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Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad's flight from Basra after Yazid's death

خروج عبيد الله بن زياد من البصرة بعد موت يزيد

between 683 and 684 CE · 64 AH

Basra

Al-Dinawari reports that after Yazid's death Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad sought the protection of the Azd, that Basra was left nine days without a governor, and that he then went to Syria and urged Marwan to claim the caliphate 1 2 3.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Umayyad Period
Region
Levant & Iraq

In time

670680690700
The Umayyad Period

In space

Basra

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

Al-Dinawari reports, introducing it with “they say”, that Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad's client Mihran advised him to seek the protection of the Azd through al-Harith ibn Qays. 1 Lamps were left burning in his house that night as a decoy, and al-Harith took him to Mas'ud ibn Amr, chief of the Azd, who had earlier sheltered his father Ziyad. 4 2

Basra without a governor

The crowd broke open the prison, and Basra was nine days without a governor before choosing Abd Allah ibn al-Harith ibn Nawfal (may God be pleased with him). 2 Ubaydallah went to Syria with a guide of Yashkur. 5 In Damascus he urged Marwan, who had been about to go over to Ibn al-Zubayr, to claim the caliphate. 3 Later a Kharijite stabbed Mas'ud ibn Amr at the dawn prayer; the Azd blamed Tamim, and al-Ahnaf paid a thousand camels, the blood-money of kings. 6

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad
Occurred at
Basra
During the reign of
Yazid ibn Mu'awiya· معاوية بن يزيد بن معاوية

People and things also explored

The Second Fitna· Umayyad Caliphate· معاوية بن يزيد بن معاوية· Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad· Yazid ibn Mu'awiya· Basra· Great Mosque of Basra· Qasr Qubadh / the Hajjaj palace at Basra

Sources

  1. Al-Akhbar al-Tiwal — Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari (ed. Abd al-Mun'im Amir, Manshurat al-Sharif al-Radi reprint) , p. 281
  2. Al-Akhbar al-Tiwal — Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari (ed. Abd al-Mun'im Amir, Manshurat al-Sharif al-Radi reprint) , p. 283
  3. Al-Akhbar al-Tiwal — Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari (ed. Abd al-Mun'im Amir, Manshurat al-Sharif al-Radi reprint) , p. 285
  4. Al-Akhbar al-Tiwal — Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari (ed. Abd al-Mun'im Amir, Manshurat al-Sharif al-Radi reprint) , p. 282
  5. Al-Akhbar al-Tiwal — Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari (ed. Abd al-Mun'im Amir, Manshurat al-Sharif al-Radi reprint) , p. 284
  6. Al-Akhbar al-Tiwal — Abu Hanifa al-Dinawari (ed. Abd al-Mun'im Amir, Manshurat al-Sharif al-Radi reprint) , p. 287
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad's flight from Basra after Yazid's death”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/flight-of-ubaydallah-ibn-ziyad-from-basra/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-09.

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The Second Fitna

Draft card for the Second Fitna, the civil wars of the late Umayyad house after Yazid's death, from Ibn al-Zubayr's rising to the Marwanid restoration under Abd al-Malik; its sources are not yet checked on the page.