A market town on the caravan road
Badr Governorate lies about 150 km south-west of Madinah and 85 km from Yanbu, covering 8,186 km² and home to more than 58,259 people in the 2022 census. Before Islam it was a market town on the caravan routes, its market running for eight days a year.
Its name is explained in several ways: after Badr ibn Quraysh, who dug a well there, or after its ground, enclosed by mountains in the shape of a full moon, a badr. It has also been known as al-Safra and Badr al-Kubra.
The landmarks of the battle
The Prophet first camped on Al-Adwa al-Dunya, a sand hill about 1 km north-west of the waters of Badr, before moving south to the well nearest the enemy; the Makkan army camped on Al-Adwa al-Quswa, a sandy ridge about 3 km away. Al-Areesh Mosque marks where the Prophet prayed beneath palm branches, the martyrs of the battle lie in the cemetery nearby, and Jabal al-Malaikah, the Mountain of the Angels, rises among the site's landmarks.
The Badr Historical Route retraces the road from King Abdulaziz Square in Madinah over 175 km and four days, passing about forty historical sites and some twenty-five villages before reaching Badr.