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Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad was the Umayyad governor of Basra, Kufa and Khurasan during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I and Yazid I, and the leading general of the Umayyad army under caliphs Marwan I and Abd al-Malik.
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the Umayyads from 683 until his death.
Abū Saʿīd al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufra al-Azdī was an Arab general from the Azd tribe who fought in the service of the Rashidun, Umayyad and Zubayrid caliphs between the mid-640s and his death. He served successive terms as the governor of Fars (685–686), Mosul, Arminiya and Adharbayjan (687–688) and Khurasan (698–702). Al-Muhallab's descendants, known as the Muhallabids, became a highly influential family, many of whose members held high office under various Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs, or became well-known scholars.
Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi was a pro-Alid revolutionary based in Kufa, who led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in 685 and ruled over most of Iraq for eighteen months during the Second Fitna.
The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680, and lasted for about twelve years. The war involved the suppression of two challenges to the Umayyad dynasty, the first by Husayn ibn Ali, as well as his supporters including Sulayman ibn Surad and Mukhtar al-Thaqafi who rallied for his revenge in Iraq, and the second by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.
The Battle of Maskin, also known as the Battle of Dayr al-Jathaliq from a nearby Nestorian monastery, was a decisive battle of the Second Fitna (680s-690s). It was fought in mid-October 691 near present-day Baghdad on the western bank of the river Tigris, between the army of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and the forces of Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, governor of Iraq for his brother, the Mecca-based rival caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.
The Battle of Ayn al-Warda was fought in early January 685 between the Umayyad army and the Penitents (Tawwabin). The Penitents were a group of pro-Alid Kufans led by Sulayman ibn Surad, a companion of Muhammad, who wished to atone for their failure to assist Husayn ibn Ali in his abortive uprising against the Umayyads in 680. Pro-Alid Kufans had urged Husayn to revolt against the Umayyad caliph Yazid but then failed to assist him when he was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680. Initially a small underground movement, the Penitents received widespread support in Iraq after the death of Yazid in 683. They were deserted by most of their supporters shortly before the departure to northern Syria where a large Umayyad army under the command of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad was preparing to launch an assault on Iraq. In the three-day long battle that ensued at Ras al-Ayn, the small Penitent army was annihilated and its senior leaders, including Ibn Surad, were killed. Nevertheless, this battle proved to be a forerunner and source of motivation for the later more successful movement of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi.
Abū al-Sābigha Shamir ibn Dhī al-Jawshan, often known as Shamir or Shimar, was an Arab military commander from Kufa who killed Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680.
The Battle of Khazir took place in August 686 near the Khazir River in Mosul's eastern environs, in modern-day Iraq. The battle occurred during the Second Muslim Civil War and was part of the larger struggle for control of Iraq between the Syria-based Umayyad Caliphate, the Kufa-based pro-Alid forces of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, and the Mecca-based caliphate of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. It ended in a rout for the Umayyads and the expansion of Mukhtar's rule into the region of Mosul.
ʿUmayr ibn al-Ḥubāb al-Sulamī was a chieftain of the Banu Sulaym tribe, an erstwhile Umayyad general and a main leader of the Qaysi tribes in the factional wars with the Banu Kalb and Taghlib.
Abu Marwan Bishr ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam was an Umayyad prince and governor of Iraq during the reign of his brother, Caliph Abd al-Malik. Bishr fought at Marj Rahit with his father, Caliph Marwan I. Marwan posted Bishr to Egypt to keep his brother Abd al-Aziz company. In 690/91, Bishr was made governor of Kufa and about one year later, Basra was added to his governorship, giving him full control of Iraq.
Mu'sab ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam al-Asadi was the governor of Basra in 686–691 for his brother, the Mecca-based counter-caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, during the Second Fitna. Mus'ab was a son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, a prominent companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Before becoming governor, he led an unsuccessful campaign against Umayyad-held Palestine. He defeated and killed the pro-Alid revolutionary Mukhtar al-Thaqafi after a series of battles in 687, gaining control over all of Iraq. Complaints from the Iraqis caused his removal from office by his brother, but he was restored shortly after. He was killed by Umayyad forces led by the caliph Abd al-Malik in the Battle of Maskin four years later.
Abu Umayya Amr ibn Sa'id ibn al-As al-Umawi, commonly known as al-Ashdaq, was a member of the Umayyad dynasty, general and a contender for the caliphal throne. He served as the governor of Medina in 680, during the reign of Caliph Yazid I and fought off attempts by the Zubayrids to conquer Syria in 684 and 685 during the reign of Caliph Marwan I. The latter removed Yazid I's son Khalid and al-Ashdaq from the line of succession in favor of his own sons Abd al-Malik and Abd al-Aziz. Al-Ashdaq's attempted coup against Abd al-Malik in 689 ended with his surrender and his execution by Abd al-Malik.
The battles of Madhar and Harura successively took place in the latter half of 686 in the environs of Basra and Kufa, respectively, both in southern Iraq. The battles were fought between the forces of Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, the governor of Basra on behalf of his brother Caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, and Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, the pro-Alid ruler of Kufa. They ended with the latter's decisive defeat and the slaying of most of his commanders. In the immediate aftermath, Mus'ab besieged and killed Mukhtar in Kufa, sanctioned the killing of thousands of his sympathizers in the city, and annexed Kufa and its dependencies, i.e. the Sawad and Jibal. Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar, Mukhtar's governor over Mosul and its dependencies, i.e. the Jazira, Adharbayjan, and Arminiya, afterward defected to Mus'ab. In effect, all of Iraq came under Zubayrid authority as a result of Mus'ab's victory.
Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn al-Ash'ath ibn Qays al-Kindī was the chieftain of the Kinda tribe in Kufa, succeeding his father al-Ash'ath ibn Qays. He served as governor of Tabaristan under the Umayyad viceroy of Iraq, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad and later as the governor of Mosul under the anti-Umayyad caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. He died fighting for the latter's brother and governor of Iraq, Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, against the pro-Alid ruler of Kufa, Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, at the Battle of Harura in 686.
Nu'man ibn Bashir ibn Sa'd al-Ansari was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also a commander and statesman of the Umayyad Caliphate. A supporter of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan during the First Muslim Civil War, he was appointed by him governor of Kufa in 678–680. Afterward, he was made governor of Homs by Caliph Yazid I. After the latter's death, he gave allegiance to the Mecca-based, Caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. When pro-Umayyad forces routed Ibn al-Zubayr's supporters in Syria, he fled Homs but was slain during his escape.
Natil ibn Qays ibn Zayd al-Judhami was the chieftain of the Banu Judham tribe and a prominent tribal leader in Palestine during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I and Yazid I. In 684, he revolted against the Umayyads, took control of Palestine and gave his allegiance to Caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. He joined the latter in Mecca after pro-Zubayrid forces were routed at the Battle of Marj Rahit. He may have renewed his rebellion in Palestine in 685/86 and was slain during the hostilities.
Qays ibn al-Haytham al-Sulamī was an Arab commander and administrator in the service of the Rashidun, Umayyad and Zubayrid caliphates. Under the caliphs Uthman and Mu'awiya I he served at time as the sub-governor of Khurasan and the cities of Nishapur and Marw al-Rudh. He was from a prominent Arab family in Basra and was a leader among the tribal nobility of that city until his death after 684.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muṭīʿ al-ʿAdawī was a leading Qurayshi of Medina and governor of Kufa for the anti-Umayyad caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr from April 685 until his ouster by the pro-Alid leader al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi in August 685. He was a military commander against the Umayyads at the battle of al-Harra and the siege of Mecca in 683. He fought alongside Ibn al-Zubayr in the second siege of Mecca in 692, where he was slain by Umayyad forces.
Umar ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'mar al-Taymi was a commander of the Zubayrid and Umayyad caliphates in their wars with the Kharijites and the chief of the Banu Taym clan of the Quraysh in the late 7th century.