Marwan I

Marwan I.
Marwan I (c. 625 – 685) was the fourth Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He was the secretary of his cousin Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656). During the rebel siege of Uthman's house, Marwan was wounded and the caliph was slain. Marwan considered Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, a companion of the prophet Muhammad, culpable in the death of Uthman, and killed him in the Battle of the Camel in 656. Marwan later served as governor of Medina under his distant kinsman Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), founder of the Umayyad Caliphate. After the reigns of Yazid I (r. 680–683) and Mu'awiya II (r. 683–684), the tribal nobility of Syria, led by Ibn Bahdal of the Banu Kalb, elected Marwan caliph. He reasserted Umayyad rule over Egypt, Palestine and northern Syria, and dispatched an expedition to reconquer Iraq, but died while it was underway. His son Abd al-Malik was his designated successor, and the Umayyads continued to rule until 750.