Ibn Bahdal

680–683), a senior figure in the caliph's court, and a chieftain of the Banu Kalb tribe. He owed his position both to his leadership of the powerful Kalb, a major source of troops, and his kinship with the Umayyads through his aunt Maysun bint Bahdal, the wife of Mu'awiya and mother of Yazid. Following Yazid's death, Ibn Bahdal served as the guardian of his son and successor, Mu'awiya II, until the latter's premature death in 684. Amid the political instability and rebellions that ensued in the caliphate, Ibn Bahdal attempted to secure the succession Mu'awiya II's brother Khalid, but ultimately threw his support behind Marwan I, who hailed from a different branch of the Umayyads. Ibn Bahdal and his tribal allies defeated Marwan's opponents at the Battle of Marj Rahit and secured for themselves the most prominent roles in the Umayyad administration and military. Hassan ibn Malik was a grandson of Bahdal ibn Unayf, chieftain of the Banu Kalb, one of the largest Bedouin tribes in 7th-century Arabia and Syria. Though not a son of Bahdal, Hassan was commonly referred to in medieval sources as 'Ibn Bahdal'. They belonged to the Kalb's princely house, known as the Banu Haritha ibn Janab, which gave Ibn Bahdal prestige and authority over his tribesmen.