Umayyad Caliphate
Syria, 661 CE–750 CE. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second Islamic caliphate, ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 661 to 750. Syria served as the caliphate's metropolitan province thereafter, with Damascus as its capital. The Umayyads advanced the early Muslim conquests, conquering the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Central Asia and Sindh. In 750, the Abbasids overthrew Caliph Marwan II, and most of the Umayyad family were slain.
Seat of power: Damascus
Rulers
Mu'awiya I
Umayyad Caliph, 661 CE–680 CE
He was the founder of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling as the first caliph of the Umayyad dynasty from 661 until his death in 680. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashidun ('rightly-guided') caliphs.
Portrait of Mu'awiya I: User:LouisAragon (uploader), Public domain, file
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Yazid I
Umayyad Caliph, 680 CE–683 CE
His appointment by his father Mu'awiya I was the first hereditary succession to the caliphate in Islamic history. His caliphate was marked by the death of Muhammad's grandson Husayn ibn Ali and the start of the crisis known as the Second Fitna.
Portrait of Yazid I: User:LouisAragon (uploader), CC BY-SA 2.5, file
Mu'awiya II
Umayyad Caliph, 683 CE–684 CE
He succeeded his father Yazid I in 683 but died after a reign of only a few months. Mu'awiya II's brief tenure was marked by chronic ill health and minimal administrative activity, though he reportedly continued his father's policy of reducing taxes.
Marwan I
Umayyad Caliph, 684 CE–685 CE
He was the fourth Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684-685. He founded the Marwanid ruling house of the Umayyad dynasty, which replaced the Sufyanid house after its collapse in the Second Fitna and remained in power until 750.
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
Umayyad Caliph, 685 CE–705 CE
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan restored Umayyad control over the Caliphate after defeating the Zubayrids in 692. Abd al-Malik made key reforms to the administrative structure of the caliphate, including the centralization of caliphal power, the restructuring of the military, and policies of Arabization and Islamization within the bureaucracy.
Portrait of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan: PHGCOM, Public domain, file
Al-Walid I
Umayyad Caliph, 705 CE–715 CE
Under al-Walid, his father's efforts to centralize government, impose a more Arabic and Islamic character on the state, and expand its borders were continued. He heavily depended on al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, his father's powerful viceroy over the eastern half of the caliphate.
Portrait of Al-Walid I: Not credited, Public domain, file
Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik
Umayyad Caliph, 715 CE–717 CE
He was the seventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 715 until his death. As governor, Sulayman founded the city of Ramla and built the White Mosque in it.
Portrait of Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik: Not credited, CC0, file
Umar II
Umayyad Caliph, 717 CE–720 CE
His brief administration instituted major fiscal changes, notably tax reforms that exempted non-Arab Muslims (mawali) from the jizya to address financial inequality, alongside measures preventing the dynastic privatization of state lands. In addition to these economic policies, his government directed the early official compilation of hadith literature.
Yazid II
Umayyad Caliph, 720 CE–724 CE
Although he lacked administrative or military experience, he derived prestige from his lineage, being a descendant of both ruling branches of the Umayyad dynasty, the Sufyanids who founded the Umayyad Caliphate in 661 and the Marwanids who succeeded them in 684.
Portrait of Yazid II: Otto Nickl, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
Umayyad Caliph, 724 CE–743 CE
Hisham succeeded his brother Yazid II and presided over one of the longest reigns of the Umayyad Caliphate. The caliphate suffered setbacks against the Türgesh in Transoxiana, fought a prolonged war with the Khazars, and continued its conflict with the Byzantine Empire.
Portrait of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik: Ángel M. Felicísimo from Mérida, España, CC BY 2.0, file
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Al-Walid II
Umayyad Caliph, 743 CE–744 CE
He was the eleventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 743 until his assassination in 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik.
Portrait of Al-Walid II: 8-th century mint masters, CC BY-SA 2.5, file
Marwan II
Umayyad Caliph, 744 CE–750 CE
His reign was dominated by a civil war, and he was the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyad dynasty.
Portrait of Marwan II: 8-th century mint masters, CC BY-SA 2.5, file
Yazid III
Umayyad Caliph, 744 CE–744 CE
Yazid III was the twelfth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 744 until his death months later.
Portrait of Yazid III: 8-th century mint masters, CC BY-SA 2.5, file
Ibrahim ibn al-Walid
Umayyad Caliph, 744 CE–744 CE
He ruled from 4 October 744 to 4 December 744. Ibrahim ruled for two months in 744 before he abdicated, and went into hiding out of fear of his political opponents.
Portrait of Ibrahim ibn al-Walid: 8-th century mint masters, CC BY-SA 2.5, file
Culture
- Arabic, made official under Umayyad rule, became the dominant language, replacing Greek and Aramaic of the Byzantine era.
- The Umayyad Caliphate ruled over a vast multiethnic and multicultural population.
- Christians, who still constituted a majority of the caliphate's population, and Jews were allowed to practice their own religion in exchange for the payment of jizya.
Picture
The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world.
Image: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.