Bishr ibn Marwan

Bishr's father was Marwan ibn al-Hakam of the Banu Umayya (Umayyads) and his mother was Qutayya bint Bishr, who hailed from the aristocratic clan of the Banu Kilab, the Banu Ja'far.[1] Bishr killed a chieftain of the Banu Kilab during the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684.[1] The Umayyad victory at Marj Rahit against the supporters of the rival Mecca-based caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr consolidated Marwan's caliphate in Syria.[1]

Bishr accompanied Marwan when he wrested Egypt from its Zubayrid governor, Abd al-Rahman ibn Utba al-Fihri, by early 685. [1] Marwan appointed another of his sons, Abd al-Aziz, governor of Egypt and had Bishr remain in the province to keep Abd al-Aziz company as the latter was posted far from the rest of his kinsmen in Syria.[1] Relations between the brothers may have become tense, prompting Bishr to return to Syria.[1] By then, the caliphal throne had passed to another son of Marwan, Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705).[1] Bishr's activities in Syria upon his return are not specified by the literary sources, though an originally Byzantine bronze weight chiseled and re-inscribed with the Kufic Arabic inscription: "In the name of God: Bishr ibn Marwan, the amir; this is a weight of twelve" was likely produced in Syria.[2] According to the numismatist George C. Miles, the bronze weight indicates that Bishr occupied a government office in Syria, whether as a local governor or a controller of finance.[3]

According to the 8th-century historian al-Waqidi, Abd al-Malik appointed Bishr governor of Kufa, one of the two main Arab garrison centers of Iraq, in 690/91, while Iraq was still under the control of the Zubayrids.[4] According to the modern historian Luke Treadwell, Bishr may have been promised the governorship by Abd al-Malik in return for his participation in the upcoming campaign against Zubayrid Iraq.[4] Bishr took part in the 691 campaign which ended with the defeat and death of Iraq's ruler Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr and Bishr taking up his office by 691/92.[1] He returned to Syria at least once, in April 693, to visit his Damascus property.[4] Amid the Qays–Yaman tribal conflict, Bishr patronized and encouraged the Banu Fazara (part of the Qays) to launch a retaliatory assault against the Banu Kalb (part of the Yaman) in 693.[5]

Bishr's advisers in Kufa were Rawh ibn Zinba al-Judhami, the senior aide of Abd al-Malik, and Musa ibn Nusayr, a client of Abd al-Aziz and future conqueror of the Iberian Peninsula.[1] By 692/93, Abd al-Malik transferred the governorship of Basra to Bishr after its governor, Khalid ibn Abdallah ibn Khalid ibn Asid, failed to put down a Kharijite revolt.[1] At the end of 693, Bishr relocated to Basra, assigning as his deputy to Kufa the veteran Kufan statesman Amr ibn Hurayth al-Makhzumi.[1] Bishr formed a consultative council representing three key groups to help him govern Iraq: the Syrians sent by Abd al-Malik, namely Rawh ibn Zinba and Musa ibn Nusayr; two prominent local nobles, Ikrima ibn Rabi'a and Khalid ibn Attab al-Riyahi; and religious scholars, such as Amir al-Sha'bi.[6] Despite being made the lead amir (commander) on the Kharijite front, Bishr was ordered by Abd al-Malik to give al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra command over the army.[1] Bishr opposed the move, as he intended to appoint Umar ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'mar to lead the war effort, but ultimately demurred.[1] However, he still caused problems for al-Muhallab by persuading his deputy in Kufa to withhold cooperation with the commander.[1]

Bishr had contended with an unknown illness or infection from the time of his arrival in Basra.[1] A few months later, c. 694, he died in his mid-forties.[1] He was buried in Basra, but within days his grave had become indistinguishable from the grave of a certain African who had died on the same day.[1] Some soldiers in al-Muhallab's army defected upon hearing news of Bishr's death.[1] Abd al-Malik appointed al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf to replace Bishr as governor of Iraq, i.e. the combined provinces of Kufa and Basra.[7]

According to Orientalist Laura Veccia Vaglieri, "Bishr was a very agreeable young man, a governor who could be approached without difficulty, remarkably inclined to be merciful", but nonetheless responsible for the executions of Mus'ab's partisans who continued dissident activities in Basra.[8] Bishr was criticized for certain ritual innovations and neglecting to distribute food to his subjects, a task which he entrusted to his shurṭa and court.[8]

Bishr, like many of his kinsmen, drank wine and led a festive life with his friends.[8] Some of these friends helped Bishr rid himself of the overarching presence of Rawh ibn Zinba by trickery.[8] Bishr was fond of music and poetry, and was celebrated in panegyrics by numerous poets, including al-Farazdaq.[8] Other poets under his patronage included Jarir, Kuthayyir Azza, Suraka ibn Mirdas al-Bariqi, Nusayb, al-Ra'i, Ka'b al-Ashqari, Ibn al-Zabir and al-Uqayshir al-Asadi.[8] Bishr was well known for instigating poetic duels between Jarir and al-Akhtal.[9] One poet who opposed Bishr was the pro-Zubayrid Kilabi chieftain, Zufar ibn al-Harith, who castigated the Umayyad prince in verse.[8]

Bishr was married to Umm Hakim bint Muhammad ibn Umara, a great-granddaughter of Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt, a member of the Umayyad clan;[10] Umm Kulthum al-Kubra bint Abi Salama, a granddaughter of Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf of the Zuhra clan of the Quraysh, with whom he had a son, al-Hakam;[10][11] and Hind bint Asma of the Banu Fazara tribe.[10]

Bishr's son Abd al-Malik was appointed the deputy governor of Basra by his cousin, the governor of Iraq Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, in 720, but was dismissed that year by Maslama's successor Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari.[12] In 740, Abd al-Malik provided safe haven to Yahya, the son of Zayd ibn Ali, from the governor Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi in the aftermath of Zayd's abortive revolt against the Umayyads until Yahya could flee for Khurasan.[13] Abd al-Malik was executed by the Abbasid dynasty in 750 after the toppling of the Umayyads.[14]

Abd al-Malik ibn Bishr's son Bishr moved to al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula) shortly after the establishment of the Umayyad emirate there by his distant cousin, the grandson of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743) Abd al-Rahman I ibn Mu'awiya, in 756, and became a close adviser of Abd al-Rahman.[14] He was credited by the historians Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi (d. 1286) and al-Maqqari (d. 1632) for advising Abd al-Rahman to use Berber mawali (Muslim freedmen, clients) and enlist non-Muslim slaves to neutralize the strong influence of the Arab tribes in the emirate.[14][15] Bishr ibn Abd al-Malik's son Abd al-Malik was also a member of the Umayyad nobility in al-Andalus,[16] and was married to a niece of the last Syria-based Umayyad caliph, Marwan II (r. 744–750).[17]

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