Year of the Elephant-Today story The Year of the Elephant is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570 CE. According to Islamic tradition, it was in this year that Muhammad was born The name is derived from an event said to have occurred at Mecca: Abraha, the Christian ruler of Yemen, which was subject to the Kingdom of Aksum of Ethiopia, marched upon the Kaaba with a large army, which included one or more war elephants, intending to demolish it. However, the lead elephant, known as Mahmud, is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca, and refused to enter. A natural explanation for the event proposes that the tale of the elephant army is allegorical for an epidemic of smallpox that spared the residents of Mecca, and thus the prophet Muhammad.The year came to be known as the Year of the Elephant, beginning a trend for reckoning the years in the Arabian Peninsula used until it was replaced with the Islamic calendar during the rule of Umar.According to traditional Muslim belief, there is an extraordinary story about a powerful military generals expedition to Mecca in the year the exalted prophet was born. This powerful leader, whose name was Abraha – king of Saba, Hadramawt and Yamen – is believed to have been killed by the Meccans, and his army humiliated when he launched an attack on the Kabah. As amazing as this story is, we observe that the Quran seems to mention this event as well, or so the traditionalists contend. Nonetheless, it would be vital to validate this event and determine its authenticity. In the 700s AD onwards, there seem to have been two dominant forces within the Muslim geopolitical framework: The Abbasids (backed by remainders of the Sassanids/Persians/Zoroasterians) and the Ummaiyads or banu-Ummaiyah. Both groups are of Arab decent, notably from the Hijaz. To assert their legitimacy, the bani-Hashim, who would later become the Abbasids, start to promote the the victory of the Arabs lead by Abdul-Muttalib against Abraha... The Abbasids officially base their claim to the caliphate on their descent from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib: This alone is a clear indication as to why they would be inclined to promote an event such as this. Abbasid Account==================================== According to this story, Abraha, Governor or King of Yemen built a great church at Sanaa in honor of his ally the Negus, a Christian Abyssinian Emperor. The church gained widespread fame, even gaining the notice of the Byzantines. The pagan Arabs of the time had their own center of religious worship and pilgrimage in Mecca, the Kaaba. Abraha then proceeded to attempt to divert their pilgrimage to his new cathedral and is reported to have appointed and sent a Muhammad Khuzai to Mecca and the Hijaz as a king with a message that his church was both much better than their house of worship and purer, having not been defiled by the housing of idols. Abraha, incensed, launched an expedition of 40,000 men against the Kaaba at Mecca led by a white elephant (and possibly with other elephants) in order to destroy the Kaaba. Several Arab tribes attempted to fight him on the way, but were defeated. Other sources state that Abrahas elephant couldnt make further steps into Mecca. Neither force nor dissuasion would make it advance towards Mecca. If they turned him towards Syria or Yemen, it would walk in haste but when he was turned towards the Kaaba, it would kneel on its knees as if it would adore the city that its master was intent on destroying. As Abraha neared Mecca, he sent them an emissary, telling them that he would not fight them if they did not resist his destruction of the Kaaba. Abdul Muttalib, the chief of Quraysh, responded that he would defend his own property, but God would defend His house, the Kaaba, and withdrew with his people. The next day, as Abraha prepared to enter the city, swarms of birds carrying small rocks came and bombarded the Ethiopian forces; each man that was hit was killed, and they fled in panic, as Abraha died a horrible death. The tribes saw this as a sign of the Kaabas holiness. According to the Abbasid account, this incident took place in 570 C.E. when the exalted Messenger was born; this year was commemorated as the Aam-il Feel (Year of the Elephant). A Relatively More Realistic Scenario Research conducted by Hamiduddin Farahi, Amin Ahsan Islahi and G.A.Parwez on the account of Year of the Elephant seems to be a bit less mystical. The Arabs had been alerted by some travelers about the enemys capabilities. They hence were prepared to put up a good fight through various improvised tricks, which helped them scare the elephants. The beasts, in turn, panicked and trampled the enemy soldiers. The event carried such significance that the Arabs, in their Calendar, marked it Aam-il Feel as a point of reference in history. Qadisiyyah, 636 AD: Elephants Confuse Arab Cavalry? Let us go to a point in time when the Muslim civilization was expanding rapidly in its early stages. An extremely perplexing account in early Muslim conquests is that of the battle of Qadisiyyah. This battle was fought against the Sassanid/Pahlavi forces in 636 AD. The Persian armys war elephants terrified the Arab cavalry, and succeeded in creating mass confusion among the Arab fighters for two days straight. By the third day of battle, the Muslim army succeeded in frightening the Persian elephants through various improvised tricks. When an Arab warrior succeeded in slaying the lead elephant, the rest fled into the rear and trampled the enemy soldiers. The Arabs continued to advance their attacks during the night. It seems rather strange that the Muslim army (that had overrun so many areas before advancing to Persia) was initially perplexed by war elephants in this way. The Arabs were lead by a tribe that had supposedly destroyed Abrahas elephant backed army. If they did, then why were they so terrified of war elephants as if they never saw such beasts in action before? Consider the fact that it took them three days to figure out how to tackle elephants! If they had fought an army with elephants before, they would have heard of stories that included the tricks they used to fight and defeat Abraha. The tactics used by the Arab army seem to have been improvised on the Qadissiyyah battle, and were certainly not rules of thumb. Why would they have not learned from the accounts from the battle of Mecca? Why does it seem that Qadisiyyah is where Arabs fought an army with elephants for the first time? History of War Elephants To add to the confusion, it would be worthwhile at this stage to first list some notable battles involving elephants. These battles include:
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:22:13 +0000
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