Overview
The Battle of Kafr Tutha was a military confrontation in the region of Al-Jazira between the forces of Mu'awiya I under Abd al-Rahman ibn Qubath and the forces of the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib under Kumayl ibn Ziyad. The conflict resulted in the victory of Ali's forces.
Background
Mu'awiya had taken a number of measures to strengthen his position during the First Fitna. He refused to integrate any personnel outside of his stronghold of Greater Syria into his army even if they had expressed support for him. In contrast to the critics of Uthman, there were also people in Basra and Kufa who considered Ali's authority as illegitimate and defected to the Umayyads, however despite his unwillingness to recruit them, Mu'awiya enlisted the seceders while keeping them separate from the Syrian army by establishing garrison cities in Jund Qinnarsin, originally a part of Jund Hims, to accommodate them. Al-Jazira and Mosul were the other regions where they settled. The Banu-al Arqam who opposed Ali's rule in Kufa defected to Mu'awiya and settled in Al-Jazira.
Conflict
Kumayl ibn Ziyad was stationed at Hit during Sufyan ibn Awf's raid on Anbar. Kumayl proceeded to Circesium after stationing a deputy in charge of Hit to confront a group of raiders who he heard had agreed to assault the city. When Sufyan's army approached Hit, many of the troops stationed at Hit began fleeing, leaving only fifty troops to defend Hit. Kumayl's decision to abandon Hit and proceed to Circesium was condemned by Ali. Shabib ibn Amir, the governor of Nusaybin informed Kumayl that Mu'awiya had dispatched Abd al-Rahman ibn Qubbat against Circesium. Kumayl advanced to intercept Abd al-Rahman's forces, in case they launched an attack on Nusaybin, and confronted them with 400 horsemen. He then received news of the Umayyad troops being stationed at Kafr Tutha. Kumayl marched towards Kafr Tutha where Abd al-Rahman ibn Qubbat and Ma'an ibn Yazid confronted him with 2400 men.
Kumayl charged at them, scattering most of their forces and inflicting casualties. He instructed his troops to not pursue anyone fleeing or to kill a wounded man. Two men from Kumayl's army were killed. Shabib ibn Amir arrived with 600 troops to aid Kumayl, however prior to their arrival, Kumayl had already routed the Umayyad forces. Kumayl informed Ali about his victory, who congratulated and rewarded him.