Al-Abbas ibn al-Walid

al-ʿAbbas ibn al-Walīd
Died	750 Harran
Allegiance	Umayyad Caliphate
Years of service	ca. 707–720s
Relations	al-Walid I (father), Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik (uncle)

Al-ʿAbbas ibn al-Walīd was an Umayyad Arab prince and general, the son of Caliph al-Walid I. A distinguished military leader in the Byzantine–Arab Wars of the early 8th century, especially in partnership with his uncle Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, he became involved in the civil wars of the mid-740s and was imprisoned. He died in prison of an epidemic in 750.

Abbas was the son of Caliph al-Walid I (r. 705–715). Little is known about his early life, and Arab and Byzantine sources are often at odds concerning details of his career. He first appears in the 707 campaign against the important Byzantine fortress of Tyana in Cappadocia, where he led the Arab army alongside his uncle Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik. The town withstood a long siege over the winter of 707–708, and surrendered only after a Byzantine relief army was defeated in spring. During the latter battle, Abbas is said by Arab chroniclers to have distinguished himself for the crucial role he played in stopping the wavering Arabs from fleeing and driving them on to victory. According to Khalifa ibn Khayyat, he was appointed by his father as governor of the district of Homs.

Abbas participated regularly in the almost annual expeditions launched into Byzantine Asia Minor during these years. His most notable campaigns were the capture of Sebaste in Cilicia in 712 and of Antioch in Pisidia in 713, the raid into Paphlagonia in 721 where he is reported to have captured 20,000 prisoners, and a raid, placed in 722/723 but possibly reflecting an earlier campaign, that captured a fortress called Siza. Meanwhile, in 720, along with his uncle Maslama, he led the suppression of the revolt of the governor of Iraq, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab.

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