An Introduction to the Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyad dynasty which ruled over the Muslim world between 661-750CE, this dynasty was preceded by the Khulafa Ar Rashidon. It was one of the most powerful and expansive of the Islamic Caliphate, it was a kingdom. It began with the rulership of the companion of the Prophet Muhammad Muawiyah I after the civil strife. He established his centre in the city of Damascus where the Umayyads would rule the Islamic Empire for nearly 100 years. The Ummayyd caliphate was brought to end in 750 CE when the Abbasids took control.  

It ruled over a vast area, its achievements were numerous. The Umayyad caliphate expanded the Islamic empire into one of the largest empires in the history of the world. At its peak, the Ummayyad Caliphate controlled the Middle East, parts of India, much of North Africa, and Spain. Historians estimate the Ummayyad Caliphate had a population of around 62 million people, which was nearly 30% of the world’s population at the time.  

The Ummayyads had divided the empire into provinces that were each ruled by a governor appointed by the Calpih. They also created government bodies called “diwans” that controlled and handled different government agencies. 

This dynasty made many very important contributions to the Islamic world. Many of their contributions had to do with unifying the large empire and the many cultures that were now part of the empire. These included creating a common coinage, establishing Arabic as the official language throughout the empire, and standardising weights and measures. They also built some of the most revered buildings of the Islamic history including the dome of the rock in Jerusalem and the Ummayyad Mosque in Damascus. 

What goes up must come down. The empire expanded vastly, unrest among the people and opposition to the Ummayyads increased. Many Muslims felt that the Ummayyads had become too distant from Islamic principles and were not following the ways of Islam. Groups of people including the claimed ‘followers of Ali’, non Arab Muslims, and the Kharijities began to rebel causing turmoil in the empire. In 750, the Abbasids, a rival clan to the ummayyads, rose to power and overthrew the Ummayyad Caliphate. They took control and formed the Abbasid Caliphate which would rule much of the Islamic world for the next seven hundred years.  

One of the Umayyad keaders, Abd al Rahman, escaped to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) where he established his own kingdom in the city of Cordoba. There the Umayyads continued to rule portions of Spain until well into the 1400s, nearly 700 years of Islamic rule.