Marwan I

Marwān ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-'As ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams^{[note 1]} (Arabic: مروان بن الحكم بن أبي العاص بن أمية‎), commonly known as Marwan I (ca. 623–626 — April/May 685) was the fourth caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling for less than a year in 684–685, and founder of its Marwanid ruling house, which remained in power until 750. Marwan had known the Islamic prophet Muhammad and is thus considered a sahaba (companion). He served as the secretary and right-hand man of his kinsman Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656) and participated in the defense of his house during a rebel siege. Uthman was, nonetheless, killed by the rebels, prompting Marwan to kill Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, whom he held culpable, during the Battle of the Camel in 656. He gave allegiance to Caliph Ali (r. 656–661) and later served as governor of Medina under his kinsman Caliph Mu'awiyah I (r. 661–680), founder of the Umayyad Caliphate.

Marwan led the Banu Umayya clan in the Hejaz, and when Mu'awiya I's successors Yazid I and Mu'awiya II died in 683 and 684, respectively, he organized the defense of the Umayyad realm in the Hejaz against Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, a rival claimant to the caliphate. Ibn al-Zubayr expelled Marwan and his clan from Medina, and they became refugees in Syria. As he was prepared to pay allegiance to Ibn al-Zubayr, his kinsman, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, urged him to instead volunteer his candidacy for the caliphate during a summit of loyalist tribes at Jabiya. The tribal nobility, led by Ibn Bahdal of the Banu Kalb, ultimately elected Marwan and together they defeated the pro-Zubayrid Qaysi tribes at the Battle of Marj Rahit.

In the months that followed, Marwan reasserted Umayyad rule over the pro-Zubayrid territories of Egypt, Palestine and northern Syria, while keeping the Qays in check in Upper Mesopotamia. He dispatched an expedition led by Ubayd Allah to reconquer Iraq, but died as it was on the move in the spring of 685. Before he died, Marwan firmly established his sons in positions of power; 'Abd al-Malik was designated his successor, 'Abd al-'Aziz was made governor of Egypt and Muhammad oversaw military command in Upper Mesopotamia. Though Marwan was stigmatized as an outlaw and a father of tyrants in later anti-Umayyad tradition, historian Clifford E. Bosworth asserts that the caliph was a shrewd, capable and decisive military leader and statesman who laid the foundations of continued Umayyad rule for a further sixty years.

Early life and family

Marwan was born in circa 623–626 CE to father al-Hakam ibn Abi al-'As and mother Amina bint 'Alqama al-Kinaniyya.^[2] They belonged to the Banu Umayya clan of the Quraysh tribe.^[2] Marwan knew the Islamic prophet Muhammad and is counted among the latter's ṣaḥāba (companions).^[2] Marwan had at least ten sons,^[3] including 'Abd al-Malik, 'Abd al-'Aziz, Muhammad, Umar,^[4] 'Abd al-Rahman,^[5] Uthman and Ubayd Allah.^[6] He also had at least two daughters,^[3] Umm Uthman, a full sister of 'Abd al-'Aziz and 'Abd al-Rahman, and Umm 'Amr, a full sister of 'Abd al-Malik.^[5] In addition, Marwan had ten brothers and was the paternal uncle of ten nephews.^[3]

Secretary of Uthman

During the reign of his cousin, Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656), Marwan served as the caliph's kātib (secretary).^[2] In this capacity, historian Clifford E. Bosworth asserts that Marwan "doubtless helped" in the revision "of what became the canonical text of the Qur'an in that caliph's [Uthman's] reign".^[2] According to historian Hugh N. Kennedy, Marwan was Uthman's "right-hand man".^[7]

During Uthman's reign, Marwan took part in a military campaign in North Africa, where he acquired significant war spoils.^[2] These spoils likely formed the basis of Marwan's substantial wealth, part of which he invested in properties in Medina.^[2] For an undetermined time, he served as Uthman's governor in Fars.^[2] Marwan was one of the defenders of Uthman's house in Medina when it was besieged by Egyptian rebels in 656.^[2] The house was ultimately set alight and Uthman was assassinated by the rebels, which became one of the major contributing factors to the First Muslim Civil War. In the ensuing hostilities between Uthman's loyalists and A'isha on the one hand and Uthman's successor, Ali, on the other, Marwan initially sided with the former.^[2] He fought alongside A'isha's forces at the Battle of the Camel in 656.^[2] However, he used that occasion to kill one of A'isha's partisans, Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, whom he held responsible for Uthman's death.^[2] After the battle, he switched allegiance to Ali.^[2]

Governor under Mu'awiya I

Ali himself was assassinated in 661. He was succeeded by the Muslim governor of Syria and member of the Banu Umayya, Mu'awiya I, beginning Umayyad rule over the Caliphate. For a brief period, Marwan served as Mu'awiya's governor in Bahrayn before serving two stints as governor of Medina in 661–668 and 674–677.^[2] In between those two terms, Marwan's kinsmen Sa'id ibn al-'As and al-Walid ibn Uqba, held the post.^[2] Marwan acquired from Mu'awiya a large estate in the Fadak oasis in northern Arabia, which he then bestowed on his sons 'Abd al-Malik and 'Abd al-'Aziz.^[2]

According to Bosworth, Mu'awiya may have later become suspicious of the ambitions of Marwan and his Abu'l-'As line of the Banu Umayya, which was larger than the Abu Sufyan line, to which Mu'awiya belonged.^[3] Marwan was among the most senior members of the Banu Umayya at a time when there were few experienced members of the Abu Sufyan family.^[3] Bosworth speculates that it "may have been fears of the family of Abu'l-'As that impelled Mu'awiya ... to the unusual step of naming his own son Yazid as heir to the caliphate during his own lifetime".^[3]

Reign as caliph

Death

After a reign of between six and ten months, depending on the source, Marwan died in the spring of 685.^[3] The precise date of his death is not clear from the medieval sources, with historians Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari and Khalifah ibn Khayyat placing it at 11 April, al-Mas'udi at 13 April and Elijah of Nisibis at 7 May.^[3] Most Muslim sources hold that Marwan died in Damascus, while al-Mas'udi holds that he died at his winter residence in al-Sinnabra near Lake Tiberias.^[3]

Marwan had designated his sons 'Abd al-Malik and 'Abd al-'Aziz as his successors following the reconquest of Egypt, abrogating the arrangement reached at the Jabiya summit in 684.^[3] Abd al-Malik acceded to the caliphate in Damascus without apparent opposition from the previously designated successors, Khalid ibn Yazid and Amr ibn al-Ashdaq.^[3]

Assessment

Marwan modeled his administration on the reign of Caliph Uthman.^[11] To that end, he made his family the foundation of his power, giving his sons Muhammad and 'Abd al-'Aziz key military commands, and ensuring 'Abd al-Malik succeed him as caliph.^[11] Despite the tumultuous beginnings, the Banū Marwān or "Marwanids" (descendants of Marwan), were established as the ruling house of the Umayyad realm.^[11][12] Marwan's rise also affirmed the power of the Quda'a tribal confederation, of which the Banu Kalb was part.^[12] Following the Battle of Marj Rahit, the Quda'a entered into an alliance with the Qahtan confederation of Homs, and new super-tribe became known as the "Yaman".^[13] In the view of Bosworth,

[Marwan] was obviously a military leader and statesman of great skill and decisiveness amply endowed with the qualities of hilm [levelheadedness] and shrewdness, which characterised other outstanding members of the Umayyad clan. His attainment of the caliphate, starting from a position without many natural advantages beyond his own personal qualities (for he had no power-base in Syria and had spent the greater part of his career in the Hijaz), enabled his successor 'Abd al-Malik to place the Umayyad caliphate on a firm footing so that it was able to endure for over 60 years more.^[3]

Marwan was also known to be gruff and lacking in social graces.^[3] He apparently suffered permanent injuries after a number of battle wounds.^[3] His tall and emaciated appearance lent him the nickname khayṭ bāṭil (gossamer-like thread).^[3] Marwan was the subject of derision in later anti-Umayyad Muslim tradition.^[3] These sources labeled him ṭarid ibn ṭarid (outlawed son of an outlaw) in reference to his father al-Hakam's alleged exiling to Ta'if by the prophet Muhammad and Marwan's expulsion from Medina by Ibn al-Zubayr.^[3] He was also referred to abū'l-jabābira (father of tyrants) because his son and grandsons later inherited the caliphal throne.^[3]

See also

• Aban ibn al-Walid ibn Uqba

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Ahmed, Asad Q. (2010). The Religious Elite of the Early Islamic Ḥijāz: Five Prosopographical Case Studies. University of Oxford Linacre College Unit for Prosopographical Research.
• Bosworth, C.E. (1991). "Marwān I b. al-Ḥakam". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Pellat, Ch. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 621–623. ISBN 90-04-08112-7.
• Cobb, Paul M. (2001). White Banners: Contention in 'Abbasid Syria, 750-880. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791448809.
• Elisséeff, N. (1991). "Mardj Rāhiṭ". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Pellat, Ch. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 544–546. ISBN 90-04-08112-7.
• Kennedy, Hugh N. (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (Second ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. ISBN 0-582-40525-4.
• Rihan, Mohammad (2014). The Politics and Culture of an Umayyad Tribe: Conflict and Factionalism in the Early Islamic Period. London: I. B. Tauris and Company Limited.