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The Siege of Ctesiphon ((ペルシア語:تیسفون), also known as 'Al-Mada'in المدائن in Arabic), was a successful siege by the Rashidun army, which lasted for approximately two months from January to March 637. Ctesiphon was one of the great cities of the Persian Empire as well as an imperial capital of the Arsacids and their successors, the Sassanids. Sassanid rule in Iraq ended soon after the conquest of the city by Muslims. Ctesiphon stood near Al-Mada'in, approximately southeast of the modern city of Baghdad on the banks of the river Tigris and covered an area of .〔cf. the covered by 4th century imperial Rome〕 The only visible remains of the city is the great arch of Taq-i Kisra located in what is now the Iraqi town of Salman Pak. ==March to Ctesiphon== After his decisive victory at the Battle of Qadisiyyah, Caliph Umar decided to capture the Sassanid Persian capital city of Ctesiphon. He knew that as long as the Sassanids held their largest city, there remained the possibility that sooner or later they could mount another counter-attack. As a result, Umar ordered Saad ibn abi Waqqas, the Muslim commander in chief in Iraq, to march against Ctesiphon. In December 636, Saad marched towards Ctesiphon with a Muslim army of 15,000 soldiers. The Sassanian Emperor Yazdgerd III, fearing such an invasion, acted quickly when he received intelligence of preparations being made for the march. He deployed detachments of the troops still in the capital on the main defensive stages along the route to Ctesiphon in order to slow the advancing army and provide sufficient time to prepare defenses. At the same time he stationed the survivors of the Battle of Qadisiyyah along the walls of the city. When Saad learned of the Sassanid detachments on the main route to Ctesiphon he decided to send a strong advance guard to overpower them before they could dig in. The main army would join the advance guard shortly afterwards. To improve mobility Saad divided the rest of his army into four corps under the commanders Abdullah ibn Mutim, Shurahbeel ibn As Samt, Hashim bin Utba and Khalid bin Arfatah. Saad himself led the latter corps. From Qadisiyyah, the main stages on the route to Ctesiphon were Najaf, Burs, Babylon, Sura, Deir Kab, Kusa and Sabat. Zuhra ibn al-Hawiyya took charge of an advance guard composed solely of cavalry and received orders to move quickly to the main defensive positions along the route to Ctesiphon. There he was to deal with the Sassanid detachments and, if his forces encountered any large concentrations of the Sassanid army, to wait until the main army arrived. The rest of the Muslim army was to move behind the advance guard at a comfortable pace. Zuhra's corps set off as the advance guard and occupied Najaf where they waited for the rest of the troops to catch up. The advance corps then crossed the Euphrates and proceeded along the road to Ctesiphon. On reaching Burs on the western bank of the Hilla branch of the Euphrates, they encountered a small Sassanid force who resisted and forced them to retreat towards Babylon. Zuhra then waited at Burs for the main army to join him. The next stage was Babylon on the far bank of the Euphrates, a fortified city where it was learned there was a large concentration of Sassanid forces. Babylon was strategically important and the gateway to Suwad, the land between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Some time in the middle of December 636, the Muslims crossed the Euphrates and camped outside Babylon. The Sassanid forces at Babylon are said to have been commanded by Feerzan, Hormuzan, Mihran and Nakheerzan. It appears that disunity arose among the Persians, and that they were unable to put up a stiff resistance against the Muslim charge. Hormuzan withdrew with his forces to his home province of Ahwaz after which the other generals pulled back their forces and withdrew northward. After the Persian forces had left, the citizens of Babylon formally surrendered. They were afforded protection under the usual terms after payment of ''jaziya''. Some volunteered to cooperate with the Muslims in their fight against the Sassanid regime and provided a good deal of useful information about the disposition of Persian forces. Some Babylonian engineers are said to have been employed in the construction of roads and bridges. While the main Muslim army remained at Babylon, Zuhra was commanded by Saad to pursue the Persians who had retreated from Babylon, before they could concentrate effectively at some other place to give a combined resistance. The Muslim advance guard under Zuhra followed the Persians, and caught their rear-guard at Sura, where the Sassanid forces were routed; they then retreated towards Deir Kab. Zuhra next marched to Deir Kab where after defeating the Sassanid detachment he afforded protection to the people under the usual terms. Early in January 637, the Muslim advance guard under Zuhra reached Kusa, ten miles from Ctesiphon, where Sassanid Persians were to make their last stand to delay the Muslim advance. The Sassanid detachment there was commanded by Shahryar, who was killed in a duel with the Muslim Mubarizun. The rest of the Sassanid army quickly withdrew to Ctesiphon, whereupon the Muslims occupied Kusa on the usual terms. After the victory, Zuhra stayed at Kusa for some time. In the meantime the main army reached Kusa, an historically important location for Muslims who believed this was where Nimrod imprisoned the Prophet Abraham and threw him into a fire, from which he emerged unharmed. Saad wrote a detailed account of the march towards Ctesiphon. In the second week of January 637, the Muslim advance guard reached Sabat, four miles from Ctesiphon. Although this was a Persian cantonment, there was no garrison present. The residents were given protection on the usual terms after payment of ''jaziya''. The Muslims now occupied all the territory up to the gates of Ctesiphon. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Siege of Ctesiphon (637)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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