Introduction The Battle of al-Harra (Arabic: يوم الحرة, romanized: Yawm al-Ḥarra lit. ‘the day of al-Harra’) was fought between the Syrian army of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I (r. 680-683) led by Muslim ibn Uqba and the local defenders of Medina, namely the Ansar and Muhajirun factions, who had rebelled against the caliph. The battle,… Read More
Introduction The Battle of Karbala (Arabic: مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء), part of the Second Fitna, was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet… Read More
Events 683 – During the Siege of Mecca, the Kaaba catches fire and is burned down. Part of the Second Fitna (680-693). 802 – Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos. Conspirators place Nikephoros, the minister of finance, on the Byzantine throne. 932 – Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir is killed while fighting against the forces… Read More
Introduction The Siege of Mecca in September-November 683 was one of the early battles of the Second Fitna. The city of Mecca served as a sanctuary for Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, who was among the most prominent challengers to the dynastic succession to the Caliphate by the Umayyad Yazid I. After nearby Medina, the other… Read More
Introduction The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and conflicts in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu’awiya I in 680 and lasted for about twelve years. The war involved the suppression of two challenges to the Umayyad dynasty,… Read More
Introduction The Soviet RDS-220 hydrogen bomb (code name Ivan or Vanya), also known as Tsar Bomba (Russian: Царь-бо́мба, tr. Tsar’-bómba, IPA: [t͡sarʲ ˈbombə], lit. ‘Tsar bomb’), was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Tested on 30 October 1961 as an experimental verification of calculation principles and multi-stage thermonuclear weapon designs, it also… Read More
Introduction The Salvadoran Civil War was a civil war in El Salvador fought between the military-led junta government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) (a coalition or “umbrella organisation” of left-wing groups) from 15 October 1979 to 16 January 1992. A coup on 15 October 1979, was followed by killings… Read More
