CHAPTER LIV
YEZĪD II
101–105 A.H. 720–724 A.D.
Yezīd II.
101A.H.
720 A.D.The first event in the reign of Yezīd II. was a serious rising in Al-ʿIrāḳ—the rebellion, namely, of his namesake, Yezīd son of Al-Muhallab. The accession of the new ruler revived tribal jealousies; for his wife was niece to Al-Ḥajjāj; and so throwing over the Yemeni faction, Yezīd II. took up the cause of the family and adherents of Al-Ḥajjāj, all of whom, as we have seen, had been sorely pursued by Suleimān. Yezīd, Al-Muhallab's son, had, as the favourite of Suleimān, unfortunately as it now turned out for himself, carried out the orders of his patron with great severity; and turning a deaf ear to her cry, had confiscated to a vast amount the wealth which the present Caliph's wife inherited from her father; and so her husband had threatened that if he ever came to power, he would cut him into a thousand pieces.Rebellion of Yezīd, son of Muhallab. For this reason Yezīd, when he heard of ʿOmar's last sickness, and knew that his enemy Yezīd II. must succeed, escaped from prison, and fled to Al-Baṣra. But he rallied numerous friends around him, for with all his failings Yezīd was free and open-handed ; so having attacked the palace, he slew the governor, seized the treasury, and by profuse largesses raised a threatening force. He had the support of the Yemeni faction, especially of his own tribe the Azd, who here as in Khorāsān were allied to Rabīʿa; whilst the Ḳeis and Temīm took the other side. His chief opponent, however, was the man of religion, the friend of ʿOmar II., Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣri. The Caliph, now alarmed, sent to offer a free pardon; but Yezīd had too deeply compromised himself, and must fight it out to the bitter end. The
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