39 Facts About Yazid I

Yazid I's appointment was the first hereditary succession to the caliphate in Islamic history.

Yazid I's caliphate was marked by the death of Muhammad's grandson Husayn ibn Ali and the start of the crisis known as the Second Fitna.

When Husayn left for Kufa in Iraq to lead a revolt against Yazid I, he was killed with his small band of supporters by Yazid I's forces in the Battle of Karbala.

Yazid I continued Mu'awiya's decentralized model of governance, relying on his provincial governors and the tribal nobility.

Yazid I abandoned Mu'awiya's ambitious raids against the Byzantine Empire and strengthened Syria's military defences.

Yazid I's father was Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, then governor of Syria under Caliph Uthman.

Yazid I grew up with his maternal Kalbite kin, spending the springs of his youth in the Syrian Desert; for the remainder of the year he was in the company of the Greek and native Syrian courtiers of his father, who became caliph in 661.

Yazid I is portrayed in these sources as having been unwilling to participate in the expedition to the chagrin of Mu'awiya, who then forced him to comply.

However, two eighth-century non-Muslim sources from al-Andalus, the Chronicle of 741 and the Chronicle of 754, both of which likely drew their material from an earlier Arabic work, report that Yazid I besieged Constantinople with a 100,000-strong army.

Yazid I followed and threatened some of them with death, but to no avail.

Yazid I left a will for Yazid, instructing him on matters of governing the Caliphate.

Yazid I was advised to beware Husayn and Ibn al-Zubayr, for they could challenge his rule, and instructed to defeat them if they did.

Yazid I was further advised to treat Husayn with caution and not to spill his blood, since he was the grandson of Muhammad.

Yazid I wrote to the governor of Medina, his cousin Walid ibn Utba ibn Abi Sufyan, informing him of Mu'awiya's death and instructing him to secure allegiance from Husayn, Ibn al-Zubayr, and Ibn Umar.

Unlike Husayn and Ibn al-Zubayr, Ibn Umar, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, and Abd Allah ibn Abbas, who had previously denounced Mu'awiya's nomination of Yazid I, paid allegiance to him.

Yazid I sent letters to Basra, but his messenger was handed over to the governor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad and killed.

Yazid I treated the captives well and sent them back to Medina after a few days.

At first, Yazid I attempted to placate him by sending gifts and delegations in an attempt to reach a settlement.

Accusations included Yazid I drinking wine, hunting with hounds, and his love for music.

Yazid I dispatched a 12,000-strong army under the command of Muslim ibn Uqba to reconquer the Hejaz.

The style of Yazid I's governance was, by and large, a continuation of the model developed by Mu'awiya.

Yazid I continued to rely on the governors of the provinces and, as Mu'awiya had, instead of relatives.

Yazid I approved a decrease in taxes on the Arab Christian tribe of Najran upon their request, but abolished the special tax exemption of the ethno-religious community of Samaritans, which had been granted to them by previous caliphs as a reward for their aid to the Muslim conquerors.

Yazid I improved the irrigation system of the fertile lands of the Ghouta near Damascus by digging a canal that became known as.

In contrast to the far-reaching raids against the Byzantine Empire launched under his father, Yazid I focused on stabilizing the border with Byzantium.

Yazid I reappointed Uqba ibn Nafi, the conqueror of the central North African region of Ifriqiya whom Mu'awiya had deposed, as governor of Ifriqiya.

Yazid I was unable to establish permanent control in these territories.

In 681 Yazid I appointed Ibn Ziyad's brother Salm ibn Ziyad as the governor of the northeastern border province of Khurasan.

Yazid I's control was limited to parts of Syria as most of the Syrian districts were controlled by allies of Ibn al-Zubayr.

Yazid I is annually reviled in the Ashura processions and passion plays, and rulers considered tyrannical and oppressive are often equated with him.

Yazid I was the first person in the history of the Caliphate to be nominated as heir based on a blood relationship, and this became a tradition afterwards.

Nevertheless, some historians have argued that there is a tendency in early Muslim sources to exonerate Yazid I of blame for Husayn's death, and put the blame squarely on Ibn Ziyad.

Ibn Asakir thus emphasised that Yazid I was a transmitter of hadith, a virtuous man "by reason of his connection to the age of the Prophet", and worthy of the ruling position.

Hawting, Yazid I tried to continue the diplomatic policies of his father but, unlike Mu'awiya, he was not successful in winning over the opposition with gifts and bribes.

Yazid I survived his father only by a few months and died without leaving any offspring.

Yazid I's second son, Khalid, was from Fakhita, and was born circa 668.

Yazid I remained quiet about being sidelined from the succession, although a legendary report says that he protested to Marwan, who in turn insulted him.

Yazid I had friendly relations with Abd al-Malik, whose daughter he married.

Yazid I's son Abd Allah, from Umm Kulthum, was a famed archer and horseman.