Battle of Marj Rahit (684)

Battle of Marj Rahit
	Part of the Second Fitna
Date	18 August 684 CE
Location	Marj Rahit, near Damascus33°35′02″N 36°27′42″E
Result	Umayyad victory
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate and pro-Umayyad tribes Banu Kalb; Kindites; Ghassanids; Banu Tayy; Banu al-Qayn; Tanukhids; Banu Judham of Palestine; (Umayyad loyalist)	Pro-Zubayrid forces Qays Banu Sulaym; Banu 'Amir; Banu Dhubyan; ; Himyarites and Ansar of Homs; Banu Judham of Palestine (Zubayrid loyalists);
Commanders and leaders
Marwan I ; Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad ; Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan; Amr ibn Sa'id al-Ashdaq ; Abbad ibn Ziyad ; Malik ibn Hubayra al-Sakuni ; Rawh ibn Zinba al-Judhami ; Bishr ibn Marwan	al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri † ; Ziyad ibn Amr al-Uqayli ; Shurahbil ibn Dhi'l-Kala ; Ma'n ibn Yazid ibn al-Akhnas al-Sulami †
Strength
6,000 or 13,000, mostly infantry	30,000 or 60,000, mostly cavalry
Casualties and losses
Light	Heavy, including 80 nobles
	Location of the battle within modern Syria

The Battle of Marj Rahit (Arabic: يوم مرج راهط, romanized: Yawm Marj Rāhiṭ) was one of the early battles of the Second Fitna. It was fought on 18 August 684 between the Kalb-dominated armies of the Yaman tribal confederation, supporting the Umayyads under Caliph Marwan I, and the Qays under al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, who supported the Mecca-based Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr; the latter had proclaimed himself Caliph. The Kalbi victory consolidated the position of the Umayyads over Bilad al-Sham (the Islamic Levant), paving the way for their eventual victory in the war against Ibn al-Zubayr. However, it also left a bitter legacy of division and rivalry between the Qays and the Yaman, which would be a constant source of strife and instability for the remainder of the Umayyad Caliphate.

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