Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari ( ar, يَزِيد بن عُمَر بن هُبَيْرَة الْفَزارِيّ , Yazīd ibn ʿUmar ibn Hubayra al-Fazārī; died 750) was the last
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
governor of Iraq. A son of former governor
Umar ibn Hubayra
Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari ( ar, عمر بن هبيرة الفزاري, ʿUmar ibn Hubayra al-Fazārī; ) was a prominent Umayyad general and governor of Iraq, who played an important role in the Qays–Yaman conflict of this period.
Origin and ...
, he became one of the most important partisans of Caliph
Marwan II
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, مروان بن محمد بن مروان بن الحكم, Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of ...
in the
Third Fitna
The Third Fitna ( ar, الفتنة الثاﻟﺜـة, al-Fitna al-thālitha), was a series of civil wars and uprisings against the Umayyad Caliphate beginning with the overthrow of Caliph al-Walid II in 744 and ending with the victory of Marwan ...
, but failed to stem the onslaught of the
Abbasid Revolution
The Abbasid Revolution, also called the Movement of the Men of the Black Raiment, was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in early Islamic history, by the third, the Abbasid Caliphate ...
. Defeated, he was captured and executed by the
Abbasids.
Biography
Origin
Like his father,
Umar ibn Hubayra
Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari ( ar, عمر بن هبيرة الفزاري, ʿUmar ibn Hubayra al-Fazārī; ) was a prominent Umayyad general and governor of Iraq, who played an important role in the Qays–Yaman conflict of this period.
Origin and ...
, Yazid was a
Qays
Qays ʿAylān ( ar, قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic e ...
i from the
Jazira
Jazira or Al-Jazira ( 'island'), or variants, may refer to:
Business
*Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait
Locations
* Al-Jazira, a traditional region known today as Upper Mesopotamia or the smaller region of Cizre
* Al-Jazira ( ...
, and claimed to belong to the traditional Arab nobility although the family is unknown from the sources until Umar himself. Both father and son are often simply called "Ibn Hubayra" in the sources.
His prestige was such that not only did Caliph
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik () propose a marriage between Yazid and his granddaughter, the daughter of Hisham's favourite son,
Mu'awiya
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
, but Yazid felt able to reject the offer.
In historical sources, Yazid is praised for his valour and military skill, but also for being a generous patron of poets and religious men; Yazid himself is known to have occasionally ventured his opinion on legal issues. His spontaneous generosity was well remembered, as well as his great appetite.
Role in the Third Fitna
In marked difference to his distance to Hisham, he quickly moved to congratulate
al-Walid II () when he acceded to the throne after Hisham's death. In return, al-Walid appointed Yazid as governor of
Jund Qinnasrin
''Jund Qinnasrīn'' ( ar, جُـنْـد قِـنَّـسْـرِيْـن, "military district of Qinnasrin") was one of five sub-provinces of Syria under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in th ...
. After
Yazid III
Yazīd ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (701 – 3/4 October 744) ( ar, يزيد بن الوليد بن عبد الملك) usually known simply as Yazid III was the twelfth Umayyad caliph. He reigned for six months, from April 15 to October 3 or ...
overthrew al-Walid II, Yazid opposed the new regime, and shifted his support to
Marwan II
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, مروان بن محمد بن مروان بن الحكم, Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of ...
(), whom he urged to come to
Syria.
During the
Third Fitna
The Third Fitna ( ar, الفتنة الثاﻟﺜـة, al-Fitna al-thālitha), was a series of civil wars and uprisings against the Umayyad Caliphate beginning with the overthrow of Caliph al-Walid II in 744 and ending with the victory of Marwan ...
, Yazid plays a crucial role as one of the most important supporters, and perhaps the most capable military commander, of Marwan II. In 745, Marwan appointed Yazid to his father's old
governorship of Iraq, which at the time was held by forces opposed to Marwan. Yazid was therefore forced to spend the first years of his office in establishing his authority in his province. In 746 he defeated the
Kharijites under
al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani
Al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays al-Shaybānī ( ar, الضحاك بن قيس الشيباني) was the leader of a widespread but unsuccessful Kharijite rebellion in Iraq against the Umayyad Caliph Marwan II from 745 until his death in battle in 746.
...
at
Ayn al-Tamr
Ayn al-Tamr or Ain al-Tamur ( ar, عين التمر) is a city in central Iraq, located about 67 km west of Karbala near Razzaza Lake. The oasis of Ayn al-Tamr comprises many villages which are famous for palm orchards and mineral water. The ci ...
, thereby subduing the
Sawad
Sawad was the name used in early Islamic times (7th–12th centuries) for southern Iraq. It means "black land" or "arable land" and refers to the stark contrast between the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Desert. Under the Umayyad ...
, and managed to extend his control also to
Ahwaz
Ahvaz ( fa, اهواز, Ahvâz ) is a city in the southwest of Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants. It is hom ...
,
Jibal
Jibāl ( ar, جبال), also al-Jabal ( ar, الجبل), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates.
Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' (" ...
, and the
Jazira
Jazira or Al-Jazira ( 'island'), or variants, may refer to:
Business
*Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait
Locations
* Al-Jazira, a traditional region known today as Upper Mesopotamia or the smaller region of Cizre
* Al-Jazira ( ...
.
Preoccupied with these campaigns, however, he neglected lending assistance to the governor of
Khurasan,
Nasr ibn Sayyar, when he was faced with the outbreak of the
Abbasid Revolution
The Abbasid Revolution, also called the Movement of the Men of the Black Raiment, was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in early Islamic history, by the third, the Abbasid Caliphate ...
. In the event, as the Abbasid armies swept westwards, they defeated Yazid's deputy
Amir ibn Dubara and reached Iraq. Yazid managed to inflict heavy casualties on the Abbasids in a battle that cost the life of their commander,
Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i, but he was chased from
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...
by a rebellion of the
Yaman faction, and fled to
Wasit
Wasit ( ar, وَاسِط, Wāsiṭ, syr, ܘܐܣܛ) is an ancient city in Wasit Governorate, south east of Kut in eastern Iraq.
History
The city was built by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in c. 702 CE on the west bank of the Tigris across from the hi ...
. There he was
besieged
Besieged may refer to:
* the state of being under siege
* ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci
{{disambiguation ...
by the Abbasids for eleven months, after which he surrendered to
al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba Al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i () was a senior military leader in the early Abbasid Caliphate.
Biography
He was the son of Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i, who along with Abu Muslim led the Abbasid Revolution that toppled the Umayyad Caliphat ...
on promises of safety. However, the new Abbasid caliph,
al-Saffah () ordered the death of Yazid and his senior officers soon after; Yazid was killed while he was praying.
Two of his sons, Dawud, who was with Yazid at Wasit, and Muthanna, who was governor of
al-Yamama, were also killed by the Abbasids, while a third, Mukhallad, survived in Syria, where he and his descendants retained their influence.
References
Sources
*
*
*
{{s-end
750 deaths
8th-century executions by the Abbasid Caliphate
8th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate
People of the Abbasid Revolution
Arab generals
Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate
People of the Third Fitna
Umayyad governors of Iraq
Umayyad governors of Qinnasrin
Year of birth unknown
8th-century Arabs