Umayyad forces defeated Husayn ibn Ali and his small party at Karbala, killing Husayn. The event became a central moment in Shiʿi memory and helped ignite the wider succession conflicts later termed the Second Fitna.
Medinan rebels opposing Yazid I were defeated by a Syrian Umayyad army at al-Harra. The battle marked a major escalation of civil war and opened the way for Umayyad operations against Mecca.
An Umayyad army moved on Mecca, where ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr had become a focal point of opposition to Yazid. The siege included bombardment of the city and intensified the legitimacy crisis around the caliphate.
Caliph Yazid I died in Syria, deepening fragmentation of Umayyad authority and accelerating the wider civil war over succession and legitimacy.
With Yazid I dead, the Umayyad besieging force withdrew, leaving Ibn al-Zubayr in control of Mecca and allowing his caliphal claim to expand across much of the empire.
In the aftermath of Yazid’s death and the brief reign of Muʿawiya II, pro-Umayyad Syrian elites rallied around Marwan ibn al-Hakam. His selection reconstituted an Umayyad claimant and shifted the dynasty to the Marwanid line.
Marwan I’s forces defeated the pro-Zubayrid coalition near Damascus. The victory consolidated Umayyad control in Syria but entrenched the long-lasting Qays–Yaman tribal rivalry that shaped later Umayyad politics.
The Tawwabin (“Penitents”), a pro-Alid Kufan movement seeking to atone for failing to aid Husayn, confronted Umayyad forces in Upper Mesopotamia and were defeated. Their collapse opened space for Mukhtar al-Thaqafi to lead the pro-Alid cause in Iraq.
After Marwan I’s short reign, his son ʿAbd al-Malik became caliph. He inherited a fractured empire and would spend the next years reasserting Umayyad authority against Zubayrids, pro-Alid movements, and other rivals.
Mukhtar led a pro-Alid uprising in Kufa, claiming to act for Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya and organizing retaliation against those implicated in Husayn’s killing. His rule reshaped Iraqi politics by mobilizing both tribal supporters and many non-Arab converts (mawali).
Near Mosul, Mukhtar’s army under Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar defeated an Umayyad force led by ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad, a key Umayyad commander associated with the events leading to Karbala. The victory checked Umayyad attempts to recover Iraq at that stage of the war.
Musʿab ibn al-Zubayr, acting for his brother Ibn al-Zubayr, won successive engagements against Mukhtar’s forces near Basra and Kufa. These battles shifted momentum toward Zubayrid control of Iraq and led directly to the final struggle for Kufa.
After a siege of Kufa, Mukhtar was killed and his movement crushed. Musʿab ibn al-Zubayr consolidated Zubayrid authority across Iraq, setting up the later decisive contest with ʿAbd al-Malik for control of the east.
ʿAbd al-Malik’s army defeated and killed Musʿab ibn al-Zubayr near Maskin, bringing Iraq back under Umayyad rule. The victory isolated Ibn al-Zubayr in the Hijaz and paved the way for the final campaign against Mecca.
Under al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, Umayyad forces besieged Mecca to eliminate Ibn al-Zubayr’s rival caliphate. The prolonged siege marked the closing phase of the Second Fitna.
Mecca fell and Ibn al-Zubayr was killed, ending the principal war of succession of 680–692 and restoring Umayyad rule over the caliphate under ʿAbd al-Malik.
The Second Fitna and the Wars of Succession (680–692)
