April 633 AD, Kazima — modern-day Kuwait
The Battle of Chains was the first collision between the young Rashidun Caliphate and the Sasanian Persian Empire and the opening shot of the Arab conquest of Iraq. It set the pattern for everything Khalid ibn al-Walid would do in Persia: speed against weight, desert mobility against imperial heavy infantry.
Background
After the Ridda Wars, Caliph Abu Bakr had reunited Arabia. On the northeastern frontier, a tribal chief named Muthana ibn Haritha al-Shaybani had been raiding Persian towns in Mesopotamia with light cavalry — hit the town, disappear into the desert. The raids brought back booty and intelligence.
Muthana went to Medina to report. Abu Bakr saw the opportunity and made two decisions: the army would be entirely volunteers, and it would be commanded by his best general, Khalid ibn al-Walid, who had just finished defeating Musailima at Yamama.
In the third week of March 633 AD, Khalid set out from Yamama with 10,000 men. On the way, tribal chiefs — Muthana, Mazhur bin Adi, Harmala and Sulma — joined him with 2,000 each, bringing his force to 18,000.
Before moving, Khalid wrote to Hormozd, the Persian governor of Dast Meisan, the frontier district:
"Submit to Islam and be safe. Or agree to the payment of the Jizya, and you and your people will be under our protection, or else you will have only yourself to blame for the consequences, for I bring the men who desire death as ardently as you desire life.
Hormozd informed Ctesiphon and gathered a force at Uballa — the important Sasanian port near modern Basra — consisting of Sasanian regulars and Christian Arab auxiliaries. Modern estimates put it at 15,000-20,000; early Islamic sources say 80,000.
Khalid's Strategy
The Sasanian army was one of the most powerful and best-equipped armies of the time, ideal for a set-piece, head-on confrontation. Its weakness was mobility — heavily armed, slow, easily exhausted by marches.
Khalid's troops were the opposite: mounted on camels with war-horses ready for cavalry attacks. His plan was to force the Persians to march and counter-march until they were worn out, then strike.
Geography helped. There were two routes to Uballa: via Kazima or via Hufair. Khalid let Hormozd know he was coming via Kazima, the direct route from Yamama.
The Manoeuvre Before the Battle
Expecting Khalid at Kazima, Hormozd marched from Uballa to Kazima. No Muslims there. Scouts then reported Khalid was moving toward Hufair — only 21 miles from Uballa, threatening his base.
Hormozd ordered an immediate forced march to Hufair, 50 miles away. Khalid waited at Hufair until his scouts reported Hormozd's hurried approach, then slipped through the desert back toward Kazima.
On arrival at Hufair, Hormozd learned Khalid was now marching to Kazima. He could not leave the Kazima route uncovered, so he ordered his exhausted, heavily armed army to turn around again for Kazima.
The Persians arrived at Kazima in a state of exhaustion.
Why Chains?
At Kazima, Hormozd deployed in the standard Sasanian formation — centre and two wings under generals Qubaz and Anoshagan.
To prevent a breakthrough, his men linked themselves together with chains.
"This lessened the danger of a breakthrough by enemy cavalry, as with the men linked together in chains it was not easy for cavalry groups to knock down a few men and create a gap for penetration. Since the Sassanid army was organised and trained for the set-piece battle, this tactic enabled it to stand like a rock in the face of an enemy assault. But the chains had one major drawback: in case of defeat, the men were incapable of withdrawal, for then the chains acted as fetters. It was the use of chains that gave this battle its name."
It was both a tactical anchor and a vow: we will not run.
Khalid deployed with the desert behind his army — a deliberate choice so they could retreat into the desert if defeated, where Persian heavy cavalry could not follow.
The Battle
The exhausted Persian army could not stand long. The Muslims penetrated the Persian front in many places. Sensing defeat, Qubaz and Anoshagan ordered their wings to withdraw, causing a general retreat.
"Most of the Persians who were not chained managed to escape, but those who were chained together were unable to move fast, and thousands of them were slain."
Hormozd himself was killed in the fighting — tradition says Khalid duelled him before the main engagement and killed him.
Casualties were low for the Muslims and high for the Persians.
Aftermath
Kazima opened Iraq.
In the next four months, Khalid defeated Persian armies in three more battles — the Battle of River, Battle of Walaja, and Battle of Ullais — and captured Al-Hirah, the main Sasanian stronghold west of the Euphrates and gateway to inner Iraq.
Abu Bakr did not initially authorise a deeper push into the Sasanian heartland; he ordered Khalid to consolidate Hira and win over its population. After nine months in Iraq, Khalid was then sent west to command the conquest of Syria.
Significance:
- First outward battle: It was the first battle where the Caliphate deliberately extended its frontiers beyond Arabia.
- Proof of concept: Light, tribal, mobile forces could defeat a superpower's set-piece army if they controlled the tempo.
- Psychological: The image of chains became a warning — Sasanian rigidity vs. Muslim mobility. The Persians never used the chain tactic again.
Hj Zulheimy Maamor
23 October 2026: 1:37 a.m.
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