Abān ibn al-Walīd

Aban ibn al-Walid ibn Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt was a member of the Umayyad family who served as governor of Hims, Qinnasrin (with the Jazira) and Armenia for the caliphs Marwan I (r. 684–685) and Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705). His brother Uthman may have been his deputy in Armenia, or a governor in his own right, while another deputy of his was Dinar ibn Dinar, a mawla of Abd al-Malik who was in charge of Qinnasrin. In August/September 694, when Byzantine forces advanced from the direction of Marash towards the Amaq, Aban and Dinar marched to intercept them, meeting the enemy at Marash where they decisively defeated the Byzantines and pursued the fleeing forces. Later that year, Dinar also defeated a Byzantine force at Jisr Yaghra near Samsat.

In circa 688/89, Abd al-Malik tasked Aban with suppressing the rebellion of the Qaysi chieftain Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi, who, from his fortified, strategic outpost of al-Qarqisiya on the Euphrates, posed a nagging obstacle to the caliph's planned conquest of Iraq. That province was controlled by Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr on behalf of his Mecca-based brother, Abd Allah, a rival caliph to Abd al-Malik. Zufar recognized the suzerainty of Ibn al-Zubayr and had previously staved off the Umayyad commander, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, in 685/86. Aban defeated Zufar in battle, during which Zufar's son, Waki', was killed. This death turned the conflict into a personal vendetta, making it much harder for Abd al-Malik to negotiate with Zufar until several years later.