Ctesiphon
Sa‘d’s army occupies the Sasanian capital complex at Ctesiphon
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A chain of cities, not one wall
Following al-Qadisiyya, Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas advanced across central Iraq in 637 toward al-Mada’in — “the cities” — the Sasanian capital complex of several cities and suburbs spread along both banks of the Tigris.
Muslim forces first reduced the western-bank city called Bahurasir or Veh-Ardashir. The Sasanian court and army then evacuated Ctesiphon on the eastern bank.
Across a river running high
The Persians removed the boats and burned or disabled the bridge. Sa‘d’s soldiers crossed the swollen Tigris by a ford and on horseback, and the eastern capital was occupied without another set-piece battle.
Yazdegerd III fled toward Hulwan with his family, leading dignitaries and movable valuables. The occupiers still seized substantial royal treasure left behind, including the celebrated garden carpet known as the Spring of Khosrow.
How long, and how many
March 637 is the standard date given by Encyclopaedia Iranica, but the chronology rests heavily on contradictory later Arabic narratives, and some modern reconstructions place the campaign later.
The reported length of the operations ranges from two to twenty-eight months across the source tradition; Baladhuri alone gives nine months at Bahurasir, with an alternative report of eighteen.
No reliable consulted source verifies an army of exactly 15,000.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources 2 audit passes Date disputed
How this was checked
Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →
Date disputed. Sources disagree about when this happened.
What the sources leave uncertain
- March 637 is the standard date given by Encyclopaedia Iranica, but the chronology depends heavily on contradictory later Arabic narratives; some modern reconstructions place the campaign later.
- The siege length varies dramatically among the sources, from two to twenty-eight months.
- No reliable source consulted verifies an army of exactly 15,000.
- The horseback crossing is present in several early Islamic traditions, but details such as the exact number of first volunteers remain anecdotal.