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Muslim conquest of Egypt
Part of the Muslim conquests and Byzantine-Arab Warslick
Date 639–642 Location Egypt, Lybia Result Rashidun victory. Territorial changes Muslim annexed Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan.
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Rashidun Caliphate
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Heraclius Theodorus Cyrus of Alexandria	Caliph Umar Amr ibn al-Aas Zubair ibn al-Awam Miqdad bin Al-Aswad Ubaida bin As-Samit Kharija bin Huzafa

At the commencement of the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople. However, it had been occupied just a decade before by the Persian Empire under Khosrau II (616 to 629 AD). Emperor Heraclius re-captured Egypt after series of brilliant campaigns against Sassanid Persians, only to once again lose it to the nearly un-stoppable Rashidun army ten years later. Before the Muslim conquest of Egypt began, Byzantine Empire had every thing it had, its economical power was destroyed once Rashidun army conquered Levant, it had lost all its trade routes and sea ports. Its hub for manpower, the Ghassanid Kingdom and Armenia were already captured By the Muslims, this all left Byzantine Empire dangerously exposed and vulnerable for the invaders.

Byzantine Egypt

It was also religiously alienated. The Dyophysitism of the Byzantines held to the doctrine of Christ having two natures, one divine and one human. In Egypt however the christological position of Miaphysitism (Oriental Orthodox Christianity) that prevailed, which supported the doctrine of Christ having one united nature where the Divinity and Humanity were inseparably united. Although the Christian Council of Chalcedon, held in 451, had ruled in favor of the Dyophysite position, Egypt had remained a stronghold of Miaphysitism. So, with the restoration of Byzantine political control in 629, Emperor Heraclius began persecuting the Copts whom he erroneously considered Monophysites, expelling their patriarch (Oriental Orthodox are in fact miaphysites and not monophysites).

Rise of Caliphate

The Islamic Prophet Mohammad died in June 632, and Abu Bakr was appointed Caliph and political successor at Medina. Soon after Abu Bakr's succession, several Arab tribes revolted against in the Ridda wars (Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy). The Campaign of the Apostasy was fought and completed during the eleventh year of the Hijri. The year 12 Hijri dawned, on March 18, 633, with Arabia united under the central authority of the Caliph at Medina.

Whether Abu Bakr intended a full-out imperial conquest or not is hard to say; he did, however, set in motion a historical trajectory that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history, beginning with confrontation with the Lakhmids, an Arab client of the Persian Empire under the general Khalid ibn al-Walid, Rashidun armies invaded Byzantine Empire by attacking Syria in April 634, Byzantine armies were annihilated in the decisive Battle of Yarmouk fought in August 636 and by 638 all of Levant, Jazira most of Armenia and eastern Anatolia were under Muslim control. Emperor Heraclius who had once re-captured Levant from the mighty Sassanid Persians, was no longer able to attempt a military come back in Levant after losing his bulk of imperial troops at Yarmouk and in northern Syria. Heraclius had already abandoned the forts west of Tarsus to create a no-man-zoon between Muslim controlled areas and Byzantine territory. Muslims had already captured the strategic trade routes and sea ports in Levant, Mesopotamia and Iraq. Anatolia was at the mercy of Caliph Umar, who rather then expanding his domain deeper into Anatolia and Byzantine Empire, choose to consolidate his power in Levant, it was apparently against Caliph Umar's policy to expand empire through continues warfare, he stressed on consolidating power in conquered land first before moving a head, a fact due to which he ruled his empire with iron fist and the empire thus built is still in Muslim’s hands. Moreover thanks to dismissal of Khalid from army and consecutive plague and famine that Byzantines were able to hold on Anatolia and its African territories.

Expedition to Egypt

Eighteenth dynasty painting from the tomb of Theban governor Ramose in Deir el-Madinah.

On Caliph Umar's visit to Syria to accept the surrender of Jerusalem, Amr ibn al-Aas, then military governor of Palestine tried to pursue Caliph for the invasion of Egypt. Umar rejected the proposal as Levant was not firmly in Muslims hand and Byzantines were still in control of territories north of Syria. The year 638 and 639 were marked by the tragic events of famine in Arabia and plague in Syria respectively. After the great plague, in late 639 Caliph Umar visited Syria to re-organized its military and governmental structure, which was severely effected by the death of several note able governors and military commander, most importantly the supreme governor of Syria Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. At this state Amr ibn al-Aas, who was governor of Palestine and then acting as a care-taking governor of Levant, once again waited on Umar. Caliph was already aware of the Fact that southern borders were insecure and there was always a possibility of Roman incursion via Egypt at Palestine and southern Levant. Where as the northern borders with Romans were secured by invading Anatolia and Armenia moreover Romans were kept on bay by annual raids and plundering in Anatolia, so Umar was explained and convinced by Amr to secure southern borders with Byzantines by Invading Egypt, an easy target due to religious unrest and Byzantines inability to concentrate sizeable troops after loosing bulk of its trained manpower at Yarmouk and northern Syria, more over Byzantines had already lost their resourceful province of Levant and their hub for man power, Armenia, so their was less chances of any relentless resistance and massive troop movements by Byzantines. In addition to this Amr is reported to have said:

“ O Commander of the Faithful, permit me to march on Egypt. It will be a source of strength and sustenance for the Muslims. It is the richest of lands on earth . ”

Umar was not favorably inclined to the proposal of whole scale invasion of Egypt, and rather was more or less inclined to repeating the same strategy, as on northern borders, of raids and plundering to diminish the morale and resources of Byzantine thus preventing them from any possible incursion at Palestine. Amr however persisted. Ultimately Umar gave way decided to put the matter to Majlis al Shura at Madinah.

In Madinah, the views and suggestions of the members of Majlis al Shura were mixed; while few supported the invasion other simply viewed it as a dangerous decision of putting the Caliphate's army in the struggle of life and death. Many were of the view that Amr have a thrust for "throne" and therefore want to conquer Egypt only to govern this rich land. Uthman, who would become the thrid Rashidun Caliph, was most prominent among them. Nevertheless, Majlis al Shura, finally gave decision in favor of the invasion of Egypt. Caliph Umar, though still reluctant to expand his empire, wrote a historic letter to Amr to march on Egypt.

Muslim invasion of Egypt

Pyramids of Gizah.

In December 639 Amr left for Egypt with 4,000 soldiers only, Umar on second thought considered that it was idle to expect to conquer such a large country as Egypt with vast manpower and resources with a meager force of 4,000. Umar accordingly wrote a letter to Amr asking him to come back. A post script was however added: If you receive this letter when you have already crossed into Egypt then you may proceed. Allah will help you and I will also send such reinforcement as may be needed. The letter was sent through a special messenger Uqba bin Amr. Uqba caught up Amr at Rafat a little short of the frontier. Guessing what might be in the letter, Amr ordered the army to quicken up its speed. Turning to Uqba, Amr said that he would receive the Caliph's letter from him when the army had halted after the day's journey. Uqba being not aware of the contents of the letter agreed and marched along with the army. The Muslim army halted for the night at Shajratein. This was a place well within the Egyptian territory. Now the Caliph's letter was received and read. Amr consulted his companions as to the course of action to be adopted. The unanimous view was that as they had received the letter on the Egyptian soil, they had the permission to proceed. To the Caliph, Amr wrote:

“ We have received your letter when we have reached Egypt. Therefore in the fulfillment of destiny we proceed seeking Allah's blessing. ”

When Umar received the reply, he decided to watch further developments and started concentrating fresh forces at Madinah, that would be dispatch to Egypt as reinforcement. From Shajratein, the Muslim army marched to El Arish. It was a small town where there was no garrison. No resistance was offered and the citizens offered allegiance on the usual terms. That was the Eid al-Adha day, a Muslim festival. The Muslims celebrated the Eid festival their. In the later part of December 639 the Muslim army reached Pelusium. It was a fortified town manned by a Byzantine garrison. The Muslims besieged the town. The siege dragged on for two months. Towards the fall of February 640 an assault group led by a prominent field commander Useifa ibn Wala assaulted the fort and city was captured by the Muslims. Armanousa, the daughter of Cyrus who fiercely resisted the Muslims in Pelusium and fell hostage in their hands, be sent to her father in the Babylon Fortress. After the fall of Pelusium the Muslims marched to Bilbeis 40 miles from Memphis. It was a fortified town, and the Muslims besieged it. The siege lasted for a month, and towards the end of March 640 the city surrendered to the Muslims. From Bilbeis the Muslims marched to Babylon. Amr had visualized that the conquest of Egypt would be a walk over. This expectation was belied. Even at the outposts of Pelusium and Bilbeis the Muslims had to meet stiff resistance. The siege of Pelusium had lasted for two months and that of Bilbeis for one month. Babylon was a larger and more important city, Close to it was Memphis the ancient capital of the Pharaohs. Here resistance on a larger scale was expected. Amr nevertheless persevered and pushed on to Babylon. Meanwhile the reinforcement at Madinah was almost ready to march. After the fall of Bilbeis the Muslims advanced to Babylon. Modern Cairo is not far from what at one time was known as Babylon. The Muslims arrived before Babylon some time in May 640 A.D. Babylon was a fortified city, and the Byzantines had prepared it for a siege. Outside the city, a ditch had been dug, and a large force was positioned in the area between the ditch and the city walls. Muslims besieged the fort of Babylon some time in May 640. The fort was a massive structure 60 ft. high with walls more than 6 ft. thick and studded with numerous towers and bastions. As soon as Amr arrived at Babylon he formed up his force of 4,000 men in assault formation and attacked the Byzantine positions in front of him it led to some hard fighting, and the attack was repulsed by the Byzantines. Amr pulled his men back and went into camp near the east bank of the Nile. Early Muslim sources place the strength of the Byzantine force in Babylon about six times the strength of the Muslim force. For next two months the fighting remained inconclusive, with Byzantines having an upper hand by repulsing every Muslim assault. In July, Amr wrote to Umar asking for reinforcement, before the letter could reach Caliph, Umar had already dispatched first reinforcement of 4000 strong. The army mostly comprises of the veterans of Syrian campaigns. Even with this reinforcement, Amr got no success. It was not until the final reinforcement under Zubair joined Muslim forces in Egypt, that Muslim got success. By August 640, Umar's concentration of the 4000 strong elite force had completed. It comprised four columns each column was one thousand strong and commanded by its own commander, while Zubair ibn al-Awam, a renowned warrior and commander, veteran of Battle of Yarmouk and once a part of Khalid ibn Walid's elite force mobile guard, was appointed the supreme commander of army. Umar indeed offered Zubair the Chief command and governorship of Egypt, which Zubair didn't accept. Other commanders were Miqdad bin Al-Aswad; Ubaida bin As-Samit, and Kharija bin Huzafa. Each Commander was famous in military prowess to be equal to a thousand men, and was the counterpart of Persian Hazer Mard or Roman gladiators. This reinforcement arrived at Babylon sometime in September 640. The total strength of the Muslim force now rose to 12,000, quite a modest strength to resume offensive. Ten miles from Babylon was Heliopolis. It was the city of the Sun Temple of the Pharaohs. There was the danger that some Byzantine force from Heliopolis might attack the Muslims from the flank while it was engaged with the Byzantine army at Babylon. With some detachments Amr and Zubeir marched to Heliopolis. There was a cavalry clash outside Heliopolis, the engagement was not decisive. At an unguarded point, Zubeir and some of his picked soldiers scaled the wall of the city, (similar to what Khalid did at Siege of Damascus]] and after overpowering the guards opened the gates for the main Muslim army to enter the city. The city was thus captured by the Muslims. Amr and Zubair returned to Babylon. The Byzantines now bolder then ever before, had began to sally forth across the ditch, though were little successful. Their have been a stalemate between Muslim and Byzantine forces at Babylon, to break this stalemate Muslim high command devised an ingenious strategy and inflicted heavy casualties on Byzantines by encircling them, though Byzantines were able to retreat back to the fort but were left too weak for any offensive. This situation forced Byzantines to enter in negotiations with Muslims. The Byzantine General Theodorus shifted his headquarter to Isle of Rauda. While Cyrus of Alexandria, popularly known as ‘’’Maquaqas’’’ in Muslim history entered in negotiations with Muslim, which failed to give any productive results. Emissaries were also exchanged between Byzantine commander Theodorus and Muslim commander Amr ibn Aas. Amr also went to see Theodorus in person. After all negotiations failed on the 20 December when it was a moonless night, Zubeir and his picked warriors managed to scale the wall, killing the guards they open the gates for the Muslim army to enter. The city of Babylon was captured by the Muslims on 21 December 640. However Theodorus and his army managed to slipped away to island of Rauda during night.

Surrender of Thebaid (South eastern Egypt)

On the 22nd December, Cyrus of Alexandria of entered into a treaty with the Muslims. By the treaty, Muslim suzerainty over the whole of Egypt, anf effectively on Thebaid, was recognized, and the Egyptians agreed to pay Jizya at the rate of 2 diners per male adult. The treaty was subject to the approval of the emperor Heraclius, but Cyrus of Alexandria stipulated that even if the emperor repudiated the treaty, he and the Copts of whom he was the High Priest would honor the terms of the treaty, recognize the supremacy of the Muslims and pay them Jizya. Cyrus of Alexandria submitted a report to Heraclius and asked for his approval to the terms of the treaty. He also offered reasons in justification of the acceptance of the terms of the treaty. Amr submitted a detailed report to Umar and asked for his further instructions. When Umar received the report of Amr bin Al-Aas about the conquest of Babylon and the treaty with Cyrus of Alexandria, he wrote back to say that he approved of the terms provided Heraclius agreed to submit to them. He desired that as soon as the reactions of Heraclius were known, he should be informed so that further necessary instructions might be issued. Heraclius's reaction to the report of Cyrus of Alexandria was violent. He removed Cyrus of Alexandria from the Viceroyship of Egypt, but he remained the Head of the Coptic Church. This was a matter in which the emperor could not interfere. Heraclius sent strict orders to the Commander-in-chief of the Byzantine forces in Egypt that the Muslims should be driven from the soil of Egypt. Cyrus of Alexandria waited on Amr and told him that Heraclius had repudiated the treaty of Babylon. Cyrus of Alexandria assured Amr that so far as the Copts were concerned the terms of the treaty would be followed. Amr reported these developments to Umar, and Umar desired that before the Byzantines could gather further strength the Muslims should strike at them and drive them from Alexandria. It is recorded that Cyrus of Alexandria asked for three favors from the Muslims, namely:

1. Do not break your treaty with the Copts;
2. If the Byzantines after this repudiation ask for peace, do not make peace with them, but treat them as captives and slaves; and
3. When I am dead allow me to be buried in the Church of St. John at Alexandria.

This position was to the advantage of the Muslims. The Copts were the real natives of the land of Egypt. Both the Byzantines and the Muslims were strangers. Though some Copts from personal considerations continued to support the Byzantines, the sympathies of the Copts were now by and large with the Muslims. The Copts were not supposed to fight against the Byzantines on behalf of the Muslims but they undertook to help the Muslims in the promotion of war effort, help them in the provision of stores; build roads and bridges for them; and provide them moral support.

Conquest of Alexandria and fall of Egypt

Ancient Roman theaters in Alexandria.

Byzantine commanders knew that after Babylon the next target of the Muslims will be Alexandria. They accordingly prepared for the siege to be laid on the city. Their strategy was to tie down Muslims at Alexandria and destroy their power through continues sallies and attacks from the fort, thus demoralizing them morally and physically. It would be more a war of patience then power. In February 641, Amr set off with his army from Babylon and the destination was Alexandria. At each stage, Byzantines had left regiments to delay and if possible inflict heavy losses one the advancing Muslim troops. On the third day of their march from Babylon the Muslims advance guard encountered a Byzantine detachment at Tarnut on the west bank of the Nile. Though Byzantines failed to inflict heavy losses, but nevertheless delayed the advance by one more day. Muslim high command decided to halt the main army at Tarnut and send the advance guard cavalry farward to clear the way from the possible Byzantine detechments. This was done so that with out further delay the main army could reach Alexandria as soon as possible with out being stopped mid way due to the Byzantine detachments. Twenty miles from Tarnut, Shareek, the Byzantine detachment that withdrew from Tarnut yesterday, joined the detachment already present at Shareek to form a strong offensive force, they attacked and routed the Muslim advance guard. The next day before The Byzantine could resume their offensive to annihilate the Muslim advance guard, the main Muslim army had arrived and the Byzantines found safety in withdrawal. At this point Muslim high command decided not to send forward the advance guard and whole army marched forward. The following day the Muslims resumed their march and reached Sulteis where they encountered a Byzantine detachment. Some hard fighting followed, but the Byzantine resistance soon broke down and they withdrew to Alexandria. The Muslims halted at Sulteis for a day and then resumed the march to Alexandria. Alexandria was still two day march from Sulteis. After one day's march the Muslim forces arrived at Kirayun twelve miles from Alexandria. Here the Muslim advance to Alexandria was blocked up by a Byzantine detachment about 20,000 strong. The strategy of the Byzantines was that the Muslims should be driven away before they actually arrived at Alexandria or to be weaken as much as possible. The two forces were deployed for action, and some hard fighting followed but the action remained indecisive. This state of affairs persisted for ten days. On the last day the Muslims launched a vigorous assault. The Byzantine resistance broke down, and they withdrew to Alexandria. The way to Alexandria having been cleared, the Muslim forces resumed the march from Kirayun and reached the outskirts of Alexandria some time in March 641 A D. The Muslims appeared before Alexandria in March 641 and laid siege to the city. Alexandria was heavily fortified. There were walls behind walls, and forts within forts. There was no dearth of provisions and food supply in the city. The city had direct access to the sea, and through the sea route help from Constantinople in men and material could come any time. As Amr surveyed the military situation, he felt that Alexandria would be a hard nut to crack. The Byzantines had high stakes in Alexandria, and they were determined to offer stiff resistance to the Muslims. The Byzantines mounted catapults on the walls of the city, and these engines pounded the Muslims with boulders. This caused considerable damage to the Muslims and Amr ordered his men back from the advance position so that they might be beyond the range of these missiles. A see-saw war followed. When the Muslims tried to go close to the city they were pounded with missiles. When the Byzantines sallied from the fort, they were invariably beaten back by the Muslims. It is said that Heraclius the Byzantine emperor collected a large reinforcement at Constantinople. He intended to march at the head of this reinforcement personally to Alexandria. Before he could finalize the arrangements he died. The reinforcement mustered at Constantinople dispersed, and no help came to Alexandria. This demoralized Byzantines further. The siege dragged on for six months, and in Madinah Umar got impatient. In a letter addressed to Amr the Caliph expressed his concern at the inordinate delay in the conquest of Egypt. He further instructed that the new field commander will be Ubada, and would launch the assault at the fort of Alexandria. Ubada's assault was successful and Alexandria was captured by Muslims in September 641. Thousand of Byzantine soldiers were killed or taken captive while other managed to flight to Constantinople through ships that stood anchored in the port. Some wealthy traders also left. On behalf of the Egyptians, Cyrus of Alexandria sued for peace, and peace was allowed. In his report to the Caliph, Amr reported: After the conquest of Egypt Amr is reported to have written to Caliph Umar:

“ We have conquered Alexandria. In this city there are 4,000 palaces, 400 places of entertainment, and untold wealth. ”

The permanent loss of the Egypt left the Byzantine Empire without an irreplaceable source of food and money. The loss of Egypt and Syria, followed later by the conquest of the Exarchate of Africa also meant that the Mediterranean, long a "Roman lake", was now contested between two powers: the Muslim Caliphate and the Byzantines. In the event, the Byzantine Empire, although sorely tested, would be able to hold on to Anatolia, while the mighty walls of Constantinople would save it, during two great Arab sieges, from the fate of the Persian Empire.

Expedition to Nubia

The land of Nubia lay to the south of Egypt. It stretched from Aswan to Khartoum and from the Red Sea to the Libyan Desert. The Nubians were Christians and were ruled by a king. The capital of the kingdom was Dongola. In the summer of 642, Amr bin Al-Aas sent an expedition to Nubia under the command of his cousin Uqba bin Nafe. The expedition was ordered by Amr bin Aas on his own account and it appears that the approval of Umar to the undertaking of the expedition was not sought. Amr bin Al-Aas thought that the victory over the Nubians would be an easy affair and that he would inform the Caliph after he had conquered another land. Uqba bin Nafe who later made a great name for himself as the Conqueror of Africa, and led his horse to the Atlantic complaining that there were no lands left for him to conquer in the way of Allah came in for an unhappy experience in Nubia. In Nubia, no pitched battle was fought. There were only skirmishes and haphazard engagements and in such type of warfare the Nubians excelled the Muslims. The Nubians were skilful archers and subjected the Muslims to a merciless barrage of arrows. The arrows were aimed at the eyes and in the encounter 250 Muslims lost their eyes. The Nubians were very fast in their movements. The Muslim cavalry was known for its speed and mobility, but it was no match for the Nubian horse riders. The Nubians would strike hard against the Muslims, and then vanish before the Muslims could recover their balance and take counter action. The hit-and-run raids by the Nubians caused considerable damage to the Muslims. Uqba wrote to Amr bin Al-Aas of the state of affairs. He said that the Nubians avoided pitched battle, and in the guerilla tactics that they followed the Muslims were the sufferers Uqba further came to know that Nubia was a very poor land, and there was nothing therein worth fighting for or to tempt by way of booty. Thereupon Amr bin Al-Aas asked Uqba to withdraw from Nubia. Uqba accordingly pulled out of Nubia with his forces.

Expedition to North Africa

After the failure of the campaign of Nubia in the south Amr bin Al-Aas decided to undertake campaigns in the west. Some time in September 642, Amr led his troops to the west. After one month of marching the Muslim forces reached the city of Pentapolis. From Burqa, Uqba bin Nafe was sent at the head of a column to undertake a campaign against Fezzan. Uqba marched to Zaweela the capital of Fezzan. No resistance was offered, and the entire district of Fezzan, what is present day north-western Libya, submitted to the Muslims. After the conquest of Fezzan, Uqba returned to Burqa, soon after the Muslim army marched westward from Burqa. They arrived at Tripoli in the spring of 643 A.D and laid siege to the city. After a siege of one month the city was captured by Muslims. From Tripoli, Amr sent a column to Sabrata a city forty miles from Tripoli. A feeble resistance was put up, and thereafter the city surrendered and agreed to pay Jizya. From Tripoli Amr is reported to have written to the Caliph the details of the operations in the following words:

“ We have conquered Burqa, Tripoli and Sabrata. The way to the west is clear, and if the Commander of the Faithful wishes to conquer more lands, we could do so with the grace of God. ”

Umar however didn't approve of for the further conquest and ordered to consolidate position in Egypt, and issued strict orders that there should be no further campaigning. Amr bin Al-Aas accordingly abandoned Tripoli and Burqa and returned to Fustat. This was towards the close of the year 643 A.D.

Egypt under Muslim rule

Rashidun Empire at its peak under third Rashidun Caliph, Uthman- 654

  Strongholds of Rashidun Caliphate

The ease with which this valuable province was wrenched from the Byzantine Empire appears to have been due to the treachery of the governor of Egypt, Cyrus, Melchite (i.e., Byzantine–Chalcedonian Orthodox, not Coptic) Patriarch of Alexandria, and the incompetence of the generals of the Byzantine forces. Cyrus had persecuted the local Coptic Christians. He is one of the authors of monothelism, a seventh century heresy, and some supposed him to have been secretly a convert to Islam. An attempt was made in the year 645 to regain Alexandria for the Byzantine Empire, but it was retaken by Amr in 646. In 654 an invasion fleet sent by Constans II was repulsed. From that time no serious effort was made by the Byzantines to regain possession of the country. There was a general misconception that the Muslims were assisted by some Copts, although a few of the Copts did find the Muslims more tolerant than the Byzantines. In return for a tribute of money and food for the troops of occupation, the Christian inhabitants of Egypt were excused from military service and left free in the observance of their religion and the administration of their affairs. Others sided with the Byzantines, hoping that they would provide a defense against the Arab invaders.

Fusta, the new Capital

With the fall of Alexandria the Muslims were the masters of Egypt. When the Muslims conquered Egypt, Alexandria was the capital of the country. When the Muslims conquered Alexandria, most of the Byzantine population evacuated the city. The vacant houses were occupied by the Muslims. Alexandria was the queen of cities. Amr bin Al-Aas and the other Muslims with him were much attracted by the city. Amr wanted to make Alexandria the capital of Muslim Egypt. Amr wrote to Umar seeking his permission to make Alexandria the capital of the province. Umar rejected the proposal on the basis that Alexandria was a maritime city and there will always a danger of Byzantine naval attacks. He suggested that the capital should be established further inland at a central place, where no mass of water intervened between it and Arabia. As per treaty with Cyrus of Alexandria, the wealth of Egyptians in Alexandria was spared and that of Romans and Greeks was taken as booty. Greek civilians were given a choice, whether a safe passage to return to Greek land with out their wealth, or stay in Alexandria and pay Jaziya. Some choose to stay, while others went to Byzantine lands. Amr next proceeded to choose a suitable site for the capital of Egypt. His choice fell on the site where he had pitched his tent at the time of the battle of Babylon. His tent had been fixed about a quarter of a mile north east of the fort. It is reported that after the battle was over, and the army was to march to Alexandria when the men began to pull down the tent and pack it for the journey it was found that a dove had nested on top of the tent and fail eggs. Amr ordered that the tent should remain standing where it was. The army marched away but the tent remained standing in the plain of Babylon. In this unusual episode of the dove and its nest, Amr saw a sign from the Heaven. He decided "Where the dove laid its nest, let the people build their city". As Amr's tent was to be the focal point of the city, the city was called Fustat, which in Arabic means the tent. The first structure to be built was the mosque which later became famous as Mosque of Amr bin Al-Aas. The city of Fustat was built east of Babylon. In due course Fustat extended to include the old town of Babylon. It grew to become a bustling city and commercial center of Egypt.

Reforms of Caliph Umar

To consolidate his rule in Egypt, Umar imposed very low Jizya (tribute) on Egyptians, as compare to Pharaohs and Romans. Egyptians found them self economically at ease under the Rashidun rule. However during Umayyad rule unbearably high taxes were imposed on Egyptians. Upon Umar's permission, Amr ibn al Aas decided to build a canal to join Nile with Red sea, it would help the traders and Arabia will flourish through this new trade route. More over it will open new markets for the merchants of Egypt and open for them an easy route for the markets of Arabia and Iraq. The project was presented to Caliph Umar, who approved it. A canal was dug and with in few months was opened for merchants. The canal was named Naher Amir ul Momeneen i.e The canal of Commander of believers named after the title of Caliph Umar. Amr proposed an other project, digging of canal that will join Red sea and Mediterranean sea. The project was once again sent to Caliph Umar for approval, but Umar viewed it as a threat to national security and rejected on the basis that it will open a way for Byzantine navy to enter Red sea via that canal and it will be a continues threat to Madinah. This project however was completed in the form of what is now known as Suez Canal 1300 years later. The British Empire, like Caliph Umar resisted the construction of Suez Canal on the same basis that it will threaten its rule over India. Each year a large amount of Jizya according to Caliph's instructions use to be spent on building and repairing of canals and bridges.

During Amr's lifetime the churches and people were not subjected to further assaults and were left in peace:

On the twentieth of Maskaram Theodore and all his troops and officers [the Byzantines] set out and proceeded to the island of Cyprus, and abandoned the city of Alexandria. And thereupon 'Amr the chief of the Moslem made his entry without effort into the city of Alexandria. And the inhabitants received him with respect; for they were in great tribulation and affliction... And 'Amr became stronger every day in every field of his activity. And he exacted the taxes which had been determined upon, but he took none of the property of the churches, and he committed no act of spoliation or plunder, and he preserved them throughout all his days. ... And he increased the taxes to the extent of twenty-two batr of gold till all the people hid themselves owing to the greatness of the tribulation, and could not find the wherewithal to pay.... And none could recount the mourning and lamentation which took place in that city: they even gave their children in exchange for the great sums which they had to pay monthly. Basically, they were delivered into the hands of their enemies. The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu Chapters CXX-CXXI

The Arab rulers remained in control of the country from this point until 1250, when it fell under the control of the Mameluks (however, the Ayyubids whom mamluki sultans replaced were Kurdish by their origins).

References

• Charles, R. H. The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text, 1916. Reprinted 2007. Evolution Publishing, ISBN 978-1-889758-87-9. [1]

See also

• Aegyptus (Roman province)
• Aslim Taslam
• Muslim conquests
• Byzantine-Arab Wars
• Umayyad conquest of North Africa
• Spread of Islam

External links

• Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter 51
• Bishop John NIkiou The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu Chapters CXVI-CXXI

[[Category:7th-century conflicts]] [[Category:History of Egypt]] [[Category:Islam in Egypt]] [[Category:Islamic conquests]] [[Category:Early Middle Ages]] [[Category:Wars involving Arab Egypt]] [[ar:الفتح الإسلامي لمصر]] [[it:Conquista musulmana dell'Egitto]] [[ru:Арабское завоевание Египта]]