Marwan ibn Abd al-Malik
Marwan ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (Arabic: مروان بن عبد الملك بن مروان) (d. 715/16 or 716/17), referred to as Marwan al-Akbar (Arabic: مروان الأكبر, lit. 'Marwan the Elder') to distinguish him from his younger half-brother with the same name, was an Umayyad prince, son of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, (r. 685–705) and one-time heir to the caliphate.
Marwan ibn Abd al-Malik مروان بن عبد الملك | |||||
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Heir presumptive of the Umayyad Caliphate | |||||
Tenure | 705 – 715 | ||||
Born | Medina, Umayyad Caliphate | ||||
Died | 716 or 717 al-Sham, Umayyad Caliphate | ||||
Burial | al-Sham | ||||
Relatives | Al-Walid I (brother) Sulayman (brother) | ||||
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Dynasty | Umayyad | ||||
Father | Abd al-Malik | ||||
Mother | Wallada bint al-Abbas ibn al-Jaz al-Absiyya | ||||
Religion | Islam |
Life
Marwan was a son of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and his first wife Wallada bint al-Abbas ibn al-Jaz, a member of the Banu Abs tribe and fourth-generation descendant of Zuhayr ibn Jadhima. He was a full brother of the caliphs al-Walid I (r. 705–715) and Sulayman (r. 715–717).[1] According to the historian al-Tabari Abd al-Malik instructed his immediate chosen successors al-Walid and Sulayman to invest the succession after them to their half-brother Yazid II (son of Atika bint Yazid) and then to Marwan al-Akbar.[2] According to al-Baladhuri, however, it was to be passed to Marwan al-Asghar (another son of Atika).[2] Marwan al-Akbar died on his return to Syria from the Hajj in Mecca in 715/16 or 716/17.[3] He left no children.[1] After his death, Caliph Sulayman maneuvered to remove Yazid II from the succession and install his own son Ayyub, but the latter predeceased Sulayman.
References
- Hinds 1990, p. 118.
- Bosworth 1982, p. 92, note 6.
- Bosworth 1982, p. 92.
Bibliography
- Bosworth, C. E. (1982). Medieval Arabic Culture and Administration. Variorum Reprints. ISBN 0-86078-113-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Hinds, Martin, ed. (1990). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXIII: The Zenith of the Marwānid House: The Last Years of ʿAbd al-Malik and the Caliphate of al-Walīd, A.D. 700–715/A.H. 81–95. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-721-1.
- Powers, Stephan, ed. (1989). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXIV: The Empire in Transition: The Caliphates of Sulaymān, ʿUmar, and Yazīd, A.D. 715–724/A.H. 96–105. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0072-2.