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Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik

Umayyad caliph who succeeded Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik and died at al-Rusafa; al-Tabari and al-Mas'udi record his reign and death.

Reign · Umayyad Caliphate · no. 10 in the chain · 724–743 CE

Ruled the caliphate

Events of the reign

Battle of Balat al-Shuhada

Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi's great raid into Francia ended in Ramadan 114 at Balat al-Shuhada — 'the Martyrs' Causeway', the Poitiers of Frankish memory — where his army was destroyed.
Battle of Akroinon

Draft card for the Battle of Akroinon in 740, the Byzantine victory over the Umayyad army in Anatolia; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of al-Asnam

Draft card for the Battle of al-Asnam in 742, Hanzala ibn Safwan's victory over the Berbers near Kairouan; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of al-Qarn

Draft card for the Battle of al-Qarn in 742, the Umayyads' suppression of the Berber revolt in Ifriqiya; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Avignon

Draft card for the Battle of Avignon in 737, the Andalusi army's seizure of the town before Charles Martel's counterattack; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Bagdoura

Draft card for the Battle of Bagdoura in 741, the Syrian army's crushing of the Berber revolt; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Balanjar (732)

Draft card for the second Battle of Balanjar in 732 during the Umayyad-Khazar wars; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Baykand

Draft card for the Battle of Baykand in 729, al-Ashras al-Sulami's fight with the Turks near Bukhara in the Transoxanian troubles; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Cordoba (742)

Draft card for Battle of Cordoba (742); its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of the Garonne

Draft card for the Battle of the Garonne in 732, Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi's victory over Duke Eudo of Aquitaine; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Kharistan

Draft card for the Battle of Kharistan in 737, Asad al-Qasri's victory over the Türgesh khagan in the last great Transoxanian war; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Llívia (731)

Draft card for Battle of Llívia (731); its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Marj Ardabil

Draft card for the Battle of Marj Ardabil in 730, the Khazar victory that killed al-Jarrah ibn Abd Allah al-Hakami; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Nîmes

Draft card for the Battle of Nîmes in 736, Charles Martel's recovery of the city from the Muslims; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Sebou (740)

Draft card for Battle of Sebou (740); its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of al-Junayd at al-Sha'b

In 113 AH al-Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman set out on a raid towards Tokharistan and halted at the river of Balkh. He sent Umara ibn Huraym towards Tokharistan with eighteen thousand men, and Ibrahim ibn Bassam al-Laythi with ten thousand in another direction. The Turks rose in force and came to Samarqand, which was held by Sura ibn al-Hurr; Sura wrote to al-Junayd, and he ordered the men to cross. Al-Mujashshir ibn Muzahim al-Sulami and Ibn Bistam al-Azdi stood before him and said: the Turks are not like others; they will not meet you in formed ranks or in a charge; you have divided your army; and the commander of Khurasan will not cross the river with fewer than fifty thousand. Write to Umara to come to you, and wait, and do not hurry. He said: then what of Sura and the Muslims with him? He crossed and camped at Kas. The Turks had filled in the wells on his route, so he asked which of the two roads to Samarqand was the better; al-Mujashshir said: take the road of the pass, which is equally distant between us and them. Al-Junayd took the pass road and spent the night at its foot, then went on with the men until he entered the defile (al-Sha'b), four farsakhs from Samarqand. Khaqan fell upon them with a great host, and the people of Sughd, Shash and Ferghana and a body of Turks advanced upon them. Khaqan charged the vanguard, and they broke back toward the army, with the Turks pursuing and coming at them from every side. The people held and fought until they were spent; swords would no longer cut, so they fought with cut wood, until both sides tired and they came to close grappling. The Azd banner passed through eighteen men, all of whom were killed, and eighty men of the Azd fell that day. Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Hawdhan, on a chestnut horse wearing armour, charged seven times and killed a man on each charge, until those on his flank feared him. The enemy's interpreter called to him: the king says, do not fight; turn to us and we will abandon our idol and worship you. He answered: I fight you only so that you abandon the worship of idols and worship God alone; and he fought until he was killed. Yazid ibn al-Mufaddal had carried a hundred camel-loads of sawiq for the Muslims; he kept asking after the men, and whenever he asked after someone he was told that he had been killed. He advanced saying 'there is no god but God' until he was killed.
Battle of the Nobles

Draft card for the Battle of the Nobles in 740, the Berber victory over the Arab cavalry near Tangier; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Battle of Volga River (737)

Draft card for Battle of Volga River (737); its sources are not yet checked on the page.
The Death of al-Jarrah at Ardabil

In al-Baladhuri: al-Jarrah compounded with the people of Hamzin to transfer them to Khizan, giving them two of its villages, fell upon the people of Ghumik taking captives, returned to Shakki and wintered his army at Bardha'a and al-Baylaqan; the Khazars then surged across the Rass, and he gave them battle in the Warthan desert, whence they fell back toward Ardabil — he engaged them four farsakhs from Armenia's edge, they fought three days, and he was martyred with those with him; that river was named Nahr al-Jarrah, and a bridge upon it was likewise ascribed to him.
Conquests of Hisham's reign

In year seven of Hisham's reign Caesarea of the Romans was taken by the sword; in year eight Khanjara was conquered by the renowned champion al-Battal; in year twelve Kharshana in the district of Malatya was conquered.
Marwan ibn Muhammad's Expedition through Khazar and Mountain Lands

In al-Baladhuri: after Maslama, Hisham gave the march to Sa'id al-Harashi, who held it two years, then to Marwan ibn Muhammad — who camped at Kisal, having built its city (forty farsakhs from Bardha'a, twenty from Tiflis), then entered the Khazar land by way of Bab al-Lan, Asid ibn Zafir al-Sulami Abu Yazid guiding him in with the mountain kings by way of Bab wa-l-Abwab; Marwan raided Slavs in the Khazar land, carrying off ten thousand households whom he settled in Khakhit — they later killed their amir and fled, and he overtook and slew them; when the Khazar great-king learned the numbers Marwan trod into his lands and their strength and array, it stung his heart and filled it with dread, and as Marwan drew near he sent a messenger summoning him to Islam or war — Marwan answered 'I accept Islam; send me one to present it', which was done, and the Khaqan showed forth Islam, Marwan making peace confirming him in his kingdom; with him Marwan settled a body of Khazars between al-Samur and al-Shabiran in the Lakz plain; then Marwan entered the land of al-Sarir, fell upon its people, took castles, and its king submitted and obeyed — he compounded with him for a thousand heads, five hundred lads and five hundred girls black of hair, brow and lash each year, and a hundred thousand mudd poured into Bab's granaries, taking hostages of him; Marwan compounded with Tuman's people for a hundred heads — fifty girls and fifty five-year-old boys black of hair, brow and lash — and twenty thousand mudd yearly to the granaries; then entered Zirikeran's land, whose king compounded for fifty heads and ten thousand mudd yearly; then came to Hamzin's land — Hamzin refusing peace — took their fortress after a month's siege, burned and demolished it, its treaty then being five hundred heads delivered in one payment, no further claim on him, and thirty thousand mudd borne yearly to Bab's granaries; then came to Sadan, which he opened by treaty for a hundred heads its lord delivered at once, no claim thereafter, and five thousand mudd borne yearly to Bab's granaries; and he assessed the people of Tabarsaranshah at ten thousand mudd borne yearly to the granaries, while assessing Filanshah nothing — for his fine service, handsome conduct and praiseworthy way; then Marwan camped on the fortress of al-Lakz — its lord having withheld the levy and gone out to join the Khazar king, whereupon a herdsman killed him with an arrow not knowing him — so the Lakz people compounded for twenty thousand mudd borne to the granaries, and he set Khashrama al-Sulami over them; and Marwan went to Shirwan's lord's fortress called Khirsh upon the sea — he submitted, was ordered down to the plain, and they were bound to ten thousand mudd yearly; on Shirwan's lord he laid it that he be in the van when the Muslims began raiding the Khazars and in the rear when they returned; on Filanshah, that he raid with them only; and on Tabarsaranshah, in the rear at the outset and the van at the return; and Marwan went to the Dudaniyya and fell on them — then word of al-Walid ibn Yazid's killing reached him.
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik's Khazar Campaign and the Taking of al-Bab

In al-Baladhuri: Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik gave Armenia to Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and sent ahead as his vanguard Sa'id ibn Amr ibn Aswad al-Harashi — with him Ishaq ibn Muslim al-Uqayli and his brothers, Jamwana ibn al-Harith ibn Khalid of Banu Amir ibn Rabi'a ibn Sa'sa'a, Dhufafa and Khalid the sons of Umayr ibn al-Habab al-Sulami, al-Furat ibn Salman al-Bahili and al-Walid ibn al-Qa'qa' al-Absi — who met the Khazars besieging Wartan, drove them off and routed them, coming to Maymadh of Adharbayjan; as he readied for battle, Maslama's letter reached him blaming him for fighting before his arrival and telling him Abd al-Malik ibn Muslim al-Uqayli had been given his army's command — when he handed the army over, Maslama's messenger seized him, bound him, carried him to Bardha'a and jailed him; the Khazars withdrew, Maslama pursued, and wrote of it to Hisham, who wrote back the verse 'leave them to waste — you see them — and chase them till the dust is cut off', ordering al-Harashi released from prison; Maslama compounded with the people of Khayzan, ordered its fortress demolished and took estates there known today as Hawz Khayzan; the mountain kings made peace with him, and to him came the Shirwanshah, the Liranshah, the Tabarsaranshah, the Filanshah, the Jarshanshah and the lord of Masmumat; he advanced on Madinat al-Bab and took it — in its citadel were a thousand Khazar households whom he besieged and stoned, then had a mantlet built in stone-shape which availed nothing, whereupon he went to the spring Anushirwan had led into their cistern, slaughtered cattle and sheep and threw in the offal and dung, so that by nightfall their water wormed, stank and fouled — and when night covered them they fled, abandoning the citadel; Maslama settled in the city of Bab wa-l-Abwab twenty-four thousand Syrians on mount-allowances — whence Bab's folk today admit no governor unless he brings money to share among them — built a granary for food, one for barley and an arms-storehouse, ordered the cistern sealed, and repaired and honoured the city; Marwan ibn Muhammad was with Maslama, engaging the Khazars at his side and fighting bitterly.
Siege of Anakopia

Draft card for Siege of Anakopia; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Siege of Bilistan (738)

Draft card for Siege of Bilistan (738); its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Siege of Gafsa (741)

Draft card for Siege of Gafsa (741); its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Siege of Nicaea

Draft card for the Siege of Nicaea in 727, the failed Umayyad assault on the strong Byzantine city; its sources are not yet checked on the page.
Siege of Pelayo (735)

Draft card for Siege of Pelayo (735); its sources are not yet checked on the page.

The museum record for this caliph