30th September 737: Umayyad Caliphate defeated in the Battle of the Baggage

The Battle of the Baggage saw the defeat of an army from the powerful Umayyad Caliphate by Turgesh forces. The Umayyads had seized the region of Transoxiana, now in northern Afghanistan, in the early 700s. They were unpopular rulers, and by 720 the native Iranian and Turkic populations had begun to revolt with the support of the nearby Turgesh kingdom. Over the next two decades the Umayyads faced a number of attacks and revolts in Transoxiana. In 724 they were forced to retreat across the riv...