Prelude
The Prophet Mohammad died on 8 June 632, and Abu Bakr succeeded him as first Caliph. Abu Bakr's Caliphate lasted for 27 months, during which he crushed the rebellion of the Arab tribes throughout Arabia in the successful campaign against apostasy and restore the authority of Madinah over Arabia. Once the rebellions had been put down, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest. He launched campaigns against the Sassanid Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and thus set in motion a historical trajectory that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history.
After the Ridda Wars, a Muslim tribal chief raided the Persian frontier towns in Iraq. After the success of these raids Abu Bakr planned to expand his empire. He started with Iraq, a rich Persian province. After centuries of Persian power and glory, it was important for Abu Bakr's expedition to not to suffer a defeat, for that would confirm and strengthen the fear for the Persian military strength. To overcome these concerns he decided that the army that would invade Persia would consist entirely of volunteers. He put in command of the army his best general Khalid ibn al-Walid. Muslims invaded the Sassanid Persian Empire in April 633 and defeated the Sassanid army in the Battle of Chains, where the Marzbān (provincial governor) Hormuz was killed by Khalid ibn al-Walid in a duel.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of River
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