Battle of Nikiou

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Battle of Nikiou
Part of the Byzantine-Arab Wars
Date 646 Location Nikiou Result Muslim victory
Combatants
Muslims	Roman (Byzantine) Empire
Commanders
Unknown	Unknown
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties
Unknown	Unknown

Byzantine-Arab Wars
Mu'tah – Tabouk – Dathin – Ajnadayn – Yarmouk – Nikiou – 1st Siege of Constantinople – Syllaeum – That Al-Sawari – Carthage – Constantinople

Battle between Arab Muslim troops under Amr ibn al-A'as, and Roman troops, in Egypt, in the Spring of 646.

Following their victory at the battle of Heliopolis in July 641, and the subsequent capitulation of Alexandria in November 641, Arab troops had taken over what was the Roman province of Egypt.

Nevertheless, the newly-installed Roman Emperor Constans II was determined to re-take the land, and ordered a large fleet to carry troops to Alexandria. These troops, under the commander Manuel, landed and took the city from its small Arab garrison, towards the end of 645.

Amr at the time may have been in Mecca, and was quickly recalled to take command of the Arab forces in Egypt.

The battle took place at the small fortified town of Nikiou, about a two-thirds of the way from Alexandria to Fustat, with the Arab forces numbering around 15,000, against a larger Roman force. Despite a hard fight, with one of their champions being slain in single combat, the Arabs prevailed, and the Byzantine forces retreated in disarray back to Alexandria, pursued by the Arabs.

Although the Roman forces closed the gates against the pursuing Arabs, the city of Alexandria still fell to the Arabs, who stormed in the city sometime in the Summer of that year.

The defeat of Manuel's forces marked the last attempt by the Roman Empire to recapture Egypt, which would henceforth remain firmly in Muslim hands.

[edit] Further reading

• Butler, Alfred J. The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty years of Roman Dominatrix Oxford, 1978.