Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
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- "Hisham" redirects here. For the hadith narrator, see Hisham ibn Urwah.
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (691–743) (Arabic: هشام بن عبد الملك) was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 723 until his death in 743.
Inheriting the caliphate from his brother Yazid II, Hisham was ruling an empire with many different problems. He would, however, be effective in attending to these problems, and in allowing the Umayyad empire to continue as an entity. His long rule was an effective one, and it saw a rebirth of reforms that were originated by Umar bin Abd al-Aziz.
Like his brother al-Walid I, Hisham was a great patron of the arts, and he again encouraged arts in the empire. He also encouraged the growth of education by building more schools, and perhaps most importantly, by overseeing the translation of numerous literary and scientific masterpieces into Arabic. He returned to a stricter interpretation of the Sharia as Umar had, and enforced it, even upon his own family. His ability to stand up to the Umayyad clan may have been an important factor in his success, and may point to why his brother Yazid was ineffective.
On the military front suffered a serious of setbacks, Hisham sent armies to end the Hindu rebellion in Sindh, and was successful when the Hindu ruler Jai Singh was killed. This allowed the Umayyads to reassert their rule over some portions of their provinces in India. In Spain, the internal conflicts of the years past were ended, and Hisham assembled a large army that went into France where after initial successes, they were stopped at the Battle of Tours by Charles Martel beginning a seriers of military set backs in the region. He faced another major defeat at the hands of the Byzantines at the Battle of Akroinon. In North Africa, a large Berber revolt was stopped after a series of defeats. Hisham also faced a revolt by the armies of Zayd bin Ali, grandson of Husayn bin Ali, which was however easily put down.
Despite Hisham's successes, the Abbasids continued to gain power, building power bases in Khurasan and Iraq. However, they would not prove strong enough to make a move yet.
Upon Hisham's death, he was succeeded by his nephew Walid II.
| Preceded by: Yazid II |
Caliph 724–743 |
Succeeded by: Al-Walid II |
