Marwan 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitM/L VII
Dates662 (taq) / 685 (ob.)
PmbZ No.4864
Variant NamesMarouam;
Mrwn
ReligionMuslim
EthnicityArab;
Qurayshite
LocationsMedina (officeplace);
Damascus (deathplace);
Damascus (officeplace);
Medina (officeplace);
Medina (residence);
Damascus (residence);
Medina;
Damascus
TitlesCaliph (office)
Textual SourcesChronicon Anonymi ad annum 1234 pertinens, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, I = CSCO 81-82 (Paris, 1916-20), II = CSCO 109 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle);
Tabari, al-, Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-l-muluk, ed. M.-J. de Goeje et al., 15 vols. (Leiden 1879-1901); Eng tr. The History of al-Tabari, general editor E. Yar-Shater, 39 vols. (New York, 1985-) (history);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle)

Marwan 1 was called Marouam (Μαρουὰμ), Theoph. AM 6175; Marwan al-Hakam (Mrwn H'km), Chron. 1234. Father of Abdulmalik 1; appointed ruler by the Arabs of Phoenicia and Palestine in 684, he "served as amir" for nine months (ἀμηρεύει μῆνας θ') before he died and was succeeded by his son, Abdulmalik 1 (Ἀβιμέλεχ): Theoph. AM 6175. A Qurayshite from Medina, he was an old man in 683 when Yezid I (Yezid 1) died; in the confusion over the succession following Yezid 1's death Marwan 1 went to Damascus with his sons (Abdul Aziz 2 and Muhammad 2) and proposed a means of resolving the disputes, as a result of which he was himself proclaimed caliph; he overthrew the rebel Dahak (Dadachos; al-Dahhak 2) and married the widow of Yezid 1; when preparing to go to Egypt, which had not accepted him, he died, in Damascus, after ruling for less than a year, and was succeeded by his son `Abd al-Malik (Abdulmalik 1): Chron. 1234, §§144-145 (pp. 290-292).

In AH 42 (April 662-April 663) Marwan 1 (Marwan b. al-Hakam) was appointed governor of Medina (al-Madinah) by Mu`awiya 1: Tabari XVIII, p. 20. In AH 43 (663-664), AH 45 (665-666) and AH 48 (668-669), while in charge of Medina, he led the people in the pilgrimage: Tabari XVIII, pp. 70, 87, 93. He was dismissed by Mu`awiya 1 in Rabi I, AH 49 (9 April/8 May, 669); he had been governor of Medina for eight years two months: Tabari XVIII, pp. 94-95. In AH 54 (December 673-December 674) he was again appointed governor of al-Madinah by Mu`awiya 1, in place of his relative Sa`id b. al-`As; the caliph was allegedly trying to play them off against one another: Tabari XVIII, pp. 172-5. In this year Marwan 1 led the people in the pilgrimage, and did so again in AH 55: Tabari XVIII, p. 179. He governed Medina in AH 56: Tabari XVIII, p. 187. In AH 57, according to al-Waqidi he was dismissed (in the month of Dhu al-Qa'dah, i.e. 5 September/4 October 677), but other sources (not specified by Tabari) claimed that he remained in office: Tabari XVIII, p. 191. According to Abu Ma'shar he was dismissed from Medina in Dhu al-Qa'dah in AH 58 (25 August/24 September 678): Tabari XVIII, p. 192. Brother of `Abd al-rahman b. al-Hakam: Tabari XVIII, p. 205. Father of `Abd al-Malik (Abdulmalik 1): Tabari XVIII, pp.173, 224.

(Publishable link for this person: )