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Ibn al-Zubayr’s opposition led, in 64/683-4, to the siege of Mecca, where he had taken refuge, and to the bombardment of the town with catapults (majaniq) by an army sent by Yazid. During the siege, the Kaʿba was damaged by fire, but there are variant accounts of how exactly that happened and who was responsible for it. Yazid’s army, initially commanded by Muslim b. ʿUqba al-Murri [q.v.], had been raised in 63/683 primarily in response to the actions of the people of Medina, who had thrown off their allegiance to Yazid, expelled those Umayyads living there and, according to some accounts, established contacts with Ibn al-Zubayr. After defeating the Medinans at the battle on the Harra, Muslim entered (and, it is said, sacked) the town, and compelled a number of its prominent men to return to their allegiance to Yazid. He then set off for Mecca, intending to force Ibn al-Zubayr, who had received the support of others of Yazid’s opponents, including several [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kharijite Kharijites], to submit. On the way, Muslim died and his position as leader of the Syrian army was assumed by al-Hussain b. Numayr al-Sakuni. He was who commanded the siege of Mecca. News of Yazid’s death in Syria reached him while the siege was in progress, and after fruitless negotiations with Ibn al-Zubayr he withdrew the army back to Syria. | Ibn al-Zubayr’s opposition led, in 64/683-4, to the siege of Mecca, where he had taken refuge, and to the bombardment of the town with catapults (majaniq) by an army sent by Yazid. During the siege, the Kaʿba was damaged by fire, but there are variant accounts of how exactly that happened and who was responsible for it. Yazid’s army, initially commanded by Muslim b. ʿUqba al-Murri [q.v.], had been raised in 63/683 primarily in response to the actions of the people of Medina, who had thrown off their allegiance to Yazid, expelled those Umayyads living there and, according to some accounts, established contacts with Ibn al-Zubayr. After defeating the Medinans at the battle on the Harra, Muslim entered (and, it is said, sacked) the town, and compelled a number of its prominent men to return to their allegiance to Yazid. He then set off for Mecca, intending to force Ibn al-Zubayr, who had received the support of others of Yazid’s opponents, including several [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kharijite Kharijites], to submit. On the way, Muslim died and his position as leader of the Syrian army was assumed by al-Hussain b. Numayr al-Sakuni. He was who commanded the siege of Mecca. News of Yazid’s death in Syria reached him while the siege was in progress, and after fruitless negotiations with Ibn al-Zubayr he withdrew the army back to Syria. | ||
==Caliphate== | ==Caliphate== | ||
In broad terms, Yazid seems to have continued the form of rule developed by his father which depended on the relationship between the caliph, his governors and the tribal notables (ashraf) in the provinces. His governor of ʿIraq, ʿUbayd Allah, was the son of Muʿawiya’s governor there, Ziyad. A Christian, Sarjun, who had been prominent in the administration of Muʿawiya, continued to be influential under Yazid. (Robert Hoyland has questioned whether this Sarjun, sometimes called “the mawla of Muʿawiya”, sometimes “of Yazid”, and variously described as Yazid’s drinking companion or as sahib amrihi, was the father of John of Damascus, as Lammens and others have assumed.) The custom of receiving delegations (wufud [q.v.]) from the provinces at the court to win them over with gifts and flattery, institutionalized by his father, was less successful when Yazid attempted to use it to head off the opposition of the Medinans. | In broad terms, Yazid seems to have continued the form of rule developed by his father which depended on the relationship between the caliph, his governors and the tribal notables (ashraf) in the provinces. His governor of ʿIraq, ʿUbayd Allah, was the son of Muʿawiya’s governor there, Ziyad. A Christian, Sarjun, who had been prominent in the administration of Muʿawiya, continued to be influential under Yazid. (Robert Hoyland has questioned whether this Sarjun, sometimes called “the mawla of Muʿawiya”, sometimes “of Yazid”, and variously described as Yazid’s drinking companion or as sahib amrihi, was the father of John of Damascus, as Lammens and others have assumed.) The custom of receiving delegations (wufud [q.v.]) from the provinces at the court to win them over with gifts and flattery, institutionalized by his father, was less successful when Yazid attempted to use it to head off the opposition of the Medinans. | ||
The breakdown, beginning under Yazid, of the system of government used more successfully by Muʿawiya, may be ascribed partly to difficulties associated with the succession to the caliphate but more fundamentally to the changes taking place in the structure of the conquest society, analyzed by Patricia Crone in her Slaves on horses. | The breakdown, beginning under Yazid, of the system of government used more successfully by Muʿawiya, may be ascribed partly to difficulties associated with the succession to the caliphate but more fundamentally to the changes taking place in the structure of the conquest society, analyzed by Patricia Crone in her Slaves on horses. | ||
Yazid is often credited with the creation of the new Jund of Ḳinnasrin [q.v.]. For an extensive discussion of that and other incidental information about him and his caliphate (his reduction of the tribute to be paid by the Christians from Najran [q.v.], his suppression of privileges enjoyed by the Samaritans, his involvement in irrigation work, etc.), see Henri Lammens, Le Califat de Yazîd I. | Yazid is often credited with the creation of the new Jund of Ḳinnasrin [q.v.]. For an extensive discussion of that and other incidental information about him and his caliphate (his reduction of the tribute to be paid by the Christians from Najran [q.v.], his suppression of privileges enjoyed by the Samaritans, his involvement in irrigation work, etc.), see Henri Lammens, Le Califat de Yazîd I. | ||
==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
As the caliph under whom the Prophet’s grandson al-Hussain was killed, the two holy cities of Arabia attacked, and the Kaʿba set on fire, and as the one who benefited from an appointment presented in Muslim tradition as a crucial stage in the corruption of the caliphate into a kingship, it is not surprising that the tradition generally is hostile to Yazid. There are frequent mentions of his penchant for drinking, singing girls, sexual licentiousness, hunting, playing with his tame monkey, and other such things which show him as a frivolous libertine. | As the caliph under whom the Prophet’s grandson al-Hussain was killed, the two holy cities of Arabia attacked, and the Kaʿba set on fire, and as the one who benefited from an appointment presented in Muslim tradition as a crucial stage in the corruption of the caliphate into a kingship, it is not surprising that the tradition generally is hostile to Yazid. There are frequent mentions of his penchant for drinking, singing girls, sexual licentiousness, hunting, playing with his tame monkey, and other such things which show him as a frivolous libertine. | ||
==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
*Ṭabarī, index (ii, 216-429 for his caliphate, Eng. tr. I.K.A. Howard, The History of al-Ṭabarī, xix, The caliphate of ϒazīd b. Muʿawiyah, Albany 1990) | *Ṭabarī, index (ii, 216-429 for his caliphate, Eng. tr. I.K.A. Howard, The History of al-Ṭabarī, xix, The caliphate of ϒazīd b. Muʿawiyah, Albany 1990) | ||
* Balād̲h̲urī, Ansāb al-as̲h̲rāf ivb, 1-74 | * Balād̲h̲urī, Ansāb al-as̲h̲rāf ivb, 1-74 | ||
* idem, Futūḥ, index | * idem, Futūḥ, index | ||
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* Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīk̲h̲ Madīnat Dimas̲h̲ḳ, ed. al-ʿAmrī, 65 vols., Beirut 1998, lxv, 394-412 | * Ibn ʿAsākir, Taʾrīk̲h̲ Madīnat Dimas̲h̲ḳ, ed. al-ʿAmrī, 65 vols., Beirut 1998, lxv, 394-412 | ||
* D̲h̲ahabī, Taʾrīk̲h̲ al-Islām, ed. Tadmurī, Beirut 1990, s.a. 60-3 (the notice on Yazīd in the necrology of the 7th ṭabaḳa, 269-75, has a useful bibl. provided by the editor). | * D̲h̲ahabī, Taʾrīk̲h̲ al-Islām, ed. Tadmurī, Beirut 1990, s.a. 60-3 (the notice on Yazīd in the necrology of the 7th ṭabaḳa, 269-75, has a useful bibl. provided by the editor). | ||
*Studies. J. Wellhausen, Das arabische Reich und sein Sturz, Berlin 1902, 88-105, Eng. tr. The Arab kingdom and its fall, Calcutta 1927, 140-69 | *Studies. J. Wellhausen, Das arabische Reich und sein Sturz, Berlin 1902, 88-105, Eng. tr. The Arab kingdom and its fall, Calcutta 1927, 140-69 | ||
* H. Lammens, Études sur le règne du calife omaiyade Moʿâwia I , Paris 1908, index (extracted from MFOB, i-iii) | * H. Lammens, Études sur le règne du calife omaiyade Moʿâwia I , Paris 1908, index (extracted from MFOB, i-iii) | ||
* idem, Le califat de Yazîd 1 , in MFOB, iv (1910), 233-312, v (1911), 79-267, v/2 (1912), 589-724, vi (1913), 401-92, vii (1921), 211-44 | * idem, Le califat de Yazîd 1 , in MFOB, iv (1910), 233-312, v (1911), 79-267, v/2 (1912), 589-724, vi (1913), 401-92, vii (1921), 211-44 | ||
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* G.R. Hawting, “Yazīd (I) b. Muʿāwiya”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, | * G.R. Hawting, “Yazīd (I) b. Muʿāwiya”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, | ||
* [http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8000 W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 04 May 2019] | * [http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8000 W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 04 May 2019] | ||
[[Category: Individuals]] | [[Category: Individuals]] | ||
[[Category: Umayyad Dynasty]] | [[Category: Umayyad Dynasty]] | ||
[[Category: Historical Character]] | [[Category: Historical Character]] | ||