Umayyad Caliphate
First hereditary caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the major Islamic caliphates, ruling from 661 to 750 CE.
Founded after a civil war among early Muslims, the Umayyads moved the capital from Medina to Damascus and expanded Islamic territory from Spain to Central Asia.
The dynasty emphasized Arab identity and centralized administration.
Overthrown by the Abbasids, a branch survived in Spain as the Caliphate of Córdoba.
Following in order
- hereditaryPassed through generations
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- emirateIslamic monarch's domain
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
throne · reign · bloodline · ancestry · descent · nobility · house · dynastic
Wealth used for investment
- SyriaLevant country, capital Damascus
- LevantEastern Mediterranean coastal region
- Old CityPreserved walled urban center
- Great MosquePrincipal Islamic worship structure
seat of power · Syrian · Mediterranean · trade routes · cosmopolitan
Islamic shrine on Temple Mount
Eastern council or sofa
- coinageInvented term or currency
- dinarArab world currency
- dirhamArab currency unit
- bureaucracyRigid administrative system
administration · provincial · qadi · taxation · census · centralization · Arabic script · fiscal reform
Defeating and seizing control
- IberiaSouthwestern European peninsula
- MaghrebNorthwest African region
- ByzantineOf Constantinople's civilization
- VisigothGermanic tribe, late antiquity
Berber · garrison · frontier · campaign · tribute · hegemony · Tours · Poitiers
Spanish and Argentine city
- Al-AndalusMedieval Islamic Spain
- IberianOf Spain and Portugal
- exileBanishment from homeland
- survivorOne still alive after
Islam's largest branch adherent
- ShiaIslam's second-largest branch
- AliArabic name, "sublime"
- ImamateState ruled by imam
- AshuraIslamic day of fasting
sectarian · succession crisis · legitimacy · opposition · revolt · martyrdom
succession
Following in order
- hereditaryPassed through generations
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- emirateIslamic monarch's domain
sovereignty · throne · reign · bloodline · ancestry · descent · nobility · house · dynastic
capital
Wealth used for investment
- SyriaLevant country, capital Damascus
- LevantEastern Mediterranean coastal region
- Old CityPreserved walled urban center
Great Mosque · seat of power · Syrian · Mediterranean · trade routes · cosmopolitan
Dome of the Rock
Islamic shrine on Temple Mount
diwan
Eastern council or sofa
bureaucracy · administration · provincial · qadi · taxation · census · centralization · Arabic script · fiscal reform
conquest
Defeating and seizing control
- IberiaSouthwestern European peninsula
- MaghrebNorthwest African region
- ByzantineOf Constantinople's civilization
Visigoth · Berber · garrison · frontier · campaign · tribute · hegemony · Tours · Poitiers · Carthage
Córdoba
Spanish and Argentine city
- Al-AndalusMedieval Islamic Spain
- IberianOf Spain and Portugal
- exileBanishment from homeland
Sunni
Islam's largest branch adherent
Ashura · sectarian · succession crisis · legitimacy · opposition · revolt · martyrdom
- Former StatesPrussia, Czechoslovakia, Austria-Hungary, Soviet Union, Byzantine Empire
- Iberian HistorySpain, Portugal, Iberia, Castile, Aragon
- Islamic historycaliphates, Quran, Islamic conquest, Saladin, Baghdad
- Spanish HistoryReconquista, Spanish Inquisition, Spanish Empire, conquistadors, Catholic Monarchs
- 600sMuhammad, Islam, Mecca, Medina, Tang Dynasty
- Historical EmpiresRoman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Empire, British Empire, Persian Empire
Umayyad CaliphateRashidun Caliphate
First major Islamic successor state