Rustam Farrokhzad (Persian General)

Rustam Farrokhzad was the effective military regent of the Sassanid Persian Empire and the commander of its forces at the pivotal Battle of al-Qadisiyyah. He was from the noble Ispahbudhan family and had served as regent for the weak Sassanid rulers. When the Muslim army under Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas advanced into Iraq, Yazdegerd III ordered Rustam to lead the Persian response. Rustam commanded an army reportedly including war elephants and vastly outnumbering the Muslims. The battle lasted three or four days. On the final day, the Muslims managed to hamstring the war elephants, neutralizing their effectiveness. Rustam was killed in the fighting — some accounts say by al-Qa'qa' ibn Amr al-Tamimi, others by Hilal ibn Ullafah. His death broke Persian morale and the army routed, crossing the Euphrates in chaos and suffering enormous losses in the river. The battle of Qadisiyyah became one of the most celebrated military victories in Islamic history and effectively ended Sassanid military power, opening Iraq and then Persia itself to Muslim rule.