With the death of the first Umayyad caliph, Muawiyah I, in April 680, the Second Islamic Civil War broke out, when the prominent Muslim leaders Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and Husayn ibn Ali, and the people of Medina revolted against the new caliph Yazid I.[3] Although Husayn and the people of Medina were defeated at the Battle of Karbala in October 680 and the Battle of al-Harrah in August 683, Ibn al-Zubayr continued his opposition to Yazid from the sanctuary of Mecca, the Islamic holy city. Yazid's forces besieged Mecca in September 683 and bombarded the city with catapults.[4] The Ka'aba caught fire during the siege, which resulted in the sacred black stone splitting into three pieces.[5][6] Yazid died in November that year and the arrival of this news compelled Husayn ibn Numayr, the commander of the besieging army, to withdraw as he did not know whom he was fighting for. He offered Ibn al-Zubayr allegiance on the condition that he relocate to Syria, headquarters of the Umayyad Caliphate, but Ibn al-Zubayr refused and Ibn Numayr left with his troops.[4] Yazid was succeeded by his son Muawiyah II whose authority was restricted to parts of Syria.[7]