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Marwan II

Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan (Arabic: مروان بن محمد بن مروان, romanized: Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān; c. 691– 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 civil war, and he was the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyad dynasty.

Marwan II
مروان بن محمد

4 December 744 – 25 January 750

Ibrahim ibn al-Walid

Position abolished
al-Saffah (as Abbasid caliph)

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

6 August 750 CE (aged 59)
Al-Misr, Umayyad Caliphate (present-day Egypt)

Muznah

  • Ubaydallah
  • Abd al-Malik
  • Abdallah

Marwanid

Umayya

Muhammad ibn Marwan

Umm Marwan
(Umm walad)

Islam

Birth and background[edit]

Marwan ibn Muhammad was a member of the Marwanid household of the Umayyad Caliphate. His grandmother was named Zaynab. Marwan's father was Muhammad ibn Marwan, who was the son of the fourth Umayyad Caliph Marwan I (r. 684–685), and hence half-brother to fifth Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705).[1][2]


His mother was a woman who's mostly unnamed, however sometimes is called Rayya or Tarubah, and is likely of non-Arab origin (a Kurd 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.[3] A couple sources report that Muhammad had taken her captive during the suppression of Ibn al-Zubayr's revolt, prior to her capture she was either Ibn al-Zubayr's slave or his cook, Zumri.[4] These two men were believed to be Marwan's real biological father by Umayyad contenders.[5] 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, Caliph Hisham appointed Marwan governor of Armenia. In 735–736, Marwan invaded Georgia, devastated it and then took three fortresses of the Alans and made peace with Tumanshah. In 739–740, he launched further raids and obtained tribute.


In 744–745, on hearing news of the plot to overthrow al-Walid II, Marwan wrote to his relatives from Armenia strongly discouraging this. He urged them to harmoniously preserve the stability and well-being of the Umayyad 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.[6]


Reportedly, Marwan II, who for several years had supervised the campaigns against the Byzantines and the Khazars on the Caliphate's northwestern frontiers, had considered claiming the caliphate at the death of al-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 of Harran.[7] Throughout Yazid III's Caliphate Marwan remained a governor and he didn't claim the throne for himself.

Physical description[edit]

Marwan was known to be of a fair complexion, with blue eyes, a big beard, big headed and of medium height. He did not dye his beard with Henna and left it white.[11]

Marwan ibn Muhammad's invasion of Georgia

Battle of the Zab

Muhammad ibn Marwan

, 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.

Blankinship, Khalid Yahya

Gabra, Gawdat (2003). . In W. Beltz (ed.). Die koptische Kirche in den ersten drei islamischen Jahrhunderten. Institut für Orientalistik, Martin-Luther-Universität. pp. 111–119. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.

"The Revolts of the Bashmuric Copts in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries"

, 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.

Hillenbrand, Carole

(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.

Kennedy, Hugh

Sir John Glubb, "The Empire of the Arabs", Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1963

"A Short History of the Saracens", Macmillan and co., London, 1912

Syed Ameer Ali

Williams, John Alden, ed. (1985). . SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-87395-884-4.

The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXVII: The ʿAbbāsid Revolution, A.D. 743–750/A.H. 126–132

(2000). The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750 (Second ed.). London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24072-7.

Hawting, Gerald R.