Battle of the Zab

The Battle of the Zab (Arabic: معركة الزاب), also referred to in scholarly contexts as Battle of the Great Zāb River, took place on January 25, 750, on the banks of the Great Zab^[4] in what is now the modern country of Iraq. It spelled the end of the Umayyad Caliphate and the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate, which would last from 750 to 1258.

The revolution began in earnest in Ramadan 129 (June 747) when Abu Muslim raised the black banners of the Abbasid movement in the villages surrounding Merv.^[5][6] In February 748 (Jumada II 130), Abu Muslim established control over Merv and appointed Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i to lead the army westward. This force won a series of decisive victories across Iran, notably defeating a large Umayyad army under Amir ibn Dubara at Jablaq, near Isfahan, in March 749. By August 749 (the beginning of 132 AH), the Abbasid armies reached the Euphrates near Kufa.^[7]

During this westward advance, the Umayyad caliph Marwan II arrested the Abbasid leader Ibrahim al-Imam, who died shortly after in custody at Harran.^[8] Leadership passed to his brother, Abu al-Abbas, who was hidden in Kufa following a pro-Abbasid coup in the city led by Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Qasri.^[9] At the beginning of 132 AH (August 749), Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i crossed the Euphrates and defeated the forces of the Umayyad governor Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra in an encounter near Karbala. Although Qahtaba fell in battle, his son Al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba took command and forced Ibn Hubayra to retire to Wasit, leaving Kufa uncovered.^[10][11] Abbasid forces subsequently entered Kufa, where Abu al-Abbas emerged from hiding and was eventually proclaimed caliph.^[12] With southern Iraq secured, the Abbasid leadership turned its attention to a final confrontation with Marwan II in the region of Al-Jazira, south of Mosul, leading directly to the engagement at the Great Zab.^[13]

The battle took place in early 750 near the Great Zab River. Marwan II moved from Harran and set up his base at Mosul with a large army of Syrian veterans. The Abbasid force was first led by Abu Awn but soon grew with 15,000 more soldiers. To make sure the victory belonged to his family, the Abbasid leader al-Saffah sent his uncle Abd Allah ibn Ali to take full command.

The two sides fought small battles for several days. On 15 January 750 a small Abbasid group raided the camp of Marwan. The next day the son of Marwan won a small victory against another Abbasid group. Abd Allah ibn Ali worried that these small losses would scare his men. He decided to start a full battle before his soldiers lost their courage.^[14]

On 25 January 750 Marwan II made a big mistake. He ordered his men to cross a bridge of boats to attack the Abbasids on the other side of the river.^[3] Even though the Umayyads had more men their army was split by tribal fights. The main fight started early when an Umayyad leader named Walid ibn Mu'awiya ignored orders and charged the Abbasid right side with his cavalry.^[15]

Abd Allah ibn Ali used a special defense. The Abbasid horsemen got off their horses to fight as infantry. They knelt in a tight line and held their spears out to make a wall of iron. Archery teams stood behind them and shot arrows at the charging Syrian horses.^[3] A soldier from the Khorasani side said the Syrians attacked like mountains of iron but they broke apart like clouds when they hit the spears.

The Umayyad lines fell apart as the Abbasids pushed back. Marwan tried to encourage his men by opening his bags of gold coins. This caused a mess because the soldiers started fighting for the money. Other units thought this was a retreat and they began to run toward the river. Marwan ordered the bridge to be destroyed to stop the Abbasids from following him. This trapped his own men and many Umayyad soldiers drowned in the cold river.^[3][16]

Marwan II fled at last to Abusir, a small town in the Egyptian Nile Delta. A few months after the battle, a small Abbasid detachment under the command of Abu Awn found him hiding in a church. He was overpowered and slain in the encounter. His head was sent to the Abbasid commander Salih ibn Ali, who was the uncle of Al-Saffah. Salih had the tongue cut out and thrown to a cat to show his contempt.^[17]

• Siege of Wasit
• Abbasid revolution
• Third Fitna

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