The causes of the defeat of the
Christian Army
In brief, the Christian army was defeated and the small , muslim army stood
as the conqueror with a clear conquest. The cause of the serious defeat of
the Christians should not be considered based on cowardice of the Christian
army; the real cause had been the extra-ordinary and surprising valour and
diligence of the Muslims. If the cowardice of the Christian army had been
the cause of this defeat, the dead bodies of great chiefs, princes and priests
would not have been visible in the dead bodies in abundance. Soon after the
extinguishing of the war, the whole battle-field had been filled with the
dead bodies. The exact number of the killed Christians cannot be told. It
did happen that as soon as the war came to an end, the whole Muslim army
who had no horses, had changed into the cavalry of the horse-men. These horses
which had been sufficient for all the Muslims, belonged to the Christian
cavalry men who had been killed by the Muslims. These cavalry men could have
run away if they had so desired before being killed. For a week, the number
of the Muslims in the battle-field had not been hidden from the Christian
army. During this period, the Christian had been being provided every kind
of supplies also and their number had also been increasing; but the condition
of the Muslims in this land had been altogether different. The fewer number
of the Muslims must have certainly enhanced the courage and dare of the Christians.
This war had lasted from morning till evening. During this period, both the
armies had full opportunity to do their best and render the others' army
efforts fruitless, but the result betrayed that the Muslims could en defeat
a ten fold army in the same way as they had defeated the eight fold army.
About it, Allah swt commanded;
"If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering,
they will vanquish two hundred; if hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of
the pagans; for
these are a people without understanding." (Anfaal 6:65)
The Gath kingdom of Haspaniah used to defeat the
kingdom of France on one side and the Roman kingdom of
Italy on the other. Its awesome impact had been established on
the continent of Europe. The generals of Haspaniah had always
been successful in the battle-fields with their bravery. This was
before the Muslim conquerors. They had defeated the weak in
the same way as their religion fellows had been defeated by the
Muslims either they ran away or had been overpowered.
The Muslims achieved this Fath-i-Mubeen or open conquest
on fifth Shawwal, 92 A. H. This very date should be considered the date of
the start of the Islamic rule in Andalus. The same day, Tariq sent a messenger
to the governor Musa bin Nusair apprising him of this riding and he himself
got engaged in completing the conquest of the province of Andaloosiyah after
sending batches of Muslim contingents here and there, Musa bin Nusair had
been very pleased to hear the news of this great conquest and sent the tiding
of this conquest through a letter. He, then, resoluted to go to Andalus himself.
He wrote a letter to Tariq also, advising him to maintain possession on the
land on which he had already his possession and not to advance further. After
that, Musa bin Nusair left Qairawan with eighteen thousand soldiers. He appointed
his son as governor in Qairawan on his behalf. When the letter of Ameer Musa
had been received by Tariq, he had conquered the southern part of the peninsula
i.e., Andaloosiyah but the big central cities and the capital Tulaitalah
had been functioning as the cantonments of the armies and it had been apprehended
that the Christians were going to unite and make an attack with full force.
The most important task for Tariq was
that he should advance towards the north without any hesitation and conquer
those cities, one after another, so as to not decrease his awe which had
been prevailing on the Christians. Tariq got the chiefs gathered together
and apprised them of the order of Ameer Musa. All of them suggested that
in the ease of complying with the order of Ameer Musa, there would be a likelihood
of an attack of the from every side resulting in the conquest of Andalus
immensely difficult. Count Julian had also been present with Tariq also advised
not to hesitate in conquering the
country; otherwise the task would become difficult.
Advance of Tariq Towards Cardova
Thus, Tariq advanced towards Cardova. The ruler of Cardova belonged to
the royal family. The absconders of the the valley of Luktah had gathered
together with him. The fort of this city had been very strong and it was
not easy to conquer it. Tariq came there and first he sent the message
to the people of the city to accept his occupation of the city under compromise.
When the answer had been in the negative, the citv was besieged. Considering
not spending more time in this besiege as not fruitful, Tariq left Mugheeth
Al-Roomi at the siege of Cardova and moved to Tulaitalah himself.
Conquest of Tulaitalah
Tariq conquered Tulaitalah very easily in 93 Hijri. He got twenty-five golden
crowns belonging to the Gath kings from the royal treasures of Tulaitalah.
Every crown had the name of the king and the duration of his rule. It means
that by that time twenty-five kings had ruled one after another. A new crown
, had been made for every king and the crown of the dead king had been placed
in the treasure. Tariq did not stay in Tulaitalah also; rather, he reached
the extreme northern province, after conquering the cities. On the other
side, Mugheeth Al-Roomi conquered Cardova and the suburbs, a few days after
.the besiege. In this way, Tariq conquered the middle part of the peninsula
of Andalus, from north to south. Only the provinces to the east and the west
had been left.
Musa Bin Nusair in Andalus
In the meanwhile, Ameer Musa bin Nusair entered Andalus along with his army.
Tariq had left Julian in the province of Andaloosiyah for its administration.
Count Julian first °f all received Ameer Musa. When he found him angry
at Tariq, he submitted very respectfully, "Still, there have been left
many essential cities and western provinces. You, please, adopt the way on
the western side for going to Tulaitalah and thetre will be left no more
danger if you go one conquering the lying on the way". Musa bin Nusair
acted upon the same opinion and reached Tulaitalah, after conquering the
cities on the way. Hearing the news of the arrival into Andalus by Ameer
Musa, Tariq also moved to Tulaitalah. Both Musa and Tariq met each other
in Tulaitalah. Musa rebutted Tariq for not complying with his order and also
imprisoned him for a few days. The object was not only to make Tariq understand,
but that other chiefs also know how necessary it is for the subordinates
to obey the order of the officer. After this warning, he handed over a large
army to Tariq and sent him ahead and he himself followed him. Ameer Musa
kept on confirming and verifying the treaties already entered into. Tariq
and Musa had been engaged in conquering the northern and north western cities
respectively and Abdul Azeez bin Musa, son of Musa bin Nusair started conquering
the southern and eastern lands. Tadmeer r the chief of the king Larzeeq gathered
an army from the southern and eastern lands and came to fight with Abdul
Azeez. Many skirmishes were fought, but he could not face Abdul Azeez in
the open field. He kept hiding in the mountains and attacked from ambush
whenever he had a chance. At last, a compromise had been arrived at between
Abdul Azeez and Tadmeer. Abdul Azeez granted a small estate to Tadmeer, on
which he started ruling. It was stipulated that Tadmeer would not give shelter
to the enemies of the Islamic state and would maintain religious freedom
in every condition. On the other side, Tariq and Musa also had entered the
treaties with the cities on easy conditions. In brief, these were
The Christians will enjoy religious freedom.
No damage will be done to their churches.
All the matters relating to the Christians and the Jew'5 will be settled according
to their religious books and courts settled according to their religion.
No Christian will prohibit any person from embracing Islam
The life, to be
rechecked and property of the Christians will be protected.
Tariq and Musla had also promulgated the orderthat-nohindrance will be caused
against the Ghair Musafi or non militant people at all; the old, women and
children will not be killed; only those persons may be murdered who come to
the battle filed laced with weapons and fight against the Muslims.
Tariq and Musa reached to Jabal Al-Bartat, conquering the
northern and western provinces. Then, they crossed the Jabal Bartat and reached
France. After conquering the southern area of France, the Muslim army went
back to Jabal Al-Bartat due to the severity of winter and non-availability
of supplies. Thereafter Musa bin Nusair intended that he would reach Constantinople,
conquering France, Australia, Italy and Balqan next year. On return, they
conquered the northern and western province, Jaleeqiyyah or Qaleeshia which
had been the place of shelter for the absconders.
Complete Occupation of Andalus Under Islam
Entering Andalus and before moving towards the north from the capital Tulaitalah,
he sent Mugheeth Al-Roomi to the Dar Al-Khiiafah Damascus along with presents
and good tiding of the conquest of the land of Andalus. Mugheeth Al-Roomi
returned from the Dar Al-Khilafah when Musa bin Nusair had conquered Jaleeqiyyah
and had been planning to conquer the remaining countries of Europe after
complete occupation of the land of Andalus. The charter which Mugheeth Al-Roomi
had brought from the Khaleefah or caliph, (hanged the determination of Musa
bin Nusair to dampen.