Conquest of Takrit (16 AH)

Takrit on the Tigris was taken in Jumada of year 16; 'Abdullah ibn al-Mu'tim invested it by 'Umar's command and besieged its defenders for forty days ².

In Ibn al-Athir's telling, al-Antaq marched from Mosul to Takrit and dug a trench around himself with the Byzantines and the Arab tribes Iyad, Taghlib, al-Namir and the Shaharija; 'Umar wrote to Sa'd to send 'Abdullah ibn al-Mu'tim with Rib'i ibn al-Afkal over the van and 'Irfaja ibn Harthama over the cavalry ². Ibn al-Mu'tim besieged al-Antaq and his force forty days with twenty-four assaults, and wrote to the Arabs with him inviting their support; when the Byzantines saw the Muslims prevailing they abandoned their chiefs and moved their goods to the boats. Taghlib, Iyad and al-Namir asked for quarter and accepted Islam, agreeing to seize the gates facing the Tigris when they heard the takbir ². The Muslims raised the takbir; the newly converted tribes took the gates, and the Byzantines, thinking the Muslims had come on them from behind, fell to the swords of both parties — none escaped the trench except those who had accepted Islam. Ibn al-Mu'tim then sent Ibn al-Afkal to the two forts, Nineveh and Mosul; they outran the news, were granted terms and became protected people ³.

• Source read: Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, harvested scan (kamil-tarikh/02-163053), pp.348-349, section "Takrit and Mosul" under year 16.