Early conquests · 712

Conquest of Samarkand

Qutayba's campaigns brought Bukhara and Samarkand into the caliphate, the start of Central Asia's long place in Islamic history.

The site of the battle on the 750 map. Shaded: Umayyad Caliphate at its peak.

Key facts

When: 712
Where: Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Sides: Umayyad army vs Sogdian princes
Commanders: Qutayba ibn Muslim vs Ghurak
Result: City taken by treaty
Type: Early conquests
Chapter: 2. The Umayyads

Who led it

Qutayba ibn Muslim669 to 715
Governor of Khurasan who conquered Bukhara, Samarkand and Khwarazm.

The wider picture: The Umayyads of Damascus

Muawiya ruled from Damascus and named his son Yazid as heir, the first time the caliphate passed from father to son. Karbala followed in 680. Then came the largest expansion in Islamic history: Spain in 711, Sindh in 712 and Central Asia up to the Syr Darya.

See the 750 map Read chapter 2

More early conquests battles

All 17 early muslim conquests battles · Battle explorer

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