Third Fitna

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Third Fitna
Part of the early Muslim civil wars and the
Arabia
Result Victory of Marwan II and the pro-Qays faction in the inter-Umayyad civil war; Umayyad authority weakened and overthrown in subsequent Abbasid Revolution
Belligerents pro-Qays Umayyads pro-Yaman Umayyads

anti-Umayyad rebels:

Commanders and leaders Al-Walid II  †
Marwan II
Abu al-Ward
Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra
Nasr ibn Sayyar Yazid III
Sulayman ibn Hisham
Yazid ibn Khalid al-Qasri
X
Abu Muslim

The Third Fitna (

Khurasan in 747, and ended with the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate and the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750.[2]

Background

The civil war began in 744 with the overthrow of

Iraq, who tortured his Yamani predecessor, Khalid al-Qasri, to death. It must be noted though that adherence was not clear cut, and men from both sides of the divide joined the other.[6]

Usurpation of Yazid III

In April 744,

Hims, but when Yazid III's far larger army under Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Hajjaj ibn Abd al-Malik arrived, most of his supporters fled. Al-Walid II was killed, and his severed head was sent to Damascus.[7] A pro-Qaysi uprising in Hims followed, under the Sufyanid Abu Muhammad al-Sufyani, but its march on Damascus was decisively defeated by Sulayman who had been released from prison. Abu Muhammad was thrown in prison in Damascus along with al-Walid II's sons.[8]

During his brief reign, Yazid III was an exemplary ruler, modelling himself on the pious

Khurasan, Nasr ibn Sayyar, but the latter managed to maintain his post.[10] Yazid III died in September 744 after a reign of barely six months. Apparently due to the advice of the Qadariyya, he had appointed his brother, Ibrahim, as his successor, but he did not enjoy much support and was immediately faced with the revolt of Marwan II (r. 744–750), the grandson of Marwan I (r. 684–685) and governor of al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia).[10]

Rise of Marwan II

Silver dirham of Marwan II

Reportedly, Marwan II, who for several years had supervised the campaigns against the Byzantines and the Khazars on the Caliphate's northwestern frontiers, had considered claiming the caliphate at the death of al-Walid II, but a Kalbi rebellion had forced him to wait. Instead, Yazid III appointed him governor to Upper Mesopotamia and he took up residence in the Qays-dominated city of Harran.[11]

Syria

Map of Syria with its major cities and administrative divisions (junds) in the early Islamic period

Following Yazid III's death in 744, Marwan marched into Syria, claiming that he came to restore the throne to al-Walid II's two imprisoned sons.

mawālī (non-Arab Muslims).[13][14] Marwan II defeated Sulayman who fled to Damascus.[14] Marwan II forced the prisoners he had taken in the battle to pledge allegiance to al-Walid II's sons, whereupon the sons were killed by Yazid ibn Khalid al-Qasri on Sulayman's orders, along with Yusuf al-Thaqafi.[14] Sulayman and his adherents, including the caliph-designate Ibrahim, then fled to Palmyra.[14] Marwan II entered Damascus peacefully at the end of November or December and was declared caliph.[15] Marwan avoided reprisals and followed a conciliatory policy, allowing the Syrian districts (junds) to choose their own governors. Soon Sulayman and Ibrahim came to Damascus and submitted to Marwan II.[16]

Marwan II's hold on power appeared to be stabilizing, but when he moved the capital of the caliphate from Damascus to the military city of Harran it was seen as an abandonment of Syria and the move sowed resentment among the defeated Kalbis.[17] Consequently, in summer 745, the Kalbis of Palestine rose in revolt under the local governor, Thabit ibn Nu'aym. The revolt quickly spread across Syria, even to ostensibly loyal Qaysi areas like Hims. Marwan II had to return to Syria and suppress the revolt city by city. After forcing Hims to surrender, he relieved Damascus from its siege by Yazid ibn Khalid al-Qasri, who was killed. He then rescued Tiberias, which was being besieged by Thabit. Thabit fled and his troops scattered to the winds but this three sons, Nu'aym, Bakr, and Imran were caught and executed. Thabit was later caught together with another son, Rifa'a, and executed.[15] Following Marwan II's attack on the Kalbi's stronghold Palmyra, the Kalbi leader Abrash al-Kalbi also surrendered.[18]

With Syria apparently back in his grip, Marwan II ordered the members of the Umayyad family to gather around him and named his two sons as his heirs. He then focused his attention on Iraq, where an army led by Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra was trying to gain control of the province for him. Marwan II assembled a new army and sent it to aid Ibn Hubayra's. Meanwhile, another rebellion led by the previously defeated Sulayman had broken out in northern Syria.[15] At Rusafa, Marwan II's army deserted to Sulayman's side. It then took Qinnasrin, and once again many Syrians dissatisfied with Marwan II joined them. Marwan II brought the bulk of his forces from Iraq and defeated Sulayman's rebels near Qinnasrin. Sulayman again escaped to Palmyra, and thence flee to Kufa. Most of his surviving troops withdrew to Hims under the command of his brother Sa'id, where they were soon besieged by Marwan II's forces. The siege lasted through the winter of 745–746, but in the end Hims surrendered.[19] Enraged at the repeated Syrian revolts despite his earlier leniency, Marwan II now, in the summer of 746, moved to prevent any further resistance by tearing down the walls of most important Syrian towns, including Hims, Damascus and possibly also Jerusalem.[19][15]

Egypt and Iraq

Opposition to Marwan and his Qaysis was also evident in

Hawthara ibn Suhayl al-Bahili, at the head of a large Syrian army. Despite his supporters' eagerness to resist, Hafs proved willing to surrender his position. Hawthara took Fustat without opposition, but immediately launched a purge, to which Hafs and several Hafsiya leaders fell victim.[20]

Jayy
c. 746/7

In the meantime, in Iraq, Marwan's rebellion coincided with an

Banu Rabi'ah tribes in Upper Mesopotamia. Although "northerners", the Rabi'a, and especially the Banu Shayban, were enemies of the Mudar and Qays and opposed Marwan II's takeover.[23]

The revolt was initially led by Sa'id ibn Bahdal, but he died soon of the plague, and was succeeded by

Nisibis. Once Hims had fallen, however, Marwan himself campaigned against Dahhak, and in a battle at al-Ghazz in Kafartuta in August/September 746, Dahhak was killed and the Kharijites had to abandon Upper Mesopotamia.[23][24] The Kharijites now selected Abu Dulaf as their leader, and on the advice of Sulayman ibn Hisham they withdrew to the eastern bank of the Tigris. As Marwan was able to call upon more and more troops to face the Kharijites, however, they were forced to abandon even this position and withdraw further east. Marwan then sent Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra to establish control over Iraq, which he accomplished this by the summer of 747: after defeating the Kharijite governor of Kufa and taking the city, Ibn Hyubayra marched on Wasit, where he took Abdallah ibn Umar prisoner.[25]

Marwan's capture of Iraq left Abdallah ibn Mu'awiya as the only major leader opposing the Umayyad caliph, and his domain in western Persia became a refuge for the defeated Kharijites of Iraq, and every other opponent of Marwan, including members of the Umayyad family—notably Sulayman ibn Hisham—and even a few

Abbasids. Nevertheless, in a short time Ibn Mu'awiya's forces suffered a decisive defeat by one of Ibn Hubayra's generals. Ibn Mu'awiya fled to Khurasan, where the leader of the Abbasid Revolution, Abu Muslim, had him executed, while Sulayman ibn Hisham and Mansur ibn Jumhur fled to India, where they remained until they died.[26]

Arabia

Main article: Ibadi revolt

In

Himyarites Yahya ibn Karib and Yahya ibn Abdallah al-Sabbaq.[28] These uprisings were finally suppressed in 747 by Marwan's general Abd al-Malik ibn Atiyya, but he was recalled too soon to lead the Hajj, forcing him to make pacts with some of the rebels in exchange for peace.[28]

Khurasan and the Abbasid Revolution

Main article: Abbasid Revolution

Khurasan, the northeasternmost province of the Caliphate, had not escaped the turmoils of the civil war. Yazid III's accession posed a threat to the longtime governor, Nasr ibn Sayyar, as the numerous Yaman in Khurasan sought to replace him with their champion,

Muhallabids, an Azdi family that had been purged after rebelling in 720, an act which had since become a symbol of Yamani resentment of the Umayyads and their northern Arab-dominated regime.[29][30][31] Nasr imprisoned al-Kirmani in the provincial capital, Merv, but he managed to escape in summer 744. Despite Nasr's eventual re-confirmation as governor by Yazid, the rebellion spread among the Arabs of Khurasan, so that Nasr was forced to turn to the exiled rebel al-Harith ibn Surayj. Al-Kirmani had played a major role in the latter's defeat years ago, and Ibn Surayj's northern Arab (Tamimi) origin made him a natural enemy of the Yamani. Ibn Surayj however had other designs; gathering a following of many of the Tamimis and the disaffected Arabs of the province, he launched an attack on Merv in March 746. After it failed, he made common cause with al-Kirmani.[32][33][34]

With Marwan II still trying to consolidate his own position in Syria and Mesopotamia, and western Persia controlled by the Kharijites under Ibn Mu'awiya, Nasr was bereft of any hopes of reinforcement. The allied armies of Ibn Surayj and al-Kirmani drove him out of Merv towards the end of the year, and he retreated to the Qaysi stronghold of Nishapur.[35][36][37] Within days al-Kirmani and Ibn Surayj fell out among themselves and clashed, resulting in the latter's death. Al-Kirmani then destroyed the Tamimi quarters in Merv, a shocking act, as dwellings were traditionally considered exempt from warfare in Arab culture. As a result, the Mudari tribes, hitherto ambivalent towards Nasr, now came over to him. Backed by them, especially the Qaysis of Nishapur, Nasr now resolved to take back the capital. During summer 747, Nasr's and al-Kirmani's armies confronted each other before the walls of Merv, occupying two fortified camps and skirmishing with each other for several months. The fighting stopped only when news came of the start of the Hashimiyya uprising under Abu Muslim. Negotiations commenced, but were almost broken off when a member of Nasr's entourage, an embittered son of Ibn Surayj, attacked and killed al-Kirmani. The two sides were able to tentatively settle their differences, and Nasr re-occupied his seat in Merv.[35][38][39]

Victory of the Abbasids

Saffah
was proclaimed caliph

The exact origins and nature of the Hashimiyya movement are debated among scholars, but by the 740s this movement, which supported the overthrow of the Umayyads and their replacement by a "chosen one from the family of Muhammad" (al-Riḍā min Āl Muḥammad), had spread widely among the Arabs of Khurasan. In 746 or 747, Abu Muslim was sent to Khurasan by the Abbasid

Rayy.[43][44] Following the capture of Nishapur, Abu Muslim consolidated his position in Khurasan by murdering Ali ibn Juday al-Kirmani and his brother Uthman.[43]

Qahtaba's son

Battle of the Greater Zab, the Abbasid army decisively defeated the Umayyad army led by Marwan II in person. Pursued by the Abbasids, Marwan was forced to flee to Syria and then Egypt, where he was finally captured and executed in August 750, putting an end to the Umayyad Caliphate.[48] Saffah established Kufa as the capital of the caliphate, ending the dominance of Damascus in the Islamic political world.[49]

Notes

  1. Qur'an in the sense of test of faith of the believers, especially as a divine punishment for sinful behavior. Historically, it came to mean a civil war or rebellion which caused rifts in the unified Muslim community and endangered the believers' faith.[1]

References

  1. ^ Gardet 1965, p. 930.
  2. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 90.
  3. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 90–91.
  4. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 91–92.
  5. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 92.
  6. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 93.
  7. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 93–94.
  8. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 94.
  9. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 94–95.
  10. ^ a b Hawting 2000, p. 96.
  11. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 96–97.
  12. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 96–7.
  13. ^ Blankinship 1994, p. 91.
  14. ^ a b c d Hawting 2000, p. 97.
  15. ^ a b c d Gil 1997, p. 87.
  16. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 97–98.
  17. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 98.
  18. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 97–99.
  19. ^ a b c Hawting 2000, p. 99.
  20. ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 74–76.
  21. ^ Zetterstéen 1987, pp. 26–27.
  22. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 99–100.
  23. ^ a b c Hawting 2000, p. 100.
  24. ^ a b Veccia Vaglieri 1965, p. 90.
  25. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 100–101.
  26. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 101.
  27. ^ Landau-Tasseron 2010, pp. 418–419.
  28. ^ a b Landau-Tasseron 2010, p. 419.
  29. ^ Shaban 1979, p. 134.
  30. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 76, 107.
  31. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 43–44.
  32. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 134–136.
  33. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 44–45.
  34. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 107–108.
  35. ^ a b Hawting 2000, p. 108.
  36. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 136–137.
  37. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 45–46.
  38. ^ Shaban 1979, p. 137.
  39. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 46–47.
  40. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 109–115.
  41. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 108–109, 115.
  42. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 159–160.
  43. ^ a b c Hawting 2000, p. 116.
  44. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 160–161.
  45. ^ a b Shaban 1979, p. 161.
  46. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 116–117.
  47. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 117.
  48. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 117–118.
  49. ^ Foltz 2016, p. 49.

Sources

  • ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7
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  • Foltz, Richard C. (2016). Iran in World History. Oxford University Press.
    ISBN 9780199335497
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  • OCLC 495469475
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  • ISBN 0-521-59984-9
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  • ISBN 0-415-24072-7
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  • ISBN 0-521-47137-0
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  • Landau-Tasseron, Ella (2010). "Arabia". In
    ISBN 978-0-521-83823-8
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  • Shaban, M. A. (1979). The ʿAbbāsid Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 0-521-29534-3
    .
  • Sharon, Moshe (1990). Revolt: the social and military aspects of the ʿAbbāsid revolution. Jerusalem: Graph Press Ltd.
    ISBN 965-223-388-9
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  • OCLC 495469475
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  • ISBN 90-04-08265-4
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Further reading

  • Judd, Steven Clark (1997). The Third Fitna: Orthodoxy, Heresy and Coercion in Late Umayyad History (PhD diss.). University of Michigan.
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