Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad

Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad
Silver dirham following Sassanid motives, struck in the name of Ubayd Allah
Governor of Khurasan
In office
673–676
Preceded byZiyad ibn Abihi
Succeeded bySa'id ibn Uthman
Governor of Basra
In office
674/75–684
Preceded byAbd Allah ibn Amr ibn Ghaylan
Succeeded byAbd al-Malik ibn Abd Allah ibn Amir
Governor of Kufa
In office
679/680–683/684
Preceded byNu'man ibn Bashir
Succeeded byAmir ibn Mas'ud ibn Umayya
Personal details
Died6 August 686
RelationsAbbad ibn Ziyad, Salm ibn Ziyad, Yazid ibn Ziyad, Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad (siblings)
Parents
Military service
AllegianceUmayyad Caliphate
Battles/wars

Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad (Arabic: عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ, romanizedʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād) was the Umayyad governor of Basra, Kufa and Khurasan during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) and Yazid I (r. 680–683), and the leading general of the Umayyad army under caliphs Marwan I (r. 684–685) and Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705).

He virtually inherited the governorships from his father Ziyad ibn Abihi after the latter's death in 673. During Ubayd Allah's governorship, he suppressed Kharijite and Alid revolts. In the ensuing Battle of Karbala in 680, Husayn ibn Ali and his small retinue were slain by Ubayd Allah's troops, shocking many in the Muslim community. Ubayd Allah is primarily remembered for his role in the killings of members of Ali ibn Abi Talib's family and he has become infamous in Muslim tradition. Ubayd Allah was ultimately evicted from Iraq by the Arab tribal nobility amid the revolt of Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.

He made it to Syria where he persuaded Marwan I to seek the caliphate and helped galvanize support for the flailing Umayyads. Afterward, he fought at the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684 against pro-Zubayrid tribes and helped reconstitute the Umayyad army. With this army he struggled against rebel Qaysi tribes in the Jazira before advancing against the Alids and Zubayrids of Iraq. However, he was slain and his forces routed at the Battle of Khazir by Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar, the commander of the pro-Alid al-Mukhtar of Kufa.