A War Tactician

K̲h̲ālid was an extraordinary warrior and commander who lived in 7th century and led Muslim armies against Romans and Sassanids. He managed to fight against two great power of the day at the same time in an unusual way. Just flashing back to his childhood or youth to understand his military carrier is not sufficient. His membership to brave Arab tribes or his desert environment also does not give necessary information to explain his professional diplomatic attempts, detailed field plans, and elegant army order on the battlefields. We will try to make some inferences about his career by examining his tactics in the context of his military activities during the Caliph Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq period. The Caliph Abū Bakr had a clear vision and strategy for conquests, and he was trusting his commanders by giving them space to lead the armies, not interfering in all details. He had also analyzed the sociology of the region well. K̲h̲ālid b. al-Walīd portrays a successful commander who does not interfere with the general politics of the caliph but is very meticulous in applying his orders to the field. On the other hand, the Caliph 'Umar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb unlike Abū Bakr, wanted to manage all the details on the battlefields. For this reason, although K̲h̲ālid had a successful period with Abū Bakr, he could not work with ‘Umar for a long time. K̲h̲ālid b. al-Walīd's originality is that each war is unlike the previous one and develops shocking tactics. He didn't have a standard tactic, and his moves were not familiar and predictable. He could even apply different methods in similar situations. The way he started and ended wars subverted the tactics of the enemy Arab, Roman, and Persian armies. In general, the battles he managed were lasting shorter than expected. He easily sensed the weak points of enemy commanders and soldiers such as pride or fear and could use these weaknesses well. In this article, we will revisit some examples and try to analyze the tactics K̲h̲ālid used during his military career caused the fall of the Sassanid Iraq and damaged the Roman Levant

Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical Astronomy and Related Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Materials Science · Geology

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