Battle of Marj Rahit (684)

Coordinates: 33°35′02″N 36°27′42″E / 33.58389°N 36.46167°E / 33.58389; 36.46167
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Battle of Marj Rahit
Part of the Second Fitna
Date18 August 684 CE
Location
Marj Rahit, near Damascus
33°35′02″N 36°27′42″E / 33.58389°N 36.46167°E / 33.58389; 36.46167
Result
Umayyad
victory
Belligerents

Umayyad Caliphate and pro-Umayyad tribes

(Umayyad loyalist)

Pro-Zubayrid forces

Commanders and leaders
Marwan I
Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad
Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan
Amr ibn Sa'id al-Ashdaq
Abbad ibn Ziyad
Malik ibn Hubayra al-Sakuni
Rawh ibn Zinba al-Judhami
Bishr ibn Marwan		 al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri †
Ziyad ibn Amr al-Uqayli
Shurahbil ibn Dhi'l-Kala
Ma'n ibn Yazid ibn al-Akhnas al-Sulami  †
Strength
6,000 or 13,000, mostly infantry[4] 30,000 or 60,000, mostly cavalry
Casualties and losses
Light Heavy, including 80 nobles[5]
Battle of Marj Rahit (684) is located in Syria
Battle of Marj Rahit (684)
class=notpageimage|
Location of the battle within modern Syria

The Battle of Marj Rahit (

division and rivalry between the Qays and the Yaman
, which would be a constant source of strife and instability for the remainder of the Umayyad Caliphate.

Background

At the death of

defeated the Medinans and laid siege to Mecca, the holiest city of Islam, but Yazid's death in November forced the expeditionary force to return home.[9][10]

Yazid was succeeded by his son,

Uthman ibn Affan (r. 644–656), was elected as the Umayyads' caliphal candidate.[16][17]

Opening skirmishes and the battle of Marj Rahit

Marwan's election provoked the reaction of the Qays, who rallied around the Governor of

Ghassanid tribe.[17][18]

The two armies first clashed in mid-July 684 at the plain of Marj al-Suffar, and the Qays were pushed towards Marj Rahit,

Ibn Khayyat inflates the numbers to 30,000 and 60,000 respectively.[18][20] The traditions agree, however, that the Umayyad forces were considerably outnumbered.[17] Marwan's commanders were Abbad ibn Ziyad, Amr ibn Sa'id al-Ashdaq and Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad (another tradition has Ubayd Allah commanding the cavalry and Malik ibn Hubayra al-Sakuni the infantry), while only one of al-Dahhak's commanders, Ziyad ibn Amr ibn Mu'awiya al-Uqayli, is known.[21][22]

A plethora of anecdotes, individual accounts, and poems on the battle survives,

Qarqisiya under Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi, and Marwan was officially proclaimed as Caliph at Damascus.[17]

Aftermath

The victory at Marj Rahit secured the Umayyads' position in Syria, and allowed them to go onto the offensive against Ibn al-Zubayr's supporters. Egypt was recovered later in the year, but an attempt to recover Iraq under

defeated al-Mukhtar and gained control of all of Iraq in 687. In 691, Abd al-Malik managed to bring Zufar al-Kilabi's Qays back into the Umayyad fold, and advanced into Iraq. Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr was defeated and killed, and Umayyad authority re-established across the East. In October 692, after another siege of Mecca, Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr was killed, and the civil war ended.[24][25]

Impact

Main article: Qays–Yaman rivalry

The most enduring legacy of Marj Rahit was the hardening of the Qays–Kalb split in Syria, which was paralleled in the division and rivalry between the

Abbasids.[28] Indeed, in the assessment of Julius Wellhausen, Marj Rahit "brought victory to the Umaiyids [sic], and at the same time shattered the foundations of their power".[29] The division continued long after: as Hugh N. Kennedy writes, "As late as the nineteenth century, battles were still being fought in Palestine between groups calling themselves Qays and Yaman".[30]

References

  1. ^ Kennedy 2001, p. 31.
  2. ^ Wellhausen 1927, p. 181.
  3. ^ a b Crone 1994, p. 45.
  4. ^ Crone 1994, p. 55.
  5. ^ Wellhausen 1927, p. 173.
  6. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 46.
  7. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 49–51.
  8. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 89.
  9. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 47–48.
  10. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 89–90.
  11. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 47.
  12. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 90.
  13. ^ a b Kennedy 2004, pp. 90–91.
  14. ^ Hawting 1989, pp. 49–50, 56.
  15. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 48.
  16. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 53–54.
  17. ^ a b c d Kennedy 2004, p. 91.
  18. ^ a b c d e Elisséeff 1991, pp. 544–545.
  19. ^ Burns 2007, p. 110.
  20. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 54 (n. 89).
  21. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 59, 62.
  22. ^ Kennedy 2001, pp. 31–32.
  23. ^ cf. Hawting 1989, pp. 54–69
  24. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 48–49, 51–53.
  25. ^ Kennedy 2001, pp. 92–98.
  26. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 54–55.
  27. ^ Kennedy 2001, p. 105.
  28. ^ Kennedy 2001, pp. 99–115.
  29. ^ Wellhausen 1927, p. 182.
  30. ^ Kennedy 2001, p. 92.

Sources

  • Burns, Ross (2007). Damascus: A History. London and New York: Routledge.
    ISBN 978-1-134-48850-6
    .
  • S2CID 154370527
    .
  • Elisséeff, N. (1991). "Mardj Rāhiṭ". In
    ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-88706-855-3
    .
  • ISBN 0-415-24072-7
    .
  • ISBN 0-415-25093-5
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7
    .
  • OCLC 752790641
    .

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Marj_Rahit_(684)&oldid=1217592604"