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

Transfer of Capital
Marwan’s first act was the transfer of capital from Damascus to Harran which aroused the jealousy of the Syrians and united their rival parties against the Caliph. Hims and Damascus rose in rebellion but the rebellions were put down in no time. Shortly after, a serious insurrection broke out in Palestine but the rebel leader Thabit Ibn Noem with his three sons was taken prisoner.
He had governed his province of Armenia with vigour and had time after time rolled back the nomadic hordes in their attempts to overwhelm him from the north. His remarkable powers of endurance had obtained for him the surname of al-Himar, not in derision, but in acknowledgment of his physical strength and force of will. Unlike most of his predecessors, he was ascetic in his life and habits. In camp or on the march, he lived like his soldiers, and shared their simple fare as well as their privations; nor would he in his
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palace indulge in those luxuries which had become habitual among the sovereigns of his house. He was devoted to the study of ancient history, on which he often discoursed to his secretary and companions.
He was well advanced in years when he came to the throne, but the celerity of his movements, and the promptitude with which he crushed the enemies that sprang up on all sides, showed that age had not dimmed his energies. However, something more than mere soldierly qualities in the sovereign was needed at this crisis to save the Umayyad power from dissolution-the ability to rise above tribal bias; and this was the quality in which Marwan, like most of his family, was essentially wanting Had he been gifted with the breadth of views and large outlook required of statesman, and the spirit of conciliation which alone could bring the conflicting elements into harmony, the history of Asia would have been written otherwise. An ungovernable temper, combined with the obstinacy and hardness which characterised most of the Umayyads, accentuated the defect. Instead of endeavouring to pacify the feuds which rent the Arab nation, he flung himself into the tribal dissension with the blind zeal of a partisan; and the harshness, not to say cruelty, with which he treated the Yemenites gave rise to implacable hatred on their side. So the old rivalry, embittered by present wrongs, grew into rage under the attacks of poets. Komait, a Modharite, in a long poem extolled the prowess and greatness of his tribe and the virtues and sufferings of the Hashimides. He was answered in the same strain by an Yemenite poet named Dibli who attacked the Modharites, and sang of the glories of Himyar and of their kings. These poems were carried from the city to the tents, and by their raillery and sarcasm inflamed alike citizen and nomade. Modhar and Himyar were now at each other’s throats with unparalleled fury.1 Marwan as a Governor and Military Commander
His father was the governor of Mesopotamia and Armenia. Later on, Marwan was also appointed to this office in the days of Hisham. The Khazars had raided the northern provinces of Armenia and Azerbaijan in 731 A.D. They were repulsed with some difficulty and Hisham appointed Masalma as the governor but removed him and appointed Marwan in his place in 733 AD. For the next 12 years, he remained the governor of Mesopotamia and Armenia and
S>ed Ameer Ah. A Short Histor> o! the Saiacens, P 164

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Political and Cultural History of Islam
successfully repulsed the Turkish and Khazar attacks on these provinces. It was a post which required a soldier and Marwan proved himself as such. As a general, he not only repulsed the invaders, defended the frontiers but also improved the military organization and tactics of the Arabs.