Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid

Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid (; died 728/729) was an Umayyad prince, commander in the wars against the Byzantine Empire, and governor of Damascus during the reign of his father, Caliph al-Walid I. The most prominent of al-Walid's sons, his father attempted to install him as his successor, but was unsuccessful. After the death of al-Walid's brother, Caliph Sulayman, Abd al-Aziz made a failed bid for the caliphate, his maternal uncle, Umar II, having succeeded to the office beforehand. Birth and background Abd al-Aziz's mother was Umm al-Banin, a daughter of al-Walid's paternal uncle, Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan. He was regarded by his father as "the , the most forceful personality, amongst his sons", according to the historian C. E. Bosworth. Al-Walid appointed Abd al-Aziz governor of Jund Dimashq (military district of Damascus). Commander in the Arab–Byzantine wars Abd al-Aziz led his first campaign against the Byzantines in Asia Minor in 709, when he captured a fortress, although his uncle Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik led the main raid of the year afterwards. In 710 he led the main Umayyad attack, although under the auspices of Maslama as commander-in-chief for the Byzantine front, and in 713 he led an attack against the frontier fortress of Gazelon. Attempts at caliphal succession In 714/715, Abd al-Aziz's father attempted to reverse the succession arrangement, by which the throne would pass to his brother Sulayman, in favour of Abd al-Aziz. In addition to various officials and poets in al-Walid's court, Abd al-Aziz gained the support of the powerful viceroy of the eastern half of the Caliphate, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, who died in 714, the governor of Khurasan, Qutayba ibn Muslim, and a prominent Alid of Medina, Zayd, the son of Hasan ibn Ali, who was a father-in-law of al-Walid. The prominent Arabic poet Jarir promoted his succession in verse: