Internal wars · 750
Battle of the Zab
The last Umayyad caliph's army broke. Marwan fled to Egypt, where he was killed, and most of the Umayyad family was hunted down.
Key facts
- When
- 750
- Where
- Great Zab River, Iraq
- Sides
- Abbasids vs Umayyads
- Commanders
- Abdullah ibn Ali vs Marwan II
- Result
- Abbasid victory
- Type
- Internal wars
- Chapter
- 2. The Umayyads
The wider picture: The Umayyads of Damascus
Muawiya ruled from Damascus and named his son Yazid as heir, the first time the caliphate passed from father to son. Karbala followed in 680. Then came the largest expansion in Islamic history: Spain in 711, Sindh in 712 and Central Asia up to the Syr Darya.
More internal wars battles
- Battle of the Camel (Jamal)656
- Battle of Siffin657
- Battle of Nahrawan658
- Battle of Karbala680
- Battle of Harra683
- Battle of Marj Rahit684
- Sieges of Makkah683, 692
- Siege of Baghdad812 to 813
All 10 internal wars of the early caliphates battles · Battle explorer
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