Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan

Timeline

1. 646–684Medina · HejazBorn in Medina into the Umayyad house, he was the son of Marwan ibn al-Hakam (Marwan I). During the Second Civil War he campaigned alongside his father, succeeded as caliph on his father's death in 685, and gradually consolidated control over Syria and Egypt.
2. 685–705Damascus · SyriaDuring his twenty-year reign he defeated his Meccan rival Ibn al-Zubayr and unified the empire. He introduced administrative reforms making Arabic the official language of records, minted unified dinars and dirhams, and ordered the construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, laying the foundation of Umayyad ascendancy.