The Umayyad Caliphate, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was established by Muawiyah I in 661 AD. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) into the Muslim world.
At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 (4,300,000 sq mi) and 62 million people (29% of the world's population), making it one of the largest empires in history in both area and proportion of the world's population.
The Umayyad Caliphate was secular by nature. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims. The Christian and Jewish population still had autonomy; their judicial matters were dealt with in accordance with their own laws and by their own religious heads or their appointees, although they did pay a poll tax for policing to the central state.
In 639, Muawiyah I was appointed as the governor of Syria after the previous governor died in a plague along with 25,000 other people.To stop the Byzantine harassment from the sea during the Arab-Byzantine Wars, in 649 Muawiyah I set up a navy manned by Christian sailors and Muslim troops. This resulted in the defeat of the Byzantine navy at the Battle of the Masts in 655, opening up the Mediterranean.
After Caliph Uthman was assassinated in 656, his successor Ali failed to arrest and punish the perpetrators. Because of this, Muawiyah saw Ali as an accomplice and did not want to acknowledge Ali's rule. Their troops confronted each other in the Battle of Siffin in 657, which was finally resolved by negotiations. These negotiations made Ali's claim to the caliphate dubious and some of his supporters broke away into a group known as the Kharijites.
The Kharijite rebellion against Ali culminated in his assassination in 661. At the time, Muawiyah already controlled Syria and Egypt, and with the largest force in the Muslim realm, he laid the strongest claim on the caliphate. Muawiyah was crowned as caliph at a ceremony in Jerusalem in 661.
In 674, Umayyad naval and army forces under the command of Muawiyah's son, Yazid ibn Muawiyah, laid siege to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, but were defeated when the Byzantines introduced Greek fire to the naval battlefield. This siege is even mentioned in the Chinese dynastic histories of the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang. Further west, the Umayyads were keenly aware of Sicily's strategic importance and Muawiya was the first caliph to begin raiding the island in 670.
After Muawiyah's death in 680, conflict over succession broke out again in a civil war known as the "Second Fitna". Yazid became the Caliph as appointed by his father Muawiyah I and ruled for three years from 680 CE until his death in 683 CE. Muawiya II succeeded his father Yazid I as the third Umayyad caliph and last caliph of the Sufyanid line. He ruled briefly in 683/684 before he died. After making every one else fight, the Umayyad dynasty later fell into the hands of Marwan I, who was also an Umayyad in 684 CE. Ruling for less than a year in 684–685, and founder of its Marwanid ruling house, which remained in power until 750.
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik or Al-Walid I (668–715) was an Umayyad Caliph who ruled from 705 until his death in 715. His reign saw the greatest expansion of the Caliphate, as successful campaigns were undertaken in Transoxiana in Central Asia, Sindh, Hispania in far western Europe, and against the Byzantines.
The Arabs under Umayyad Caliphate tried to invade India but they were defeated by the north Indian king Nagabhata of the Gurjara Pratihara Dynasty and by the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty in the early 8th century.
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 717 to 720. He was also a cousin of the former caliph, being the son of Abd al-Malik's younger brother, Abd al-Aziz. He was also a matrilineal great-grandson of the second caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab.
Hisham was succeeded by Al-Walid II (743–44) to become the 11th Caliph of Umayyad Caliphate, the son of Yazid II. In 744, Yazid III, a son of al-Walid I, was proclaimed caliph in Damascus, and his army tracked down and killed al-Walid II. Yazid III has received a certain reputation for piety, and may have been sympathetic to the Qadariyya. He died a mere six months into his reign.
As the constant campaigning exhausted the resources and manpower of the state, the Umayyads, weakened by the Third Muslim Civil War of 744–747, were finally toppled by the Abbasid Revolution in 750 CE.
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| Dome of the Rock |
At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 (4,300,000 sq mi) and 62 million people (29% of the world's population), making it one of the largest empires in history in both area and proportion of the world's population.
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| Map |
The Umayyad Caliphate was secular by nature. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims. The Christian and Jewish population still had autonomy; their judicial matters were dealt with in accordance with their own laws and by their own religious heads or their appointees, although they did pay a poll tax for policing to the central state.
Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that Abrahamic religious groups (still a majority in times of the Umayyad Caliphate), should be allowed to practice their own religion, provided that they paid the jizya taxation.
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| A jizya document from 17th century Ottoman Empire. |
In 639, Muawiyah I was appointed as the governor of Syria after the previous governor died in a plague along with 25,000 other people.To stop the Byzantine harassment from the sea during the Arab-Byzantine Wars, in 649 Muawiyah I set up a navy manned by Christian sailors and Muslim troops. This resulted in the defeat of the Byzantine navy at the Battle of the Masts in 655, opening up the Mediterranean.
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| Arab-Byzantine War |
After Caliph Uthman was assassinated in 656, his successor Ali failed to arrest and punish the perpetrators. Because of this, Muawiyah saw Ali as an accomplice and did not want to acknowledge Ali's rule. Their troops confronted each other in the Battle of Siffin in 657, which was finally resolved by negotiations. These negotiations made Ali's claim to the caliphate dubious and some of his supporters broke away into a group known as the Kharijites.
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| Battle of Siffin |
The Kharijite rebellion against Ali culminated in his assassination in 661. At the time, Muawiyah already controlled Syria and Egypt, and with the largest force in the Muslim realm, he laid the strongest claim on the caliphate. Muawiyah was crowned as caliph at a ceremony in Jerusalem in 661.
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| Jerusalem |
In 674, Umayyad naval and army forces under the command of Muawiyah's son, Yazid ibn Muawiyah, laid siege to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, but were defeated when the Byzantines introduced Greek fire to the naval battlefield. This siege is even mentioned in the Chinese dynastic histories of the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang. Further west, the Umayyads were keenly aware of Sicily's strategic importance and Muawiya was the first caliph to begin raiding the island in 670.
 |
| Siege of Constantinople |
After Muawiyah's death in 680, conflict over succession broke out again in a civil war known as the "Second Fitna". Yazid became the Caliph as appointed by his father Muawiyah I and ruled for three years from 680 CE until his death in 683 CE. Muawiya II succeeded his father Yazid I as the third Umayyad caliph and last caliph of the Sufyanid line. He ruled briefly in 683/684 before he died. After making every one else fight, the Umayyad dynasty later fell into the hands of Marwan I, who was also an Umayyad in 684 CE. Ruling for less than a year in 684–685, and founder of its Marwanid ruling house, which remained in power until 750.
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (646 – 705 CE) was the 5th Umayyad caliph. He was born in Medina, Hejaz. He was a well-educated man and capable ruler who was able to solve many political problems that impeded his rule. During his reign, all important records were translated into Arabic, and for the first time, a special currency for the Muslim world was minted, which led to war with the Byzantine Empire under Justinian II.
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| First coin of Umayyad |
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik or Al-Walid I (668–715) was an Umayyad Caliph who ruled from 705 until his death in 715. His reign saw the greatest expansion of the Caliphate, as successful campaigns were undertaken in Transoxiana in Central Asia, Sindh, Hispania in far western Europe, and against the Byzantines.
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| Coins of Al-Walid I, found in Sistan |
In the year 712, Muhammad bin Qasim, an Umayyad general, sailed from the Persian Gulf into Sindh in Pakistan and conquered both the Sindh and the Punjab regions along the Indus river. The conquest of Sindh and Punjab, in modern-day Pakistan, although costly, were major gains for the Umayyad Caliphate.
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| Arab conquest of Sind |
The Arabs under Umayyad Caliphate tried to invade India but they were defeated by the north Indian king Nagabhata of the Gurjara Pratihara Dynasty and by the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty in the early 8th century.
The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. It is considered by some Muslims to be the fourth-holiest place in Islam. It was built by Al-Walid I , completed in 715 CE.
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| Umayyad mosque built by Al-Walid |
Sulayman bin Abd al-Malik (674–717) was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 715 until 717. His father was Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, and he was a younger brother of the previous caliph, al-Walid I. He appointed Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz as his successor. Umar had a reputation as being one of the most wise, capable and pious persons of that era.
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| Mosque in Damascus |
Sulayman also sent a large army under Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik to attack the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. The siege of Constantinople occasioned hunger inside the city and among the besiegers. After the intervention of Bulgaria on Byzantine side it ultimately proved to be unsuccessful. Sulayman was on his way to attack the Byzantine border when he died in September 717.
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| Siege of Constantinople, 717 CE |
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 717 to 720. He was also a cousin of the former caliph, being the son of Abd al-Malik's younger brother, Abd al-Aziz. He was also a matrilineal great-grandson of the second caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab.
After the death of Umar, another son of Abd al-Malik, Yazid II (720–24) became caliph. Yazid is best known for his "iconoclastic edict", which ordered the destruction of Christian images within the territory of the Caliphate. In 720, another major revolt arose in Iraq, this time led by Yazid ibn al-Muhallab.
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (691 – 743) was the 10th Umayyad caliph who ruled from 724 until his death in 743. He was son of Abd al-Malik. Hisham established his court at Resafa in northern Syria, which was closer to the Byzantine border than Damascus, and resumed hostilities against the Byzantines, which had lapsed following the failure of the last siege of Constantinople.
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| Arches in Resafa |
Hisham was succeeded by Al-Walid II (743–44) to become the 11th Caliph of Umayyad Caliphate, the son of Yazid II. In 744, Yazid III, a son of al-Walid I, was proclaimed caliph in Damascus, and his army tracked down and killed al-Walid II. Yazid III has received a certain reputation for piety, and may have been sympathetic to the Qadariyya. He died a mere six months into his reign.
Yazid had appointed his brother, Ibrahim, as his successor, but Marwan II (744–50), the grandson of Marwan I, led an army from the northern frontier and entered Damascus in December 744, where he was proclaimed caliph. Marwan immediately moved the capital north to Harran, in present-day Turkey. A rebellion soon broke out in Syria, perhaps due to resentment over the relocation of the capital, and in 746 Marwan razed the walls of Homs and Damascus in retaliation. He he was the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyad dynasty.
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| Harran |
As the constant campaigning exhausted the resources and manpower of the state, the Umayyads, weakened by the Third Muslim Civil War of 744–747, were finally toppled by the Abbasid Revolution in 750 CE.
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| Abbasid Revolution |
Marwan suffered a decisive defeat by Abu al-'Abbas al-Saffah on the banks of the Great Zab called Battle of the Zab. At this battle alone, over 300 members of the Umayyad family died. Marwan fled, leaving Damascus, Jordan and Palestine and reaching Egypt, where he was caught and killed on August 6, 750. Marwan's death signalled the end of Umayyad fortunes in the East, and was followed by the mass-killing of Umayyads by the Abbasids.
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| Great Zab river |
A branch of the Umayyad family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba in Spain, which lasted until 1031 before falling due to the Fitna of al-Ándalus.
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| Cordoba, Spain |
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