Yazid ibn Muawiyah ibn Abu Sufyan (Arabic: يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان) (July 23, 645 - 683) was the second Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty and ruled for 3 years from 680CE until his death in 683 CE. His mother Maysun was Jewish. His reign is marked by two major revolts. One of Hussein ibn Ali and the other known as Ibn al-Zubair's revolt. He is also notable as an object of Shia Muslim animosity; they reject his legitimacy and condemn his role in the Battle of Karbala which resulted in the death of Hussein ibn Ali and the greater Sunni-Shia schism.
Yazid was an important general and naval commander in his father's Syrian army. As early as 668 the Caliph Muawiyah I sent an army under his son Yazid against the Byzantine Empire. Yazid reached as far as Chalcedon and took the important Byzantine center Amorion. Although the city was quickly recovered, the Arabs next attacked Carthage and Sicily in 669. In 670 the Arabs captured Cyzicus and set up a base from which to launch further attacks into the heart of the Empire. Yazid’s fleet captured Smyrna and other coastal cities in 672.
