Episode 30: Suleiman bin Abdulmalik

Suleiman is one of the least documented caliphs in our sources. His short reign proved popular despite its lack of achievement: all he did was live large, reward his close supporters, and punish his opponents. This was somehow enough for him to be remembered positively, if at all.

Glossary

• Qutayba ibn Muslim: there are multiple versions of the story of Qutayba’s end and I may not even have reported the most popular one. Most say that Suleiman confirmed him as governor but he was so nervous about ibn il Muhallab replacing him that he tried to overthrow the new caliph anyway. The most consequential part of his legacy turned out to be his incorporation of locals into the umma’s armies, something which accelerated the spread of Islam among them, and provoked the ire of the Arabs under his charge.
• Yazid ibn il Muhallab: the eldest Muhallab’s loyalty to Suleiman paid off big time. He disliked being governor of Iraq because of how bad the tribal situation was in the region, and within a year took back his old post as governor of Khurasan. He delighted in upending all of his predecessor’s network and reinstalling his own, granting his brothers various positions of power throughout the east. He empowered his clan and by extension its tribal coalition.
• Maslama ibn Abdulmalik: Maslama’s invasion of Constantinople was a real fiasco and there may have been a little coverup in some narrations to shield him from any culpability. The narrations about him being fooled tell of a Byzantine general of Armenian origin telling him that the defenders of the city would come out and fight him in desperation if he burnt all his food, others that he handed over his food. Despite its failure he personally did well to manage the military quagmire and emerged with a good reputation, especially among his Adnani armies.
• Marwan ibn Abdulmalik: it’s not really clear if there was an order for Abdulmalik’s sons beyond the two he outlined, so these narrations about him expecting to be next in line are pretty suspect.
• Yazid ibn Abdulmalik: this son of Abdulmalik was not exactly the patriarch, but he was very popular in the clan. His mother was Khaled bin Yazid bin Mu’awiya’s daughter, so he had key contacts across the powerful clan he belonged to. Because of this, everyone expected him to take the reigns after the older generations of Abdulmalik’s sons were gone, especially after neither one had managed to pass the position on to their sons.
• Raja il Kindi: this close advisor to the caliph is depicted as a kind of mentor to him, an impression necessary to uphold his role as the mastermind behind Omar’s succession. In truth the case for casting him in this role is pretty flimsy: like so much of Suleiman’s reign, it’s unknown what sort of influence he held in the caliph’s court. 
• Omar bin Abdulaziz: the pious son of Abdulmalik’s brother and supposed successor was not even aware he was in the running for the job of caliph and thus was not among the Umayyads assembled outside the caliph’s chambers who had to pledge to Suleiman’s sealed will. He approached his new position at the top of the caliphate with an apprehensive sense of responsibility, and we’ll have a lot to say about his idiosyncratic reign next time.