Battle of Harura

The Battle of Harura (Yawm Ḥarūrāʾ) took place in late 686 near Kufa, Iraq. It was fought between the forces of Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, the governor of Basra on behalf of his brother Caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, and Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, the ruler of Kufa. It ended with the latter's decisive defeat and the slaying of most of his commanders. In the immediate aftermath, Mus'ab besieged and killed Mukhtar in Kufa, sanctioned the killing of thousands of his sympathizers in the city and annexed Kufa and its dependencies, i.e. the Sawad and Jibal. Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar, Mukhtar's governor over Mosul and its dependencies, i.e. the Jazira, Adharbayjan and Arminiya, afterward defected to Mus'ab. Thus, all of Iraq came under Zubayrid authority as a result of Mus'ab's victory.

Location
Harura was a village or district near Kufa. Based on the description of the 13th-century geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi, historian Michael Fishbein locates it roughly 3 km south of Kufa. According to the medieval sources, during the pre-Islamic period and through the 7th century, Harura was located either on the banks of the Euphrates or one of its canals. By the 9th century, it is described as being in the desert. Historian Laura Veccia Vaglieri concludes that this meant "the hydrographic system of the region had thus probably undergone a transformation".

Background
On 6 August 686, the pro-Alid forces of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, led by Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar, defeated the much larger Umayyad army of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad at the Battle of Khazir. Not long after this major victory, Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr of Basra, urged on by the disaffected Kufan tribal nobility (ashraf), who had taken refuge in Basra and were resentful of Mukhtar's earlier suppression of their revolt, moved against Mukhtar. At the time, relations between the latter and Ibn al-Ashtar, who was posted in Mosul in the eastern Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), had become estranged. This also may have motivated Mus'ab to take advantage of the situation. Mus'ab's forces were led by al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, a Zubayrid general who had gained a reputation for his victories against the Kharijites. He decisively defeated Mukhtar's army at the Battle of Madhar, likely in the late summer of that year.

Combatants
Mus'ab's army at Harura consisted of the troops of Basra and the Kufan troops who had defected from Mukhtar during their rebellion in July 686. The Basrans were divided into fifths, each representing an Arab tribal faction. They were the Banu Bakr, led by Malik ibn Misma al-Bakri, the Abd al-Qays, led by Malik ibn al-Mundhir, the Ahl al-Jibal, led by Qays ibn al-Haytham al-Sulami, the Azd, led by Ziyad ibn Amr al-Ataki and the Banu Tamim, led by al-Ahnaf ibn Qays. In charge of the Kufan troops in Mus'ab's army was Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath. In command of the right wing of Mus'ab's army was al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, the left wing was commanded by Umar ibn Ubaydallah ibn Ma'mar al-Taymi, the cavalry were led by Abbad ibn al-Husayn al-Habati and the infantry were led by Muqatil ibn Misma al-Bakri.

Mukhtar placed Kufa under the command of a certain Abdallah ibn Shaddad and was at the head of his troops in Harura. He installed Abdallah ibn Qurad al-Khath'ami at the head of his shurta (security retinue). The right and left wings of his forces were commanded by Sulaym ibn Yazid al-Kindi and Sa'id ibn Munqidh al-Hamdani, respectively, while his cavalry and infantry were led by Umar ibn Abdallah al-Nahdi and Malik ibn Amr al-Nahdi, the latter a veteran of the Battle of Siffin in 657.

Battle
Upon hearing of Mus'ab's approach toward Kufa by land and river, Mukhtar encamped at al-Saylahin, a place between al-Hirah and al-Qadisiyya, and dammed the Euphrates so that its waters were redirected to fill the canals leading to al-Hirah and al-Qadisiyya, thereby leaving Mus'ab's river boats stuck in mud; these troops disembarked and marched on foot, while Mus'ab and his horsemen destroyed the dam and continued toward Kufa. Mukhtar relocated his camp to Harura.

When Mus'ab's forces neared Harura, Mukhtar sent detachments to confront each of the Basran fifths and the pro-Zubayrid Kufans, while he remained stationary among his troops. Mukhtar's forces made initial gains against the Basran Bakr and Abd al-Qays fifths and pressed forward. They then drove back the Ahl al-Jibal fifth and approached Mus'ab who entrenched himself at an elevated position with his men and shot arrows against Mukhtar's troops. Upon Mus'ab's urging, al-Muhallab, who had remained stationary with the Azd and Tamim fifths, led an assault against Mukhtar's troops and landed them a severe blow, though heavy fighting continued until nightfall. Among the slain were Umar ibn Abd Allah, Malik ibn Amr, Sa'id ibn Munqidh and 70 of his horsemen, Salim ibn Yazid and 90 of his horsemen and Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath and most of his horsemen. Mukhtar fought with his shurta, at least three of whom were slain, along the al-Shabath road at the southern entrance of Kufa, until he was forced to withdraw with his surviving bodyguards to his palace in Kufa. In the summation of historian Gerald R. Hawting, the "advantage gained" by the Zubayrids at Madhar "was pressed home and al-Mukhtar's forces were subsequently virtually destroyed at Harura".

Aftermath
Mus'ab's forces proceeded to enter Kufa and besiege Mukhtar in his palace. The latter's defenders initially put up meager resistance. The siege lasted for four months. At one point during the siege, Mukhtar and 200 defenders made a sortie and dispersed 100 attackers. They returned and the siege was tightened until Mukhtar exited with a few of his men—nineteen according to an account cited by al-Tabari — and made a last stand, in which he was slain. This occurred on 3 April 687.

Pressed by the vengeful Kufan ashraf in his camp, including Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath's son Abd al-Rahman, Mus'ab sanctioned wide-scale killings of Mukhtar's supporters in the city. According to the Orientalist Henri Lammens, Mus'ab "executed a considerable number of his [Mukhtar's] supporters, which earned him as many enemies as his victims had relatives". According to an account by Abu Mikhnaf, Abd Allah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab accused Mus'ab of massacring 7,000 Kufans, while the account of al-Waqidi holds that of the partisans of Mukhtar in the palace who surrendered, Mus'ab executed 700 Arabs and all the Persians and afterward massacred 6,000 Kufan sympathizers. With the elimination of Mukhtar and the subsequent defection of Ibn al-Ashtar to the Zubayrids, Mus'ab gained full control of Iraq and assigned tax collectors to the Sawad and Jibal, both dependent districts of Kufa.