The
Death of Mukhtar and Capture of Kufa
When Muhallab came, Mus'ab bin
Zubair (رضي الله عنه) asked him to array
his army in a particular manner. He sent Abdur Rahman bin Ahnaf to Kufa and
instructed him to stay there and take the oath of allegiance from the people in
the name of Abdullah bin Zubair (رضي الله عنه).
He set Abbad bin Haseen Hatmi Tamimi in the vanguard, Umar bin Obaidullah bin
Mamar on the right flank, Muhallab bin Abu Sofra on the left flank and himself
in the middle. Arrayed in this manner the army left Basra and marched towards
Kufa. When Mukhtar received the news, he also came out of Kufa with his army.
Ibrahim bin Malik was Governor of Mosil at the time and he failed to come to
Kufa. There was a group in the army of Basra consisting of those who had fled
from Kufa and sought refuge in Basra. That group was led by Muhammad bin
Ash'ath. The confrontation of those two armies took place near a village named
Madar. It was a fierce battle in which Mukhtar was defeated. He fled from Kufa,
fortified the royal palace and stayed there besieged.
When the Kufan army was put to rout,
Muhammad bin Ash'ath followed the runaways and continued slaying them as they
escaped for a long distance. Mus'ab bin Zubair besieged the royal palace that
lasted for several days. One thousand people were besieged inside the palace
with Mukhtar. Finally, compelled by the shortage of food supplies, he made up
his mind to open the gate of the fort and die fighting. His companions forbade
him and advised him to ask Mus'ab for security of his life before opening the
gate. They were sure that Mus'ab would give him security of his life but he
disapproved of this advice. He poured scented oil on his head, rubbed perfume
on his clothes, armed himself and came out of the palace. Only nineteen persons
accompanied him. The rest remained behind in the palace. Mukhtar came out and
attacked and was killed by the sons of Abdullah bin Dajaja Saifi.
Mukhtar was killed on 14 Ramadan 67
A.H. Among his companions who were killed included Obaidullah Ali bin Abu
Talib. Mus'ab arrested those who were besieged in the palace. Those arrested on
the battlefield were also brought to Kufa. The captives were brought to a vast
field and a counsel was held. Muhallab bin Abu Sofra was of the opinion that
they should be let off but Muhammad bin Ash'ath and all the other Kufans
forbade Mus'ab bin Zubair to act upon that advice.
Mus'ab bin Zubair was in a fix. The
Kufans said, "They took the oath of allegiance at Mukhtar's hands and he
did not spare a single house in Kufa he put at least one or two persons to
death in every house. If the captives were set free, the whole of Kufa will
turn rebellious." The captives numbered six thousand. Seven hundred were
Arabs and the rest were Persians. After deep thought Mus'ab bin Zubair finally
decided that they should be done away with and therefore, all were slain. The
Kufans heaved a sigh of relief. Mus'ab had Mukhtar's both hands severed and
hung on the gate of Kufa's central mosque, which continued hanging there until
the time of Hajjaj's leadership.
Having captured Kufa, Mus'ab bin
Zubair wrote a letter to Ibrahim bin Malik who was appointed Governor of Mosil
by Mukhtar, "You must surrender to me. I shall give you authority over
Syria. I also promise that all the countries you capture from Syria to the west
will be granted to you." Now after Mukhtar's death, Abdul Malik bin Marwan
from Damascus wrote a letter to Ibrahim, "You lay down your arms before me
and I shall give you authority over Iraq and what ever territories you occupy
towards the east will be included under your rule." Ibrahim had received
identical letters from both the sides. He preferred Mus'ab to Abdul Malik. He
visited Kufa, recognized Abdullah bin Zubair's caliphate and took the oath of
allegiance at Mus'ab's hands. Mus'ab deputed Muhallab bin Abu Sofra to Mosil
and Jazirah (The region that lies between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and
is bounded on the south by a line running between Takrit and Anbar. It is the
northern end of Mesopotamia, now making up part of northern Iraq and extending
into eastern Turkey and extreme northeastem Syria) and kept Ibrahim with him as
commander-in-chief. When Abdullah bin Zubair (رضي الله
عنه) heard of Mukhtar's death and the capture of Kufa, he nominated
Mus'ab and his own son Hamza bin Abdullah, as the Governor of Kufa and Basra.
Hamza displeased the people of Basra and they wrote letters to Abdullah bin
Zubair (رضي الله عنه) requesting him to
dismiss him and send Mus'ab as Governor. Finally in 68 A.H., the Governorship
of Basra was also entrusted to Mus'ab by Abdullah bin Zubair (رضي الله عنه).
Amr
bin Sayeed was killed
It has already been mentioned that
Obaidullah bin Zeyad, following his failure in confronting and besieging Zafar
bin Harith, had left Qarqisa. When Ibn Zeyad was killed, Abdul Malik organized
his army and wanted to invade Iraq. First of all he thought it proper to invade
Zafar bin Harith Kalbi, the Governor of Qarqisa. Abdul Malik therefore
appointed his sister's son Abdur Rahman bin Umm Hakam as his deputy in Damascus
and he himself, taking Amr bin Sayeed bin Aas and an army set out to Qarqisa.
Mention has been made previously that Marwan bin Hakam was enthroned on the condition
that Khalid bin Yazid and Amr bin Sayeed would be the rulers respectively after
him. Instead of giving the reign of the country to them, he declared his own
sons Abdul Malik and Abdul Aziz as his successors. Khalid and Amr both were
deposed from the succession. Amr bin Sayeed commanded respect and popularity
among Banu Umayyah. He had many slaves and material possessions. He also had
ability as a commander. When Abdul Malik sat on the throne after Marwan, he
treated Amr bin Sayeed so well that his resentment and rankling in his heart
evaporated and when he marched with his army to Qarqisa, Amr bin Sayeed asked
him on the way to nominate him as his successor, since similar promises were
made to him earlier he simply wanted a formal announcement and confirmation.
Abdul Malik refused to fulfil his wish and Amr bin Sayeed felt betrayed and
distraught. Having an opportunity on the way he slipped away and returned to
Damascus and immediately after his arrival drove out Abdur Rahman, the acting
governor, occupied Damascus and declared his caliphate and reign. He gathered
the people, gave a sermon and made promises to fix salaries for them and treat
them kindly.
On receiving this news, Abdul Malik
immediately returned to Damascus and laid a siege to it. The fight continued
for a long period Abdul Malik could not pay attention to any other issue. At
last, the people made them agree to a reconciliation. The agreement was drafted
and Amr bin Sayeed coming out of the town, met Abdul Malik in his tent and
handed over Damascus to him. Abdul Malik always had an apprehension of Amr bin
Sayeed. Now he thought it important to stamp out that danger. He invited him to
his court to begin the deception. Amr bin Sayeed came and sat on the throne
beside him as usual. Some persons had already been put in place to carry out
the deed of treachery and so he was caught and killed.
When Amr bin Sayeed's brother Yahya
received the information, he rushed with one thousand people to attack the
headquarters of the Amir and besieged it. Abdul Malik cut off Amr bin Sayeed's
head and tossed it down to them and rained down money from above. They people
began to pick up money and Yahya was left standing all alone.
At last, he was caught and
imprisoned. Amr bin Sayeed's sons were also sent to jail with Yahya. They
remained there until Mus'ab bin Zubair (رضي الله عنه)
was killed and Abdul Malik occupied Iraq. Amr bin Sayeed was killed in 69 A.H.
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