This video is sponsored by Vikings war of clans
This free-to-play mobile game now has more than 20 million active players
Which is incredibly ten times more than the actual number of historical Vikings
Finally there's a game that is a perfect mix of 3d graphics and smooth gameplay
This is the first strategy RPG with the detailed open-world of the Vikings the massive online
battles of the game will get you hooked after five minutes of playing so don't waste time support our channel by installing Vikings
Right now using the links below, and you will get two hundred gold a protection shield and your place in Valhalla for free
Since the establishment of Islam in Arabia the Caliphate fought continuous wars of conquest
Across many regions, but the main brunt of its initial advances was focused on the Byzantine Empire
Historiography often considers the Battle of Tour in...
...732 to be a turning point in the wars between the Christians and Muslims...
...but the campaign in France pales in comparison to the siege of Constantinople of...
...717 to 718 as it was here the Byzantines and their Bulgar allies faced the main Umayyad force.
Following the success at Yarmouk in 636 the Rashidun Caliphate quickly took control over Syria
Jerusalem was captured a year later and by 642 Egypt was under Muslim control
While the conquest of North Africa continued other Arab armies were fighting against the Sassanid Empire and
Completely subjugated it by the early 650s
As the Caucasus were also vassalized or conquered in this period...
...a tentative border between the Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire formed on the eastern edges of Anatolia
Striking deep into Anatolia was problematic as the supply lines were over stretched
So the Caliphate built its first Navy in Syria and Egypt in order to accompany the army along the southern coast
In 654 roads and then Cyprus fell to this Navy
in the same year the governor of Syria Muawiyah launched an invasion into Anatolia the
Byzantine Emperor Constans II, knew that he had to defeat the Muslim navy.
The details are unknown but in late...
...654 or early 655 the byzantine navy was decisively defeated at the Battle of the masts off the coast of Anatolia
Again these sources are conflicted
But some claim that in 655 Muawiyah reached Bosphorus and even besieged Calsidon.
The news that caliph Uthman was assassinated reached him in 656 and he returned to Syria
Muawiyah was one of the participants in the civil war within the Caliphate and after Caliph Ali was assassinated in 661
He became the next ruler and established the Umayyad dynasty
All that gave the Byzantines some respite and they even took roads back
However, Muawiyah still dreamt of taking Constantinople. In 673 the Muslim Navy attacked in three directions
Tarsus, Smyrna and Rhodes were conquered and the latter two became permanent basis for future invasions
In 674 the Arabs took Suzukas, just one hundred kilometers away from Constantinople
The events between 674 and 678 are shrouded in mystery with some sources claiming that the capital of the Empire was under a constant siege
While others insist that it was just a series of raids
But we know that the Byzantines used Greek fire for the first time to destroy the Arab fleet
In 678 the Byzantines managed to land a small force in Syria and that sparked a revolt by the local Christians
That forced the caliphates to sign a peace treaty and pay a symbolic amount in reparations in 679
Meanwhile a war in the Caspian steppes was raging between the Bulgars and the Kazars and the former had to migrate
The Bulgars were led by Asparukh Khan, they settled around the Danube River sometime between 674 and 678
But now that the eastern border was secured, Emperor Constantine IV
Assembled a strong force and marched to meet these new invaders
The Bulgars took a defensive position in a place called Ongarl in the Danube Delta and a siege began
After three days the Emperor boarded a ship and left his army most probably to attend the 6th Ecumenical council in his Capital
Seeing that some of the troops decided to abandon the siege
Asparukh used this opportunity and charged out against the Byzantine forces who began to rout.
The Bulgar horsemen rode them down all the way to Athesos modern day Varna
The Byzantine losses were heavy and the following year they signed a peace treaty
Which guaranteed the borders of Bulgaria and agreed to pay yearly tribute to the nomads who were here to stay.
Constantine was succeeded by Justinian II in 685
Justinian was very ambitious and wanted to live up to his name
in 687 he led successful campaigns against the Bulgars and the Slavs
He signed a new treaty with the Caliphate according to which Armenia, Cabiria and Cyprus were now in joint possession
However in 692 he attacked the Muslims again, and who were soundly defeated at Sebastopolis as in Silesia
In 695 Justinian was deposed and a period known as the twenty years of anarchy began
Six Emperor's ruled during this period and the Caliphate used this time to take over North Africa and Spain
The Arabs were making inroads into Anatolia, and it was clear that Constantinople would be next
Emperor Theodosius III was aware of this danger and in 716 signed an alliance with the Bulgarian..
...Khan Tervel and prepared to defend his capital
Stockpiling food and ordering any family who couldn't acquire enough food to last for three years to evacuate the city
In 717 the Arabian forces were besieging the city of Amorian
At the same time the Strategos of the Anatolian theme Leo rebelled against the Emperor
the Muslims tried to take advantage of the situation...
...and Negotiated with them. Leo convinced them to pull their forces back promising that he would be their ally once he secured the throne
Theodosius was not willing to start yet another civil war and announced his resignation
Liova third peacefully took the throne and immediately broke his promise to the Umayyads
Caliph Solomon ordered his brother Maslamah ibn Abdul Malek to lead 80,000 men and eight hundred ships to take Constantinople
Meanwhile Leo III began his preparations
Envoys were sent to the Bulgars asking for help and the city's fortifications were improved
The Arab forces took Abydos in July of 717 and were ferried across the Hellespont
They erected two walls by August one facing the city and one defending their camp from the West
The Byzantine capital was defended by the Theodosian walls built in the early 5th century
12 metres high and 4 metres deep they were considered impregnable
The sea walls built much later. However were significantly weaker
the walls were guarded by a...
....12,000 strong garrison and the city had huge reserves of food
The best hope to take Constantinople was from the sea
The Arab fleet attempted to pass through the Bosphorus to encircle the city
Warships were at the front with supply ships behind them and troop transports at the bank
The heavy transports lagged behind and as soon as a gap formed Leo deployed his ships and their Greek fire...
...destroyed part of the transport group
Only 20 ships were sunk or burned
But this event decreased the morale of the Arabs the Umayyad Navy was successful in blockading the city
But there was no assault as it was hard to convince any sailor to engage the Byzantine fleet after what they just saw..
...still communications between Constantinople and the Black Sea were disrupted and the Arabs besieged gallatin
Meanwhile a chain was drawn between the city and galata in order to prevent them was lim fleet from entering the Golden Horn
The 15,000 Bulgars troops of Tervel started appearing in the vicinity of the city in the autumn of 717
It is said that a 4,000 strong Arab foraging party was ambushed and destroyed by the Bulgars
The Muslim force is still vastly outnumbered the defenders, but now most of their troops were between two enemy forces
The winter was harsh and the Arabs used to a completely different climate began to starve and die
Diseases ravaged their camps and yet the siege continued
The situation of Muslims forces seemingly was going to improve in the spring as the Caliph sent...
...20,000 warriors and a few hundred vessels carrying supplies to reinforce the siege
However these ships were manned by Christian traders since all the available Muslim sailors were already on the first fleet
Many ships along with their crews joined the defenders
They also brought valuable reports on the Arab blockade
Leo used this information to destroy the northern portion of the Arab fleet using Greek fire
The Muslim reinforcements were attacked by the Byzantine forces in Anatolia and
Leo who now controlled the northern portion of the Strait managed to land a small force behind them
All 20,000 of the reinforcements were killed
All that caused an even bigger loss of morale
fifteen thousand Arabs attempted to move to the southwest to cross the Hellespont back to Asia
But were caught by Tervel and massacred
In August of 718 Maslamah received a letter from the Caliph ordering him to lift the siege
Thirteen months after the beginning of the siege the Arabs began their retreat
The Bulgars used the fact that no one was manning the outer walls to attack them from behind and anywhere between
Twenty and thirty thousand Arabs were killed
The rest some thirty thousand managed to make it back to Tarsus
While the vast majority of the Navy was sunk by a storm and by the Byzantine Navy's harassing them along the way
The historical impact of this siege can't be overstated the Arabs suffered their first
massive defeat in the war against the Byzantines
their road to Central and Eastern Europe was closed and they never again attempted to take
Constantinople
The Umayyads lost prestige and their best fighters which allowed the Abbasids to overthrow them three decades later
The Muslim world was divided not to be united again
Thank you for watching our video on the siege of Constantinople
We would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters who make the creation of our videos possible
Now you can also support us directly by a YouTube by pressing the sponsorship button below the video
This is the kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one