Battle of Marj Rahit (684)

Battle of Marj Rahit
Part of the Second Fitna
Date 18 August 684 Location Marj Rahit, near Damascus Result Umayyad victory
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate Banu Kalb Kindah Ghassanids Tayy Banu al-Qayn Tanukh	Qays Banu Sulaym Banu 'Amir Banu Dhubyan Himyarites and Ansar of Homs Banu Judham of Palestine supporting Ibn al-Zubayr
Commanders and leaders
Marwan I Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad Abbas ibn Ziyad	al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri  †
Strength
7,000 or 13,000, mostly infantry	30,000 or 60,000, mostly cavalry
Casualties and losses
Light	Heavy, including 80 nobles

Qays

The Battle of Marj Rahit (Arabic: معركة مرج راهط‎‎, Yawm Marj Rāhiṭ) was one of the early battles of the Second Islamic Civil War. It was fought on 18 August 684 between the Kalb-dominated armies of the Yaman, supporting the Umayyads under Caliph Marwan I, and the Qays under al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, who supported the Mecca-based Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr; the latter had proclaimed himself Caliph. The Kalbi victory consolidated the position of the Umayyad, under Marwan I over Syria, paving the way for their eventual victory in the civil war against Ibn al-Zubayr. However, it also left a bitter legacy of division and rivalry between the Qays and the Yaman, which would contribute to much strife and instability for the remainder of the Umayyad Caliphate.

At the death of Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), the founder of the Umayyad Caliphate, in 680, the Muslim world was thrown into turmoil. Although Mu'awiya had named his son, Yazid I, as his heir, this choice was not universally recognized, especially by the old Medinan elites, who challenged the Umayyads' claim to the succession. Among them, the two chief candidates for the caliphate were the Alid Husayn ibn Ali, and Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr. Husayn at first attempted an outright revolt against the Umayyads, but this resulted in his death at the Battle of Karbala in October 680, leaving Ibn al-Zubayr as the leading contender. As long as Yazid lived, Ibn al-Zubayr denounced his rule from the sanctuary of Mecca but did not openly claim the Caliphate, instead insisting that the Caliph should be chosen in the traditional manner, by a tribal assembly (shura) from among all the Quraysh. After the open revolt of Medina against Umayyad rule, in 683 Yazid sent an army to Arabia that defeated the Medinans and even laid siege to Mecca, but Yazid's death in November forced the expeditionary force to return home.

...
Wikipedia