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Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in Medina was occupied with pious pursuits. He held administrative and military posts under Caliph Mu'awiya I, founder of the Umayyad Caliphate, and his own father, Caliph Marwan I. By the time of Abd al-Malik's accession, Umayyad authority had collapsed across the Caliphate as a result of the Second Muslim Civil War and had been reconstituted in Syria and Egypt during his father's reign.
Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi, known simply as al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, was the most notable governor who served the Umayyad Caliphate. He began his service under Caliph Abd al-Malik, who successively promoted him as the head of the Caliph's shurta, the governor of the Hejaz in 692–694, and the practical viceroy of a unified Iraqi province and the eastern parts of the Caliphate in 694. Al-Hajjaj retained the last post under Abd al-Malik's son and successor al-Walid I, whose decision-making was heavily influenced by al-Hajjaj, until his death in 714.
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam, commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 744 until his death. His reign was dominated by a civil war, and he was the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyad dynasty.
ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād 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. Ubayd Allah is primarily remembered for his role in the killings of members of Ali ibn Abi Talib's family including Husayn ibn Ali, and he has become infamous in Muslim tradition.
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.
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.
Al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays al-Shaybānī was the leader of a widespread but unsuccessful Kharijite rebellion in Iraq against the Umayyad Caliph Marwan II from 745 until his death in battle in 746.
The Third Fitna was a series of civil wars and uprisings in the Islamic community. It followed the death of the twelfth Umayyad caliph Yazid III in 744 and lasted for about six years. The war culminated with the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate and the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750. Following the death of Yazid III in 744 and the abdication of his successor Ibrahim the same year, Marwan II became the sole ruler of the caliphate.
The Umayyad dynasty or Umayyads were the ruling Arab family of the Caliphate between 661 and 750 and later of al-Andalus between 756 and 1031. In the pre-Islamic period, they were a prominent clan of the Meccan tribe of Quraysh, descended from Umayya ibn Abd Shams. Despite staunch opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Umayyads embraced Islam before the latter's death in 632. Uthman, an early companion of Muhammad from the Umayyad clan, was the third Rashidun caliph, ruling in 644–656, while other members held various governorships. One of these governors, Mu'awiya I of Syria, opposed Caliph Ali in the First Muslim Civil War (656–661) and afterward founded the Umayyad Caliphate with its capital in Damascus. This marked the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty, the first hereditary dynasty in the history of Islam, and the only one to rule over the entire Islamic world of its time.
The Banu Shayban is an Arab tribe, a branch of the Bakr ibn Wa'il group. Throughout the early Islamic era, the tribe was settled chiefly in the Jazira, and played an important role in its history.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz was an Umayyad prince, the son of Caliph Umar II, and briefly governor of Iraq under Yazid III in 744–745. In this capacity he quelled the pro-Alid rebellion of Abd Allah ibn Mu'awiya at Kufa, although Ibn Mu'awiya managed to flee to Istakhr in Persia.
Abu al-Hudhayl Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi was a Muslim commander, a chieftain of the Arab tribe of Banu Amir, and the preeminent leader of the Qays tribal–political faction in the late 7th century. During the First Muslim Civil War he commanded his tribe in A'isha's army against Caliph Ali's forces at the Battle of the Camel near Basra in 656. The following year, he relocated from Iraq to the Jazira and fought under Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, future founder of the Umayyad Caliphate, against Ali at the Battle of Siffin. During the Second Muslim Civil War he served Mu'awiya's son, Caliph Yazid I, leading the troops of Jund Qinnasrin against anti-Umayyad rebels in the 683 Battle of al-Harra.
Ibrahim ibn Malik al-Ashtar ibn al-Harith al-Nakha'i, better known as Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar was an Arab commander who fought in the service of Caliph Ali and later served the pro-Alid leader al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi. He led al-Mukhtar's forces to a decisive victory at the Battle of Khazir (686) against the Umayyads under Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, who was personally slain by Ibn al-Ashtar.
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.
Abū Unaysal-Ḍaḥḥak ibn Qays al-Fihrī was an Umayyad general, head of security forces and governor of Damascus during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I, Yazid I and Mu'awiya II. Though long an Umayyad loyalist, after the latter's death, al-Dahhak defected to the anti-Umayyad claimant to the caliphate, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.
Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr 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 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.
Sufyan ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi al-Asamm was a general of the Umayyad Caliphate who served under caliphs Mu'awiya II, Marwan I and Abd al-Malik. He backed the latter against his own tribesmen during a coup attempt in 689. He was a key figure in securing the Umayyad hold over Iraq during the governorship of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, helping the latter defeat the Kharijites in 696–697 and the rebellion of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath in 700–701.
Abū Umayya ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ al-Umawī, better known as al-Ashdaq (الأشدق), 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.
Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr al-Anṣārī 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.
Abū al-Walīd Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Sijistānī was a leading bureaucrat in the central dīwān of Iraq under the Umayyad governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (694–714) and then fiscal governor of the province under Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. In 697, upon al-Hajjaj's order, he carried out the conversion of the Persian-language Iraqi dīwān into Arabic.