Battle of Nahavand
Nahavand, Hamadan Province, Iran
What happened
The Rashidun Caliphate's army under al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin fought the Sasanian Persian army of Piruz Khosrow (Fīrūzan), serving King Yazdegerd III. After losing at al-Qadisiyyah and losing their capital, the Sasanians gathered a large army at Nahavand in western Iran, in a strong defensive position. The Arab commander al-Nu'man drew them out with small attacks and a pretended retreat. As the Sasanian cavalry chased them over rough ground, the Arabs turned and counter-attacked, and both commanders fell in the final fighting.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It was the end of organised Sasanian resistance and opened Persia to Arab conquest. It completed the fall of one of the great empires of the ancient world.
What came next
King Yazdegerd III fled east and reached Merv in 651. Some former Sasanian lands kept resisting for about a century.
Did you know?
Yazdegerd III, the last Sasanian king, spent his last years on the run in the east of his empire.
Timeline
- 636The Arabs defeat the Sasanians at al-Qadisiyyah.
- 642The Arabs defeat the Sasanian army at Nahavand.
- 651Yazdegerd III dies at Merv.