Discover

'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan' (646-705) (Arabic: عبد الملك بن مروان ) was an Umayyad caliph. A well-educated man, he was a capable ruler, despite the many political problems that impeded his rule.
Abd al-Malik became caliph after the death of his father in 685. Within a few years, he dispatched armies under Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef on a campaign to reassert Umayyad control over the Islamic empire. Hajjaj first defeated the governor of Basra, he then went on to the Hejaz where Ibn Zubayr was killed, ending his short claim to the caliphate.
Hajjaj's success led Abd al-Malik to make him the governor of Iraq, and give him a free rein in his territories. Hajjaj arrived when there were many deserters in Basra and Kufa. He promptly and forcefully impelled them to return to combat. Hajjaj, after years of serious fighting, quelled religious disturbances, including the rebellion launched by Salih ibn Musarrih and continued after Salih's death by Shabib. These rebels repeatedly defeated more numerous forces and at their height entered Kufah. However, Abd al-Malik's Syrian reinforcements enabled Hajjaj to turn the tide.
Abd al-Malik was effective in increasing the size of the empire. In North Africa in 686 a force led by Zuhayr ibn Qais won a battle over Byzantines and Berbers led by Kusaila, on the Qairawan plain, but could not follow that up. In 695 Hasan ibn al-Nu'man captured Carthage and advanced into the Atlas Mountains. A Byzantine fleet arrived, retook Carthage, but couldn't hold it. In 698 Hasan captured it again and this time destroyed the city. The Byzantines withdrew from from all of Africa except Ceuta.
Hasan met trouble from the Zenata tribe of Berbers under al-Kahina. They inflicted a serious defeat on him and drove him back to Barqa. However, in 702 Abd al-Malik strongly reinforced him. With a large army and the support of the settled population of North Africa, Hasan pushed forward. He decisively defeated the Zenata in a battle at Tabarka 85 miles west of Carthage. He then developed the village of Tunis ten miles from the destroyed Carthage. Around 705 Musa ibn Nusayr replaced Hasan. He pacified much of North Africa, though he failed to take Ceuta.
Under Hajjaj, Arab armies put down the revolt of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath in Iraq from 699 to 701 CE, and also took most of Turkestan. Abd al-Rahman rebelled following Hajjaj's repeated orders to push further into the lands of Zundil. After his defeat in Iraq, again achieved through Abd al-Malik's dispatch of Syrian reinforcements to Hajjaj, Abd ar Rahman returned east. There one city closed its gates to him and in another he was seized. However, Zundil's army arrived and secured his release. Later, Abd ar Rahman died and Zundil sent his head to Hajjaj who sent it to Abd al-Malik. These victories paved the way for great expansions under Abd al-Malik's son.
Abd al-Malik instituted many reforms such as: making Arabic the official language of government across the entire empire, instituting a mint that produced a uniform set of aniconic currency, expansion and reorganization of postal service, repairing the damaged Kaaba and beginning the tradition of weaving a silk cover for the Kaaba in Damascus.
He also built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, but parts of that city were also destroyed when Abd al-Malik's armies put down an uprising there. The Muslim scholar al-Wasiti reports this incidence:

The two engineers Yazid ibn Salam, a Jerusalemite, and Raja' ibn Hayweh, from Baysan, were ordered to spend generously on the construction. In his ''Book of the Geography'', al-Maqdisi reported that seven times the revenue of Egypt was used to build the Dome. During a discussion with his uncle on why the Caliph spent lavishly on building the mosques in Jerusalem and Damascus, al-Maqdisi writes:
The last years of his reign were generally peaceful. Abd al-Malik wanted to appoint his son al-Walid I as his successor, ignoring his father's orders to appoint Abd al-Malik's brother, Abd al-Aziz. However, Abd al-Malik accepted advice not to create disturbances by carrying out this design. It turned out to be unnecessary, as Abd al-Aziz died before Abd al-Malik. Abd al-Malik then had his sons al-Walid and Sulayman, in that order, accepted as heirs to the throne.

Contents

References

Bibliography

References

Bibliography

★ Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari v. 21 "The Victory of the Marwanids," transl. Michael Fishbein, SUNY, Albany, 1990; v.22 "The Marwanid Restoration," transl. Everett K. Rowson, SUNY, Albany, 1989; v. 23 "The Zenith of the Marwanid House," transl. Martin Hinds, SUNY, Albany, 1990.

★ John Bagot Glubb The Empire of the Arabs, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1963