Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik الوليد بن عبد الملك |
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Coins of Al-Walid I, found in Sistan
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Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate | |||||
Reign | 8 October 705 – 23 February 715 | ||||
Predecessor | Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan | ||||
Successor | Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik | ||||
Born | 668 | ||||
Died | 23 February 715 (aged 47) | ||||
Issue | Abd al-Aziz, Yazid III, Ibrahim, al-Abbas | ||||
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House | Banu Abd Shams | ||||
Dynasty | Umayyad | ||||
Father | Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan | ||||
Mother | Walida bint Al-Abbas |
Full name | |
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Al-Walīd ibn ‘Abd al-Malik Arabic: الوليد بن عبد الملك |
Al-Walīd ibn ‘Abd al-Malik
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (Arabic: الوليد بن عبد الملك) or Al-Walid I (668 – 23 February 715) was an Umayyad Caliph who ruled from 705 until his death in 715. His reign saw the greatest expansion of the Caliphate, as successful campaigns were undertaken in Transoxiana in Central Asia, Sind, Hispania in far western Europe, and against the Byzantines.
He was born to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and his wife who was from the central Arabian region of Najd. Al-Walid was born in 668 and died in 715. Walid continued the expansion of the Islamic empire that was sparked by his father and was an effective ruler. His father Abd al-Malik had taken the oath of allegiance for Walid during his lifetime.. As such the succession of Walid was not contested. His reign was marked by a number of conquests in both the east and west with historians considering his reign as the apex of Islamic power.
Walid was married to his first cousin Umm Banin bint Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan.
Walid was succeeded by his brother Sulayman and was buried in Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus. His grave is still present to this date.
Walid continued his father's policies of expanding Islamic power through conquests and took the early Islamic empire to its farthest extent. In 711, Muslim armies crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and began to conquer the Iberian Peninsula using North African Berber troops. By 716, the Visigoths of Iberia had been defeated and Iberia was under Muslim control. In the east, Islamic armies made it as far as the Indus River in 712. Under Walid, the Caliphate stretched from the Iberian Peninsula to India. Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf continued to play a crucial role in the organization and selection of military commanders in the East, serving as effectively the viceroy there.