4 – Death of Yazid (683) and the End of the Second Fitna (692?)
There is a question mark beside the date of the Second Fitna’s conclusion because there is some disagreement over what event marked the end. Some believe the death of Yazid in 683 ended the conflict while others suggest the beginning of the reign of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in 685 is the real end of the Second Fitna. However, for this section, I will use the defeat of Ibn al-Zubayr’s revolt in 692 as the date.
Al-Zubayr was the next person to try and take down Yazid. After Karbala, the people of Mecca declared al-Zubayr as the real caliph, and he gained further support from those who did not want the leadership determined on a hereditary basis. Meanwhile, Yazid attempted to invade the Arabian Peninsula, and his army laid siege to Mecca in 683, but when he died suddenly, his army was forced to lift the siege.
His son, Muawiyah II, succeeded him but the 22-year-old had no real support outside his immediate family, and the childless ruler offered to make al-Zubayr his heir, but his enemy refused because he knew the youthful caliph could outlive him. However, he was mistaken because Muawiyah II abdicated after a few months in power and died soon after; sources are unclear as to cause. Now there was real chaos on the horizon; as the young caliph died with no heirs and succession was supposed to be hereditary, there was no one to take the mantle.
The obvious solution was to give the leadership to al-Zubayr but Marwan, the cousin of Muawiyah I, also wanted to become caliph. With the support of the Yaman tribe who wanted to retain the Umayyad Caliphate, Marwan defeated the Qays tribe who backed al-Zubayr at the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684. Marwan took Egypt and Syria, appointed relatives to important positions and named his son, Abd al-Malik, as heir.
Marwan died in 685 from old age, and his son took over as Caliph. Malik is regarded as one of the greatest caliphs, and he reigned until 705. Although al-Zubayr only had control of Mecca by 685, he continued to rebel against Malik but was finally defeated and killed in 692 after a siege of Mecca. The Umayyad now had control of the Islamic Empire once again, but its power lasted less than 70 years as the Third Fitna ended the dynasty.