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{{Short description|Umayyad caliph from 744 to 750}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Marwan II <br /> مروان بن محمد
| succession   = 14th [[Caliph]] of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]
| title        = {{ubl|{{transliteration|ar|[[Amir al-Mu'minin]]}}|{{transliteration|ar|[[List of Caliphs|Khalifat Allah]]}}}}
| image        = [[File:Dirham of Marwan II ibn Muhammad, AH 127-132.jpg|300px]]
| caption      = [[Dirham]] of Marwan II
| reign        = 4 December 744 – 6 August 750
| full name    = Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan
| predecessor  = [[Ibrahim ibn al-Walid]]
| successor    = Position abolished<br />[[al-Saffah]] (as [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] caliph)
| issue        = {{plainlist|
* Muhammad
* Ubaydallah
* Abd al-Malik 
* Abdallah}}
| dynasty      = [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayya]]
| house        = [[Marwanids (clan)|Marwanid]]
| birth_date   = {{circa|691}}
| birth_place  = [[Bilad al-Sham|Al-Sham]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]] (present-day [[Syria]])
| death_date   = 6 August 750 [[common era|CE]] (aged 59)
| death_place  = [[Islam in Egypt|Misr]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]] (present-day [[Egypt]])
| spouse       = Muznah
| father       = [[Muhammad ibn Marwan]]
| mother       = Umm Marwan <br />([[Umm walad]])
| religion     = [[Islam]]
}}

'''Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan''' ({{langx|ar|مروان بن محمد بن مروان|translit=Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān}}; {{Circa|691}}– 6 August 750), commonly known as '''Marwan II''' and surnamed '''al-Himar''' ([[Arabic]]: الحمار),<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 12, 2025 |title=Marwan II - Lecture Notes on His Rise to Caliphate and Challenges |url=https://www.studocu.com/in/document/jamia-millia-islamia/the-umayyads/marwan-ii-lecture-notes-1/21242738}}</ref> was the fourteenth and last [[caliph]] of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], ruling from 744 until his death. His reign was dominated by a [[Third Fitna|civil war]], and he was the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before the [[Abbasid Revolution]] toppled the [[Umayyad dynasty]]. 

==Birth and background==
Marwan ibn Muhammad was a member of the Marwanid household of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. His grandmother was named Zaynab. Marwan's father was [[Muhammad ibn Marwan]], who was the son of the fourth Umayyad Caliph [[Marwan I]] ({{reign|684|685}}), and hence half-brother to fifth Umayyad Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan]] ({{reign|685|705}}).<ref name="EI2">Zetterstéen (1993), p. 408</ref>{{incomplete short citation|date=December 2021}}<ref>Donner (2014), p. 110</ref>{{incomplete short citation|date=December 2021}}

His mother was a woman who's mostly unnamed, however sometimes is called Rayya or Tarubah, and is likely of non-Arab origin (a [[Kurds|Kurd]] according to most accounts). Some have referenced that his mother was already pregnant with Marwan before his legal father, Muhammad, bed her, thus making the child not his.<ref>Women and the State in Early Islam (1942), p. 361</ref> A couple sources report that Muhammad had taken her captive during the suppression of [[Second Fitna|Ibn al-Zubayr's revolt]], prior to her capture she was either the slave of [[Ibn al-Zubayr]] or of his cook, Zumri.<ref>Hawting (1991), p. 623</ref>{{incomplete short citation|date=December 2021}} These two men were believed to be Marwan's real biological father by Umayyad contenders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dennett |first=Daniel C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAemzQEACAAJ |title=Marwan Ibn Muhammad: the passind of the Umayyad caliphate |date=1985 | page=189 | publisher=University Microfilms |language=en}}</ref> There is much doubt and dispute on his mother's name but she was most commonly known as Umm Marwan (meaning "Mother of Marwan").

==Early life==
In 732–733, Caliph [[Hisham]] appointed Marwan governor of [[Arminiya|Armenia]]. In 735–736, Marwan [[Marwan ibn Muhammad's invasion of Georgia|invaded Georgia]], devastated it and then took three fortresses of the [[Alans]] and made peace with [[Tumanshah]]. In 739–740, he launched further raids and obtained tribute.

In 744–745, on hearing news of the plot to overthrow [[al-Walid II]], Marwan wrote to his relatives from Armenia strongly discouraging this. He urged them to harmoniously preserve the stability and well-being of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] house, however, this was disregarded and many armed men moved into Damascus. [[Yazid III|Yazid]] slipped into Damascus and deposed al-Walid in a coup, following this up with a disbursement of funds from the treasury.<ref>Theophilus. Quoted Robert Hoyland, Seeing Islam as Others Saw It (Darwin Press, 1998), 660</ref>

Reportedly, Marwan II, who for several years had supervised the campaigns against the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] and the [[Khazars]] on the Caliphate's northwestern frontiers, had considered claiming the caliphate at the death of [[al-Walid II]], but a Kalbi rebellion had forced him to wait. Instead, Yazid III appointed him governor to Upper Mesopotamia and he took up residence in the Qays-dominated city of [[Harran]].{{sfn|Hawting|2000|pp=96–97}} Throughout Yazid III's Caliphate Marwan remained a governor and he didn't claim the throne for himself.

==Reign==
When [[Yazid III]] persisted in overthrowing [[al-Walid II]], Marwan at first opposed him, then rendered allegiance to him. On Yazid's early death (Yazid named his brother [[Ibrahim ibn al-Walid]] as his successor. Yazid fell ill of a brain tumour<ref>Dionysius of Telmahre ''apud'' Hoyland, 661 n 193</ref>), Marwan renewed his ambitions, ignored Yazid's named successor [[Ibrahim ibn al-Walid|Ibrahim]], and became caliph. Ibrahim initially hid, then requested Marwan give him assurances of personal safety. This Marwan granted and Ibrahim even accompanied the new caliph to [[Hisham]]'s residence of Rusafah.
[[File:Caliphate 750.jpg|thumb|300px|alt=Old map of western Eurasia and northern Africa showing the expansion of the Caliphate from Arabia to cover most of the Middle East, with the Byzantine Empire outlined in green|The expansion of the Muslim Caliphate until 750, from [[William R. Shepherd]]'s ''Historical Atlas''.<br />{{legend2|#df9860|Muslim state at the death of [[Muhammad]]}} {{legend2|#c29d44|Expansion under the [[Rashidun Caliphate]]}} {{legend2|#e4af90|Expansion under the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]}} {{legend-line|#99a53a solid 5px|[[Byzantine Empire]]}}]]
Marwan named his two sons Ubaydallah and Abdullah heirs. He appointed governors and proceeded to assert his authority by force. However, the anti-Umayyad feeling was very prevalent, especially in [[Iran]] and [[Iraq]]. The [[Abbasids]] had gained much support. As such, Marwan's reign as caliph was almost entirely devoted to trying to keep the Umayyad empire together.

Marwan took [[Homs|Emesa (Homs)]] after a bitter ten-month siege. [[Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani]] led a [[Kharijite]] rebellion. He defeated the Syrian forces and took [[Kufa]]. [[Sulayman ibn Hisham]] turned against Marwan, but suffered a severe defeat. The Kharijites advanced on [[Mosul]] and were defeated. Sulayman joined them. Al-Dahhak's successor al-Khaybari was initially successful in pushing back Marwan's center and even took the caliph's camp and sat on his carpet. However, he and those with him fell into fighting in the camp. Shayban succeeded him. Marwan pursued him and Sulayman to Mosul and besieged them there for six months. Then, reinforced, the caliph drove them out. Shayban fled to [[Eastern Arabia|Bahrayn]] where he was killed; Sulayman sailed to [[Indian subcontinent|India]].

In [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]] there was internal discord, with the Umayyad governor [[Nasr ibn Sayyar]] facing opposition from [[al-Harith ibn Surayj|al-Harith]] and [[Juday' al-Kirmani|al-Kirmani]]. They also fought each other. In addition, Abbasid envoys arrived. There had long been religious fervor and a kind of messianic expectation of Abbasid ascendency. During [[Ramadan]] of 747 (16 May – 14 June), the Abbasids unfurled the standards of their revolt. Nasr sent his retainer Yazid against them. Yazid, however, was bested, taken, and held captive. He was impressed by the Abbasids and when released told Nasr he wanted to join them, but his obligations to Nasr brought him back.

Fighting continued throughout Khurasan with the Abbasids gaining increasing ascendency. Finally, Nasr fell sick and died at Rayy on 9 November 748 at the age of eighty-five.

Marwan campaigned in Egypt in 749 to quell the [[Bashmuric Revolt]] and secure his rear, but his campaign was a failure.{{sfn|Gabra|2003|p=116}} The Abbasids, meanwhile, achieved success in the [[Hejaz|Hijaz]]. Marwan suffered a decisive defeat by [[Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah]] on the banks of the [[Great Zab]], called [[Battle of the Zab]]. At this battle alone, over 300 members of the Umayyad family died. Marwan fled, leaving Damascus, [[Jund al-Urdunn|Jordan]] and [[Jund Filastin|Palestine]] and reaching [[Egypt]], where he was caught and killed on 6 August 750. His heirs Ubaydallah and Abdallah escaped to modern [[Eritrea]]. Abdallah died in fighting there.

Marwan's death signaled the end of Umayyad fortunes in the East and was followed by the mass killing of Umayyads by the Abbasids. Almost the entire Umayyad dynasty was killed, except for the prince [[Abd ar-Rahman I|Abd ar-Rahman]] who escaped to [[Spain]] and founded an Umayyad dynasty there. In Egypt, Marwan's tongue was fed to a cat.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bobrick|first=Benson|title=The Caliph's Splendor: Islam and the West in the Golden Age of Baghdad|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2012|isbn=978-1416567622|pages=12}}</ref>

==Physical description==
Marwan was known to be of a [[Light skin|fair complexion]], with blue eyes, a big beard, big headed and of medium height. He did not dye his beard with [[Henna]] and left it white.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.al-eman.com/الكتب/البداية%20والنهاية%20**/مقتل%20مروان%20بن%20محمد%20بن%20مروان/i111&d75245&c&p1 |title=البداية والنهاية |last=Kathir |first=Ibn |access-date=5 June 2022 |quote=وكان أبيض مشرباً بحمرة، أزرق العينين، كبير اللحية، ضخم الهامة، ربعة الجسم، ولم يكن يخضب لحيته لا بالحناء ولا الكتان ويتركها بيضاء |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919211312/http://www.al-eman.com/الكتب/البداية%20والنهاية%20**/مقتل%20مروان%20بن%20محمد%20بن%20مروان/i111&d75245&c&p1 |archive-date=19 September 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Marwan ibn Muhammad's invasion of Georgia]]
* [[Battle of the Zab]]
* [[Muhammad ibn Marwan]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{The History of al-Tabari|volume=25}}
*{{cite book |year=2003 |first=Gawdat |last=Gabra |chapter=The Revolts of the Bashmuric Copts in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries |title=Die koptische Kirche in den ersten drei islamischen Jahrhunderten |editor=W. Beltz |pages=111–119 |publisher=Institut für Orientalistik, Martin-Luther-Universität |chapter-url=http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/tpage/636627 |access-date=22 March 2020 |archive-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322012930/http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/ssg/content/tpage/636627 |url-status=dead }}
* {{The History of al-Tabari|volume=26}}
* {{The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates | edition = Second}}
*Sir John Glubb, "The Empire of the Arabs", Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1963
*[[Syed Ameer Ali]], "A Short History of the Saracens", Macmillan and co., London, 1912
* {{The History of al-Tabari|volume=27}}
* {{The First Dynasty of Islam |edition=Second }}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Umayyad dynasty]]||691||6 August 750}}
{{S-rel|su}}
{{S-bef|before = [[Ibrahim ibn al-Walid]]}}
{{S-ttl|title  = [[Umayyad Caliphate|Last Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate]]<br />[[List of Caliphs|Caliph of Islam]]<br />[[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad Caliph]] |years=744 – 6 August 750}}
{{S-aft|after  = [[As-Saffah]]}}
{{S-reg|su}}
{{S-bef|before = [[Ibrahim ibn al-Walid]]<br />as [[Caliph]]}}
{{S-ttl|title  = [[Umayyad dynasty|Leader of the Umayyad Dynasty]]|years=744 – 6 August 750}}
{{S-aft|after  = [[Abd ar-Rahman I]]<br />as [[Emir of Córdoba]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Umayyads}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marwan 02}}
[[Category:691 births]]
[[Category:750 deaths]]
[[Category:8th-century Umayyad caliphs]]
[[Category:8th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:Executed monarchs]]
[[Category:8th-century executions by the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Arab generals]]
[[Category:Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate]]
[[Category:Umayyad people of the Arab–Khazar wars]]
[[Category:People of the Third Fitna]]
[[Category:People of the Abbasid Revolution]]
[[Category:Umayyad governors of Arminiya]]
[[Category:Umayyad governors of Mosul]]
[[Category:Monarchs killed in action]]