The Legitimation of al-Hakam b. al-cAs: Umayyad Government in Seventh-Century Kirman

Abstract

The umayyads faced many challenges in consolidating their authority in the years after the first fitna (35–41 H. /656–61 C.E.). Among these were frequent revolts by Kharijites. While the Umayyads suppressed most of the revolts with little trouble until the second fitna (60–72/680–92), the ideological foundations of Kharijite resistance and the wide sympathy it enjoyed had serious consequences. It undermined the informal traditions upon which the caliphate was based. This was not simply a problem for the caliph in Damascus but more critically for governors exercising authority in distant provinces where caliphal influence proved weak and opposition movements propagated with relative ease.While little is known of Kirman's history during this period, one of its governors, al-Hakam b. al-ᶜAs, addressed these challenges in the fifties/mid 670s by appealing to an inchoate absolutism. He promulgated legends on his coins linking himself and his government to God.