Rise of the Caliphate

Muhammad died in June 632, and Abu Bakr took the title of Caliph and political successor at
Medina. Soon after Abu Bakr's succession, several Arab tribes revolted, in the Ridda Wars
(Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy). The Ridda Wars preoccupied the Caliphate until March 633,
and ended with the entirety of the Arab Peninsula under the authority of the Caliph at Medina.
Whether Abu Bakr intended a full-out imperial conquest or not is hard to say. He did, however,
set in motion a historical trajectory (continued later on by Umar and Uthman) that in just a few
short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history,[19] beginning with a
confrontation with the Sassanid Empire under the general Khalid ibn al-Walid.
First invasion of Mesopotamia (633)

Map detailing the route of Khalid ibn Walid's conquest of Mesopotamia.

After the Ridda Wars, a tribal chief of north eastern Arabia, Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha, raided the
Persian towns in Mesopotamia (what is now Iraq). Abu Bakr was strong enough to attack the
Persian Empire in the north-east and the Byzantine Empire in the north-west. There were three
purposes for this conquest: 1. Along the borders between Arabia and these two great empires
were numerous Arab tribes leading a nomadic life and forming a buffer-like state between the
Persians and Romans. Abu Bakr hoped that these tribes might accept Islam and help their
brethren in spreading it. 2. The Persian and Roman populations suffered with very high taxation
laws; Abu Bakr believed that they might be persuaded to help the Muslims, who agreed to
release them from the excessive tributes. 3. Two gigantic empires surrounded Arabia, and it was
unsafe to remain passive with these two powers on its borders. Abu Bakr hoped that by attacking
Iraq and Syria he might remove the danger from the borders of the Islamic State.[20] With the
success of the raids, a considerable amount of booty was collected. Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha
went to Medina to inform Caliph Abu Bakr about his success and was appointed commander of
his people, after which he began to raid deeper into Mesopotamia. Using the mobility of his light
cavalry he could easily raid any town near the desert and disappear again into the desert, into
which the Sassanid army was unable to chase them. Misnah's acts made Abu Bakr think about
the expansion of the Rashidun Empire.[21]

To be certain of victory, Abu Bakr made two decisions concerning the attack on Persia: first, the
invading army would consist entirely of volunteers; and second, to put in command of the army
his best general: Khalid ibn al-Walid. After defeating the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah in
the Battle of Yamama, Khalid was still at Al-Yamama when Abu Bakr sent him orders to invade
the Sassanid Empire. Making Al-Hirah the objective of Khalid, Abu Bakr sent reinforcements
and ordered the tribal chiefs of north eastern Arabia, Misnah ibn Haris, Mazhur bin Adi, Harmala
and Sulma to operate under the command of Khalid along with their men. Around the third week
of March 633 (first week of Muharram 12th Hijrah) Khalid set out from Al-Yamama with an
army of 10,000.[21] The tribal chiefs, with 2,000 warriors each, joined Khalid; so Khalid entered
the Persian Empire with 18,000 troops.
After entering Mesopotamia with his army of 18,000, Khalid won decisive victories in four
consecutive battles: the Battle of Chains, fought in April 633; the Battle of River, fought in the
3rd week of April 633 AD; the Battle of Walaja, fought in May 633 (where he successfully used
a double envelopment manoeuvre), and the Battle of Ullais, fought in the mid of May, 633 AD.
The Persian court, already disturbed by internal problems, was thrown into chaos. In the last
week of May 633, the important city of Hira fell to the Muslims after their victory in the Siege of
Hira. After resting his armies, in June 633 Khalid laid siege to the city of Al Anbar, which
resisted and eventually surrendered after a siege of a few weeks in July 633 after the Siege of AlAnbar. Khalid then moved towards the south, and conquered the city of Ein ul Tamr after the
Battle of Ein ut Tamr in the last week of July, 633. At this point, most of what is now Iraq was
under Islamic control.
Khalid got a call of help from northern Arabia at Daumat-ul-Jandal, where another Muslim Arab
general, Ayaz bin Ghanam, was trapped among the rebel tribes. Khalid went to Daumat-ul-jandal
and defeated the rebels in the Battle of Daumat-ul-jandal in the last week of August, 633.
Returning from Arabia, he got news of the assembling of a large Persian army. He decided to
defeat them all separately to avoid the risk of being defeated by a large unified Persian army.
Four divisions of Persian and Christian Arab auxiliaries were present at Hanafiz, Zumiel, Sanni
and Muzieh. Khalid devised a brilliant plan to destroy the Persian forces. He divided his army in
three units, and attacked the Persian forces in well coordinated attacks from three different sides
at night, starting from the Battle of Muzieh, then the Battle of Sanni, and finally the Battle of
Zumail during November 633. These devastating defeats ended Persian control over
Mesopotamia, and left the Persian capital Ctesiphon unguarded and vulnerable to Muslim attack.
Before attacking the Persian capital, Khalid decided to eliminate all Persian forces in the south
and west. He accordingly marched against the border city of Firaz, where he defeated the
combined forces of the Sassanid Persians, the Byzantine Romans and Christian Arabs in the
Battle of Firaz in December 633. This was the last battle in his conquest of Mesopotamia. While
Khalid was on his way to attack Qadissiyah (a key fort in the way to the Persian capital
Ctesiphon), he received a letter from Caliph Abu Bakr and was sent to the Roman front in Syria
to assume the command of the Muslim armies to conquer Roman Syria.[22]
Second invasion of Mesopotamia (636)

According to the will of Abu Bakr, Umar was to continue the conquest of Syria and
Mesopotamia. On the northeastern borders of the Empire, in Mesopotamia, the situation was
deteriorating day by day. During Abu Bakr's era, Khalid ibn al-Walid had been sent to the Syrian
front to command the Islamic armies there. As soon as Khalid had left Mesopotamia with half his
army of 9000 soldiers, the Persians decided to take back their lost territory. The Muslim army
was forced to leave the conquered areas and concentrate on the border areas. Umar immediately
sent reinforcements to aid Muthanna ibn Haritha in Mesopotamia under the command of Abu
Ubaid al-Thaqafi.[4] The Persian forces defeated Abu Ubaid in the Battle of Bridge. However,
later Persian forces were defeated by Muthanna bin Haritha in the Battle of Buwayb. In 635
Yazdgerd III sought alliance with Emperor Heraclius of the Eastern Roman Empire. Heraclius
married his daughter (according to traditions, his grand daughter) to Yazdegerd III, an old
Roman tradition to show alliance. While Heraclius prepared for a major offence in the Levant,
Yazdegerd, meanwhile, ordered the concentration of massive armies to pull back the Muslims
from Mesopotamia for good. The goal was well coordinated attacks by both emperors, Heraclius
in the Levant and Yazdegerd in Mesopotamia, to annihilate the power of their common enemy,
Caliph Umar.
Battle of Qadisiyyah
Main article: Battle of Qadisiyyah

Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements.[1] Waste sorting
can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or
automatically separated in materials recovery facilities or mechanical biological treatment
systems. Hand sorting was the first method used in the history of waste sorting.[2]
Waste can also be sorted in a civic amenity site.
Waste segregation means dividing waste into dry and wet. Dry waste includes wood and related
products, metals and glass. Wet waste, typically refers to organic waste usually generated by
eating establishments and are heavy in weight due to dampness. Waste can also be segregated on
basis of biodegradable or non-biodegradable waste.
Landfills are an increasingly pressing problem.[citation needed] Less and less land is available to deposit
refuse, but the volume of waste is growing all time. As a result, segregating waste is not just of
environmental importance, but of economic concern, too.
Contents
[hide]

1 Methods

2 By country

3 See also

4 References

5 External links

Methods[edit]

Waste is collected at its source in each area and separated. The way that waste is sorted must
reflect local disposal systems. The following categories are common:

Paper

Cardboard (including packaging for return to suppliers)

Glass (clear, tinted no light bulbs or window panes, which belong with
residual waste)

Plastics

Scrap metal

Compost

Special/hazardous waste

Residual waste

Organic waste can also be segregated for disposal:

Leftover food which has had any contact with meat can be collected
separately to prevent the spread of bacteria.
o

Meat and bone can be retrieved by bodies responsible for animal waste

If other leftovers are sent, for example, to local farmers, they can be
sterilised before being fed to the animals

Peel and scrapings from fruit and vegetables can be composted along with
other degradable matter. Other waste can be included for composting, too,
such as cut flowers, corks, coffee grindings, rotting fruit, tea bags, egg- and
nutshells, paper towels etc.

Chip pan oil (fryer oil), used fats, vegetable oil and the content of fat filters can be collected by
companies able to re-use them. Local authority waste departments can provide relevant
addresses. This can be achieved by providing recycling bins.
By country[edit]

In Germany, regulations exist that provide mandatory quotas for the waste sorting of packaging
waste and recyclable materials such as glass bottles.[3]