U'awiya’s son Yazid died after only three years in office, in the winter of 683, and his own son outlived him by only four months. This spelled the end of this family line and the way was now open to other candidates. There were two main contenders: Marwan ibn al-Hakam, who belonged to the same Umayyad clan as Mu'awiya, and 'Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr, whose father was a close companion of Muhammad and whose mother was a sister-in-law of Muhammad. Besides emphasizing this closeness of his family to the prophet, ‘Abdallah let it be known that “he had risen up out of zeal for the house of God,” taking up residence in Muhammad’s hometown of Mecca, and he stamped some of his coins with the slogan “Muhammad is the messenger of God.” His manifesto clearly garnered widespread support, for though later tradition does not grant him official status, an early eighth-century chronicle says that “he was elected ruler with the consent of all” and on the coinage of a good many eastern provinces, especially Fars and Kirman, he is named as “commander of the faithful” from the year 684 (ah 64). However, though ‘Abdallah strengthened his legitimacy by staying in Muhammad’s birthplace, he lessened his ability to control events.
By contrast, Marwan, though he had the weaker moral case, based himself in Damascus where he could draw upon the formidable power base that Mu'awiya had built up in Syria over the previous decades. As the aforementioned chronicle puts it: “With the consent of a good many from the army, Marwan was carried forward to power, with God turning a blind eye.”1
To reinforce his position Marwan quickly concluded a peace agreement with the emperor Constantine IV so as to prevent attacks from the north and he obtained allegiance to his eldest son, 'Abd al-Malik, to ensure a problem-free succession in the event of his death. This turned out to be a wise move on Marwan’s part, for he died only nine months later, but though 'Abd al-Malik’s accession in Syria was smooth, he faced a very bumpy ride to acceptance elsewhere. Some fought to put a son of 'Ali on the throne, believing that his marriage to the prophet’s daughter Fatima had made him and his offspring the heir to Muhammad’s prophetic charisma. Others, designated Kharijites (literally: “rebels”), opposed all dynastic government, arguing that the leader should simply be the one most competent to enact God’s will as manifested in the Qur’an and the practice of Muhammad. Their rallying cry was “rule belongs to God alone” (la hukma illa lillah), which was very likely a response to the move by 'Abd al-Malik to designate himself “deputy of God” (khalifat Allah), implying that he ruled on God’s behalf (Figure 5.1). Many of these rebels lived as bandits in the countryside and carried out small-scale attacks on government targets, but some achieved more substantial gains. One of their number carved out for himself a large swathe of central and eastern Arabia in the 680s, and another held portions of western and central Iran from 689 to 696 and minted coins on which he was acclaimed as “commander of the faithful.” 'Abd al-Malik very astutely allowed these competing groups to wear one another down and then used his loyal Syrian troops to push home the final victory, killing 'Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr in 692 and bringing to a close almost a decade of turmoil.2
This second Arab civil war had been hugely divisive and 'Abd al-Malik realized that he needed to try to bring some unity to his fractious community and to demonstrate to his conquered subjects and those beyond his reach that the Arab regime was still a force to be reckoned with. He made a couple
FIGURE 5.1 Silver coin of Qatari ibn al-Fuja’a, Bishapur, dated 75 ah (694—95), bearing bust of Sasanian emperor and the Arabic legend "rule belongs to God alone.” (SICA I/I98). © Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.
Of far-reaching administrative changes that were aimed at harmonizing the different systems in his realm: creating a single uniform coinage and decreeing that there should be a single official language of the bureaucracy, namely, Arabic. He also elevated the status of Islam so that it would play a greater role in public life. Out of deference to the large numbers of Christians among the subject population and among the ranks of the Arab warriors, this had not been done before. However, 'Abd al-Malik had observed how much popular support his rival Ibn al-Zubayr had gained by setting himself up as a champion for the primacy of the sanctuary in Mecca and of the prophet Muhammad, and he was determined to usurp this role for himself. He therefore devised a new Islamic creed—"There is no god but God and Muhammad is His messenger”—and had it placed on all public documents and stamped on his new coinage (Figure 5.2). He renewed Mu'awiya's policy of having a viceroy of the east who would be allowed a free hand to enforce allegiance to Umayyad rule and crush dissent in the former Persian territories, appointing the famously tough and ruthless Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (693—714). Finally, he gave new impetus to the conquests, beginning with Africa and the southeast frontier of Iran.
FIGURE 5.2 Gold coin of ‘Abd al-Malik, dated 77 ah (696-97), bearing image of the caliph and the Arabic legend "there is no god but God alone, Muhammad is the messenger of God” (SICA 1/705). © Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.
His son Walid continued this policy and in only two decades their generals won the submission of Spain and North Africa in the west and of Sind and Transoxania in the east.
In the same year that ‘Abd al-Malik came to power, a new Byzantine emperor acceded to the throne, the young Justinian II (685-95, 705-11). He also had ambitions of restoring his empire’s prestige, perhaps wishing to emulate his earlier namesake, Justinian the Great (527-65). He visited Armenia now that it had reverted to Byzantine control as part of the peace deal concluded with ‘Abd al-Malik, eager to demonstrate that he was back in charge in this part of the world. He then turned his attention to the Balkans where he repulsed the Bulgars, who had been seeking to extend their authority in the region, and advanced as far as Thessalonica, taking back with him a large number of Slavs to repopulate parts of Anatolia and to serve in the military. He selected 30,000 of them, whom he armed and named "the special people,” intending to use them as an elite force to combat the Arabs. He soon had an opportunity to do so, for in 692 the peace treaty concluded by his father with Mu'awiya and renewed by Marwan and 'Abd al-Malik was dissolved amid mutual recriminations. The two sides marched out to meet each other at Sebastopolis, in the Pontus region of Anatolia. The Arab side seemed initially to be losing, but the general Muhammad ibn Marwan, brother of 'Abd al-Malik, persuaded the Slavs to defect, and when they saw this the Byzantines fled. For his failures, Justinian had his nose cut off and was banished to the Crimea. A decade later he managed to escape and with Bulgar aid recaptured the throne. However, his vengefulness toward his enemies blighted his attempts to reform his realm's defensive strategy and the Arabs were able to score a number of victories deep inside the Byzantine heartland of Anatolia.3
World History
