Battles which Muslims won with a smaller army,part 1

Battles which Muslims won with a smaller army

1. The Battle of Badr (Arabic: غَزْوَةُ بَدِرْ‎ Arabic pronunciation: [ɣaz'wat'u ba'dir]), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (Arabic: يَوْمُ الْفُرْقَانْ‎, Arabic pronunciation: [jawm'ul fur'qaːn]) in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on Tuesday, 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the present-day city of Badr, Al Madinah Province in Saudi Arabia. Muhammad, commanding an army of his Sahaba, defeated an army of the Quraysh led by Amr ibn Hishām, better known as Abu Jahl. The battle marked the beginning of the six-year war between Muhammad and his tribe. Prior to the battle, the Muslims and the Meccans had fought several smaller skirmishes in late 623 and early 624.

Muhammad took keen interest in capturing Meccan caravans after his migration to Medina, seeing it as repayment for his people, the Muhajirun. A few days before the battle, when he learnt of a Makkan caravan returning from the Levant led by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, Muhammad gathered a small expeditionary force to capture it. Abu Sufyan, learning of the Muslim plan to ambush his caravan, changed course and took a longer route away from Muhammad's base at Medina and sent a messenger to Mecca, asking for help. Abu Jahl commanded an army nearly one-thousand strong, approaching Badr and encamping at the sand dune al-'Udwatul Quswa.

Badr was the first large-scale engagement between the Muslims and Qurayshite Mecca. Advancing from the north, the Muslims faced the Meccans. The battle began with duels between the warriors on both sides, following which the Meccans charged upon the Muslims under a cover of arrows. The Muslims countered their charge and broke the Meccan lines, killing several important Quraishi leaders including Abu Jahl and Umayyah ibn Khalaf.

The Muslim victory strengthened Muhammad's position; Medinans eagerly joined his future expeditions and tribes outside Medina openly allied with Muhammad.^[2] The battle has been passed down in Islamic history as a decisive victory attributable to divine intervention, and by other sources to the strategic prowess of Muhammad.

Battle of Badr
Part of Muhammad's campaign against the Quraish
Scene from Siyer-i Nebi, Hamza and Ali leading the Muslim armies at Badr. The writing is Ottoman Naskh.
Date 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan 2 AH) Location Badr, Hejaz (present-day Saudi Arabia) 23°44′N 38°46′ECoordinates: 23°44′N\\\ 38°46′E Result Decisive Muslim victory Start of Muslim–Quraysh War
Belligerents
Muslims of Madinah	Quraish of Makkah
Commanders and leaders
Muhammad az-Zubayr bin al-'Awwam al-Miqdad bin 'Amr Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib Ali ibn Abi Talib 'Ubaydah bin al-Harith †	Amr ibn Hishām † Utbah ibn Rabi'ah † Umayyah ibn Khalaf  † Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah † Walid ibn Utbah † Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt †
Strength
Total: 313-317 Muhajirun: 82-85 Ansar: 231 Aws: 61 Khazraj: 170 2 horses 70 camels	Total: 950-1000 100 horses 170 camels
Casualties and losses
Total: 14 killed Muhajirun: 6 Ansar: 8 Khazraj: 6 Aws: 2	70 killed, 70 prisoners[1][f]

2.The Battle of the Trench (Arabic: غزوة الخندق‎, romanized: Ghazwat al-Khandaq), also known as the Battle of Khandaq (Arabic: معركة خندق‎, romanized: Ma’rakah al-Khandaq) and the Battle of the Confederates (Arabic: غزوة الاحزاب‎, romanized: Ghazwat al-Ahzab), was a 27-day-long defence by Muslims of Yathrib (now Medina) from Arab and Jewish tribes. The strength of the confederate armies is estimated around 10,000 men with six hundred horses and some camels, while the Medinan defenders numbered 3,000.

The largely outnumbered defenders of Medina, mainly Muslims led by Islamic Prophet Muhammad, dug a trench on the suggestion of Salman the Persian,^[5] which together with Medina's natural fortifications, rendered the confederate cavalry (consisting of horses and camels) useless, locking the two sides in a stalemate. Hoping to make several attacks at once, the confederates persuaded the Muslim-allied Medinan Jews, Banu Qurayza, to attack the city from the south. However, Muhammad's diplomacy derailed the negotiations, and broke up the confederacy against him. The well-organised defenders, the sinking of confederate morale, and poor weather conditions caused the siege to end in a fiasco

The siege was a "battle of wits", in which the Muslims tactically overcame their opponents while suffering very few casualties. Efforts to defeat the Muslims failed, and Islam became influential in the region. As a consequence, the Muslim army besieged the area of the Banu Qurayza tribe, leading to their surrender.

The defeat caused the Meccans to lose their trade and much of their prestige.^[4]

Battle of the Trench
Part of the Muslim–Quraysh Wars
Combat between Ali ibn Abi Talib (left) and Amr ibn Abd al-Wud (right) during the Battle of the Trench
Date Shawwal – Dhu al-Qi'dah, AH 5 (in the ancient (intercalated) Arabic calendar)[1] (Monday, 29 December AD 626 - Saturday, 24 January AD 627 (5 Shawwal–1 Dhu al-Qi'dah). Location Surrounding perimeter of Medina Result Failure of siege; decisive Muslim victory. The withdrawal of the confederate tribes.
Belligerents
Muslims Including The Ansar of Khazraj and Aws The Muhajirun of various origins including significant portions of Quraysh Immigrants and Banu Qais	Confederates including the Quraysh tribe of Mecca the Jewish/Arab tribes of Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir Other Arab tribes such as Banu Murra, Khaybar, Huyyay ibn Auf Murri, Banu Ghatafan, Bani Assad, Banu Shuja, and more (see Confederates)
Commanders and leaders
Muhammad Ali Ibn Abi Talib Salman the Persian 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit[2]	Abu Sufyan Amr ibn Abd al-Wud  † Tulayha
Strength
3,000[3]	10,000[3]
Casualties and losses
1~5 people (Reportedly 4) Light[4]	10 people Extremely heavy[4]

3.The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk) was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636, near the Yarmouk River, along what are now the borders of Syria–Jordan and Syria–Israel, southeast of the Sea of Galilee. The result of the battle was a complete Muslim victory that ended Byzantine rule in Syria. The Battle of the Yarmuk is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history,^[7][8] and it marked the first great wave of early Muslim conquests after the death of Prophet Muhammad, heralding the rapid advance of Islam into the then-Christian Levant.

To check the Arab advance and to recover lost territory, Emperor Heraclius had sent a massive expedition to the Levant in May 636. As the Byzantine army approached, the Arabs tactically withdrew from Syria and regrouped all their forces at the Yarmuk plains close to the Arabian Peninsula, where they were reinforced, and defeated the numerically superior Byzantine army. The battle is widely regarded to be Khalid ibn al-Walid's greatest military victory and cemented his reputation as one of the greatest tacticians and cavalry commanders in history.^[9]

Battle of Yarmuk
Part of the Muslim conquest of the Levant (Arab–Byzantine wars)
Illustration of the Battle of Yarmuk by an anonymous Catalonian illustrator (c. 1310–1325)
Date 15–20 August 636 Location Near the Yarmuk River, in Syria 32.8141°N 35.9548°ECoorE[dubious – discuss] Result Rashidun Caliphate victory Territorial changes The Levant is annexed by the Rashidun Caliphate
Belligerents
Rashidun Caliphate	Byzantine Empire Ghassanid Kingdom Tanukhid Foederati
Commanders and leaders
Khalid ibn al-Walid Malik al-Ashtar Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah 'Amr ibn al-'As Khawlah bint al-Azwar Shurahbil ibn Hasana Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan Al-Qa'qa' ibn 'Amr al-Tamimi Amru bin Ma'adi Yakrib Iyad ibn Ghanm Dhiraar bin Al-Azwar Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr.[1][2]	Theodore Trithyrius †[3]  Vahan †[g] Jabalah ibn al-Aiham  Dairjan †  Niketas the Persian  Buccinator (Qanatir)  Gregory[4]
Strength
15,000–40,000 (modern estimates)[d] 24,000–40,000 (primary sources)[e]	15,000–150,000 (modern estimates)[a] 100,000–200,000 (primary Arab sources)[c] 140,000 (primary Roman sources)[b]
Casualties and losses
3,000 killed[5]	45% or 50,000+ killed (modern estimates)[5][6] 70,000–120,000 killed (primary sources)[f]
Battle location on a map of modern Syria Show map of SyriaShow map of State of PalestineShow map of JordanShow map of Middle EastShow all

4.The Battle of Maritsa or Battle of Chernomen (Serbian: Marička bitka/ Маричка битка, Turkish: Çirmen Muharebesi, İkinci Meriç Muharebesi in tr. Second Battle of Maritsa) took place at the Maritsa River near the village of Chernomen (present-day Ormenio, Greece) on 26 September 1371 between Ottoman forces commanded by Lala Şahin Pasha and Evrenos, and Serbian forces commanded by King Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his brother Despot Jovan Uglješa.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Battle of Maritsa
Part of the Ottoman wars in Europe Serbian-Ottoman Wars
Domain of King Vukašin Mrnjavčević and Despot Jovan Uglješa before the Battle of Maritsa (in 1371).
Date 26 September 1371 Location Maritsa River (near Chernomen (today Ormenio) in Greece) Result Ottoman victory[1]
Belligerents
Serbian Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Vukašin Mrnjavčević † Uglješa Mrnjavčević † Alexander Komnenos Asen †	Lala Şâhin Paşa Evrenos
Strength
50,000[2]–70,000 men[2][3][4][5][6]	800[2][7] up to 4,000 men.[8]
Casualties and losses
Heavy combat losses[9] thousands drowned[10]	Unknown

5.The Battle of Ain Jalut (Arabic: معركة عين جالوت‎, romanized: Ma'rakat ‘Ayn Jālūt), also spelled Ayn Jalut, was fought between the Bahri Mamluks of Egypt and the Mongol Empire on 3 September 1260 (25 Ramadan 658 AH) in southeastern Galilee in the Jezreel Valley near what is known today as the Spring of Harod (Arabic: عين جالوت‎, romanized: ‘Ayn Jālūt, lit. 'Spring of Goliath'). The battle marked the height of the extent of Mongol conquests, and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been permanently beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield.^[13]

Continuing the westward expansion of the Mongol Empire, the armies of Hulagu Khan captured and sacked Baghdad in 1258, along with the Ayyubid capital of Damascus sometime later.^[14] Hulagu sent envoys to Cairo demanding Qutuz surrender Egypt, to which Qutuz responded by killing the envoys and displaying their heads on the Bab Zuweila gate of Cairo.^[14] Shortly after this, Hulagu returned to Mongolia with the bulk of his army in accordance with Mongol customs, leaving approximately 10,000 troops west of the Euphrates under the command of general Kitbuqa.

Learning of these developments, Qutuz quickly advanced his army from Cairo towards Palestine.^[15] Kitbuqa sacked Sidon, before turning his army south towards the Spring of Harod to meet Qutuz' forces. Using hit-and-run tactics and a feigned retreat by Mamluk general Baibars, combined with a final flanking maneuver by Qutuz, the Mongol army was pushed in a retreat toward Bisan, after which the Mamluks led a final counterattack, which resulted in the death of several Mongol troops, along with Kitbuqa himself.

The battle has been cited as the first time the Mongols were permanently prevented from expanding their influence,^[13] and also incorrectly cited as the first major Mongol defeat.^[16] It also marked the first of two defeats the Mongols would face in their attempts to invade Egypt and the Levant, the other being the Battle of Marj al-Saffar in 1303. The earliest known use of the hand cannon in any military conflict is also documented to have taken place in this battle by the Mamluks, who used it to frighten the Mongol armies, according to Arabic military treatises of the 13th and 14th centuries.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

attle of Ain Jalut
Part of the Mongol invasions of the Levant
Map showing movements of both forces, meeting eventually at Ain Jalut
Date 3 September 1260 Location Near Ayn Jalut, Nazareth, Galilee[1] Result Mamluk victory Mongol invasion of the Mamluk Sultanate is halted. Territorial changes Territories captured by the Mongols are returned to the Mamluks.
Belligerents
Mamluk Sultanate  Ayyubid emirs of Kerak and Hamah	Ilkhanate of the Mongol Empire  Kingdom of Georgia  Cilician Armenia  Ayyubid emirs of Homs and Banias
Commanders and leaders
Saif ad-Din Qutuz  Baibars  Al-Mansur of Hamah	Kitbuga †  Al-Ashraf of Homs  Al-Said of Banias
Units involved
Light cavalry and horse archers, heavy cavalry, infantry	Mongol lancers and horse archers, Cilician Armenian troops, Georgian contingent, local Ayyubid contingents
Strength
15–20,000[2][3][4]	10–20,000[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	most of the army[11][10][12]

6.The Battle of Hattin (Arabic: معركة حطين‎) took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin (Salah ad-Din). It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of Kurûn Hattîn.

The Muslim armies under Saladin captured or killed the vast majority of the Crusader forces, removing their capability to wage war.^[16] As a direct result of the battle, Muslims once again became the eminent military power in the Holy Land, re-conquering Jerusalem and many of the other Crusader-held cities.^[16] These Christian defeats prompted the Third Crusade, which began two years after the Battle of Hattin.

Battle of Hattin
Part of the Wars of the Crusader States
The Battle of Hattin, from a 13th-century manuscript of the Chronica Majora.
Date July 3–4, 1187 Location Horns of Hattin, Principality of Galilee (modern-day Israel) 32°48′13″N 35°26′40″ECoordinates: 32°48′13″N 35°26′40″E Result Decisive Ayyubid victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Jerusalem  County of Tripoli  Principality of Antioch  Knights Templar  Knights Hospitaller  Order of Saint Lazarus[citation needed]  Order of Mountjoy[citation needed]	Ayyubid Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Guy of Lusignan   Raymond III of Tripoli  Balian of Ibelin  Gerard de Rideford   Garnier de Nablus  Raynald of Châtillon    Humphrey IV of Toron  Aimery of Lusignan  Reginald of Sidon  Joscelin III of Edessa	Saladin  Muzaffar ad-Din Gökböri  Al-Muzaffar Umar[1]  Al-Adil I  Al-Afdal ibn Salah ad-Din[2]
Strength
18,000–20,000 men[3][4] 1,200 knights[5] 3,000 men-at-arms[6] 500 turcopoles[7] 15,000 infantry	20,000–40,000 men[8][4][9][10][11] 12,000 regular cavalry[8]
Casualties and losses
Most of the army 1,000 knights killed, captured, enslaved or executed[12] Captured turcopoles executed[13] Captured infantrymen enslaved[14]	Considerable[15]

7.The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman Army under Sultan Murad II (who did not actually rule the sultanate at the time) defeated the Hungarian–Polish and Wallachian armies commanded by Władysław III of Poland (also King of Hungary), John Hunyadi (acting as commander of the combined Christian forces) and Mircea II of Wallachia. It was the final battle of the Crusade of Varna.^[8][9]

Battle of Varna
Part of the Crusade of Varna and the Ottoman wars in Europe
The Crusaders were trapped below. Their defeat permitted the Fall of Constantinople. Beyond the Ottoman Sultan and the Janissaries was the cradle of medieval Bulgaria.
Date 10 November 1444 Location Near Varna, present-day Bulgaria Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Sultanate	Kingdom of Poland  Kingdom of Hungary  Kingdom of Croatia  Grand Duchy of Lithuania  Crown of Bohemia  Principality of Wallachia  Bulgarian rebels  Kingdom of Bosnia  Papal States  Teutonic Knights
Commanders and leaders
Murad II	Władysław III †  John Hunyadi  Mircea II  Fruzhin  Julian Cesarini  †
Strength
37,000–60,000[1][2][3][4] 30,000–40,000 Anatolian troops[1] 7,000 Rumelian troops[1]	16,000[1]–20,000[3][2]
Casualties and losses
minimal[5] or heavy[3]	heavy[3][6][7]

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