Unman ibn Afghan 577 20 June 656 was one of the companions of Islamic prophet Muhammad. He played a major role in early Islamic history as the third of the Sunni Rash dun or Rightly Guided Caliphs.Uthman was born into the Umayyad clan of Mecca a powerful family of the Quash tribe. He was a companion of Muhammad who assumed the role of leader caliph of the Muslim Empire at the age of 65 following Umar ibn al Kata. Under his leadership Uthman was born in Ta’if, which is situated on a hill, and the presumptions that he was born during the summer months, since wealthy McCann’s usually spent the hot summers in the cooler climate of Ta’if. He was born into the wealthy Umayyad Bane Umayyad clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca, seven years after Muhammad. Othman’s father, Affan, died young while travelling abroad but left a large inheritance to Uthman. Uthman followed the same profession as his father, and his business flourished, making him one of the richest men among the Qurayshi tribe. the empire expanded into Fars in 650 present day Iran some areas of Khorana present day Afghanistan in 651 and the conquest of Armenia was begun in the 640s Some of Uthman's notable achievements were the economic reforms he introduced, and the compilation of the Qur'an into the unified, authoritative text that is known today. Uthman was born in Ta if which is situated on a hill, and the presumption is that he was born during the summer months since wealthy McCann’s usually spent the hot summers in the cooler climate of Ta’if. He was born into the wealthy Umayyad Bane Umayyad clan of the Quays tribe of Mecca, seven years after Muhammad. Uthman's father, Affan, died young while travelling abroad but left a large inheritance to Uthman. Uthman followed the same profession as his father, and his business flourished, making him one of the richest men among the Qurayshi tribe
Uthman ibn Affan r. 644,656
The Umayyad Caliphate trans. AlḪilāfa al umawiyya was the second of the four major Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was centered on the Umayyad al Umawiyyun or Bane Umayyad Sons of Umayyad hailing from Mecca. The Umayyad family had first come to power under the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan r. 644,656 but the Umayyad regime was founded by Muawiya ibn Abe Sofia, long-time governor of Syria after the end of the First Muslim Civil War in 661 CE-41 AH. Syria remained the Umayyads' main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sind, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula Al-Andalusia into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 5.79 million square miles 15,000,000 km making it the largest empire the world had yet seen, and the fifth largest ever to exist. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims. While the non-Muslim population had autonomy, their judicial matters were dealt with in accordance with their own laws and by their own religious heads or their appointees. They paid a poll tax for policing to the central state. Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that each religious minority should be allowed to practice its own religion and govern itself and the policy had on the whole continued The Welfare state for both the Muslim and the non-Muslim poor started by Omar had also continued. Muawiya's wife Maysum Yazid's mother was also a Christian. The relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were good. The Umayyads were involved in frequent battles with the Christian Byzantines without being concerned with protecting their rear in Syria which had remained largely Christian like many other parts of the empire. 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 tolerance that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, especially in Syria. This policy also boosted his popularity and solidified Syria as his power base. The rivalries between the Arab tribes had caused unrest in the provinces outside Syria, most notably in the Second Muslim Civil War of 680–692 CE and the Berber Revolt of 740–743 CE. During the Second Civil War, leadership of the Umayyad clan shifted from the Sufyanid branch of the family to the Marwan branch. As the constant campaigning exhausted the resources and manpower of the state, the Umayyad’s, weakened by the Third Muslim Civil War of 744–747 CE, were finally toppled by the Abbasid Revolution in 750 CE/132 AH. A branch of the family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalusia, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba, which lasted until 1031 before falling due to the Fiona of al-Andalusia. According to tradition, the Umayyad family also known as the Bane Bad-Shams and Muhammad both descended from a common ancestor, Bad Manna ibn Qusai and they are originally from the city of Mecca. Muhammad descended from Abd Manna via his son has him, while the Umayyad’s descended from Bad Manna via a different son, Bad-Shams, whose son was Umayyad. The two families are therefore considered to be different clans those of has him and of Umayyad, respectively) of the same tribe (that of the Quash. However Muslim Shia historians point out that Umayyad was an adopted son of Bad Shams so he was not a blood relative of Bad Manna ibn Qusai. Umayyad was later discarded from the noble family While the Umayyad’s and the Hashemite’s may have had bitterness between the two clans before Muhammad, the rivalry turned into a severe case of tribal animosity after the Battle of Bard. The battle saw three top leaders of the Umayyad clan Tuba ibn Rebekah, Walled ibn Utah and Shay bah killed by Hashemite’s Ali, Hama ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib and Ubaydah ibn al-Hadith in a three-on-three melee. This fueled the opposition of Abu Sofia ibn Harb, the grandson of Umayya, to Muhammad and to Islam. Abu Sofia sought to exterminate the adherents of the new religion by waging another battle with Muslims based in Medina only a year after the Battle of Bard. He did this to avenge the defeat at Bard. The Battle of Uhud is generally believed by scholars to be the first defeat for the Muslims, as they had incurred greater losses than the McCann’s. After the battle, Abu Sofia’s wife Hind, who was also the daughter of Tuba ibn Rebekah, is reported to have cut open the corpse of Hama, taking out his liver which she then attempted to eat. Within five years after his defeat in the Battle of Ehud however, Muhammad took control of Mecca and announced a general amnesty for all. Abu Sofia and his wife Hind embraced Islam on the eve of the conquest of Mecca, as did their son the future caliph Muawiyah
Most historians consider Caliph Muawiyah 661 80to have been the second ruler of the Umayyad dynasty, even though he was the first to assert the Umayyad’s' right to rule on a dynastic principle. It was really the caliphate of Othman Ibn Afghan 644-656 a member of Umayyad clan himself that witnessed the revival and then the ascendancy of the Umayyad clan to the corridors of power. Othman placed some of the trusted members of his clan at prominent and strong positions throughout the state. Most notable was the appointment of Marwan ibn al Hakim, Othman’s first cousin, as his top advisor, which created a stir amongst the Hashemite companions of Muhammad, as Marwan along with his father Al-Hakim ibn Abe al-'As had been permanently exiled from Medina by Muhammad during his lifetime. Othman also appointed Walled ibn Unbar, Othman’s half-brother, as the governor of Kufa, who was accused, by Hash mites, of leading prayer while under the influence of alcohol.[15] Othman also consolidated Muawiyah's governorship of Syria by granting him control over a larger area and appointed his foster brother Abdullah ibn Sad as the Governor of Egypt. However, since Othman never named an heir, he cannot be considered the founder of a dynasty. In 639, Muawiyah I was appointed as the governor of Syria after the previous governor Abu Obadiah ibn al-Jar rah died in a plague along with 25,000 other people. To stop the Byzantine harassment from the sea during the Arab-Byzantine Wars, in 649 Muawiyah I set up a navy; manned by Monophysitise Christians, Copts and Jacobite Syrian Christians sailors and Muslim troops. This resulted in the defeat of the Byzantine navy at the Battle of the Masts in 655, opening up the Mediterranean. Muawiyah I was a very successful governor and built up a very loyal and disciplined army from the old Roman Syrian army. He also befriended Arm ibn al-As who had conquered Egypt but was removed by Othman in al-Afghan.
Quran and Muhammad
The Quran and Muhammad talked about racial equality and justice as in the The Farewell Sermon. Tribal and nationalistic differences were discouraged. But after Muhammad's passing the old tribal differences between the Arabs started to resurface. Following the Roman–Persian Wars and the Byzantine–Sassanid Wars deep rooted differences between Iraq, formally under the Persian Sassanid Empire and Syria formally under the Byzantine Empire also existed. Each wanted the capital of the newly established Islamic State to be in their area. Previously, the second caliph Umar was very firm on the governors and his spies kept an eye on the governors. If he felt that a governor or the commander was becoming attracted to wealth, he had him removed from his position. Early Muslim armies stayed in encampments away from cities because Umar feared that they may get attracted to wealth and luxury. In the process, they may get away from the worship of God and become attracted to wealth and start accumulating wealth and establishing dynasties. As Othman ibn al-Afghan became very old, Marwan I a relative of Muawiyah I slipped into the vacuum and became his secretary and slowly assumed more control and relaxed some of these restrictions. Marwan I had previously been excluded from positions of responsibility. In 656, Muhammad ibn Abe Bark the son of Abu Bark and the adopted son of Ali ibn Abe Talia and the great grandfather of Ja'far al-Sadie showed some Egyptians, the house of Othman ibn al-Afghan. Later the Egyptians ended up killing after the assassination of Othman in 656, Ali, a member of the Quraysh tribe and the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, was elected as the caliph. He soon met with resistance from several factions, owing to his relative political inexperience. Ali moved his capital from Medina to Kura. The resulting conflict, which lasted from 656 until 661, is known as the First Fiona civil war. Muawiyah I the governor of Syria, a relative of Othman ibn al-Afghan and Marwan I wanted the culprits arrested. Marwan I manipulated every one and created conflict. Aisha, the wife of Muhammad, and Talhah and Al-Sugary, two of the companions of Muhammad when to Basra to tell Ali to arrest the culprits who murdered Othman. Marwan I and other people who wanted conflict manipulated everyone to fight. The two sides clashed at the Battle of the Camel in 656, where Ali won a decisive victory.Following this battle, Ali fought a battle against Muawiyah, known as the Battle of Stiffen. The battle was stopped before either side had achieved victory, or the two parties agreed to arbitrate their dispute. After the battle Arm ibn al-As was appointed by Muawiyah and an arbitrator and Ali appointed Abu Musa Atari. Seven months later the two arbitrators met at Adhere about 10 miles north west of Man in Jordon in February 658. Arm ibn al-As convinced Abu Musa Atari that both Ali and Muawiyah should step down and new Caliph be elected. Ali and his supporters were stunned by the decision which had lowered the Caliph to the status of the rebellious Muawiyah I. Ali was therefore outwitted by Muawiyah and Arm. Ali refused to accept the verdict and found himself technically in breach of his pledge to abide by the arbitration. This put Ali in a weak position even amongst his own supporters. The most vociferous opponents in Ali's camp were the very same people who had forced Ali into the ceasefire the Kharijites. They broke away from Ali's force, rallying under the slogan, arbitration belongs to God alone. This group came to be known as the Kharijites those who leave. In 659 Ali's forces and the Kharijites met in the Ali was assassinated in 661, by a Kharijite partisan. Six months later in 661, in the interest of peace, Has an ibn Ali, highly regarded for his wisdom and as a peacemaker, the fourth Rightly Guided Caliphs for the Sunnis and the Second Imam for the Shias and the grandson of Muhammad, made a peace treaty with Muawiyah I. In the Hasan-Muawiya treaty, Has an ibn Ali handed over power to Muawiya on the condition that he be just to the people and keep them safe and secure and after his death he does not establish a dynasty. This brought to an end the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs for the Sunnis and Has an ibn Ali was also the last Imam for the Shias to be a Caliph. Following this, Mu'awiyah broke the conditions of the agreement and began the Umayyad dynasty, with its capital in Damascus. After Mu'awiyah's death in 680, conflict over succession broke out again in a civil war known as the Second Fitna. After making everyone else fight, the Umayyad dynasty later fell into the hands of Marwan I who was also an Umayyad. Syria would remain the base of Umayyad power until the end of the dynasty in 750. However, this Dynasty became reborn in Cordoba Al Andalusia, today's Portugal and Spain in the form of an Emirate and then a Caliphate, lasting until 1031 AD. Muslim rule continued in Iberia for another 500 years in several forms: Taigas, Berber kingdoms, and under the Kingdom of Granada until the 16th century. In the year 712 Muhammad bin Qasim, an Umayyad general sailed from the chalet into Sindh in Pakistan and conquered both the Sindh and the Punjab regions along the Indus River. The conquest of Sindh and Punjab, in modern day Pakistan, although costly, were major gains for the Umayyad Caliphate. However, further gains were halted by Hindu Kingdoms in India in the battle of Rajasthan. The Arabs tried to invade India but they were defeated by the north Indian king Nagabhata of the Prather Dynasty and by the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya of the Chalky dynasty in the early 8th century. After this the Arab chroniclers admit that the Caliph Mahdi “gave up the project of conquering any part of India. During the later period of its existence and particularly from 1031 AD under the Ta'ifa system of Islamic Emirates in the southern half of Iberia, the Emirate, Sultanate of Granada maintained its independence largely due to the payment of Tributes to the northern Christian Kingdoms which began to gradually expand south at its expense from 1031. Muslim rule in Iberia came to an end on January 2, 1492 with the conquest of the Naiad kingdom of Granada. The last Muslim ruler of Granada, Muhammad. Better known as Boabdil, surrendered his kingdom to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic Monarchs, los Reyes Catholicons. Muawiyah's personal dynasty, the Sufyanids descendants of Abu Sufyan reigned from 661 to 684, until his grandson Muawiya II. The reign of Muawiyah I was marked by internal security and external expansion. On the internal front, only one major rebellion is recorded, that of Hour ibn Aid in Kura. Hour ibn Aid supported the claims of the descendants of Ali to Muawiyah also encouraged peaceful coexistence with the Christian communities of Syria, granting his reign with "peace and prosperity for Christians and Arabs alike",[43] and one of his closest advisers was Serum, the father of John of Damascus. At the same time, he waged unceasing war against the Byzantine Roman Empire. During his reign, Rhodes and Crete were occupied, and several assaults were launched against Constantinople. After their failure, and faced with a large-scale Christian uprising in the form of the Mediates, Muawiyah concluded a peace with Byzantium. Muawiyah also oversaw military expansion in North Africa the foundation of Kairouan and in Central Asia Following Muawiyah's death in 680 he was succeeded by his son, Yazid The hereditary accession of Yazd was opposed by a number of prominent Muslims, most notably Bad-Allah ibn al-Sugary, son of one of the companions of Muhammad, and Husain ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad and younger son of Ali. The resulting conflict is known as the Second Fiona.
In 680 Ibn al-Sugary
In 680 Ibn al-Sugary fled Medina for Mecca. Hearing about Husain’s opposition to Yazd I, the people of Kura sent to Husain asking him to take over with their support. Al-Husain sent his cousin Muslim bin Agnail to verify if they would rally behind him. When the news reached Yazd I, he sent Boyd-Allah bin Zeya, ruler of Basra, with the instruction to prevent the people of Kura of rallying behind Al-Husain. Boyd-Allah bin Zeya managed to disperse the crowd who gathered around Muslim bin Agnail and captured Muslim bin Agnail. Realizing Boyd-Allah bin Zeya was instructed to prevent Husain from establishing support in Kura; Muslim bin Agnail requested a message to be sent to Husain to prevent his immigration to Kura. The request was denied and Boyd-Allah bin Zeya killed Muslim bin Agnail. While In al-Sugary would stay in Mecca until his death, Husain decided to travel on to Kura with his family unbeknownst to the lack of support in Kura. Husain and his family were intercepted by Yazd I forces led by Amur bin Sad, Shamir bin This Al-Johan, and Husain bin Tami who fought Al-Husain and his male family members until they were killed. There were 200 people in Husain’s caravan, many of whom were women including his sisters, wives and daughters and children. The women and children from Husain’s camp were taken as prisoners of war and led back to Damascus to be presented to Yazd I. They remained imprisoned until public opinion turned against him as word of Husain’s death and his family's capture spread. They were then granted passage back to Medina. The sole adult male survivor from the caravan was Ali inb Husain who was with fever to too ill to fight when the caravan was attacked.
Following the death of Husain, In al-Sugary, although remaining in Mecca, was associated with two opposition movements, one centered in Medina and the other around Kharijites in Basra and Arabia. Because Medina had been home to Muhammad and his family, including Husain, word of his death and the imprisonment of his family led to a large opposition movement. In 683, Yazd dispatched an army to subdue both movements. The army suppressed the Medinas opposition at the Battle of al-Harrah the Grand Mosque in Medina was severely damaged and widespread pillaging caused deep-seated dissent. Yazd’s army continued on and laid siege to Mecca. At some point during the siege, the Kaibab was badly damaged in a fire. The destruction of the Kaibab and Grand Mosque became a major cause for censure of the Umayyad’s in later histories of the period.Yazid died while the siege was still in progress, and the Umayyad army returned to Damascus, leaving Ibn al-Zubayr in control of Mecca. Yazid's son Muawiya 683 84initially succeeded him but seems to have never been recognized as caliph outside of Syria. Two factions developed within Syria: the Confederation of Qays, who supported Ibn al-Sugary, and the Quad’s, who supported Marwan, a descendant of Umayyad via Wail Ibn Umayyah. The partisans of Marwan triumphed at a battle at Mar Rahit, near Damascus, in 684 and Marwan became caliph shortly thereafter.
Marwan was succeeded by his son, Abd al-Malik 685,705 who reconsolidated Umayyad control of the caliphate. The early reign of Abd al Malik was marked by the revolt of Al-Mukhtar, which was based in Kura. Al Mukhtar hoped to elevate Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, another son of Ali to the caliphate, although Ibn al-Hanafiyyah himself may have had no connection to the revolt. The troops of al-Mukhtar engaged in battles both with the Umayyads, in 686 at the river Khazir near Mosul: an Umayyad defeat, and with Ibn al-Zubayr in 687 at which time the revolt of al Mehta was crushed. In 691 Umayyad troops conquered Iraq, and in 692 the same army captured Mecca. Ibn al-Zubayr was killed in the attack. The second major event of the early reign of Bad al-Malik was the construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Although the chronology remains somewhat uncertain, the building seems to have been completed in 692 which means that it was under construction during the conflict with Ibn al-Zubayr. This had led some historians both medieval and modern, to suggest that the Dome of the Rock was built to rival the Kaibab, which was under the control of Ibn al Zubayr as a destination for pilgrimage.Abd al-Malik is credited with centralizing the administration of the Caliphate and with establishing Arabic as its official language. He also introduced a uniquely Muslim coinage, marked by its aniconic decoration, which supplanted the Byzantine and Sasanian coins that had previously been in use. Abd al-Malik also recommenced offensive warfare against Byzantium, defeating the Byzantines at Sebastopolis and recovering control over Armenia and Caucasian Iberia.Following Abd al-Malik's death, his son, Al-Walled 705,15became caliph. Al-Walled was also active as a builder, sponsoring the construction of Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina and the Great Mosque of Damascus.A major figure during the reigns of both al-Walled and Abd al-Malik was the Umayyad governor of Iraq, Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef. Many Iraqis remained resistant to Umayyad rule, and al-Hajjaj imported Syrian troops to maintain order, whom he housed in a new garrison town, Wasit. These troops became crucial in the suppression of a revolt led by an Iraqi general, Ibn al-Ash'ath, in the early eighth century.Al-Walid was succeeded by his brother, Sulayman 715-17whose reign was dominated by a protracted siege of Constantinople. The failure of the siege marked the end of serious Arab ambitions against the Byzantine capital. However, the first two decades of the eighth century witnessed the continuing expansion of the Caliphate, which pushed into the Iberian Peninsula in the west, and into Transoxiana and northern India in the east.Sulayman was succeeded by his cousin, Umar ibn Abd al Aziz 717,20 whose position among the Umayyad caliphs is somewhat unique. He is the only Umayyad ruler to have been recognized by subsequent Islamic tradition as a genuine caliph and not merely as a worldly king . Umar is honored for his attempt to resolve the fiscal problems attendant upon conversion to Islam. During the Umayyad period, the majority of people living within the caliphate were not Muslim, but Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, or otherwise. These religious communities were not forced to convert to Islam, but were subject to a tax which was not imposed upon Muslims. This situation may actually have made widespread conversion to Islam undesirable from the point of view of state revenue, and there are reports that provincial governors actively discouraged such conversions. It is not clear how Umar attempted to resolve this situation, but the sources portray him as having insisted on like treatment of Arab and non-Arab Muslims and on the removal of obstacles to the conversion of non-Arabs to Islam.
After the death of Umar, another son of Abd al-Malik, Yazid 720-24 became caliph. Yazid is best known for his iconoclastic edict which ordered the destruction of Christian images within the territory of the Caliphate. In 720, another major revolt arose in Iraq, this time led by Yazid ibn al-Muhallab. The final son of Abd al-Malik to become caliph was Hisham 724-43 whose long and eventful reign was above all marked by the curtailment of military expansion. Hisham established his court at Resafa in northern Syria, which was closer to the Byzantine border than Damascus, and resumed hostilities against the Byzantines, which had lapsed following the failure of the last siege of Constantinople. The new campaigns resulted in a number of successful raids into Hisham's reign furthermore witnessed the end of expansion in the west, following the defeat of the Arab army by the Franks at the Battle of Tours in 732. In 739 a major Berber Revolt broke out in North Africa, which was subdued only with difficulty. In the Caucasus, the confrontation with the Khazars peaked under Hisham: the Arabs established Derbent as a major military base and launched several invasions of the northern Caucasus, but failed to subdue the nomadic Khazars. The conflict was arduous and bloody, and the Arab army even suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Marj Ardabil in 730. Marwan ibn Muhammad, the future Marwan finally ended the war in 737 with a massive invasion that is reported to have reached as far as the Volga, but the Khazars remained unsubdued. Hisham suffered still worse defeats in the east, where his armies attempted to subdue both Tokharistan with its center at Balkh and Transoxiana with its center at Samarkand. Both areas had already been partially conquered but remained difficult to govern.
Once againa particular difficulty concerned the question of the conversion of non-Arabs especially the Sogdians of Transoxiana. Following the Umayyad defeat in the Day of Thirst in 724 Ashras ibn 'Abd Allah al Sulami governor of Khurasan, promised tax relief to those Sogdians who converted to Islam, but went back on his offer when it proved too popular and threatened to reduce tax revenues. Discontent among the Khurasani Arabs rose sharply after the losses suffered in the Battle of the Defile in 731 and in 734 al-Harith ibn Surayj led a revolt that received broad backing from Arabs and natives alike, capturing Balkh but failing to take Merv. After this defeat al-Harith's movement seems to have been dissolved, but the problem of the rights of non-Arab Muslims would continue to plague the Umayyads.Fresco from the palace of Qusayr Amra, possibly built by Al-Walled depicting a concubine. Umayyad harems maintained concubines trained in vocal arts and dance. Hisham was succeeded by Al-Walled 743-44 the son of Yazid Al Walled is reported to have been more interested in earthly pleasures than in religion, a reputation that may be confirmed by the decoration of the so-called desert palaces including Qusayr Amra and Khirbat al- that have been attributed to him. He quickly attracted the enmity of many, both by executing a number of those who had opposed his accession, and by persecuting the Qadariyya.
In 744 Yazid
Marwan immediately moved the capital north to Harran in present-day Turkey. A rebellion soon broke out in Syria perhaps due to resentment over the relocation of the capital and in 746 Marwan razed the walls of Homs and Damascus in retaliation. Marwan also faced significant opposition from Kharijites in Iraq and Iran who put forth first Dahhak ibn Qays and then Abu Dulaf as rival caliphs. In 747 Marwan managed to reestablish control of Iraq but by this time a more serious threat had arisen in Khorasan. The Hashimiyya movement a sub-sect of the Kaysanites Shia led by the Abbasid family, overthrew the Umayyad caliphate. The Abbasids were members of the Hashim clan rivals of the Umayyads but the word Hashimiyya seems to refer specifically to Abu Hashim a grandson of Ali and son of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. According to certain traditions, Abu Hashim died in 717 in Humeima in the house of Muhammad ibn Ali, the head of the Abbasid family and before dying named Muhammad ibn Ali as his successor. This tradition allowed the Abbasids to rally the supporters of the failed revolt of Mukhtar, who had represented themselves as the supporters of Muhammad ibn al Hanafiyya. Beginning around 719 Hashimiyya missions began to seek adherents in Khurasan. Their campaign was framed as one of proselytism dawah.
They sought support for a member of the family of Muhammad, without making explicit mention of the Abbasids. These missions met with success both among Arabs and non Arabs masala although the latter may have played a particularly important role in the growth of the movement. Around 746 Abu Muslim assumed leadership of the Hashimiyya in Kherson. In 747he successfully initiated an open revolt against Umayyad rule which was carried out under the sign of the black flag. He soon established control of Kherson, expelling its Umayyad governorNasr ibn Sawyer and dispatched an army westwards. Kura fell to the Hashimiyya in 749, the last Umayyad stronghold in Iraq, Waist, was placed under siege and in November of the same year Abu al-Abbas was recognized as the new caliph in the mosque at Kura At this point Marwan mobilized his troops from Harran and advanced toward Iraq. In January 750 the two forces met in the Battle of the Sab, and the Umayyad’s were defeated. Damascus fell to the Abbasids in April, and in August Marwan was killed in Egypt. The victors desecrated the tombs of the Umayyad’s in Syria, sparing only that of Umar II, and most of the remaining members of the Umayyad family were tracked down and killed. When Abbasids declared amnesty for members of the Umayyad family, eighty gathered to receive pardons and all were massacred. One grandson of His ham, Bad ar-Rahman I survived and established a kingdom in Al Andalusia Moorish Iberia proclaiming his family to be the Umayyad Caliphate revived. Private-Orton argues that the reasons for the decline of the Umayyad’s were the rapid expansion of Islam. During Umayyad period, mass conversions brought PersiansBerbers, Copts and Aramaic’s to Islam. These masalas clients were often better educated and more civilized than their Arab masters. The new converts, on the basis of equality of all Muslims, transformed the political landscape. Private-Orton also argues that the feud between Syria and Iraq further weakened the empire. One of Muawiya's first tasks was to create a stable administration for the empire. He followed the main ideas of the Byzantine Empire which had ruled the same region previously, and had three main governmental branches: political and military affairs; tax collection and religious administration. Each of these was further subdivided into more branches offices, and departments. Geographically, the empire was divided into several provinces, the borders of which changed numerous times during the Umayyad reign. Each province had a governor appointed by the khalifah. The governor was in charge of the religious officials, army leaders, police, and civil administrators in his province. Local expenses were paid for by taxes coming from that province, with the remainder each year being sent to the central government in Damascus. As the central power of the Umayyad rulers waned in the later years of the dynasty, some governors neglected to send the extra tax revenue to Damascus and created great personal fortunes. As the empire grew, the number of qualified Arab workers was too small to keep up with the rapid expansion of the empire. Therefore, Muawiya allowed many of the local government workers in conquered provinces to keep their jobs under the new Umayyad government. Thus, much of the local government's work was recorded in Greek, Coptic, and Persian. It was only during the reign of Abd al-Malik that government work began to be regularly recorded in Arabic.
Islamic objects dated 743
A coin weight from the Umayyad Dynasty dated 743, made of glass. One Of the oldest Islamic objects in an American museum, the Walters Art Museum. Golden coin of the Umayyad Caliphate, Iran. The Byzantine and Sassanid Empires relied on money economies before the Muslim conquest, and that system remained in effect during the Umayyad period. Pre-existing coins remained in use, but with phrases from the Quran stamped on them. In addition to this, the Umayyad government began to mint its own coins in Damascus which were similar to pre-existing coins. The first coins minted by a Muslim government in history. Gold coins were called dinars while silver coins were called dirhams. The Central Board of Revenue administered the entire finance of the empire, it also imposed and collected taxes and disbursed revenue. A regular Board of Correspondence was established under the Umayyad’s. It issued state missives and circulars to the Central and Provincial Officers. It co-ordinated the work of all Boards and dealt with all correspondence as the chief secretariat. In order to check forgery Divan al-Khatami Bureau of Registry a kind of state chancellery was instituted by Mu'awiyah. It used to make and preserve a copy of each official document before sealing and dispatching the original to its destination. Thus in the course of time a state archive developed in Damascus by the Umayyad’s under Bad al-Malik. This department survived till the middle of the Abbasid period. Mu'awiyah introduced postal service. Abd al-Malik extended it throughout his empire and Walled made full use of it. The Umayyad Caliph Bad al-Malik developed a regular postal service. Umar bin Abdul-Aziz developed it further by building caravanserais at stages along the Kherson highway. Relays of horses were used for the conveyance of dispatches between the caliph and his agents and officials posted in the provinces. The main highways were divided into stages of 12 miles 19 km each and each stage had horses, donkeys or camels ready to carry the post. Primarily the service met the needs of Government officials but travellers and their important dispatches were also benefitted by the system. For swift transport of troops also the postal carriages were used. They were able to carry fifty to a hundred men at a time. Under Governor Yusuf bin Umar, the postal department of Iraq cost 4,000,000 dirhams a year. In the early period of Islam justice was administered by Muhammad and the orthodox Caliphs in person. After the expansion of the Islamic State Umar al Faro had to separate judiciary from the general administration and appointed the first quid in Egypt as early as 23H/643AD. After 661AD a series of judges succeeded one after another in Egypt under the Umayyad Caliphs, His ham and Walled. The Divan of Umar assigning annuities to all Arabs and to the Muslim soldiers of other races underwent a change in the hands of the Umayyad s. The Umayyad’s meddled with the register and the recipients regarded pensions as the subsistence allowance even without being in active service. His ham reformed it and paid only to those who participated in battle. On the pattern of the Byzantine system the Umayyad’s reformed their army organization in general and divided it into five corps: the center, two wings vanguards and rearguards while on March or in a battle field following the same formation. Marwan 740-50 abandoned the old division and introduced Kudus cohort a small compact body. The Umayyad troops were divided into three division’s infantry cavalry and artillery. Arab troops were dressed and armed in Greek fashion. The Umayyad cavalry used plain and round saddles. The artillery used armada ballista manganic the mangoes and kabbalah or kibosh the battering ram. The heavy engines, siege machines and baggage were carried on camels behind the army.
Ivory circa 8th century discovered in the Abbasid homestead in Humeima Jordan. The style indicates an origin in northeastern Iran, the base of Hashimiyya military power. The Muslim Arabs were at the top of the society, and saw it as their duty to rule over the conquered areas. Despite the fact that Islam teaches the equality of all Muslims, the Arab Muslims held themselves in higher esteem than Muslim non-Arabs and generally did not mix with other Muslims. The inequality of Muslims in the empire led to social unrest. As Islam spread, more and more of the Muslim population was constituted of non-Arabs. This caused tension as the new converts were not given the same rights as Muslim Arabs. Also, as conversions increased, tax revenues off non-Muslims decreased to dangerous lows. These issues continued to grow until they helped cause the Abbasid Revolt in the 740s. Non-Muslim groups in the Umayyad Caliphate, which included Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and pagan Berbers, were called shimmies. 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. They were allowed to have their own courts, and were given freedom of their religion within the empire. Although they could not hold the highest public offices in the empire, they had many bureaucratic positions within the government. Christians and Jews still continued to produce great theological thinkers within their communities, but as time wore on, many of the intellectuals converted to Islam, leading to a lack of great thinkers in the non-Muslim communities.
