Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam () (died 719/720) was an

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

prince and one of the most important generals of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

in the period 690–710, and the one who completed the

Arab conquest of Armenia The Muslim conquest of Armenia occurred in the mid-7th century, with the first Arab raids into the country occurring in 639/640. At that time, the Byzantine and Sasanian sections of Armenia had just been united under the Byzantine-aligned Armen ...

. He defeated the Byzantines and conquered their Armenian territories, crushed an Armenian rebellion in 704–705 and made the country into an Umayyad province. His son

Marwan II Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan (; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 744 until his death. His reign was dominated by a Third Fitna, civil war, and he was the l ...

() was the last Umayyad caliph.

Life

Early life and governorship of Jazira

Muhammad was the son of Caliph

Marwan I Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; 623 or 626April/May 685), commonly known as MarwanI, was the fourth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He founded the Marwanid ruling house of the Umayyad ...

() by a slave girl named Zaynab, and hence half-brother to Caliph

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in ...

(). During the

second Fitna The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680, and lasted for about twelve y ...

, Muhammad commanded his brother's advance guard at the Battle of Maskin against

Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr Mu'sab ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam al-Asadi (; died October 691) was the governor of Basra in 686–691 for his brother, the Mecca-based counter-caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, during the Second Fitna. Mus'ab was a son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ...

(brother of the

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

-based rival caliph Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr) in 691. With the help of aristocratic Persian Christian physician Mardanshāh, he was able to retake

Nisibis Nusaybin () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,079 km2, and its population is 115,586 (2022). The city is populated by Kurds of different tribal affiliation. Nusaybin is separated ...

and entrusted Mardanshāh as governor. In 692, following the victory over al-Zubayr, he was appointed governor of Bēt Nahrīn (North Mesopotamia) and the

Tur Abdin Tur Abdin (; ; ; or ) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for ...

while holding authority in

Harran Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. ...

. According to the ''Life of Simeon of the Olives'', who became bishop of Harran during Muhammad's governorship, he established a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

there. In 692/3, he defeated a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

army in the

Battle of Sebastopolis The Battle of Sebastopolis was fought at Sebastopolis (mostly identified with Elaiussa Sebaste in Cilicia but also with modern Sulusaray) in 692 CE between the Byzantine Empire and the Umayyad Caliphate under Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The battle ...

, by persuading the large Slavic contingent of the imperial army to defect to him. In the next year, he invaded Byzantine

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

with the assistance of the same Slavs, and scored a success against a Byzantine army near Germanikeia, while in 695, he raided the province of Fourth Armenia..

Conquest of Armenia

In 699–701, along with his nephew,

Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān (; in Greek sources , ''Abdelas'') was an Umayyad prince, the son of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (), a general and the governor of Egypt in 705–709. Life Abdallah was born or and grew up in the ...

, he was dispatched to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

to assist the governor

al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi (; ), known simply as al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (), was the most notable governor who served the Umayyad Caliphate. He began his service under Caliph Abd al-Malik (), who successiv ...

in the suppression of the rebellion of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath. In 701 Muhammad campaigned against the Byzantine-controlled Armenian territory east of the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

, and forced its population and the local governor, Baanes, to submit to the Caliphate. Soon after his departure, however, the Armenians rebelled and called for Byzantine aid. Repeated campaigns in 703 and 704 by Muhammad and Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik crushed the revolt, and Muhammad further secured Muslim control by organizing a large-scale massacre of the Armenian princely families in 705. When

al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...

acceded to the throne in 705, Muhammad began to be eclipsed by his nephew

Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik (, in Greek sources , ''Masalmas''; – 24 December 738) was an Umayyad prince and one of the most prominent Arab generals of the early decades of the 8th century, leading several campaigns against the Byzantine Empire ...

, who like him was also born to a slave-girl. Maslama assumed the leadership of the campaigns against Byzantium, and finally replaced Muhammad completely in his capacity as governor of Mesopotamia, Armenia and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

in 709/10. Muhammad died in 719/20.

Wives and children

Muhammad was the father of the last Umayyad caliph,

() through an unnamed woman, most likely of non-Arab origin (a

Kurd Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

according to some accounts). Some sources report that Muhammad had taken her captive during the suppression of Ibn al-Zubayr's revolt. Muhammad was also wed to two

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

ite women, Umm Jumayl bint Abd al-Rahman, the granddaughter of

Zayd ibn al-Khattab Zayd ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (; – 632) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muḥammad and a brother of Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Islamic caliph. Biography He was the son of al-Khattab ibn Nufayl, a member of the Adi clan of the Qura ...

of the

Banu Adi Banu Adi () was a clan of the Quraysh tribe descended from Adi ibn Ka'b. The Banu Adi were with the Meccans as part of the escort that preceded the Battle of Badr; they did not join Quraysh further. Notable members Clan members include: * Umar ...

clan, and Bint Yazid ibn Abd Allah, the granddaughter of

Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah Shaybah ibn Rabīʿah (Arabic: شيبة بن ربيعة) () was the brother of Utbah ibn Rabi'ah belonging to the clan of Banu Abd Shams (parent clan of Banu Umayyah) from the tribe of Quraysh of Mecca. He was also a champion of the Meccan army s ...

of the

Banu Abd Shams Banu Abd Shams () refers to a clan within the Meccan tribe of Quraysh (tribe), Quraysh. Ancestry The clan names itself after Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf, the son of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai and brother of Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf, who was the great-grandfat ...

, the parent clan of the Umayyads.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad ibn Marwan 8th-century deaths Arab generals Umayyad people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Sons of Umayyad caliphs Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate Year of birth unknown 7th-century Arab people 8th-century Arab people Umayyad governors of Arminiya