Subject: ناصر nasir 'companion' warrior
Culture: Arab
Setting: early Islamic community, Middle East 7th-early 8thc
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Medieval warfare illustrated atlas 2025 p88
"While early Byzantines fought well during the first three centuries of their empire's history, it seems that they, and in fact almost everyone else, were definitely not prepared for the horse tactics of the Muslim Arab warriors who stormed across the Arabian peninsula and into Byzantine territory. These troops, organizing as nomadic warriors who rode on horses and camels, were seemingly as accustomed to cavalry warfare as the Huns described by Ammianus Marcellinus .... Yet they should not be thought of as primitive desert-dwellers, fighting without advanced arms and armour or effective strategy and tactics. Indeed, while some undoubtedly fought as light horsemen or 'camelmen', it is known that other, more financially able, cavalry fought in heavy chain armour and helmets. Additionally, as far as effective strategy and tactics are concerned, the proof seems to come in their early military history. As cavalry-dominant armies, they were successful in piling up victory after victory against less religiously motivated enemies, including the once very powerful Persians, until they encountered the Byzantine Empire. Even then, the Byzantines were only able to stop Muslim military progress in Asia Minor, losing all of their Middle Eastern and North African lands in the process. Some historians also credit the Arab Muslim cavalry with introducing the Arabian horse to the cavalries of Europe. Others suggest that this breed was known to the Romans, and that, in fact, Byzantine cavalry horses were also Arabians."
* Nicolle/McBride 1982 p9-10
"It is generally agreed that Muslim armies developed considerably from the time of Muhammad to the Abbasid revolution (750AD), and that the reforms of Marwan II, the last Umayyad Caliph of Damascus, marked a change from primitive Arab tribal armies to more professional forces. Yet a closer investigation suggests that Marwan's reforms reflected military changes rather than stimulating them. The death of the Caliph Ali in 661AD and the consequent establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate as a dynastic state might provide a more appropriate watershed.
"It has recently been suggested that 7th-century Arabia was not poor in weapons, considering its small population and the fact that a high proportion of these were warriors. The merchant bourgeoisie of the Hijaz lived in houses that were veritable arsenals, and these clan or tribal weapons stores ensured domination of vital trade routes across bedouin-controlled territory. Such arsenals were also increased by tribute from subordinate families and by steady imports of arms. Apart from locally made iron weaponry, other equipment such as felt armour and shields of various leathers were produced in and around Arabia.
"Although early Arab verses cannot be regarded as a literal guide to the military situation in 6th- and 7th-century Arabia, statistics based upon poetry suggest that armour was common although helmets were rare. These also indicate that sword and spear dominated the battlefield.
"The first Muslims apparently fought in close ranks for moral support. By this means Muhammad's outnumbered warriors defeated their pagan foes. Such disciplined formations, which almost inevitably led to higher casualties, were normal in the professional armies of Byzantium and Iran, but were contrary to previous Arab practice. Javelins were sometimes used before the opposing forces came into physical contact. Such tactics were almost certainly inspired by the re-organised armies of 6th-century Byzantium, although in Islam the infantry bow may have been preferred to the javelin. According to the earliest surviving biography of the Prophet the rôle of the archers was for such skirmishing, as well as protecting the infantry's flanks against enemy cavalry. Again, the tactical concept is comparable to that evolved in Byzantium."
* Nicolle 2011 p
"
Sword
* al-Hassan/Hill 1986 p96-97
"The sword (sayf) was the main weapon of Islamic warriors, both infantry and cavalry; it was used for personal defence, hand-to-hand fighting and single combat. Indeed, swords were the most highly esteemed of all weapons and were often given names; we have a record of many of these from the earliest days of Islam and throughout the medieval period. Yet it is not possible to identify a typical Islamic sword, because the construction, length and shape varied from one area to another. In Arabia one of the distinguishing marks of a tribe was the length of the swords used by its members. The curved 'scimitar', often regarded as typical of Islamic weaponry, did not come into use until quite late -- it may have appeared in the eighth century AH (fourteenth century AD), though the actual date of its appearance is still undecided. [....]
"Swords were manufactured at a number of centres, though Indian swords were also in use in Arabia in pre-Islamic times and later. At the Battle of Yamama in 12 AH/AD 633 the Muslims' opponents were armed with Indian swords, and there are frequent references to them in the works of Islamic poets."
