Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Battle of the Zab
The Battle of the Zab took place on the banks of the Great Zab river in what is now Iraq on January 25, 750.
A serious rebellion had broken out in 747 against the Umayyad dynasty, who ruled much of the Middle East from 661 to 750. In 750, the army of the Umayyad caliph Marwan II fought a combined force of Persians, Shi'ite Arabs and Abbasid soldiers at the Zab. Marwan's army was, on paper at least, far larger and more formidable than that of his opponents, but its support for the caliph was only lukewarm. It disintegrated during the course of the battle and was routed with great loss of life. Marwan himself survived the battle but was killed a few months later, and was replaced as caliph by Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah, bringing to an end Umayyad rule in the Middle East.
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