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Marwan II

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Umayyad caliph from 744 to 750

Marwan II
مروان بن محمد

Amir al-Mu'minin
Khalifat Allah

Dirham of Marwan II

14thCaliph of theUmayyad Caliphate

Reign

4 December 744 – 6 August 750

Predecessor

Ibrahim ibn al-Walid

Successor

Position abolished
al-Saffah (asAbbasid caliph)

Born

c. 691
Al-Sham,Umayyad Caliphate (present-daySyria)

Died

6 August 750CE (aged 59)
Misr,Umayyad Caliphate (present-dayEgypt)

Spouse

Muznah

Issue

Muhammad
Ubaydallah
Abd al-Malik
Abdallah

Names
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan

Father

Mother

Umm Marwan
(Umm walad)

Religion

Islam

Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan (Arabic:مروان بن محمد بن مروان,romanized: Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān;c. 691– 6 August 750), commonly known asMarwan II and surnamedal-Himar (Arabic: الحمار),^[1] was the fourteenth and lastcaliph of theUmayyad Caliphate, ruling from 744 until his death. His reign was dominated by acivil war, and he was the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before theAbbasid Revolution toppled theUmayyad dynasty.

Birth and background

[edit]

Marwan ibn Muhammad was a member of the Marwanid household of theUmayyad Caliphate. His grandmother was named Zaynab. Marwan's father wasMuhammad ibn Marwan, who was the son of the fourth Umayyad CaliphMarwan I (r. 684–685), and hence half-brother to fifth Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705).[2]^{[incomplete short citation]}^[3]^{[incomplete short citation]}

His mother was a woman who's mostly unnamed, however sometimes is called Rayya or Tarubah, and is likely of non-Arab origin (aKurd according to most accounts). Some have referenced that his mother was already pregnant with Marwan before his legal father, Muhammad, bed her, thus making the child not his.^[4] A couple sources report that Muhammad had taken her captive during the suppression ofIbn al-Zubayr's revolt, prior to her capture she was either the slave ofIbn al-Zubayr or of his cook, Zumri.^[5]^{[incomplete short citation]} These two men were believed to be Marwan's real biological father by Umayyad contenders.^[6] There is much doubt and dispute on his mother's name but she was most commonly known as Umm Marwan (meaning "Mother of Marwan").

Early life

[edit]

In 732–733, CaliphHisham appointed Marwan governor ofArmenia. In 735–736, Marwaninvaded Georgia, devastated it and then took three fortresses of theAlans and made peace withTumanshah. In 739–740, he launched further raids and obtained tribute.

In 744–745, on hearing news of the plot to overthrowal-Walid II, Marwan wrote to his relatives from Armenia strongly discouraging this. He urged them to harmoniously preserve the stability and well-being of theUmayyad house, however, this was disregarded and many armed men moved into Damascus.Yazid slipped into Damascus and deposed al-Walid in a coup, following this up with a disbursement of funds from the treasury.^[7]

Reportedly, Marwan II, who for several years had supervised the campaigns against theByzantines and theKhazars on the Caliphate's northwestern frontiers, had considered claiming the caliphate at the death ofal-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 ofHarran.^[8] Throughout Yazid III's Caliphate Marwan remained a governor and he didn't claim the throne for himself.

Reign

[edit]

WhenYazid III persisted in overthrowingal-Walid II, Marwan at first opposed him, then rendered allegiance to him. On Yazid's early death (Yazid named his brotherIbrahim ibn al-Walid as his successor. Yazid fell ill of a brain tumour^[9]), Marwan renewed his ambitions, ignored Yazid's named successorIbrahim, and became caliph. Ibrahim initially hid, then requested Marwan give him assurances of personal safety. This, Marwan granted and Ibrahim even accompanied the new caliph toHisham's residence of Rusafah.

Old map of western Eurasia and northern Africa showing the expansion of the Caliphate from Arabia to cover most of the Middle East, with the Byzantine Empire outlined in green — The expansion of the Muslim Caliphate until 750, fromWilliam R. Shepherd'sHistorical Atlas.
Muslim state at the death ofMuhammad Expansion under theRashidun Caliphate Expansion under theUmayyad Caliphate
Byzantine Empire

Marwan named his two sons Ubaydallah and Abdullah heirs. He appointed governors and proceeded to assert his authority by force. However, the anti-Umayyad feeling was very prevalent, especially inIran andIraq. TheAbbasids had gained much support. As such, Marwan's reign as caliph was almost entirely devoted to trying to keep the Umayyad empire together.

Marwan tookEmesa (Homs) after a bitter ten-month siege.Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani led aKharijite rebellion. He defeated the Syrian forces and tookKufa.Sulayman ibn Hisham turned against Marwan, but suffered a severe defeat. The Kharijites advanced onMosul and were defeated. Sulayman joined them. Al-Dahhak's successor al-Khaybari was initially successful in pushing back Marwan's center and even took the caliph's camp and sat on his carpet. However, he and those with him fell into fighting in the camp. Shayban succeeded him. Marwan pursued him and Sulayman to Mosul and besieged them there for six months. Then, reinforced, the caliph drove them out. Shayban fled toBahrayn where he was killed; Sulayman sailed toIndia.

InKhurasan there was internal discord, with the Umayyad governorNasr ibn Sayyar facing opposition fromal-Harith andal-Kirmani. They also fought each other. In addition, Abbasid envoys arrived. There had long been religious fervor and a kind of messianic expectation of Abbasid ascendency. DuringRamadan of 747 (16 May – 14 June), the Abbasids unfurled the standards of their revolt. Nasr sent his retainer Yazid against them. Yazid, however, was bested, taken, and held captive. He was impressed by the Abbasids and when released told Nasr he wanted to join them, but his obligations to Nasr brought him back.

Fighting continued throughout Khurasan with the Abbasids gaining increasing ascendency. Finally, Nasr fell sick and died at Rayy on 9 November 748 at the age of eighty-five.

Marwan campaigned in Egypt in 749 to quell theBashmuric Revolt and secure his rear, but his campaign was a failure.^[10] The Abbasids, meanwhile, achieved success in theHijaz. Marwan suffered a decisive defeat byAbu al-Abbas al-Saffah on the banks of theGreat Zab, calledBattle of the Zab. At this battle alone, over 300 members of the Umayyad family died. Marwan fled, leaving Damascus,Jordan andPalestine and reachingEgypt, where he was caught and killed on 6 August 750. His heirs Ubaydallah and Abdallah escaped to modernEritrea. Abdallah died in fighting there.

Marwan's death signaled the end of Umayyad fortunes in the East and was followed by the mass killing of Umayyads by the Abbasids. Almost the entire Umayyad dynasty was killed, except for the princeAbd ar-Rahman who escaped toSpain and founded an Umayyad dynasty there. In Egypt, Marwan's tongue was fed to a cat.^[11]

Physical description

[edit]

Marwan was known to be of afair complexion, with blue eyes, a big beard, big headed and of medium height. He did not dye his beard withHenna and left it white.^[12]

References

[edit]

^"Marwan II - Lecture Notes on His Rise to Caliphate and Challenges". 12 November 2025.
^Zetterstéen (1993), p. 408
^Donner (2014), p. 110
^Women and the State in Early Islam (1942), p. 361
^Hawting (1991), p. 623
^Dennett, Daniel C. (1985).Marwan Ibn Muhammad: the passind of the Umayyad caliphate. University Microfilms. p. 189.
^Theophilus. Quoted Robert Hoyland, Seeing Islam as Others Saw It (Darwin Press, 1998), 660
^Hawting 2000, pp. 96–97.
^Dionysius of Telmahreapud Hoyland, 661 n 193
^Gabra 2003, p. 116.
^Bobrick, Benson (2012).The Caliph's Splendor: Islam and the West in the Golden Age of Baghdad. Simon & Schuster. p. 12.ISBN 978-1416567622.
^Kathir, Ibn."البداية والنهاية". Archived fromthe original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved5 June 2022.وكان أبيض مشرباً بحمرة، أزرق العينين، كبير اللحية، ضخم الهامة، ربعة الجسم، ولم يكن يخضب لحيته لا بالحناء ولا الكتان ويتركها بيضاء

Bibliography

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Blankinship, Khalid Yahya, ed. (1989).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXV: The End of Expansion: The Caliphate of Hishām, A.D. 724–738/A.H. 105–120. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-88706-569-9.
Gabra, Gawdat (2003)."The Revolts of the Bashmuric Copts in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries". In W. Beltz (ed.).Die koptische Kirche in den ersten drei islamischen Jahrhunderten. Institut für Orientalistik, Martin-Luther-Universität. pp. 111–119. Archived fromthe original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved22 March 2020.
Hillenbrand, Carole, ed. (1989).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXVI: The Waning of the Umayyad Caliphate: Prelude to Revolution, A.D. 738–744/A.H. 121–126. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-88706-810-2.
Kennedy, Hugh (2004).The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (Second ed.). Harlow: Longman.ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7.
Sir John Glubb, "The Empire of the Arabs", Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1963
Syed Ameer Ali, "A Short History of the Saracens", Macmillan and co., London, 1912
Williams, John Alden, ed. (1985).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXVII: The ʿAbbāsid Revolution, A.D. 743–750/A.H. 126–132. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-87395-884-4.
Hawting, Gerald R. (2000).The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750 (Second ed.). London and New York: Routledge.ISBN 0-415-24072-7.

Marwan II

Umayyad dynasty

Born: 691 Died: 6 August 750

Sunni Islam titles

Preceded by

Ibrahim ibn al-Walid

Last Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate
Caliph of Islam
Umayyad Caliph
744 – 6 August 750

Succeeded by

As-Saffah

Regnal titles

Preceded by

Ibrahim ibn al-Walid
asCaliph

Leader of the Umayyad Dynasty
744 – 6 August 750

Succeeded by

Abd ar-Rahman I
asEmir of Córdoba

v t e Umayyad dynasty
Family tree Media
Caliphs of Damascus (661–750)	Mu'awiya I Yazid I Mu'awiya II Marwan I Abd al-Malik Al-Walid I Sulayman Umar Yazid II Hisham Al-Walid II Yazid III Ibrahim Marwan II
Emirs of Córdoba (756–929)	Abd al-Rahman I Hisham I Al-Hakam I Abd ar-Rahman II Muhammad I al-Mundhir Abdullah Abd al-Rahman III
Caliphs of Córdoba (929–1031)	Abd al-Rahman III Al-Hakam II Hisham II Muhammad II Sulayman Hisham II Sulayman Abd Allah al-Mu'ayti Abd al-Rahman IV Ali ibn Hammud al-Nasir^[H] Al-Qasim al-Ma'mun ibn Hammud^[H] Yahya ibn Ali al-Mu'tali^[H] Al-Qasim al-Ma'mun ibn Hammud^[H] Abd al-Rahman V Muhammad III Yahya ibn Ali al-Mu'tali^[H] Hisham III
^[H] indicatesHammudid usurpers