ARABS: NATIVESDumat Jandal, the Arabs of the Jazira, angered by the death of 'Aqqa,
joined the Persian forces under Zarmihr and Riizbih who were sent
to reinforce the strongholds along the Byzantine frontier. 56 The strong-
hold of Thani, to the east of Rusafa, was occupied by Rabfa ibn
Bujayr the Taghlibl, while Hilal ibn 'Aqqa of the Banii Namir held
Rudab.s7 The entire garrison at Thani was slaughtered by Khalid in
a night attack, although its dependents were taken captive. The Arabs
of Namir were also slaughtered at the nearby fortress of Zumayl and
their women were taken captive. After the fall of Zumayl, Hilal ibn
'Aqqa fled from Rudab as Khalid approached Firad on the Byzantine
border. Hilal seems to have rallied both Byzantine and Persian frontier
forces together with thirty thousand Arabs of the tribes of Iyad, Namir,
and Taghlib. These combined forces were defeated by Khalid in a
battle fought at Firad on the ides of Dhii I-Qa'da, 633, in which the
Muslims are said to have inflicted one hundred thousand casualties. 58
Thus, it is somewhat surprising to find that Muthanna was joined
prior to the Battle of Buwayb by the Christians of Namir under Anas
ibn Hilal ibn 'Aqqa and by Christians of Taghlib under Ibn Mirda
al-Fihr.59 During this battle the Persian general, Mihran, was killed
by a Christian Arab youth (Ar. ghuliim) of the tribe of Taghlib, who
mounted the general's horse only to have Muthanna award the animal
to his cavalry captain (Ar. $iil}ib al-khayl) as his booty.60
As destructive as they were, the effects of Khalid's raid were limited
to the periphery of Iraq. Most of the action was along the desert border
sou~west of the Euphrates. It was only after the Battle of Buwayb
that the really devastating raids in the Sawad and central Mesopotamia
began. One reason for this is that the Battle of Buwayb marked the
failure of the Persian counterattack in the Sawad and of the Persian
attempt to protect the Sawad from Muslim Arab raids. After Buwayb,
everything southwest of the Tigris became vulnerable. The destruc-
tiveness of these raids may also be explained partly by the general
situation of the Muslim forces in the Fertile Crescent. Khalid had left
for Syria where the main contest with the Byzantines was being pressed,
and after the defeat and death of Abii 'Ubayd at the Battle of the
Bridge, few new reinforcements and no supplies were available to the
force under Muthanna in Iraq. In the interval between Buwayb and
56 Tabari, Ta'rjl.h, I, 2067.
57 Ibid., I, 2072-73.
58 Ibid., I, 2073-74.
59 Ibid., I, 2190.
60 Ibid., I, 2192.