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Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (691 - 743) 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 emperor with many different problems. He would however be effective in attending to these problems and 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.
Hisham, like his brother al-Walid I 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 importantl, by overseeing the translation of numerous literary and scientific masterpeices into Arabic. He returned to a stricter interpertation 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 a big reason for his sucess, and point to why his brother Yazid was ineffective.
On the military front, Hisham sent armies to end the Hindu rebellion in Sindh and was sucessful when the Hindu ruler Jai Singh was killed. This allowed the Umayyads to reassert their rule over the province in India. In Spain, the internal conflicts of the years past were ended, and Hisham assembled a large army that went into France. Despite initial sucesses, they were stopped at the Battle of Tours by Charles Martel. However, the Muslim empire would continue to rule Spain. In North Africa, a large Berber revolt was crushed, with hundreds of thousands of rebels dying. The victory put an end to Berber revolts. Hisham also faced a revolt by the grandson of Imam Hussein, but the armies of Zayd bin Ali were easily defeated.
Despite these sucesses of Hisham, the Abbasids continued to gain power, building power bases in Khurasan and Iraq. But they would not prove strong enough to make a move yet.
Upon Hisham's death he was suceeded by his nephew Walid II.
| Preceded by: Hisham |
Ummayad Muslim Caliphs | Succeeded by: Walid II |
