Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyad Caliphate, also called the Umayyad Empire (US: /uːˈmaɪæd/; Arabic: ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, romanized: al-Khilāfa al-Umawiyya), was the second Islamic caliphate. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 661 to 750. It came after the Rashidun Caliphate. Its third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan (r. 644–656), also belonged to the Umayyad clan. The Umayyad family kept power within their own family. Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan had been a long-time governor of Syria. He became caliph in 661 after winning the First Fitna. Syria then served as the caliphate's metropolitan province, and Damascus was its capital.

Later, the Umayyads faced challenges to their power in the Second Fitna. In 684, the Sufyanid line of Mu'awiya was replaced by Marwan ibn al-Hakam. He started the Marwanid line, which ruled the Umayyads from then on. His oldest son and successor, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, brought back Umayyad control after defeating the Zubayrids in 692. Abd al-Malik made important changes. He gave the caliph more power, reorganized the military, and encouraged Arabization and Islamization in government offices.

The Umayyads expanded the early Muslim conquests. They took the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Central Asia and Sindh. At its largest, the Umayyad Caliphate covered about 11,000,000 to 15,000,000 km² (4,300,000 to 5,790,000 sq mi). This made it one of the largest empires in history. However, constant warfare used up the caliphate's resources. Revolts and tribal rivalries weakened it from within. In 750, the Abbasids overthrew Caliph Marwan II, and many members of the Umayyad family were killed. But in 756, Abd al-Rahman I, a grandson of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, set up an independent state in al-Andalus, with its capital at Córdoba. Córdoba became a major center of science, medicine, philosophy and invention during the Islamic Golden Age.

The Umayyads ruled a large population with many peoples and cultures. Christians, who still made up most of the caliphate's population, and Jews were allowed to practice their own religions. In return, they paid the jizya, a tax that Muslims did not have to pay. Muslims paid the zakat, which was collected for charity and for the benefit of Muslims or Muslim converts. Under the early Umayyad caliphs, some Christians held important government jobs, and some of their families had served under the Byzantines. This policy of religious tolerance was needed because many Christians lived in the conquered lands, including Syria, the heart of the empire. It also helped Mu'awiya gain popularity and made Syria his base of power. The Umayyad era is often seen as the time when Islamic art and architecture first took shape.

For the ruling family, see Umayyad dynasty. For the state in the Iberian Peninsula, see Umayyad state of Córdoba.

History

Main article: Umayyad dynasty

Main article: Third Fitna

Main article: Abbasid revolution

The Umayyads were an important family from the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. Their leader, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, first opposed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After Muhammad took Mecca in 630, Abu Sufyan and the Quraysh became Muslims. The Umayyads then moved to Medina. Later, the family gained important jobs and grew strong in Syria. Uthman ibn Affan, an Umayyad, became caliph, but many people were upset that he favored his relatives. He was killed in 656. A long period of conflict called the First Fitna followed. In 661, Mu'awiya, the governor of Syria, became caliph and made Damascus the capital. In 676, he chose his son Yazid I to follow him, so the caliphate passed from father to son. Later, Husayn, the grandson of Muhammad, died at the Battle of Karbala in 680. Fighting between rival groups continued during the Second Fitna. Abd al-Malik brought the caliphate back together. In 691 or 692, he finished the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Under al-Walid I, the caliphate became the largest it ever was. Later, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz tried to treat Arabs and non-Arab Muslims more fairly. Under Hisham, the growth of the empire slowed and stopped. In 739, a large Berber Revolt broke out.

During the Third Fitna, Marwan II moved the capital north to Harran. He later faced a rebellion. The Abbasid family led a revolt that defeated the Umayyads at the Battle of the Zab in 750. Damascus fell soon after, and Marwan was killed in Egypt. One Umayyad, Abd al-Rahman I, escaped to North Africa. He set up the Emirate of Córdoba in al-Andalus, where his family ruled for many centuries.

Administration

The early Umayyad caliphs built a stable government. They copied many of the methods of the Byzantine Empire, which had ruled the same region before them. The government had four main parts: political affairs, military affairs, tax collection, and religious affairs. Each province had a governor chosen by the caliph. The governor looked after religious officials, army leaders, police, and civil officers. Local costs were paid from that province's taxes, and the rest was sent to Damascus. Later, when the caliphs became weaker, some governors kept extra money for themselves. There were not enough trained Arab workers, so Mu'awiya I let many local officials keep their jobs. Because of this, much government work was written in Greek, Coptic, and Persian. Government work was only regularly written in Arabic during the time of Abd al-Malik. The Umayyad army was mostly Arab. It was split into junds, which were based in regional fortified cities. The Syrian army fought in close formation, which was very different from the older Bedouin style. It probably had about 300,000 soldiers in 700. Blankinship gives a larger number, 400,000, for the time of Caliph Hisham. Syria, the main home region of the Umayyads, provided about 40% of the army. This helped the Umayyads keep control of their other regions. Before the revolt of Ibn al-Ash'ath in 701, Iraq had over 100,000 soldiers on its Diwan. After the revolt, Iraq's army was reduced. The Jazira region provided 75,000 soldiers.

Before the Muslim conquest, the Byzantine and Sasanian empires had their own money systems, and these continued under the Umayyads. Byzantine coinage was used until 658. Byzantine gold coins stayed in use until money reforms around 700. The Umayyad government began making its own coins in Damascus. These were the first coins made by a Muslim government. Early Islamic coins reused Byzantine and Sasanian designs but added Islamic elements. Some "Arab-Byzantine" coins copied coins of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius. These showed an image of him and his son Heraclius Constantine. In the 1690s, under Abd al-Malik, new designs were tried. Arab-Sasanian coins from 692 to 696 were linked to Bishr ibn Marwan. These coins replaced the Sasanian fire altar with three men in Arab dress. The scene may show prayer or the khutba. Another coin showed a spear under an arch, which may be a mihrab. Between 696 and 699, a new system of gold, silver, and bronze coins was introduced. These coins had Arabic writing and no pictures. The main gold coin was the dinar, which came from the Roman denarius. One dinar was worth 20 silver coins. It was probably modeled on the Byzantine solidus. The silver coin was called a dirham, from the Greek drachma. The bronze coin was called a fals or fulus, from the Byzantine follis. Some bronze coins from Palestine showed a menorah with seven branches, and later with five. They were topped by the shahada. These designs may have been based on Christian images or older Hasmonean models.

Social organization

The Umayyad Caliphate had four main social classes: Arab Muslims, Non-Arab Muslims (clients of the Muslim Arabs), dhimmis (non-Muslim free people such as Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians), and slaves. Arab Muslims were at the top. As Islam spread, more Muslims were non-Arabs, and they did not have the same rights as Arab Muslims. This caused unrest. Falling tax income from non-Muslims added to the problems. These issues helped lead to the Abbasid revolution in the 740s. Non-Muslims paid a tax called jizya, while Muslims paid the zakat tax. Non-Muslims who became Muslim stopped paying jizya and paid zakat instead.

The Umayyads were harsh toward their Zoroastrian enemies, but they offered protection and some religious freedom to those who accepted their rule. Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wrote that no synagogue, church or fire temple should be destroyed as long as its community had agreed with the Muslims. Fred Donner says Zoroastrians in northern Iran were hardly affected by Muslim rule. Christians and Jews also produced important thinkers, including John of Damascus, Cosmas of Maiuma, Pope Benjamin I of Alexandria and Isaac of Nineveh, though many of these thinkers later became Muslim. Some Christians also worked in government. One example is Sarjun ibn Mansur, the son of a Byzantine Melkite Christian official. He was favoured by Mu'awiya I and Yazid I and led Syria's finances until Abd al-Malik removed him from his job in 700. Mu'awiya's marriage to Maysun bint Bahdal, the daughter of the chief of the Banu Kalb, was made for political reasons.

Main article: Umayyad architecture

The Umayyads built large congregational mosques and palaces across their empire. Most of their surviving monuments are in their main province of Syria. They also continued the earlier Muslim practice of building new garrison cities (amsar) in their provinces. These cities served as bases for further expansion. Their most famous buildings include the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Great Mosque of Damascus. They also renovated and expanded the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, and rebuilt the Prophet's Mosque in Medina and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Other well-known buildings include the desert palaces, such as Khirbat al-Mafjar and Qusayr 'Amra. The Great Mosque in Damascus showed the variety of the empire, because craftsmen from Greek, Persian, Coptic (Egyptian), Indian and Maghrebi backgrounds helped build it.

Under the Umayyads, Islamic architecture grew out of older Byzantine and Sasanian building styles, but it also created something new. It mixed these styles together, tried new kinds of buildings, and used rich decorations. Byzantine-style mosaics appear in both the Dome of the Rock and the Great Mosque of Damascus. Their images had no human figures, which was a new feature. It reflects an Islamic taboo on figural representation in religious art. Palaces were decorated with floor mosaics, frescoes, and relief carvings, and some of these showed people and animals. The Umayyad dynasty's later branch in al-Andalus ruled the Emirate and the later Caliphate of Córdoba. They also built major projects in the Iberian Peninsula, such as the Great Mosque of Córdoba and Madinat al-Zahra. These buildings went on to influence later architecture in the western Islamic world.

Legacy

The Umayyad Caliphate grew very large, but it also had many problems. The Umayyads mostly cared about the rights of old Arab elite families, especially their own family. They gave less to newly converted Muslims, who were called mawali. Arabic became the language of government, and people in the Levant, Mesopotamia, North Africa, and Hispania began to use it more widely in a process of Arabization. Many scholars say the Umayyads turned the caliphate from a religious institution, as it had been under the Rashidun Caliphate, into a family dynasty. The Umayyad caliphs still saw themselves as God's representatives on earth. Later Islamic historians were mostly critical of the Umayyads. However, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was praised by Sunni sources for his piety and fairness. He ended the jizya tax for non-Arab Muslim converts. Shia sources described the Umayyad Caliphate as cruel and criticized Mu'awiya for his role at the Battle of Siffin. Today, some people in Arab nationalism see this period as part of the Arab Golden Age. The white Umayyad banner is linked to the pan-Arab colors used on many Arab flags today.

List of caliphs

Main article: List of Umayyad rulers

This list shows the Umayyad caliphs in order, from Mu'awiya I (661–680) to Marwan II (744–750).

1. Mu'awiya I, son of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb ibn Umayya, 661–680
2. Yazid I, son of Mu'awiya I, 680–683
3. Mu'awiya II, son of Yazid I, 683–684
4. Marwan I, son of al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya, 684–685
5. Abd al-Malik, son of Marwan I, 685–705
6. al-Walid I, son of Abd al-Malik, 705–715
7. Sulayman, son of Abd al-Malik, 715–717
8. Umar II, son of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan I, 717–720
9. Yazid II, son of Abd al-Malik, 720–724
10. Hisham, son of Abd al-Malik, 724–743
11. al-Walid II, son of Yazid II, 743–744
12. Yazid III, son of al-Walid I, 744
13. Ibrahim, son of al-Walid I, 744
14. Marwan II, son of Muhammad ibn Marwan I, 744–750