Muslim Conquest of Egypt

Muslim conquest of Egypt

At the commencement of the Muslim conquest ofEgypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine/Eastern Ro-man Empire, which had its capital at Constantinople.Egypt had been conquered just a decade before by thePersian Empire under Khosrau II (616 to 629 AD); how-ever, Emperor Heraclius re-captured it after a series ofcampaigns against the Sassanid Persians, only to lose itto the Muslim Rashidun army ten years later. Beforethe Muslim conquest of Egypt had begun, the EasternRomans had already lost the Levant and its Arab ally,the Ghassanid Kingdom, to the Muslims. All of thisleft the Eastern Roman Empire dangerously exposed andvulnerable.[1]

1 Rashidun invasion of Egypt

1.1 Rashidun army crossing the Egyptianborder

Pyramids of Giza.

In December 639, 'Amr ibn al-'As left for Egypt with aforce of 4,000 troops. Most of the soldiers belonged tothe Arab tribe of 'Ak, although Al-Kindi mentions thatone third of the soldiers belonged to the Arab tribe ofGhak. The Arab soldiers were also joined by some Ro-man and Persian converts to Islam. However, 'Umar, theMuslim caliph, reconsidered his orders to Amr, thinkingit foolhardy to expect to conquer such a large country asEgypt with a mere 4,000 soldiers. Accordingly, he wrotea letter to 'Amr commanding him to come back.[2]

The messenger, 'Uqbah ibn 'Amr, caught up with Amrat Rafah, a little short of the Egyptian frontier. Guess-ing what might be in the letter, 'Amr ordered the armyto quicken its pace. Turning to 'Uqbah, 'Amr said that

he would receive the caliphs letter from him when thearmy had halted after the days journey. 'Uqbah, beingunaware of the contents of the letter, agreed and marchedalong with the army. The army halted for the night at Sha-jratein, a little valley near the city of El Arish, which 'Amrknew to be beyond the Egyptian border.[3] 'Amr then re-ceived and read 'Umars letter and went on to consult hiscompanions as to the course of action to be adopted. Theunanimous view was that as they had received the letteron Egyptian soil, they had permission to proceed.When 'Umar received the reply, he decided to watch fur-ther developments and started concentrating fresh forcesat Madinah that could be dispatched to Egypt as rein-forcements. On Eid al-Adha, the Muslim army marchedfrom Shajratein to El Arish,[2] a small town lacking a gar-rison. The town put up no resistance, and the citizens of-fered allegiance on the usual terms. The Muslim soldierscelebrated the Eid festival there.

1.2 Conquest of Pelusium and Belbeis

In the later part of December 639 or in early January640, the Muslim army reached Pelusium, an EasternRoman garrison city that was considered Egypts east-ern gate at the time. The Muslim siege of the towndragged on for two months. In February 640, an as-sault group led by a prominent eld commander Huza-ifah ibn Wala successfully assaulted and captured the fortand city.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Armanousa, the daughter of Cyruswho ercely resisted the Muslims in Pelusium and fellhostage in their hands, was sent to her father in the Baby-lon Fortress.[10]

The losses incurred by the Arab Muslim army were ame-liorated by the number of Sinai Bedouins who, takingthe initiative, had joined them in conquering Egypt.[11]These Bedouins belonged to the tribes of Rashidah andLakhm[12] The ease with which Pelusium fell to the Mus-lim Arabs, and the lack of Byzantine reinforcements toaid the city during the month-long siege, is often at-tributed to the treachery of the Egyptian governor, Cyrus,who was also the Melchite (i.e., ByzantineChalcedonianDiaphysite) Patriarch of Alexandria.[13][11]

After the fall of Pelusium, the Muslims marched toBilbeis, 40 miles from Memphis via desert roads and be-sieged it. Belbeis was the rst place in Egypt where theByzantines showed some measure of resistance towardsthe Arab invaders. Two Christian monks accompaniedby Cyrus of Alexandria and the famous Roman general

1

2 1 RASHIDUN INVASION OF EGYPT

Aretion came out to negotiate with 'Amr ibn al-'As. Are-tion was previously the Byzantine governor of Jerusalem,and had ed to Egypt when the city fell to the Muslims.'Amr gave them three options: to either convert to Is-lam, to pay Jizya, or to ght the Muslims. They requestedthree days to reect, then - as mentioned by al-Tabari -requested two extra days. At the end of the ve days,the two monks and the general decided to reject Islamand Jizya and ght the Muslims. They thus disobeyedtheir ruler, Cyrus of Alexandria, who wanted to surren-der and pay Jizya. Cyrus subsequently left for the BabylonFortress, while the two monks and Aretion decided toght the Arabs. The ght resulted in the victory of thelatter and the death of Aretion. 'Amr ibn al-'As subse-quently attempted to convince the native Egyptians to aidthe Arabs and surrender the city, based on the kinshipbetween Egyptians and Arabs via Hagar.[14] When theEgyptians refused, the siege of Bilbeis was continued un-til the city fell after a month. Towards the end of March640, the city surrendered to the Muslims.[13] With the fallof Belbeis, the Arabs were only one day away from thehead of the Delta.

1.3 Siege of Babylon

Map detailing the route of the Muslims invasion of Egypt.

Amr had visualized that the conquest of Egypt would bea walkover. This expectation turned out to be wrong.Even at the outposts of Pelusium and Bilbeis, the Mus-lims had met sti resistance. The siege of Pelusium hadlasted for two months and that of Bilbeis for one month.Both battles were preludes to the siege of Babylon, whichwas a larger and more important city. Here, resistance ona larger scale was expected.[15] After the fall of Bilbeis,the Muslims advanced to Babylon, near modern Cairo.The Muslims arrived at Babylon some time in May 640AD.[16] Babylon was a fortied city, and the Romans hadprepared it for a siege. Outside the city, a ditch had beendug, and a large force was positioned in the area betweenthe ditch and the city walls. The Muslims besieged thefort of Babylon some time in May 640. The fort wasa massive structure 60 ft. high with walls more than 6ft. thick and studded with numerous towers and bastions.

A Muslim force of some 4,000 men unsuccessfully at-tacked the Roman positions. Early Muslim sources placethe strength of the Byzantine force in Babylon about sixtimes the strength of the Muslim force. For the next twomonths, ghting remained inconclusive, with the Byzan-tines having the upper hand by repulsing every Muslimassault.[17]

Some time in May 640 AD, 'Amr sent a detachment toraid the city of Fayoum. The Byzantines had anticipatedthis and had therefore strongly guarded the roads lead-ing to the city. They had also fortied their garrison inthe nearby town of Lahun. When the Muslim Arabs real-ized that Fayoum was too strong for them to invade, theyheaded towards the Western Desert, where they lootedall the cattle and animals they could. They subsequentlyheaded to Oxyrhynchus (Per-Medjed), which was de-feated. The Arabs then returned to Lower Egypt downthe River Nile.[18]

1.3.1 Reinforcements from Madinah

In July, 'Amr wrote to 'Umar requesting reinforcement;but before the letter reached him, the caliph had al-ready dispatched the rst reinforcement, which was 4,000strong. The army was composed mostly of the veter-ans of the Syrian campaigns. Even with these rein-forcements, 'Amr was unsuccessful. By August 640,'Umar had assembled another 4,000 strong force, whichconsisted of four columns, each of 1,000 elite men.Zubair ibn al-Awam, a renowned warrior and comman-der, veteran of the Battle of Yarmouk and once a part ofKhalid ibn Walid's elite mobile guard, was appointed thesupreme commander of army - 'Umar had indeed oeredZubair the chief command and governorship of Egypt,but Zubair had declined. The column commanders in-cluded Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, Ubaidah ibn as-Samit, andKharijah ibn Huzaifah. These reinforcements arrived atBabylon sometime in September 640. The total strengthof the Muslim force now rose to 12,000, quite a modeststrength to resume the oensive.[3]

1.3.2 Battle of Heliopolis

Ten miles from Babylon was Heliopolis.[19] The Muslimarmy reached Heliopolis in July 640.[20] It was the city ofthe Sun Temple of the Pharaohs, and was famous for itsgrandiose monuments and learning institutions.[21] Therewas the danger that forces from Heliopolis could attackthe Muslims from the ank while they were engaged withthe Roman army at Babylon. With some detachments,'Amr and Zubair marched to Heliopolis. There was a cav-alry clash near the current neighbourhood of Abbaseya.The engagement was not decisive, although it resulted inthe occupation of the fortress located between the cur-rent neighbourhoods of Abdyn and Azbakeya. The de-feated Byzantine soldiers retreated to either the Baby-lon Fortress or the fortress of Niki.[22] At an unguarded

1.5 March to Alexandria 3

point of the wall of Heliopolis, Zubair and some of hispicked soldiers scaled the wall of the city, and after over-powering the guards, opened the gates for the main Mus-lim army to enter the city. Heliopolis was thus capturedby the Muslims. 'Amr and Zubair returned to Babylon.

1.3.3 Conquering of Fayoum and Babylon

When news of the Muslims victory at Heliopolis reachedFayoum, its Byzantine garrison under the command ofDomentianus evacuated the city during the night and edto Abuit. From Abuit, they ed down the Nile to Nikiuwithout informing the people of Fayoum and Abuit thatthey were abandoning their cities to the enemy. Whennews of this reached 'Amr, he ordered a body of histroops to cross the Nile and invade Fayoum and Abuit.The Muslim soldiers captured the entire province of Fay-oum without any resistance from the Byzantines.[23]

The Byzantine garrison at Babylon had grown bolder thanever before and had begun to sally forth across the ditch,though with little success. There had been a stalemate be-tween the Muslim and Byzantine forces at Babylon, untilthe Muslim commanders devised an ingenious strategyand inicted heavy casualties on the Byzantine forces byencircling them from three sides during one of their sal-lies. The Byzantines were able to retreat back to the fort,but were left too weak for any further oensive action.This situation forced the Byzantines to negotiate with theMuslims. The Byzantine general Theodorus shifted hisheadquarters to the Isle of Rauda, whilst Cyrus ofAlexan-dria, popularly known as Muqawqis in Muslim history,entered into negotiations with the Muslims, which failedto give any productive results. Emissaries were also ex-changed between Theodorus and 'Amr, leading to 'Amrmeeting Theodorus in person. After fruitless negotia-tions, the Muslims acted on 20 December, when, in anight assault, a company of hand picked warriors led byZubair managed to scale the wall, kill the guards and openthe gates for the Muslim army to enter. The city of Baby-lon was captured by the Muslims on 21 December 640,using tactics similar to those used by Khalid ibn Walid atDamascus. However Theodorus and his army managedto slip away to the island of Rauda during the night.[24]

1.4 Surrender of Thebaid (SoutheasternEgypt)

On 22 December, Cyrus of Alexandria entered intoa treaty with the Muslims.[25] By the treaty, Muslimsovereignty over the whole of Egypt, and eectively onThebaid, was recognized, and the Egyptians agreed to payJizya at the rate of 2 diners per male adult.[26] The treatywas subject to the approval of the emperor Heraclius, butCyrus stipulated that even if the emperor repudiated thetreaty, he and the Copts of whom he was the High Priestwould honor its terms, recognize the supremacy of the

Muslims and pay them Jizya.[27] Cyrus submitted a re-port to Heraclius and asked for his approval to the termsof the treaty. He also oered reasons in justication ofthe acceptance of the terms of the treaty. 'Amr submit-ted a detailed report to 'Umar and asked for his furtherinstructions. When 'Umar received this report, he wroteback to say that he approved of the terms provided Hera-clius agreed to submit to them.[28] He desired that as soonas the reactions of Heraclius were known, he should be in-formed so that further necessary instructions could be is-sued promptly.[29] Heracliuss reaction to Cyruss reportwas violent. He removed him from the viceroyship ofEgypt, but he remained the Head of the Coptic Church:this was amatter in which the emperor could not interfere.Heraclius sent strict orders to the commander-in-chief ofthe Byzantine forces in Egypt that the Muslims should bedriven out from Egypt. Cyrus waited on 'Amr and toldhim that Heraclius had repudiated the treaty of Babylon.He assured 'Amr that so far as the Copts were concernedthe terms of the treaty would be followed. 'Amr reportedthese developments to 'Umar. 'Umar desired that, beforethe Byzantines could gather further strength, the Muslimsshould strike at them and drive them from Alexandria. Itis recorded that Cyrus requested three favors from theMuslims, namely:

1. Do not break your treaty with the Copts;2. If the Byzantines after this repudiation ask for

peace, do not make peace with them, but treat themas captives and slaves; and

3. When I am dead allowme to be buried in the Churchof St. John at Alexandria.[3][30]

This position was to the advantage of the Muslims, as theCopts were the natives of the land of Egypt and[31] boththe Byzantines and the Muslims were strangers. Thoughsome Copts from personal considerations continued tosupport the Byzantines, the sympathies of the Copts werenow, by and large, with the Muslims. The Copts were notsupposed to ght against the Byzantines on behalf of theMuslims, but they undertook to help the Muslims in thepromotion of war eort and in the provision of stores,build roads and bridges for them, and provide themmoralsupport.[32]

1.5 March to AlexandriaThe Byzantine commanders knew that the next target ofthe Muslims would be Alexandria. They accordingly pre-pared for the expected siege of the city. Their strategywas to keep the Muslims away from Alexandria by de-stroying their power through continued sallies and attacksfrom the fort. Even if this did not keep them away, itwould weaken them morally and physically. It would bemore of a war of patience than strength.[33] In February641, 'Amr set o for Alexandria from Babylon with his

4 1 RASHIDUN INVASION OF EGYPT

Ancient Roman theaters in Alexandria.

army. All along the road from Babylon to Alexandria,the Byzantines had left regiments to delay, and if possi-ble, inict losses on the advancing Muslims. On the thirdday of their march from Babylon the Muslims advanceguard encountered a Byzantine detachment at Tarnut onthe west bank of the Nile.[34] The Byzantines failed to in-ict heavy losses, but they were able to delay the advanceby one more day. The Muslim commanders decided tohalt the main army at Tarnut and send the advance guardcavalry forward to clear the way from the possible Byzan-tine detachments. This was done so that the main armycould reach Alexandria as soon as possible without be-ing delayed by Byzantine regiments mid-way. Twentymiles from Tarnut, the Byzantine detachment that hadwithdrawn from Tarnut the day before, joined the detach-ment already present at Shareek to form a strong oen-sive force. They attacked and routed the Muslim advanceguard. The next day, before the Byzantines could resumetheir oensive to annihilate the Muslim advance guardcompletely, the main Muslim army arrived, promptingthe Byzantines to withdraw. At this point the Muslimcommanders decided not to send forward the advanceguard, so the whole army marched forward, beginningthe following day. The Muslims reached Sulteis wherethey encountered a Byzantine detachment. Hard ghtingfollowed, but the Byzantine resistance soon broke downand they withdrew to Alexandria. The Muslims haltedat Sulteis for a day. Alexandria was still two days marchfrom Sulteis. After one days march theMuslim forces ar-rived at Kirayun, twelve miles from Alexandria. Here theMuslim advance to Alexandria was blocked by a Byzan-tine detachment about 20,000 strong. The strategy of theByzantines was that either the Muslims would be drivenaway before they actually arrived at Alexandria, or thatthey would be as weak as possible if they did. The twoarmies were deployed and ghting followed, but actionremained indecisive,.[3] This state of aairs persisted forten days. On the tenth day the Muslims launched a vig-orous assault. The Byzantines were defeated and they re-treated to Alexandria. The way to Alexandria was nowcleared, and the Muslim forces resumed the march from

Kirayun and reached the outskirts of Alexandria inMarch641 AD.

1.6 Conquest of Alexandria and fall ofEgypt

Main article: Siege of Alexandria 641

The Muslims laid siege to Alexandria in March 641AD.[35] The city was heavily fortied: there were wallswithin walls, and forts within forts. There was no dearthof provisions and food supply in the city. The city alsohad direct access to the sea, and through the sea routehelp from Constantinople in the form of men and sup-plies could come at any time.As 'Amr surveyed the military situation, he felt thatAlexandria would be a hard nut to crack.[36] The Byzan-tines had high stakes in Alexandria, and they were de-termined to oer sti resistance to the Muslims. Theymounted catapults on the walls of the city, and these en-gines pounded the Muslims with boulders. This causedconsiderable damage to the Muslims and 'Amr orderedhis men back from the advance position so that theymightbe beyond the range of the missiles. A see-saw warfollowed.[3] When the Muslims tried to go close to thecity they were hit with missiles. When the Byzantinessallied from the fort, they were invariably beaten back bythe Muslims.It is said that Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, col-lected a large army at Constantinople. He intended tomarch at the head of these reinforcements personally toAlexandria. But before he could nalize the arrange-ments, he died. The troops mustered at Constantino-ple dispersed, and consequently no help came to Alexan-dria. This further demoralized the Byzantines. The siegedragged on for six months, and in Madinah 'Umar gotimpatient. In a letter addressed to 'Amr, the caliph ex-pressed his concern at the inordinate delay in the inva-sion of Egypt. He further instructed that the new eldcommander would be 'Ubaidah, and he would launch anassault on the fort of Alexandria. 'Ubaidahs assault wassuccessful and Alexandria was captured by the Muslimsin September 641. Thousands of Byzantine soldiers werekilled or taken captive while others managed to ee toConstantinople on ships that had been anchored in theport. Some wealthy traders also left.[37]

On behalf of the Egyptians, Cyrus of Alexandria sued forpeace, and his request was granted. After the invasion ofEgypt 'Amr is reported to have written to Caliph 'Umar:The permanent loss of Egypt meant a loss of a hugeamount of Byzantiums food and money. The loss ofEgypt and Syria, followed later by the invasion of theExarchate of Africa also meant that the Mediterranean,long referred to as the Roman lake, was now con-tested between two powers: theMuslimCaliphate and the

5Byzantine Empire. In these events, the Byzantine Em-pire, although sorely tested, would be able to hold on toAnatolia, while the mighty walls of Constantinople wouldsave it during two great Arab sieges, from the fate of thePersian Empire.[38]

An attempt was made in the year 645 to regain Alexan-dria for the Byzantine Empire, but it was retaken by 'Amrin 646. In 654 an invasion eet sent by Constans II wasrepulsed. From that time no serious eort was made bythe Byzantines to regain possession of the country.

2 Invasion of NubiaThe land of Nubia lay to the south of Egypt. It stretchedfrom Aswan to Khartoum and from the Red Sea to theLibyan Desert. The Nubians were Christians and wereruled by a king. The capital of the kingdomwas Dongola.In the summer of 642, 'Amr ibn al-'As sent an expeditionto Nubia under the command of his cousin 'Uqbah ibnNa. The expedition was ordered by 'Amr on his ownaccount. It was not a whole scale invasion but merelya pre-emptive raid to show the arrival of a new rulingin Egypt to the bordering kingdoms.[39] 'Uqbah ibn Na,who later made a great name for himself as the Conquerorof Africa, and led his horse to the Atlantic came in for anunhappy experience in Nubia. In Nubia, no pitched bat-tle was fought. There were only skirmishes and haphaz-ard engagements and in such type of warfare the Nubiansexcelled at. They were skilful archers and subjected theMuslims to a merciless barrage of arrows. These arrowswere aimed at the eyes and in the encounter 250 Muslimslost their eyes.The Nubians were very fast in their movements.[13] TheMuslim cavalry was known for its speed and mobility, butit was no match for the Nubian horse riders. The Nu-bians would strike hard against the Muslims, and thenvanish before the Muslims could recover their balanceand take counter action. The hit-and-run raids by theNubians caused considerable damage to the Muslims.'Uqbah wrote to 'Amr of this state of aairs.[40] He saidthat theNubians avoided pitched battle, and in the guerillatactics that they followed the Muslims suered badly.'Uqbah further came to know that Nubia was a very poorland, and there was nothing therein worth ghting for.Thereupon 'Amr ordered 'Uqbah to withdraw from Nu-bia. 'Uqbah accordingly pulled out of Nubia with hisforces.

3 Conquest of North AfricaAfter the preemptive raid on Nubia in the south 'Amr de-cided to undertake campaigns in the west, so as to se-cure the western borders of Egypt and clear the region ofCyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan from Byzantine inu-

ence. Some time in September 642, 'Amr led his troopswest. After one month of marching the Muslim forcesreached the city of Pentapolis. From Burqa, 'Uqbah binNa was sent at the head of a column to undertake a cam-paign against Fezzan. 'Uqbah marched to Zaweela, thecapital of Fezzan. No resistance was oered, and the en-tire district of Fezzan, what is present day north-westernLibya, submitted to theMuslims. 'Uqbah then returned toBurqa. Soon after the Muslim army marched westwardfrom Burqa. They arrived at Tripoli in the spring of 643C.E. and laid siege to the city. The city fell after a siegeof one month. From Tripoli, 'Amr sent a detachment toSabratha, a city forty miles from Tripoli. The city put upfeeble resistance, and soon surrendered and agreed to payJizya. From Tripoli, 'Amr is reported to have written tothe caliph the details of the operations in the followingwords:'Umar, whose armies were already engaged in a mas-sive campaign of conquering the Sassanid Empire didnot wanted to engage himself further along north Africa,when Muslim rule in Egypt was as yet insecure. Thecaliph accordingly disapproved of any further advancesand ordered 'Amr to rst consolidate the Muslims posi-tion in Egypt, and issued strict orders that there shouldbe no further campaigning. 'Amr obeyed, abandoningTripoli and Burqa and returning to Fustat. This was to-wards the close of the year 643 AD.[41]

4 Stance of the Egyptians towardsthe invading Muslims

The Muslims were assisted by someCopts, who resented the persecutions of theByzantines, and of these some turned to Islam.Others sided with the Byzantines, hoping thatthey would provide a defense against the Arabinvaders.[42]

In return for a tribute of money and food for the occu-pying troops, the Christian inhabitants of Egypt were ex-cused frommilitary service and left free in the observanceof their religion and the administration of their aairs.This system was a new institution, as a mandate by a re-ligion. But it was adopted as an institution, by the Mus-lims from previous poll tax systems in the ancient Mid-dle East. Indeed, the Egyptians had been subject to it- as non-Romans - during Roman rule before the adop-tion of Christianity by the Roman state. After that, allnon-Christian subjects of the Roman Empire had to payit, including non-Christian Egyptians. The Persians alsohad a similar poll tax system.On the twentieth of Maskaram Byzantine generalTheodorus and all his troops and ocers set out and pro-ceeded to the island of Cyprus, abandoning the city ofAlexandria. Thereupon 'Amr, the Muslim commander,

6 5 EGYPT UNDER MUSLIM RULE

made his entry into the city of Alexandria. The inhab-itants received him with respect, for they were in greattribulation and aiction. 'Amr exacted the taxes whichhad been determined upon, but he took none of the prop-erty of the churches, and he committed no act of spolia-tion or plunder.

5 Egypt under Muslim rule

Rashidun Empire at its peak under third Rashidun Caliph,Uthman- 654Strongholds of Rashidun Caliphate

Muslims gained control over Egypt due to a variety of fac-tors, including internal Byzantine politics, religious zealand the diculty of maintaining a large empire. TheByzantines did attempt to regain Alexandria, but it wasretaken by 'Amr in 646. In 654 an invasion eet sent byConstans II was repelled. From that time no serious ef-fort was made by the Byzantines to regain possession ofEgypt.Amr ibn al-Aas had popular support in Egypt amongstthe Coptic Christian population. In the book The GreatArab Conquests Hugh Kennedy writes that Cyrus theRoman governor had expelled the Coptic patriarch Ben-jamin into exile. When Amr occupied Alexandria, aCoptic nobleman (duqs) called Sanutius persuaded himto send out a proclamation of safe conduct for Benjaminand an invitation to return to Alexandria. When he ar-rived, after thirteen years in concealment, Amr treatedhim with respect. He was then instructed by the gover-nor to resume control over the Coptic Church. He ar-ranged for the restoration of the monasteries in the WadiNatrun that had been ruined by the Chalcedonian Chris-tians, which still exists as a functioning monastery in thepresent day. [43]

On Amrs return the Egyptian population also workedwith Amr.[44] In the book The Great Arab ConquestsHugh Kennedy writes The pious biographer of Copticpatriarch Benjamin presents us with the striking imageof the patriarch prayed for the success of the Muslimcommander Amr against the Christians of the Cyrenaica.Benjamin survived for almost twenty years after the fallof Egypt to the Muslims, dying of full years and honourin 661. His body was laid to rest in the monastery of St

Macarius, where he is still venerated as a saint. There canbe no doubt that he played a major role in the survival ofthe Coptic Church [43] Coptic patriarch Benjamin alsoprayed for Amr when he moved to take Libya.[45]

In the book The Great Arab Conquests Hugh Kennedywrites Evenmore striking is the verdict of John of Nikiu.John was no admirer of Muslim government and waserce in his denunciation, but he says of Amr: 'He ex-tracted the taxes which had been determined upon but hetook none of the property of the churches, and he com-mitted no act of spoliation or plunder, and he preservedthem throughout all his days"[46] He writes Of all theearly Muslim conquests, that of Egypt was the swiftestandmost complete. Within a space of two years the coun-try had come entirely under Arab rule. Even more re-markably, it has remained under Muslim rule ever since.Seldom in history can so massive a political change havehappened so swiftly and been so long lasting [46]

Uqba ibn Na then used Egypt as a launch pad to moveacross North Africa all the way to the Atlantic ocean.[47]In the book The Great Arab Conquests Hugh Kennedywrites that when Uqba reached the Atlantic, he is saidto have ridden his horse into the sea until the water wasbelow his chest, and then shouted 'O Lord, if the sea didnot stop me, I would go through lands like Alexander theGreat, defending your faith'. Kennedy writes further thatthis image of a warrior whose conquest in the name ofGod was stopped only by the ocean remains important inthe history of the conquests.[48]

5.1 Fustat, the new capitalWith the fall of Alexandria the Muslims were the mas-ters of Egypt. At the time of their Egyptian campaign,Alexandria was the capital of the country. When Alexan-dria was captured by the Muslims, the houses vacated bythe Byzantines were occupied by the Muslims. The Mus-lims were impressed and attracted by Alexandria, thequeen of cities. 'Amr wished for Alexandria to remainthe capital of Muslim Egypt.[3] He wrote to Caliph 'Umarseeking his permission to do this. 'Umar rejected the pro-posal on the basis that Alexandria was a maritime cityand there would always be a danger of Byzantine navalattacks.[49]

He suggested that the capital should be established fur-ther inland at a central place, where no mass of waterintervened between it and Arabia.[50] As per the treatywith Cyrus of Alexandria, the wealth of the Egyptians inAlexandria was spared and that of Romans and Greekswas taken as booty. Greek citizens were given a choice,to return to Greek territories safely without their wealth,or to stay in Alexandria and pay Jizya. Some chose tostay, while others went to Byzantine lands.'Amr next proceeded to choose a suitable site for the cap-ital of Egypt. His choice fell on the site where he hadpitched his tent at the time of the battle of Babylon. His

7tent had been xed about a quarter of a mile north eastof the fort. It is reported that after the battle was over,and the army was about to march to Alexandria, the menbegan to pull down the tent and pack it for the journey,when it was found that a dove had nested on top of thetent and laid eggs. 'Amr ordered that the tent should re-main standing where it was. The army marched away butthe tent remained standing in the plain of Babylon. Inthis unusual episode 'Amr saw a sign from Heaven. Hedecided where the dove laid its nest, let the people buildtheir city. As 'Amrs tent was to be the focal point of thecity, the city was called Fustat, which in Arabic meansthe tent. The rst structure to be built was the mosquewhich later became famous as Mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'As.[42] The city of Fustat was built due east of Babylon.In the course of time, Fustat extended to include the oldtown of Babylon. It grew to become a bustling city andthe commercial centre of Egypt.[51]

5.2 Reforms of Caliph UmarTo consolidate his rule in Egypt, 'Umar imposed thejizya on Egyptians. However, during later Umayyad rulehigher taxes were imposed on the Egyptians.By 'Umars permission, 'Amr ibn al-'As decided to builda canal to join the Nile with the Red Sea; it would helpthe traders and Arabia would ourish through this newtrade route. Moreover it would open new markets for theEgyptian merchants and open for them an easy route forthe markets of Arabia and Iraq. This project was pre-sented to Caliph 'Umar, who approved it. A canal wasdug, and within a few months was opened for merchants.It was namedNaharAmir ul-Mu'mineen i.e. The canalof Commander of the Faithful referring to the title of theCaliph 'Umar.[52]

Amr proposed another project: digging a canal that wouldjoin the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.[53] Theproject was once again sent to 'Umar for approval, butUmar viewed it as a threat to national security and re-jected on the basis that it would open a way for Byzantinenavy to enter the Red Sea via that canal and posinga threat to Madinah itself.[3] This project however wascompleted in the form of what is now known as the SuezCanal 1300 years later. Each year the caliph instructed alarge amount of jizya to be used on the building and re-pairing of canals and bridges.[54] The Arabs remained incontrol of the country from this point until 1250, when itfell under the control of the Mamelukes.

6 See also Aegyptus (Roman province) Muslim conquests Byzantine-Arab Wars

Umayyad conquest of North Africa Spread of Islam

7 References[1] Al Farooq, Umar ByMuhammadHusaynHaykal. chapter

no:18 page no:453

[2] Al Farooq, Umar ByMuhammad Husayn Haykal, chapterno:19

[3] Al-Maqrizi, Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar,

[4] Al-Kamil, page 451 - 452

[5] Al-Gawzi, Al-Montazim, page 532 - 534

[6] al-Tabari, history of the kings, page 862

[7] Abu Salih the Armenian, The churches and monasteries ofEgypt and some neighbouring countries, tr. B.T.A.Evetts,page 168

[8] Alfred Butler, The invasion of Egypt, page 234

[9] Kamil Salih, Pope Benjamin the First and the Arab inva-sion of Egypt, page 65

[10] Al-Maqrizi, Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar, page 231

[11] Alfred Butler, the invasion of Egypt, page 213

[12] Al-Maqrizi, Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar

[13] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04597c.htm


[15] Al Farooq, Umar ByMuhammadHusaynHaykal. chapterno:19

[16] Butler, Alfred, The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the LastThirty years of Roman Dominion


[18] Alfred Butler, the invasion of Egypt, page 254-255


[20] Andre Raymond, Cairo, transl. Willard Wood, (HarvardUniversity Press, 2000), 10.





8 8 EXTERNAL LINKS


[26] Butler, Alfred, The Arab Invasion of Egypt and the LastThirty years of Roman Dominion

[27] Umar (634-644)", The Islamic World to 1600 Multime-dia History Tutorials by the Applied History Group, Uni-versity of Calgary. Last accessed 20 Oct 2006











[38] Kaegli, Walter. Heraclius: Emperor of Byzantium.

[39] A.I.Akrams Muslim Conquest of Egypt and NorthAfrica, ISBN 978-0-19-597712-7



[42] http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nikiu2_chronicle.htm

[43] The Great Arab Conquests By Hugh Kennedy, page 164












Charles, R. H. The Chronicle of John, Bishop ofNikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text,1916. Reprinted 2007. Evolution Publishing, ISBN978-1-889758-87-9.

8 External links Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of

the Roman Empire Chapter 51 Bishop John NIkiou The Chronicle of John, Bishop

of Nikiu Chapters CXVI-CXXI

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Rashidun invasion of EgyptRashidun army crossing the Egyptian borderConquest of Pelusium and BelbeisSiege of BabylonReinforcements from MadinahBattle of HeliopolisConquering of Fayoum and Babylon

Surrender of Thebaid (Southeastern Egypt)March to AlexandriaConquest of Alexandria and fall of Egypt

Invasion of NubiaConquest of North AfricaStance of the Egyptians towards the invading MuslimsEgypt under Muslim ruleFustat, the new capitalReforms of Caliph Umar

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