. At first, the gulyams played the role of the praetorian guard (personal bodyguards of the emperors of Rome) under the person of the caliph. Gradually, the number of ghoulams increased, and their units began to be widely used in the army of the caliphate. Poets who described their weapons noted that they shone, as if "consisted of many mirrors." Contemporary historians noted that it looked "like Byzantine", that is, people and horses were dressed in armor and blankets made of metal plates (Nicolle D. Armies of the Caliphates 862 - 1098. L.: Osprey, 1998. P. 15).
Now the Arab troops were an army of people who had a single faith, similar customs and language, but continued to maintain their national forms of weapons, the best of them were gradually adopted by the Arabs. From the Persians, they borrowed the scabbard of swords, in which, in addition to the sword itself, were placed darts, a dagger or a knife, and from Central Asia - a saber …
Eighth Crusade 1270 Crusaders of Louis IX land in Tunisia. One of the few medieval miniatures in which oriental warriors are depicted with sabers in their hands. Miniature from the Chronicle of Saint Denis. Around 1332 - 1350 (British Library)
In the battle, complex tactical formations were used, when the infantry, consisting of spearmen, was placed in front, followed by archers and javelin throwers, then cavalry and (when it was possible) war elephants. The ghoul cavalry was the main striking force of such a formation and was located on the flanks. In battle, the spear was used first, then the sword and, finally, the mace.
Horse detachments were subdivided according to the weight of the armor. The riders had uniform weapons, since warriors on horses with protective shells made of metal plates could hardly be used to pursue a retreating enemy, and felt blankets of lightly armed riders were not sufficient protection from arrows and swords during an attack against infantry.
Indian shield (dhal) made of steel and bronze. Empire of the Great Mughals. (Royal Ontario Museum, Canada)
In the Maghreb countries (in North Africa), the influence of Iran and Byzantium was less noticeable. Local weapons were preserved here, and the Berbers - nomads of North Africa, although they converted to Islam, continued to use light javelins rather than heavy spears.
The way of life of the Berbers, known to us from the descriptions of travelers of that time, was closely related to the conditions of their existence. Any nomad from faraway Mongolistan would find here almost the same thing as in his homeland, in any case, the order both there and here were very similar.
“The king … gives the people an audience in the tent to analyze the incoming complaints; around the tent during the audience there are ten horses under gilded veils, and behind the king are ten youths with leather shields and swords adorned with gold. To his right are the sons of the nobility of his country, dressed in beautiful clothes, with golden threads woven into their hair. The ruler of the city sits on the ground in front of the king, and the viziers also sit on the ground around him. At the entrance to the tent there are pedigree dogs with gold and silver collars, to which are attached many gold and silver badges; they do not take their gaze from the king, protecting him from any encroachments. The royal audience is announced with a drumbeat. A drum called a daba is a long, hollow piece of wood. Approaching the king, his fellow believers fall to their knees and sprinkle ashes on their heads. This is their greeting to the king,”said one of the travelers who visited the Berber tribes of North Africa.
Black warriors of Africa took an active part in the Arab conquests, which is why Europeans often confused them with Arabs. Negro slaves were even specially bought in order to make warriors out of them. There were especially many such soldiers in Egypt, where at the beginning of the 10th century they made up almost half of the entire army. Of these, they also recruited the personal guard of the Egyptian dynasty of the Fatimids, whose warriors each had a richly decorated pair of darts and shields with convex silver plaques.
In general, in Egypt during this period of time, the infantry prevailed over the cavalry. In battle, its units were formed along ethnic lines and used their own types of weapons. For example, the warriors of northwestern Sudan used bows and javelins, but did not have shields. And other warriors had large oval shields from East Africa that were said to be made of elephant skin. In addition to throwing weapons, a sabardarah (eastern halberd), five cubits long, was used, and three cubits were occupied by a wide steel blade, often slightly curved. On the opposite border of the Arab possessions, the inhabitants of Tibet fought with large shields of white leather and quilted protective clothing (See for more details: Nicolle D. The Armies of Islam 7th - 11th centuries. L.: Osprey. 1982.).
By the way, in spite of the heat, the city militias - Arabs, and also many African warriors wore quilted clothes, which is quite surprising. So, in the XI century, Islam was adopted by the inhabitants of the African state of Kanem-Bornu, located in the area of Lake Chad. Already in the XIII century it was a real "equestrian empire", numbering up to 30,000 mounted warriors, dressed … in thick quilted shells of cotton fabrics and felt. With quilted blankets, these "knights of Africa" defended not only themselves, but also their horses until the end of the 19th century - they apparently turned out to be so comfortable for them. The warriors of the neighboring Bornu people, the Begharmi, also wore quilted armor, which they reinforced with rows of rings sewn onto them. But the borne used small squares of fabric sewn on them, inside of which there were metal plates, so that on the outside their armor looked like a patchwork quilt with a two-color geometric ornament. The equestrian equipment of the horse included a brass forehead padded with leather, as well as exquisite chest guards, collars and henchlings.
As for the Moors (as the Europeans called the Arabs who conquered Spain), their weapons began to resemble in many ways the weapons of the Franks, whom they constantly encountered in the days of peace and war. The Moors also had two types of cavalry: light - Berber-Andalusian, even in the 10th century did not use stirrups and threw javelins at the enemy, and heavy, dressed from head to toe in a European-style chain mail hauberk, which in the 11th century became the main armor of horsemen and in Christian Europe. In addition, the Moorish warriors also used bows. In addition, in Spain it was worn a little differently - over clothing, while in Europe it was worn with surcoat (a cape with short sleeves), and in the Middle East and North Africa - caftans. Shields were usually round, and were made of leather, metal or wood, which were again covered with leather.
Of particular value in the Arab East were shields of Damascus steel, cold forged from iron and of high hardness. In the process of work, cracks formed on their surface, which in the form of a notch were filled with gold wire and formed patterns of irregular shape. Shields made of rhino skin were also valued, which were made in India and among African peoples, and they were very brightly and colorfully decorated with painting, gold and silver.
Shields of this kind were no more than 60 cm in diameter and were extremely resistant to sword strikes. Very small shields made of rhinoceros skin, the diameter of which did not exceed 40 cm, were also used as fist shields, that is, in battle they could be used to strike. Finally, there were shields of thin fig tree twigs, which were intertwined with silver braid or colored silk threads. The result was graceful arabesques, which made them look very elegant and were highly durable. All round leather shields were usually convex. At the same time, the fastenings of the belts, for which they were held, were covered with plates on the outer surface, and a quilted pillow or fabric was placed inside the shield, which softened the blows applied to it.
Another type of the Arab shield, the adarga, was so widespread in the 13th and 14th centuries that it was used by Christian troops in Spain itself, and then came to France, Italy and even England, where such shields were used until the 15th century. The old Moorish adarga was in the shape of a heart or two fused ovals and was made from several layers of very tough, durable leather. They carried it on a belt over the right shoulder, and on the left held it by the fist handle.
Since the surface of the adarga was flat, it was very easy to decorate, so the Arabs decorated these shields not only from the outside, but also from the inside.
Along with the Norman knights, Byzantines and Slavs at the beginning of the 11th century, the Arabs used shields in the form of a "reverse drop". Apparently, this shape turned out to be convenient for the Arabs, however, they usually cut off the sharpest bottom corner. Let us note the well-established exchange of weapons, during which the most successful forms of it were transferred to different peoples not only in the form of trophies of war, but through the usual sale and purchase.
The Arabs were rarely defeated on the battlefield. For example, during the war against Iran, it was not the heavily armed Iranian horsemen that seemed especially terrible to them, but the war elephants, who with their trunk snatched the soldiers from the saddle and threw them on the ground at their feet. The Arabs had never seen them before and believed at first that they were not animals, but cunningly made war machines against which it was useless to fight. But soon they learned to fight with elephants and ceased to be afraid of them as in the beginning. For a long time, the Arabs did not know how to storm fortified cities and had no idea about siege and assault techniques. It is not for nothing that Jerusalem surrendered to them only after a two-year siege, Caesarea held out for seven and for five whole years the Arabs unsuccessfully besieged Constantinople! But later they learned a lot from the Byzantines themselves and began to use the same technique as they did, that is, in this case, they had to borrow the experience of an older civilization.
The initial "R" representing the Sultan of Damascus Nur-ad-Din. Interestingly, the sultan is depicted with bare legs, but wearing chain mail and a helmet. He is pursued by two knights: Godfrey Martel and Hugh de Louisignan the Elder in full chain mail armor and helmets similar to those depicted in the "Bible of Matsievsky". Thumbnail from Outremer's Story. (British Library)
Muhammad at the Battle of Badr. Miniature of the 15th century.
Thus, we see that the armies of the Arab East differed from the European ones, first of all, not at all in that some had heavy weapons, while others had light. Costumes, similar to quilted caftans, can be seen on the "canvas from Bayeux". But they were also among the equestrian warriors of sultry Africa. The Byzantine, Iranian, and Arab cavalrymen had scaly (lamellar) shells and horse blankets, and it was in that era when the Europeans did not even think about all this. The main difference was that in the East, infantry and cavalry complemented each other, while in the West there was a continuous process of ousting infantry by cavalry. Already in the XI century, the infantrymen accompanying the knights, in fact, were simply servants. No one tried to properly train and arm them, while in the East, quite a lot of attention was paid to the uniform arming of troops and their training. The heavy cavalry was supplemented with light detachments, which were used for reconnaissance and the start of the battle. Both here and there, professional soldiers served in the heavily armed cavalry. But the western knight, although at that time he was armed lighter than similar warriors of the East, had much more independence, since in the absence of good infantry and light cavalry, it was he who was the main force on the battlefield.
Prophet Muhammad exhorts his family before the battle of Badr. Illustration from the "General History" by Jami al-Tawarih, 1305-1314. (Khalili Collections, Tabriz, Iran)
The Arabian horsemen, just like the European ones, needed to be able to accurately strike the enemy with a spear, and for this it was necessary to constantly train in the same way. In addition to the European technique of attack with a spear at the ready, Eastern horsemen learned to hold a spear with both hands at the same time, holding the reins in their right hand. Such a blow tore apart even a two-layer chain mail armor, with the spearhead coming out of the back!
To develop the accuracy and power of the blow, the game of birjas was used, during which horsemen at full gallop struck with spears on a column made up of many wooden blocks. By blows of the spears, it was required to knock out individual blocks, and so that the column itself did not crumble.
Arabs besiege Messina. Miniature from the History of the Byzantine Emperors in Constantinople from 811 to 1057, painted by the Kuropalat John Skylitsa. (National Library of Spain, Madrid)
But their similarity was by no means exhausted by weapons alone. The Arab knights, like, for example, their European counterparts, had extensive land holdings, which were not only hereditary, but also granted to them for military service. They were called in Arabic ikta and in the X-XI centuries. turned entirely into military fiefs, analogous to the land holdings of the knights of Western Europe and professional warriors of many other states on the territory of Eurasia.
It turns out that the knightly estate was formed in the West and in the East almost simultaneously, but for a long time they could not measure their strength. The exception was Spain, where the border war between Christians and Muslims did not subside for a single moment.
On October 23, 1086, a few miles from Badajoz, near the town of Zalaka, the army of the Spanish Moors met in battle with the royal knights of the Castilian king Alfonso VI. By this time, feudal fragmentation already reigned on the lands of the Arabs, but facing the threat from Christians, the emirs of southern Spain managed to forget their long-term enmity and called for help from their African co-religionists - the Almoravids. These warlike nomadic tribes were considered by the Arabs of Andalusia to be barbarians. Their ruler, Yusuf ibn Teshufin, seemed to the emirs a fanatic, but there was nothing to do, and they opposed the Castilians under his command.
Armor of a Sudanese Warrior 1500 (Higgins Armor and Weapons Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA)
The battle began with an attack by the Christian knightly cavalry, against which Yusuf sent infantry troops of the Andalusian Moors. And when the knights managed to overturn them and drove them to the camp, Yusuf calmly listened to the news of this and only said: "Do not rush to help them, let their ranks thin out even more - they, like Christian dogs, are also our enemies."
Meanwhile, the Almoravid cavalry was biding its time. She was strong both in her numbers, and, above all, in discipline, which violated all the traditions of knightly war with its group fights and fights on the battlefield. The moment came when the knights, carried away by the pursuit, scattered throughout the field, and then from the rear and from the flanks, the Berber horsemen ambushed them from an ambush. The Castilians, riding on their already tired and sweaty horses, were surrounded and defeated. King Alfonso, at the head of a detachment of 500 horsemen, managed to break out of the encirclement and with great difficulty escaped the pursuit.
This victory and the subsequent unification of all the emirates under the rule of Yusuf made such a strong impression that there was no end to the rejoicing of the Arabs, and the Christian preachers beyond the Pyrenees immediately called for a crusade against the infidels. Ten years earlier, the well-known first crusade against Jerusalem, the crusader army was gathered, invaded the Muslim lands of Spain and … again suffered defeat there.
* Caliphate - Muslim feudal theocracy, headed by the Caliph, a secular-religious ruler who was considered the legitimate successor of Muhammad. The Arab Caliphate, centered in Medina, existed only until 661. Then power passed to the Umayyads (661-750), who moved the capital of the Caliphate to Damascus, and from 750 onwards - to the Abbasids, who moved it to Baghdad.
** The oldest mention of chain mail is found even in the Koran, where it is said that God softened iron with the hands of Daoud and at the same time said: "Make a perfect shell out of it and connect it thoroughly with rings." The Arabs called the chain mail - the armor of Daud.
