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 Arab-Sasaniandirham of Yazid I, struck at the Basra mint, dated AH 61 (680/1 CE), the year in which theBattle of Karbala occurred. The obverse side shows the portrait of theSasanianshahKhosrow II (r. 590–628) and his name in thePahlavi script. | |||||
| 2ndCaliph of theUmayyad Caliphate | |||||
| Reign | April 680[a] – 11 November 683 | ||||
| Predecessor | Mu'awiya I | ||||
| Successor | Mu'awiya II | ||||
| Born | c. 646(25AH)[b] Syria | ||||
| Died | 11 November 683 (agedc. 37)(14 Rabi al-Awwal 64 AH) Huwwarin, Syria | ||||
| Spouse |
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| Issue | |||||
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| House | Sufyanid | ||||
| Dynasty | Umayyad | ||||
| Father | Mu'awiya I | ||||
| Mother | Maysun bint Bahdal | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (Arabic:يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان,romanized: Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān;c. 646[b] – 11 November 683), commonly known asYazid I, was the secondcaliph of theUmayyad Caliphate, ruling from April 680 until his death in November 683. His appointment by his fatherMu'awiya I (r. 661–680) was the first hereditary succession to the caliphate in Islamic history. His caliphate was marked by the death ofMuhammad's grandsonHusayn ibn Ali and the start of the crisis known as theSecond Fitna.[5]
During his father's caliphate, Yazid led several campaigns against theByzantine Empire, including anattack on the Byzantine capital,Constantinople. Yazid's nomination as heir apparent in 676 CE (56AH) by Mu'awiya was opposed by several Muslim grandees from theHejaz region, including Husayn andAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. The two men refused to recognize Yazid following his accession and took sanctuary inMecca. When Husayn left forKufa in Iraq to lead a revolt against Yazid, he was killed with his small band of supporters by Yazid's forces in theBattle of Karbala. Husayn's death caused resentment in the Hejaz, where Ibn al-Zubayr called for aconsultative assembly to elect a new caliph. The people ofMedina, who supported Ibn al-Zubayr, held other grievances toward the Umayyads. After failing to gain the allegiance of Ibn al-Zubayr and the people of the Hejaz through diplomacy, Yazid sent an army to suppress their rebellion. The army defeated the Medinese in theBattle of al-Harra in August 683 and the city was sacked. Afterward,Mecca was besieged for several weeks until the army withdrew as a result of Yazid's death in November 683. The Caliphate fell into a nearly decade-long civil war, ending with the establishment of theMarwanid dynasty (the Umayyad caliphMarwan I and his descendants).
Yazid continued Mu'awiya's decentralized model of governance, relying on his provincial governors and the tribal nobility. He abandoned Mu'awiya's ambitious raids against the Byzantine Empire and strengthenedSyria's military defences. No new territories were conquered during his reign. Yazid is considered an illegitimate ruler and a tyrant by many Muslims due to his hereditary succession, the death of Husayn, and his attack on Medina. Modern historians take a milder view, and consider him a capable ruler, albeit less successful than his father.
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Yazid was born inSyria. His year of birth is uncertain, placed between 642 and 649.[b] His father wasMu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, then governor of Syria under CaliphUthman (r. 644–656). Mu'awiya and Uthman belonged to the wealthyUmayyad clan of theQuraysh tribe, a grouping ofMeccan clans to which the Islamic prophetMuhammad and all the preceding caliphs belonged. Yazid's mother,Maysun, was the daughter ofBahdal ibn Unayf, a chieftain of the powerfulBedouin tribe ofBanu Kalb. She was aChristian, like most of her tribe.[6][7] Yazid grew up with his maternal Kalbite kin,[6] spending the springs of his youth in theSyrian Desert; for the remainder of the year he was in the company of theGreek and native Syrian courtiers of his father,[8] who became caliph in 661.[9]
During his father's caliphate, Yazid led several campaigns against theByzantine Empire, which the Caliphate had been trying to conquer, including anattack on the Byzantine capital,Constantinople. Sources give several dates for this between 49 AH (669–70 CE) and 55 AH (674–75 CE). Muslim sources offer few details of his role in the campaigns, possibly downplaying his involvement due to the controversies of his later career. He is portrayed in these sources as having been unwilling to participate in the expedition to the chagrin of Mu'awiya, who then forced him to comply.[10] However, two eighth-century non-Muslim sources fromal-Andalus (Islamic Spain), theChronicle of 741 and theChronicle of 754, both of which likely drew their material from an earlier Arabic work, report that Yazid besieged Constantinople with a 100,000-strong army. Unable to conquer the city, the army captured adjacent towns, acquired considerable loot, and retreated after two years.[11] Yazid also led thehajj (the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca) on several occasions.[12]
The third caliphUthman drew the ire of the Muslim settlers of the conquered lands as a consequence of his controversial policies, which were seen by many as nepotistic and interfering in provincial affairs. In 656he was killed by the provincial rebels inMedina, then capital of the Caliphate, after whichAli, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, was recognized as caliph by the Medinese people and the rebels.[13] In the consequentfirst Islamic civil war (656–661),Mu'awiya opposed Ali from his stronghold in Syria, fighting him to a stalemate at theBattle of Siffin in 657.[14] In January 661 Ali was assassinated by aKharijite (a faction opposed to Ali and Mu'awiya), after which his sonHasan was recognized as his successor.[15] In August, Mu'awiya, who had already been recognized as caliph by his partisans in Syria, led his army towardKufa, the capital of Hasan and Ali in Iraq, and gained control over the rest of the Caliphate by securing apeace treaty with Hasan. The terms of the treaty stipulated that Mu'awiya would not nominate a successor.[16][17] Although the treaty brought a temporary peace, no framework of succession was established.[18][19]
Mu'awiya was determined to install Yazid as his successor. The idea was scandalous to Muslims, as hereditary succession had no precedent in Islamic history—earlier caliphs had been elected either by popular support in Medina or by the consultation of the seniorcompanions of Muhammad—and according to Islamic principles, the position of ruler was not the private property of a ruler to award to his descendants. It was also unacceptable by Arab custom, according to which the rulership should not pass from father to son but within the wider clan.[19][20] According to the orientalistBernard Lewis, the "only precedents available to Mu'āwiya from Islamic history were election and civil war. The former was unworkable; the latter had obvious drawbacks."[19] Mu'awiya passed over his eldest son Abd Allah, who was from his Qurayshite wife, perhaps due to the stronger support Yazid had in Syria because of his Kalbite parentage.[21] The Banu Kalb was dominant in southern Syria and led the larger tribal confederation ofQuda'a.[22] The Quda'a were established in Syria long before Islam and had acquired significant military experience and familiarity with hierarchical order under the Byzantines, as opposed to the more free-spirited tribesmen ofArabia and Iraq.[23] Northern Syria, on the other hand, was dominated by the tribal confederation ofQays, which had immigrated there during Mu'awiya's reign,[24][25] and resented the privileged position of the Kalb in the Umayyad court.[26] By appointing Yazid to lead campaigns against the Byzantines, Mu'awiya may have sought to foster support for Yazid from the northern tribesmen.[26] The policy had limited success as the Qays opposed the nomination of Yazid, at least in the beginning, for he was "the son of a Kalbi woman".[25] In theHejaz (western Arabia, where Medina and Mecca are located and where the old Muslim elite resided), Yazid had support among his Umayyad kinsmen, but there were other members of the Hejazi nobility whose approval was important. By appointing Yazid to lead the hajj rituals there, Mu'awiya may have hoped to enlist support for Yazid's succession and elevate his status as a Muslim leader.[25][26] According toAbu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (d. 967), Mu'awiya had also employed poets to influence public opinion in favour of Yazid's succession.[27]
According to the account ofIbn Athir (d. 1233), Mu'awiya summoned ashura (consultative assembly) of influential men from all of the provinces to his capital, Damascus, in 676 and won their support through flattery, bribes, and threats.[28][19] He then ordered his Umayyad kinsmanMarwan ibn al-Hakam, the governor of Medina, to inform its people of his decision. Marwan faced resistance, especially from Ali's son and Muhammad's grandsonHusayn, andAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr,Abd Allah ibn Umar, andAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, all sons of prominent companions of Muhammad, who, by virtue of their descent, could also lay claim to the caliphal office.[29][30] Mu'awiya went to Medina and pressed the four dissenters to accede, but they fled to Mecca. He followed and threatened some of them with death, but to no avail. Nonetheless, he was successful in convincing the people of Mecca that the four had pledged their allegiance, and received the Meccans' allegiance for Yazid. On his way back to Damascus, he secured allegiance from the people of Medina. General recognition of the nomination thus forced Yazid's opponents into silence. The orientalistJulius Wellhausen doubted the story, holding that the reports of the nomination's rejection by prominent Medinese were a back-projection of the events that followed Mu'awiya's death.[31] A similar opinion is held by the historian Andrew Marsham.[25] According to the account ofal-Tabari (d. 923), Mu'awiya announced the nomination in 676 and only received delegations from the Iraqi garrison town ofBasra, which pledged allegiance to Yazid in Damascus in 679 or 680.[32] According toal-Ya'qubi (d. 898), Mu'awiya demanded allegiance for Yazid on the occasion of the hajj. All, except the four prominent Muslims mentioned above, complied. No force was used against them.[27] In any case, Mu'awiya arranged a general recognition for Yazid's succession before his death.[26]
Mu'awiya died in April 680.[a] According to al-Tabari, Yazid was at his residence inHuwwarin, located between Damascus andPalmyra, at the time of his father's death.[33] According to verses of Yazid preserved in Isfahani'sKitab al-Aghani, a collection ofArabic poetry, Yazid was away on a summertime expedition against the Byzantines when he received the news of Mu'awiya's final illness.[34] Based on this and the fact that Yazid arrived in Damascus only after Mu'awiya's death, the historianHenri Lammens has rejected the reports of Yazid being in Huwwarin.[35] Mu'awiya entrusted supervision of the government to his most loyal associates,Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri andMuslim ibn Uqba al-Murri, until Yazid's return. He left awill for Yazid, instructing him on matters of governing the Caliphate. He was advised to beware Husayn and Ibn al-Zubayr, for they could challenge his rule, and instructed to defeat them if they did. Yazid was further advised to treat Husayn with caution and not to spill his blood, since he was the grandson of Muhammad. Ibn al-Zubayr, on the other hand, was to be treated harshly, unless he came to terms.[36]
Upon his accession,[a] Yazid requested and receivedoaths of allegiance from the governors of the provinces. He wrote to the governor of Medina, his cousinWalid ibn Utba ibn Abi Sufyan, informing him of Mu'awiya's death and instructing him to secure allegiance from Husayn, Ibn al-Zubayr, and Ibn Umar.[37] The instructions contained in the letter were:
Seize Husayn, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr to give the oath of allegiance. Act so fiercely that they have no chance to do anything before giving the oath of allegiance.[38]
Walid sought the advice of Marwan, who suggested that Ibn al-Zubayr and Husayn be forced to pay allegiance as they were dangerous, while Ibn Umar should be left alone as he posed no threat. Husayn answered Walid's summon, meeting Walid and Marwan in a semi-private meeting where he was informed of Mu'awiya's death and Yazid's accession. When asked for his oath of allegiance, Husayn responded that giving his allegiance in private would be insufficient and suggested the oath be made in public. Walid agreed, but Marwan insisted that Husayn be detained until he proffered allegiance. Husayn scolded Marwan and left to join his armed retinue, who were waiting nearby in case the authorities attempted to apprehend him. Immediately following Husayn's exit, Marwan admonished Walid, who in turn justified his refusal to harm Husayn by dint of the latter's close relation to Muhammad. Ibn al-Zubayr did not answer the summons and left for Mecca. Walid sent eighty horsemen after him, but he escaped. Husayn too left for Mecca shortly after, without having sworn allegiance to Yazid.[39] Dissatisfied with this failure, Yazid replaced Walid with his distant Umayyad kinsmanAmr ibn Sa'id.[37] Unlike Husayn and Ibn al-Zubayr, Ibn Umar, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, andAbd Allah ibn Abbas, who had also previously denounced Mu'awiya's nomination of Yazid,[c] paid allegiance to him.[18]
In Mecca Husayn received letters from pro-Alid[d] Kufans, inviting him to lead them in revolt against Yazid. Husayn subsequently sent his cousinMuslim ibn Aqil to assess the situation in the city. He also sent letters to Basra, but his messenger was handed over to the governorUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad and killed. Ibn Aqil informed Husayn of the large-scale support he found in Kufa, signalling that the latter should enter the city. Informed by some Kufan tribal chiefs (ashraf) of the goings-on, Yazid replaced the governor of Kufa,Nu'man ibn Bashir al-Ansari, who had been unwilling to take action against pro-Alid activity, with Ibn Ziyad, whom he ordered to execute or imprison Ibn Aqil. As a result of Ibn Ziyad's suppression and political maneuvering, Ibn Aqil's following began to dissipate and he was forced to declare the revolt prematurely. It was suppressed and Ibn Aqil was executed.[44]
Encouraged by Ibn Aqil's letter, Husayn left for Kufa, ignoring warnings from Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas. The latter reminded him, to no avail, of the Kufans' previous abandonment of his father Ali and his brother Hasan. On the way to the city, he received news of Ibn Aqil's death.[44] Nonetheless, he continued his march towards Kufa. Ibn Ziyad's 4,000-strong army blocked his entry into the city and forced him to camp in the desert of Karbala. Ibn Ziyad would not let Husayn pass without submitting, which Husayn refused to do. Week-long negotiations failed, and in the ensuing hostilities on 10 October 680, Husayn and 72 of his male companions were slain, while his family was taken prisoner.[44][45] The captives and Husayn's severed head were sent to Yazid. According to the accounts ofAbu Mikhnaf (d. 774) and Ammar al-Duhni (d. 750–751), Yazid poked Husayn's head with hisstaff,[46] although others ascribe this action to Ibn Ziyad.[47][e] Yazid treated the captives well and sent them back to Medina after a few days.[46][44]
Following Husayn's death, Yazid faced increased opposition to his rule from Ibn al-Zubayr who declared him deposed. Although publicly he called for ashura to elect a new caliph,[43] in secret Ibn al-Zubayr let his partisans pay allegiance to him.[50] At first, Yazid attempted to placate him by sending gifts and delegations in an attempt to reach a settlement.[50] After Ibn al-Zubayr's refusal to recognize him, Yazid sent a force led by Ibn al-Zubayr's estranged brother Amr to arrest him. The force was defeated and Amr was taken captive and executed.[51] As well as Ibn al-Zubayr's growing influence in Medina, the city's inhabitants were disillusioned with Umayyad rule and Mu'awiya's agricultural projects, which included the confiscation of their lands to boost government revenue.[43] Yazid invited the notables of Medina to Damascus and tried to win them over with gifts. They were unpersuaded and on their return to Medina narrated tales of Yazid's lavish lifestyle. Accusations included Yazid drinking wine, hunting with hounds, and his love for music. The Medinese, under the leadership ofAbd Allah ibn Hanzala, renounced their allegiance to Yazid and expelled the governor, Yazid's cousinUthman ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Sufyan, and the Umayyads residing in the city. Yazid dispatched a 12,000-strong army under the command of Muslim ibn Uqba to reconquer the Hejaz. After failed negotiations, the Medinese were defeated in theBattle of al-Harra. According to the accounts of Abu Mikhnaf andal-Samhudi (d. 1533), the city was sacked, whereas per the account ofAwana (d. 764) only the ringleaders of the rebellion were executed.[52] Having forced the rebels to renew their allegiance, Yazid's army headed for Mecca to subdue Ibn al-Zubayr.[53] Ibn Uqba died on the way to Mecca and command passed toHusayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni, whobesieged Mecca in September 683. The siege lasted for several weeks, during which theKa'ba, the sacred Muslim shrine at the center of theMecca Mosque, caught fire.[f] Yazid's sudden death in November 683 ended the campaign and Ibn Numayr retreated to Syria with his army.[57]
The style of Yazid's governance was, by and large, a continuation of the model developed by Mu'awiya. He continued to rely on the governors of the provinces andashraf, as Mu'awiya had, instead of relatives. He retained several of Mu'awiya's officials, including Ibn Ziyad, who was Mu'awiya's governor of Basra, andSarjun ibn Mansur, a native Syrian Christian, who had served as the head of the fiscal administration under Mu'awiya.[58][56] Like Mu'awiya, Yazid received delegations of tribal notables (wufud) from the provinces to win their support, which would also involve distributing gifts and bribes.[58] The structure of the caliphal administration and military remained decentralised as in Mu'awiya's time. Provinces retained much of their tax revenue and forwarded a small portion to the Caliph.[59] The military units in the provinces were derived from local tribes whose command also fell to theashraf.[60]
Yazid approved a decrease in taxes on theArab Christian tribe of Najran upon their request, but abolished the special tax exemption of theethno-religious community ofSamaritans, which had been granted to them by previous caliphs as a reward for their aid to the Muslim conquerors. He improved the irrigation system of the fertile lands of theGhouta near Damascus by digging a canal that became known asNahr Yazid.[56]
Toward the end of his reign, Mu'awiya reached a thirty-year peace agreement with the Byzantines, obliging the Caliphate to pay an annual tribute of 3,000 gold coins, 50 horses, and 50 slaves, and to withdraw Muslim troops from the forward bases they had occupied on the island ofRhodes and theAnatolian coast.[61] Under Yazid, Muslim bases along theSea of Marmara were abandoned.[62] In contrast to the far-reaching raids against the Byzantine Empire launched under his father, Yazid focused on stabilizing the border with Byzantium.[62] In order to improve Syria's military defences and prevent Byzantine incursions, Yazid established the northern Syrian frontier district ofQinnasrin from what had been a part ofHims, and garrisoned it.[63][62]
Yazid reappointedUqba ibn Nafi, the conqueror of the central North African region ofIfriqiya whom Mu'awiya had deposed, as governor of Ifriqiya. In 681, Uqba launched a large-scale expedition into western North Africa. Defeating theBerbers and the Byzantines, Uqba reached the Atlantic coast and capturedTangier andVolubilis. He was unable to establish permanent control in these territories. On his return to Ifriqiya, he was ambushed and killed by a Berber–Byzantine force at theBattle of Vescera, resulting in the loss of the conquered territories.[64] In 681 Yazid appointed Ibn Ziyad's brotherSalm ibn Ziyad as the governor of the northeastern border province ofKhurasan. Salm led several campaigns inTransoxiana (Central Asia) and raidedSamarqand andKhwarazm, but without gaining a permanent foothold in any of them. Yazid's death in 683 and the subsequentchaos in the east ended the campaigns.[65]
Yazid died on 11 November 683 in the central Syrian desert town of Huwwarin, his favourite residence, aged between 35 and 43, and was buried there.[66] Early annalists like Abu Ma'shar al-Madani (d. 778) andal-Waqidi (d. 823) do not give any details about his death. This lack of information seems to have inspired fabrication of accounts by authors with anti-Umayyad leanings, which detail several causes of death, including a horse fall, excessive drinking,pleurisy, and burning.[67] According to the verses by a contemporary poet Ibn Arada, who at the time resided in Khurasan, Yazid died in his bed with a wine cup by his side.[68][67]
Ibn al-Zubayr subsequently declared himself caliph and Iraq and Egypt came under his rule. In Syria, Yazid's sonMu'awiya II, whom he had nominated, became caliph. His control was limited to parts of Syria as most of the Syrian districts (Hims, Qinnasrin, andPalestine) were controlled by allies of Ibn al-Zubayr.[57] Mu'awiya II died after a few months from an unknown illness. Several early sources state that he abdicated before his death.[68] Following his death, Yazid's maternal Kalbite tribesmen, seeking to maintain their privileges, sought to install Yazid's sonKhalid on the throne, but he was considered too young for the post by the non-Kalbites in the pro-Umayyad coalition.[69][70] Consequently, Marwan ibn al-Hakam was acknowledged as caliph in ashura of pro-Umayyad tribes in June 684.[71] Shortly after, Marwan and the Kalb routed the pro-Zubayrid forces in Syria led by Dahhak at theBattle of Marj Rahit.[72] Although the pro-Umayyadshura stipulated that Khalid would succeed Marwan, the latter nominated his sonAbd al-Malik as his heir.[69][70] Thus theSufyanid house, named after Mu'awiya I's father Abu Sufyan, was replaced by the Marwanid house of theUmayyad dynasty.[73] By 692 Abd al-Malik had defeated Ibn al-Zubayr and restored Umayyad authority across the Caliphate.[74]
The killing of Muhammad's grandson Husayn caused widespread outcry among Muslims and the image of Yazid suffered greatly.[75] It also helped crystallize opposition to Yazid into an anti-Umayyad movement based on Alid aspirations,[76] and contributed to the development ofShia identity,[45] whereby the party of Alid partisans was transformed into a religious sect with distinct rituals and memory. After the Battle of Karbala,Shia imams from Husayn's line adopted the policy ofpolitical quietism.[77]
Yazid is considered an evil figure by many Muslims to the present day,[12] not only by the Shia, who hold that the ruling position rightly belonged to Husayn's father Ali and his descendants, including Husayn, whom Yazid killed to strip him of his right,[78] but also by manySunnis, to whom he was an affront to Islamic values.[79][80] For the Shia, Yazid is an epitome of evil.[81][82] He is annually reviled in theAshura processions and passion plays,[83][84] and rulers considered tyrannical and oppressive are often equated with him.[85][86] Before theIranian Revolution, theShah of Iran was called the "Yazid of his time" by the Iranian clericRouhollah Khomeini,[87][81] as was the Iraqi presidentSaddam Hussein by the Iraqi Shia during theIran–Iraq War for his ban on pilgrimages to the holy sites of Shia Islam.[88] Among the Sunnis, theHanafi school allows cursing of Yazid,[89] whereas theHanbali school and many in theShafi'i school maintain that no judgment should be passed on Yazid, rather tyrants in general should be cursed.[90] However, the Hanbali scholarIbn al-Jawzi (d. 1201) encouraged the cursing.[90][g] According toal-Ghazali (d. 1111), cursing Yazid is prohibited, for he was a Muslim and his role in the killing of Husayn is unverified.[91]
Yazid was the first person in the history of the Caliphate to be nominated as heir based on a blood relationship, and this became a tradition afterwards.[26] As such, his accession is considered by the Muslim historical tradition as the corruption of the caliphate into a kingship. He is depicted as a tyrant who was responsible for three major crimes during his caliphate: the death of Husayn and his followers at Karbala, considered a massacre; the aftermath of the Battle of al-Harra, in which Yazid's troops sacked Medina; and the burning of the Ka'ba during the siege of Mecca, which is blamed on Yazid's commander Husayn ibn Numayr. The tradition stresses his habits of drinking, dancing, hunting, and keeping pet animals such as dogs and monkeys, portraying him as impious and unworthy of leading the Muslim community.[58] Extant contemporary Muslim histories describe Yazid as "a sinner in respect of his belly and his private parts", "an arrogant drunken sot", and "motivated by defiance of God, lack of faith in His religion and hostility toward His Messenger".[92]Al-Baladhuri (d. 892) described him as the "commander of the sinners" (amir al-fasiqin), as opposed to the titlecommander of the faithful (amir al-mu'minin) usually applied to the caliphs.[93] Nevertheless, some historians have argued that there is a tendency in early Muslim sources to exonerate Yazid of blame for Husayn's death, and put the blame squarely on Ibn Ziyad.[44] According to the historian James Lindsay, the Syrian historianIbn Asakir (d. 1176) attempted to stress Yazid's positive qualities, while accepting the allegations that are generally made against him.[58][94] Ibn Asakir thus emphasised that Yazid was a transmitter ofhadith (the sayings and traditions attributed to Muhammad), a virtuous man "by reason of his connection to the age of the Prophet", and worthy of the ruling position.[95]
Despite his reputation in religious circles, academic historians generally portray a more favourable view of Yazid. According to Wellhausen, Yazid was a mild ruler, who resorted to violence only when necessary, and was not the tyrant that the religious tradition portrays him to be. He further notes that Yazid lacked interest in public affairs as a prince, but as a caliph "he seems to have pulled himself together, although he did not give up his old predilections,—wine, music, the chase and other sport".[96] In the view of the historianHugh N. Kennedy, despite the disasters of Karbala and al-Harra, Yazid's rule was "not devoid of achievement". His reputation might have improved had he lived longer, but his early death played a part in sticking of the stigma of "the shocks of the early part of his reign".[62] According to theIslamicistG. R. Hawting, Yazid tried to continue the diplomatic policies of his father but, unlike Mu'awiya, he was not successful in winning over the opposition with gifts and bribes. In Hawting's summation, "the image of Muʿāwiya as operating more like a tribals̲h̲ayk̲h̲ than a traditional Middle Eastern despot ... also seems applicable to Yazīd".[58] In the view of Lewis, Yazid was a capable ruler "with much of the ability of his father" but was overly criticized by later Arab historians.[76] Expressing a viewpoint similar to Wellhausen's, Lammens remarked, "a poet himself, and fond of music, he was aMaecenas of poets and artists".[56]
The characterization of Yazid in the Muslim sources has been attributed to the hostility of theAbbasid dynasty, during whose rule the histories were written, toward the Umayyads, whom they toppled in 750.[92] Most reports in the traditional Muslim sources focus on the revolts against Yazid,[58] and usually lack detail on his public life in Syria and his activities other than the suppression of the revolts. Lammens has attributed this to the tendency of the Iraq-based, Abbasid-era chroniclers to portray a caliph, under whom Husayn was killed and the holy cities of Islam were attacked, only as an impious drunkard.[97] In contrast, a Syrian source preserved in the Chronicle of 741 describes the Caliph as "a most pleasant man and deemed highly agreeable by all the peoples subject to his rule. He never, as is the wont of men, sought glory for himself because of his royal rank, but lived as a citizen along with all the common people."[92]
In theYazidi religion, practiced by the mainly Iraq-basedKurdish-speaking ethno-religious community ofYazidis, Sultan Ezid is a highly revered divine figure.[98] Most modern historians hold that the name Ezid derives from the name of Caliph Yazid.[99] In Yazidi religious lore, there is no trace of any link between Sultan Ezid and the second Umayyad caliph.[100] A pro-Umayyad movement particularly sympathetic towards Yazid existed in the Kurdish mountains before the 12th century, whenShaykh Adi,[101] aSufi of Umayyad descent venerated by Yazidis to this day,[98] settled there and attracted a following among the adherents of the movement. The name Yazidi seems to have been applied to the group because of his Umayyad origins.[101]
ASasanian-style silver coin bearing the mint date as "Year I of Yazid" has been reported. The obverse side shows the portrait of the Sasanian kingKhosrow II (r. 590–628) and his name in thePahlavi script. The reverse has the usualZoroastrianfire altar surrounded by attendants. The margins, however, contain the inscription that it was minted during the first year of Yazid's reign.[102] An anonymous coin from theNishapur mint bearing the mint date 60, which is assumed to be theHijri year, is also thought to be from Yazid's first regnal year.[103] Other coins from his reign usually have only the name of the governor of the province where the coin originated.[103][104] Coins bearing the name of the counter-caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr have also been found from the provinces of Fars and Kirman, dated between 61 and 63 (681–683 CE), although Ibn al-Zubayr did not publicly claim the caliphate until after the death of Yazid.[105] This may show that as well as the challenges to his rule in Arabia and Iraq, Yazid's authority was also challenged in southern Persia from roughly the time of his accession. The coins were probably minted in the name of Ibn al-Zubayr to lend legitimacy to the challengers of the Umayyads by using a suitable Qurayshite name.[106][h]
Yazid is thought to be mentioned in a short, undatedPaleo-ArabicChristian graffito known as theYazid inscription. It reads "May God be mindful of Yazid the king".[108][109][110]
Yazid married three women and had several concubines. The names of two of his wives are known: Umm Khalid Fakhita bint Abi Hisham and Umm Kulthum, a daughter of the veteran commander and statesmanAbd Allah ibn Amir.[111][112] Fakhita and Umm Kulthum both hailed from theAbd Shams, the parent clan of the Umayyads.[113]
Yazid had three sons from his wives. His eldest, Mu'awiya II, was between 17 and 23 years old at the time of Yazid's death. The name of Mu'awiya II's mother is unknown, but she was from the Banu Kalb. Ill health prevented him from carrying out the caliphal duties and he rarely left his residence. He survived his father only by a few months and died without leaving any offspring.[112] Yazid's second son, Khalid, was from Fakhita, and was born circa 668. Marwan married Fakhita after becoming caliph, to foster an alliance with the Sufyanid house and neutralize her son Khalid's claim to the caliphate. He remained quiet about being sidelined from the succession, although a legendary report says that he protested to Marwan, who in turn insulted him. He had friendly relations with Abd al-Malik, whose daughter he married. Several legendary accounts report Khalid being interested inalchemy and having ordered the translation of Greek works on alchemy, astronomy, and medicine into Arabic.[69] Yazid's daughterAtika was the favourite wife of Abd al-Malik.[114] They had several children, including the future CaliphYazid II (r. 720–724).[115] Yazid's sonAbd Allah, from Umm Kulthum, was a famed archer and horseman.[111] Yazid had several other sons fromslave women.[116][i]
Yazid I Born: 646 Died: 11 November 683 | ||
| Preceded by | Caliph of Islam Umayyad Caliph 680 – 11 November 683 | Succeeded by |
| Caliphs of Damascus (661–750) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Emirs of Córdoba (756–929) | ||
| Caliphs of Córdoba (929–1031) | ||
[H] indicatesHammudid usurpers | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
