Al-Qādisiyyah (historical city)

Al-Qādisiyyah, a historical city in southern Mesopotamia, southwest of al-Hillah and al-Kūfah in Iraq, is most famous as the site of the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in c. 636, which saw a force of Arab-Muslim invaders defeat a larger army sent by the Sāsānian Empire.

Commercial importance

Prior to the Arab conquest, al-Qādisiyyah was but a small village on the western side of the Euphrates River, near an old castle at `Udhayb. However, during the centuries that followed, al-Qādisiyyah grew in size and importance and was a noted stop along very important highways of commerce that led to Baghdād and Makkah (see Alavi, 100).

Another historical Qādisiyyah

Another Qādisiyyah existed on the Tigris River, off the road between Baghdād and Sāmarrā', not very far from the Euphrates city. Both cities are recorded in the geographies of Ibn Khurradādhbih (see Barthold, 202).

See also

• Battle of al-Qādisiyyah
• Modern usage of al-Qādisiyyah
• Victory Arch (also called the ‘Swords of Qādisīyah’)
• Arab-Muslim conquest of Iran

References

• Alavi, S M Ziauddin. Arab geography in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. Aligarh: The Department of Geography Aligarh Muslim University, 1965.
• Barthold, Wilhelm (Vasilii Vladimirovich Bartol‘d). An historical geography of Iran. Edited and translated into English by Svat Soucek. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.