Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

Al-Mughirah
Al-Mughirah ibn Shu’bah of al-Taif, an unscrupulous careerist, who held the post of Governor in Bahrayn during the Caliphate of Dinar (Rad.A), was appointed Governor of Kufah. a place of turbulence and conspiracy. Al-Mughirah kept the city under strict control. As a shrewd politician, he played the Kharijites and Shiahs against each other and restrained the Kufans from open opposition to the Syrians. He brought about reconciliation between Mu’awiya (Rad.A) and his step-brother Ziyad ibn Abih, who was his former benefactor and had been brought before Mughirah against a charge of adultry in 17 A.H/638. Even after the abdication of Hasan, Ziyad, who was then the Governor of Basrah and Istakhr, did not submit to Mu’awiya (Rad.A). It was only after the persuasion of Mughirah, that Ziyad rendered an account of his stewardship in Persia to Mu’awiya (Rad.A) and presented along with it the arrear of revenue a million gold pieces.
Ziyad
On failing to establish peace at Basrah, Ibn Amir was replaced by Ziyad, who held the governorship of Basrah in addition to his Persian Command. Ziyad made a furious speech from the pulpit, proclaiming severe measures against the trouble-makers, and by posting a patrol of a thousand armed police men he brought the turbulent city to order. On alMughirah’s death in 50/670 Ziyad was also appointed Governor of Kufah. Thenceforth he lived for six months in each place. With a trained bodyguard of 4,000 strong, Ziyad established a rule of terror and tracked down the and faction, which reviled Usman (Rad.A) and Mu’awiya (Rad.A) at Kufah and Basrah. He settled the most turbulent Kufans along 50,000 Bedouins in Khurasan. His severity in administration became the talk of the town. He dissolved the tribal confederation and broke up the clan organization in the army, dividing it into four groups each under a commander.
Ziyad ruled over the entire eastern half of the Empire from the Oxus and the Indus to the Persian Gulf by dividing it into four
1 S M. Imanmddin. \ Political lliston ol’the Muslims. \ol []. p (-,
A nicer Mi/’nwn/n (Rnd A) 359
commands.1 His sons held important commands in Basrah, Khurassan and the frontier. Zi>ad proved to be a successful ruler and a very powerful lieutenant of Mu’awiya (Rad.A) and by his action full) justified the great confidence that the Caliph had in him. He died at the early age of 58 in Shaban 53 A.H/Summ6r 673. CONQUEST OF MU’AWIYA (Rad.A)
All the conquered lands in the east and north were brought under control and fresh conquests were made. Herat which had rebelled was stormed in 41/661-62 and two years after Kabul was conquered. Similarly Ghazna, Balkh, Qandahar and other fortresses \\ere gradually conquered and all the lands in the south and east up to the Indus valley was brought under subjugation. In 54/674 Bukharah was conquered by a son of Ziyad and two years later Samarqand and Tirmidh were subjugated by a son of Usman (Rad.A). Thus Mu’awiya (Rad.A) was not only the founder of a nev\ dynasty but also that of the Uinayyad Caliphate. War with the Byzantines
Hostilities with the Greek had been suspended during the civil war between Ali (Rad.A) and Mu’awiya (Rad.A). The latter had entered into a truce with the Byzantines as mentioned above. By gaining supremacy over the opposition parties under Ali (Rad.A), Mu’awiya (Rad.A) was free to take up arms once again against the Byzantines who were enemies of the Muslims. An arm} was sent towards Armenia and Greece. The Byzantines were defeated severely in 42/662. They suffered defeat partly because of their theological dissensions and partly because of the fiscal oppression of the bureaucracy at Constantinople. The campaign against Armenia was launched both by land and sea and an attack on Constantinople itself began in 49/669.
The Byzantine shipyard founded at Acre (Akka) after its conquest was developed and utilized for building Muslim navy by Mu’awiya (Rad.A). Later the shipyards \\ere transferred to Sur (Tyre) by the Umayyads. The formidable expedition to Constantinople suffered due to shortage of provisions and sickness among the troops and further due to the use of Greek fire (naptlia). Yazid. the Crown Prince, was also sent with a naval detachment in support of the land force under Fadalah ibn Ubaycl al-Ansari. Ya/icl succeeded in landing near the capital city but clue to the strong

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Political and Cultural History of Maw
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William Muir writes that the. ”Great progress was made by Mu’avviya (Rad.A) in extending his rule eastward. The conquered peoples and their chiefs, impatient of the tribute and restraints of Islam, were continually casting off their allegiance: but the yoke was yearly becoming more secure. The territories in the far north and east continued long a precarious tenure: but in the south all the country up to the banks of the Indus \\as gradual Iv being consolidated under his rule”.’1
According to Encyclopedia of Islam. ”Thereafter. Mu’auiva (Rad.A) had much to do in order to consolidate Sufyamd rule. Externally, there was above all the matter of Byzantium. In the Mediterranean he had alread) successful!} challenged Bxzantine seapower: in addition to having dealt with Cyprus and raided Rhodes and Sicily, he had in 655/A.D. been in command of an Arab fleet of

200 vessels that had resoundingly defeated Constans ll’s fleet of 700-

100 vessels at the battle of the Masts. On the land frontier to the north, he had. as early as 646. advanced into Anatolia as far as Amorium but further progress had been limited and the actual frontier had been more in the area of Adana by the time the onset of uar with AM (Rad.A) had forced Mu’av\iya (Rad.A) to come to terms with the Byzantines on the basis of payment of tribute.
Now. however, he busied himself with settling Syrian coastal towns and improving their fortifications: Alexandria too was completely fortified and Egypt once more became the springboard of expansion into North Africa. The land offensive westwards was accompanied by an aggressive Arab policy at sea following the death of Constans II in 668. An expanded Arab navy raided as far as Sicily in 669, while the army in North Africa established al-Kairovvan as a base and forayed into what is now Algeria. Rhodes and Crete were overrun in 672 and 674 respectively and the naval expeditions that followed amounted to a seven-year blockade of Marmora and Constantinople-a blockade that came to an end shortly before Mu’awiva’s death, when the Arab fleet was beaten off with Greek fire in 679. The same period witnessed regular annual incursions by land into Anatolia-incursions that had the advantage of providing booty and keeping the Arab army in trim. But late in his reign. Mu’awiya (Rad.A) once more may have had to enter into arrangements involving the payment of tribute to the Byzantines, this time in order to cope with the Mardaites.” Conquest of Africa
Having established his position at home, Mu’awiya (Rad.A),
1 Muir. P.96. l,nc\clopedia-«>f Islam. Vol VII I’ 265

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embarked upon a career of conquest. The conquest of North Africa \vas a memorable event of his reign. In the beginning of his reign. Amr bin A’s was the Governor of Egypt. He \\as so much disturbed b\ the Romans that he sent his famous General Uqba to North Africa. He fought against the Romans for a long time and brought Africa under his sway. He founded Kairowan to the south of Tunis in

50 A.H./670 A.D. and strong!} fortified it against the raids of the Berbers. Kairowan subsequently became the capital of North Africa. But few years later Uqba was surprised by the joint attack of the Roman and Berber armies. He with his small army fought against the enemy but was defeated and killed. Kairowan again fell into the hands of the Berbers. Uqba was one of the best Generals of the Muslim world. He is regarded by the European historians as the Muslim Alexander.