Battle of Marj Rahit (684)

Battle of Marj Rahit
Part of the Second Fitna
Date 18 August 684 CE Location Marj Rahit, near Damascus 33°35′02″N 36°27′42″E / 33.58389°N 36.46167°E / 33.58389; 36.46167 Result Umayyad victory
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate and pro-Umayyad tribes Banu Kalb Kindites Ghassanids Banu Tayy Banu al-Qayn Tanukhids[1] Banu Judham of Palestine (Umayyad loyalist)	Pro-Zubayrid forces Qays Banu Sulaym Banu 'Amir Banu Dhubyan[2] Himyarites and Ansar of Homs Banu Judham of Palestine[3] (Zubayrid loyalists)
Commanders and leaders
Marwan I Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan Amr ibn Sa'id al-Ashdaq Abbad ibn Ziyad Malik ibn Hubayra al-Sakuni Rawh ibn Zinba al-Judhami Bishr ibn Marwan	al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri † Ziyad ibn Amr al-Uqayli Shurahbil ibn Dhi'l-Kala Ma'n ibn Yazid ibn al-Akhnas al-Sulami  †
Strength
6,000 or 13,000, mostly infantry[4]	30,000 or 60,000, mostly cavalry
Casualties and losses
4000 killed	15.000 killed, including 80 nobles[5]
class=notpageimage| Location of the battle within modern Syria

The Battle of Marj Rahit (Arabic: يوم مرج راهط, romanized: Yawm Marj Rāhiṭ) was one of the early battles of the Second Fitna. It was fought on 18 August 684 between the Kalb-dominated armies of the Yaman tribal confederation, supporting the Umayyads under Caliph Marwan I, and the Qays under al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, who supported the Mecca-based Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr; the latter had proclaimed himself Caliph. The Kalbi victory consolidated the position of the Umayyads over Bilad al-Sham (the Islamic Levant), paving the way for their eventual victory in the war against Ibn al-Zubayr. However, it also left a bitter legacy of division and rivalry between the Qays and the Yaman, which would be a constant source of strife and instability for the remainder of the Umayyad Caliphate.