Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik

Life

Abdallah was born around 677 or 680 and spent his childhood in Damascus, the Caliphate’s seat of power. His father was Caliph Abd al-Malik, and his mother was one of the caliph’s umm walads, meaning she was a concubine. As a young man, he joined his father on multiple military expeditions. The historical record first mentions him leading his own force in 700 or 701, when he launched a reprisal for raids carried out by the Byzantine commander Heraclius.

On that campaign, he seized the frontier fort of Theodosiopolis and conducted raids into Armenia Minor. The following year, he traveled to Iraq alongside his uncle, Muhammad ibn Marwan, to help al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf put down the revolt led by Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath. In 702, the Byzantine Armenian lands east of the Euphrates, which Muhammad ibn Marwan had recently taken, erupted in a rebellion that swept through much of Armenia. In 703, Abdallah captured Mopsuestia in Cilicia, turning it into the Caliphate’s first significant stronghold in that region, and then worked with his uncle to crush the Armenian uprising.

According to Khalifah ibn Khayyat, his father appointed him governor of Jund Hims, though al-Baladhuri says this appointment came from al-Walid I. In late 704, he was pulled from Armenia to become governor of Egypt, taking over from his long-serving uncle Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan. His time in Egypt focused on reasserting central authority after his uncle’s twenty-year rule had turned the province into something like a personal domain. He removed his uncle’s officials and ordered that government business be done in Arabic instead of Coptic, which hurt local elites.

His administration also saw the first famine under Islamic rule, and he faced accusations of corruption and stealing public money. He was called back in 708 or 709, and the caliph seized his property. He also clashed with several military leaders, notably Musa ibn Nusayr, the governor of Ifriqiya. After that, nothing is known of him except a report from al-Ya'qubi that the first Abbasid caliph, al-Saffah, had him crucified at al-Hira in 749 or 750.