Submitted to: Sir Yaqoob

Submitted by:
Zeeshan latif (MF-19159)
Zahid Fareed (MF-19149) Topic:
The Umayyad Caliphate
Subject:
Islamic history and culture

Semester:
BS English 6th B (Morning)

Department:

English

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The Umayyad Caliphate :
Introduction
The Umayyad Caliphate was founded by Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) who became acknowledged caliph
at the end of the First Fitna in 661. Mu'awiya established dynastic and hereditary rule by appointing his
son Yazid I (r. 680–683) as his successor. Following Mu'awiya's death, the Second Fitna emerged as a
result of conflicts over succession, and power eventually fell into the hands of Marwan I from another
branch of the clan.[5] Greater Syria remained the Umayyads' main power base thereafter, with
Damascus serving as their capital.
During the reign of the fourteenth and last Umayyad caliph Marwan II (r. 744–750), a series of wars
and revolts were started by the Abbasids. In January 750, the decisive Battle of the Zab resulted in the
overthrow of the Umayyads, after which the Abbasid Saffah (r. 750–754) was recognized caliph. Many
members of the Umayyad dynasty were executed, including Marwan II, though the prominent surviving
member Abd al-Rahman I established themselves in Cordoba which, in the form of an emirate and then
a caliphate, became a world centre of science, medicine, philosophy and invention during the Islamic
Golden Age.[6][7] The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Transoxiana,
Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) under Islamic rule. At its greatest extent,
the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 (4,300,000 sq mi),[1] making it one of the largest
empires in history in terms of area.
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 but had to pay a head tax (the jizya) from which Muslims were exempt.[8] Muslims were
required to pay the zakat tax, which was earmarked explicitly for various welfare programmes[8][9]
for the benefit of Muslims or Muslim converts.[10] Under the early Umayyad caliphs, prominent
positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine
governments. The employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious accommodation
that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in
Syria. This policy also boosted Mu'awiya's popularity and solidified Syria as his power base.[11][12]
The Umayyad era is often considered the formative period in Islamic art.[13]

The Umayyad Caliphate had four main social classes:

1. Muslim Arabs
2. Muslim non-Arabs (clients of the Muslim Arabs)
3. Dhimmis (non-Muslim free persons such as Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians)
4. Slaves

The Muslim Arabs were at the top of the society and saw it as their duty to rule over the conquered
areas. The Arab Muslims held themselves in higher esteem than Muslim nonArabs and generally did
not mix with other Muslims.

As Islam spread, more and more of the Muslim population consisted of non-Arabs. This caused social
unrest, as the new converts were not given the same rights as Muslim Arabs. Also, as conversions

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increased, tax revenues (peasant tax) from non-Muslims decreased to dangerous lows. These issues
continued to worsen until they helped cause the Abbasid Revolt in the 740s.[165]
Non-Muslims
Non-Muslim groups in the Umayyad Caliphate, which included Christians, Jews,
Zoroastrians, and pagans, were called dhimmis. They were given a legally protected status as second-
class citizens as long as they accepted and acknowledged the political supremacy of the ruling Muslims,
i.e. paid a tax, known as jizya, which the Muslims did not have to pay, who would instead pay the zakat
tax. If they converted to Islam they would cease paying jizya and would instead pay zakat.
Although the Umayyad's were harsh when it came to defeating their Zoroastrian adversaries,[166] they
did offer protection and relative religious tolerance to the Zoroastrians who accepted their
authority.[166] As a matter of fact, Umar II was reported to have said in one of his letters commanding
not to "destroy a synagogue or a church or temple of fire worshippers (meaning the Zoroastrians) as
long as they have reconciled with and agreed upon with the Muslims".[167] Fred Donner says that
Zoroastrians in the northern parts of Iran were hardly penetrated by the "believers", winning virtually
complete autonomy in-return for tribute-tax or jizyah.[168] Donner adds "Zoroastrians continued to
exist in large numbers in northern and western Iran and elsewhere for centuries after the rise of Islam,
and indeed, much of the canon of Zoroastrian religious texts was elaborated and written down during
the Islamic period."[168]
Territory
The Umayyads incorporated the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb, and the Iberian
Peninsula (Al-Andalus) into the Muslim world. Restoration of Order
Yazid's brother and successor, Hisham (r. 724-743 CE) had inherited an empire torn apart by civil wars
and he would use all of his energies and resources to bring the kingdom out of this tumult. A strong
and inflexible ruler, Hisham reinstated many reforms that had been introduced by Umar II but
discontinued by Yazid II.
Some of his military expeditions were successful, others not so much: a Hindu revolt in Sindh (a
province in modern-day Pakistan) was crushed, but a Berber revolt broke out in the western parts of
North Africa (modern-day Morocco) in 739 CE. The Berbers had been stirred up by the fanatical
teachings of Kharijite zealots (a radical and rebellious sect of Islam) and caused a great deal of damage,
most notably, the deaths of most of the Arab elites of Ifriqiya at the Battle of Nobles (c. 740 CE) near
Tangier. Attempts to crush the rebellion did not even come close to complete the objective, but the
disunited Berbers soon disintegrated (743 CE) after they failed to take the core of Ifriqiya, the capital
city of Qairouwan, but Morocco was lost for the Umayyads.
Coin of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik

Al Andalus had also descended to anarchy, but Hisham was successful there. Under an able general
named Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi, the province was restored to order but further expansion into Europe
was checked after the defeat at the Battle of Tours (732 CE) against the Franks under Charles Martel
(r. 718-741 CE).
Third Fitna

After Hisham’s death in 743 CE, the empire was brought to a civil war. Walid II – a son of

Yazid II ruled from 743-744 CE, before being overthrown and killed by Yazid III (d. 744 CE) – a son
of Walid I. This sparked the Third Fitna (743-747 CE), the third civil war in Islamic history as many
tribes had also started revolting against the establishment amidst the chaos. Yazid III died just six

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months later and was succeeded by his brother Ibrahim who only managed to rule for two months
before being overthrown by the elderly Marwan II End of the Umayyads
The Abbasids showed no mercy to the Umayyads; all male members were slain, a surviving few
retreated to their hideouts. Umayyad graves in Damascus were dug out and their remains torn apart and
burnt – except for Umar II, whose grave was spared because of his reputation. Then the Abbasids
invited all of the surviving members to dinner on the pretext of reconciliation but, when they were
seated at the table, at the signal of the new Caliph, assassins entered the room and clubbed them to
death. Abd al-Rahman I, a grandson of the able Hisham, survived the horrible fate of his kinsmen, he
managed to escape the Abbasids and made a perilous journey across the empire and landed in Al
Andalus, where he formed the Emirate of Cordoba in 756 CE, which rivaled the Abbasid realm in
elegance and grandeur.
Conclusion
The Umayyads were the first dynasty to take over the institute of Caliphate, transforming it into an
inheritable title. They were responsible for bringing centralization and stability to the realm, and they
also continued the swift military expansion of the empire. However, the
Umayyads also had their fair share of wrongdoings and flaws that cost them their reputation.

Yazid I committed horrendous crimes against the house of Ali and the people of Medina and Mecca –
to this day, he remains the most hated person in Islamic history. This hatred is especially well
pronounced among Shia Muslims because of the massacre of Husayn and his forces at Karbala in 680
CE (this event is commemorated annually through the festival of Ashura by the Shias).

Yazid's actions have been extended over to the whole dynasty, and since most of the

Umayyad caliphs were more or less secular and led luxurious lives (save a few such as Umar II and
Hisham), they were viewed as being godless by pious Muslims of their time.
Contemporary historians tend to glorify them while many Muslim historians (but not all) tend to
demonize them. Despite their many flaws, the Umayyads were effective rulers and made notable
contributions not only to the empire but - perhaps unintentionally, with the Arabization of the empire
- to Islam itself.

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