Episode 37: Walid bin Yazid

It took Hisham two decades to undo the damage his half-brothers had wrought upon the umma with their careless administration. It took his successor Walid ibn il Yazid less than two years to wreck things beyond repair. While it was almost entirely his fault that things fell apart for his clan, he’s not the one who opened pandora’s box, that was his cousin. Umayyad chaos quickly ensued.

Glossary

• Walid ibn il Yazid: Walid II, our latest caliph, he expected to inherit the caliphate most of his life as his father had named him successor to Hisham. He spent his life partying, and had no clue what to do when in charge, besides do whatever but be super generous to everyone.
• Maslama ibn Hisham: the man who Hisham wanted to succeed him, he was on good terms with Walid II and we’re told was left unmolested because of this relationship between the two. It’s hard to confirm this because we don’t really hear anything about him or his family after this.
• Suleiman ibn Hisham: the son of Hisham who was most fiercely opposed to Walid II’s ascension. It’s not clear if Suleiman harbored any political ambitions, but the new caliph had him thrown in jail in Jordan almost immediately after he took power.
• Abbas ibn il Walid: one of the most pro-Adnani Umayyads around, this son of al Walid was from a Adnani mother, and he had been a lieutenant in Maslama ibn Abdulmalik’s Adnani armies before and so forth. His closeness with that side of the tribal feud made him an ally to the latest caliph, who wasn’t into the feud himself, but didn’t care enough to not automatically empower his father’s Adnani loyalists.
• Yazid ibn il Walid: another son of al Walid, this one not Adnani in the least. Yazid definitely harbored political ambitions, and he probably figured that with all of Abdulmalik’s sons dead and power passing to the next generation he stood a good chance against his shockingly godless cousin Walid II.
• Yusuf il Thaqafi: the governor of Iraq was already tyrannical during Hisham’s reign, but with the ascension of his nephew Walid to the throne, he now had free reign to do whatever he wanted. He became totally unhinged and poured gasoline all over the tribal feud. His purchase of Khalid from the caliph for 50 million silver pieces, and then torturing him to death in his dungeons proved to be the final straw.
• Khalid il Qasri: things only got worse for poor Khalid after Hisham’s death. Walid II had him imprisoned, though it’s unclear why. He became a martyr for the Qahtani cause after being tortured to death by the brutal Adnani governor of Iraq, Yusuf il Thaqafi.
• Mansur il Kalbi: Mansur comes up suddenly as one of the Qahtanis most invested in Yazid’s triumph over his cousin. He played a big part in that fateful coup which deposed Walid II, though to be fair so did others whom I neglected to mention.