The Umayyad dynasty (Arabic: بَنُو أُمَيَّةَ, romanized: Banū Umayya, lit. 'Sons of Umayya'), or the Umayyads (Arabic: الأمويون, romanized: al-Umawiyyūn), were an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe who were the ruling family of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750 and the Emirate and later Caliphate of Córdoba from 756 to 1031. They were the first hereditary dynasty in the history of Islam.

In the pre-Islamic period, the Umayyads were a prominent clan of the Meccan tribe of Quraysh, descended from Umayya ibn Abd Shams. Despite staunch opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Umayyads embraced Islam after the Conquest of Mecca in 630. Uthman ibn Affan, an early companion of Muhammad from the Umayyad clan, became the third Rashidun caliph, ruling from 644 to 656, while other members held various governorships. This included Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the long-time governor of the Levant, who opposed the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib in the First Fitna (656–661) and subsequently founded the Umayyad Caliphate with its capital in Damascus. Umayyad authority was later challenged in the Second Fitna, during which the Sufyanid line of Mu'awiya (which includes only the three first Umayyad caliphs) was replaced in 684 by Marwan ibn al-Hakam, who founded the Marwanid line of Umayyad caliphs, which restored the dynasty's rule over the Caliphate and remained so until the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba. His son and successor Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan would reassert Umayyad control over the Caliphate after defeating the Zubayrids in 692. Abd al-Malik made key reforms to the administrative structure of the caliphate, including the centralization of caliphal power, the restructuring of the military, and the implementation of Arabization and Islamization policies on the bureaucracy.

The Islamic empire reached its largest geographical extent under the Umayyads, who were also the only dynasty to rule over the entire Islamic world of their time.[1] The Umayyads advanced the early Muslim conquests, conquering the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Central Asia, Sindh, and parts of Chinese Turkestan,[2] but the constant warfare exhausted the state's military resources, while Alid and Kharijite revolts and tribal rivalries weakened the state from within. Finally, in 750 the Abbasids overthrew Caliph Marwan II and massacred most of the family. One of the survivors, Abd al-Rahman, a grandson of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, escaped to Muslim Spain, where he founded the Emirate of Córdoba, which his descendant, Abd al-Rahman III, transformed into a caliphate in 929. Under the Umayyads, al-Andalus became a centre of science, medicine, philosophy and invention during the Islamic Golden Age.[3][4] The Caliphate of Córdoba disintegrated into several independent taifa kingdoms in 1031, thus marking the political end of the Umayyad dynasty.

History

Pre-Islamic origins

The Umayyads, or Banu Umayya, were a prominent clan of the larger Quraysh tribe, which dominated Mecca in the pre-Islamic era.[5] The Quraysh derived prestige among the Arab tribes through their protection and maintenance of the Kaaba, which at the time was regarded by the largely polytheistic Arabs across the Arabian Peninsula as their most sacred sanctuary.[5] A Qurayshite leader, Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy, who based on his place in the genealogical tradition would have lived in the late 5th century, was charged with the maintenance and protection of the Kaʿba and its pilgrims.[6] These roles passed to his sons Abd Shams, Hashim and others.[6] Abd Shams was the father of Umayya, the eponymous progenitor of the Umayyads.[7]

Umayya succeeded Abd Shams as the qa'id (wartime commander) of the Meccans.[8] This position was likely an occasional political post whose holder oversaw the direction of Mecca's military affairs in times of war, instead of an actual field command.[8] This early experience in military leadership proved instructive, as later Umayyads would be known and recognized for possessing considerable political and military organizational capabilities.[8] The historian Giorgio Levi Della Vida suggests that information in the early Arabic sources about Umayya, as with all the ancient progenitors of the tribes of Arabia, "be accepted with caution", but "that too great skepticism with regard to tradition would be as ill-advised as absolute faith in its statements".[7] Della Vida asserts that since the Umayyads who appear at the beginning of Islamic history in the early 7th century were no later than third-generation descendants of Umayya, the latter's existence is highly plausible.[7]

By circa 600, the Quraysh had developed trans-Arabian trade networks, organizing caravans to Syria in the north and Yemen in the south.[5] The Banu Umayya and the Banu Makhzum, another prominent Qurayshite clan, dominated these trade networks. To secure these routes, they developed economic and military alliances with the nomadic Arab tribes that controlled the expanses of the northern and central Arabian deserts, gaining them commercial influence and a degree of political power in Arabia.[9]

Opposition and conversion to Islam

The Islamic prophet Muhammad was a member of the Banu Hashim, a Qurayshite clan related to the Banu Umayya through their shared ancestor, Abd Manaf. When he began his religious teachings in Mecca, he was opposed by most of the Quraysh.[10][11] He found support from the inhabitants of Medina and relocated there with his followers in 622.[12] The Banu Abd Shams, which included the Umayyads, were among the principal leaders of Qurayshite opposition to Muhammad.[13] They superseded the Banu Makhzum, led by Abu Jahl, as a result of the heavy losses that the Banu Makhzum's leadership incurred fighting the Muslims at the Battle of Badr in 624.[14] The chief of the Umayyad clan, Abu Sufyan, thereafter became the leader of the Meccan Qurayshite army that fought against the Muslims under Muhammad at the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Trench.[13]

Abu Sufyan and his sons, along with most of the Umayyads, embraced Islam towards the end of Muhammad's life, following the Muslim conquest of Mecca.[13] To secure the loyalty of prominent Umayyad leaders, including Abu Sufyan, Muhammad offered them gifts and positions of importance in the nascent Muslim state.[13] He installed another Umayyad, Attab ibn Asid ibn Abi al-Is, as the first governor of Mecca.[15] Although Mecca retained its paramountcy as the center of the new religion, Medina continued to serve as the political center of the Muslims. Abu Sufyan and the Banu Umayya relocated to Medina to maintain their growing political influence.[16]

Muhammad's death in 632 created a succession crisis, while nomadic tribes throughout Arabia that had embraced Islam discarded Medina's authority.[17] Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad's oldest friends and an early convert to Islam, was elected caliph (paramount political and religious leader of the Muslim community).[18] Abu Bakr showed favor to the Umayyads by awarding them a prominent role in the Muslim conquest of Syria. He appointed an Umayyad, Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As, as commander of the expedition, but replaced him with other commanders, among whom were Abu Sufyan's sons, Yazid and Mu'awiya. Abu Sufyan had already owned property and maintained trade networks in Syria.[19][20]

Abu Bakr's successor, Caliph Umar (r. 634–644), while actively curtailing the influence of the Qurayshite elite in favor of Muhammad's earlier supporters in the administration and military, did not disturb the growing foothold of Abu Sufyan's sons in Syria, which was all but conquered by 638.[21] When Umar's overall commander over the province, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, died in 639, he appointed Yazid governor of the Damascus, Palestine and Jordan districts of Syria.[21] Yazid died shortly after and Umar installed his brother Mu'awiya in his place.[22] Umar's exceptional treatment of Abu Sufyan's sons may have stemmed from his personal respect for the family, their burgeoning alliance with the powerful Banu Kalb tribe as a counterweight to the aristocratic Himyarite tribes who dominated the Homs district, or due to the lack of a suitable candidate amidst the plague of Amwas, which had already killed Abu Ubayda and Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan.[22]

Empowerment by Caliph Uthman

Caliph Umar died in 644 and was succeeded by Uthman ibn Affan, a wealthy Umayyad merchant, early convert to Islam, and son-in-law and close companion of Muhammad.[23] Uthman initially kept his predecessors' appointees in their provincial posts but gradually replaced many of them with Umayyads or his maternal kinsmen from their parent clan, the Banu Abd Shams.[24] Mu'awiya retained his post under Uthman, who expanded his governorship to include the entirety of Syria. Two Umayyads, al-Walid ibn Uqba and Sa'id ibn al-As, were successively appointed to Kufa, one of the two main Arab garrisons and administrative centers in Iraq. Uthman's cousin, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, became his chief secretary.[24] Although a prominent member of the clan, Uthman is not considered part of the Umayyad dynasty because he was chosen by consensus (shura) among the inner circle of Muslim leadership and never attempted to nominate an Umayyad kinsman as his successor.[25] Nonetheless, as a result of Uthman's policies, the Umayyads regained a measure of the power and influence they had lost after the Muslim conquest of Mecca.[25]

The assassination of Uthman in 656 became a rallying cry for the Qurayshite opposition to his successor, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib of the Banu Hashim.[26] The Qurayshite elite did not hold Ali responsible, but opposed his accession under the circumstances of Uthman's demise. Following their defeat at the Battle of the Camel near Basra, during which their leaders Talha ibn Ubayd Allah and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, both potential contenders for the caliphate, were killed, the mantle of opposition to Ali was taken up chiefly by Mu'awiya.[26] Initially, he refrained from openly claiming the caliphate, upholding the cause of avenging Uthman's death while focusing on undermining Ali's authority and consolidating his position in Syria.[27] Ali's Iraqi army fought Mu'awiya's Syrian forces to a stalemate at the Battle of Siffin in 657.[28] It was followed by an inconclusive arbitration, which weakened Ali's command over his forces, while raising the stature of Mu'awiya as Ali's equal.[29] While Ali was encumbered with combating a faction of his former partisans, who became known as the Kharijites, Mu'awiya was formally recognized as caliph by his core supporters, the Syrian Arab tribes, at a ceremony in Jerusalem.[30] When Ali assassinated by the Kharijite dissident Ibn Muljam in 661, Mu'awiya invaded Iraq with his Syrian army and compelled Ali's eldest son and successor Hasan, who had been chosen as caliph in Kufa, to abdicate the caliphate to him.[30] Mu'awiya then entered Kufa and received the pledge of allegiance from the Iraqis, with his suzerainty being acknowledged throughout the Caliphate, though opposition to his authority by the Kharijites and some of Ali's loyalists persisted at a low level.[31]

Dynastic rule over the Caliphate

Sufyanid period

The reunification of the Muslim community under Mu'awiya's authority marked the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate.[31] This marked the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty. Based on the accounts of the traditional Muslim sources, Hawting writes that:

The Umayyads, leading representatives of those who had opposed the Prophet [Muhammad] until the latest possible moment, had within thirty years of his death reestablished their position to the extent that they were now at the head of the community which he had founded.[31]

In contrast to Uthman's empowerment of the Umayyads, Mu'awiya's power relied on the Arab tribes of Syria rather than on the Umayyad clan, and with minor exceptions, he did not appoint Umayyads to the major provinces or to his court in Damascus.[32][33] He largely limited their influence to Medina, where most of the Umayyads remained headquartered.[32][34] The loss of political power left the Umayyads of Medina resentful of Mu'awiya, who may have become wary of the political ambitions of the much larger Abu al-As branch of the clan, to which Uthman had belonged, under the leadership of Marwan ibn al-Hakam.[35] Mu'awiya attempted to weaken the clan by provoking internal divisions.[36] Among the measures taken was the replacement of Marwan from the governorship of Medina in 668 with another leading Umayyad, Sa'id ibn al-As. The latter was instructed to demolish Marwan's house, but refused. Marwan was restored in 674 and also refused Mu'awiya's order to demolish Sa'id's house.[37] Mu'awiya appointed his own nephew, al-Walid ibn Utba ibn Abi Sufyan, in Marwan's place in 678.[38]

In 676, Mu'awiya installed his son, Yazid I, as his successor. The move was unprecedented in Muslim politics, as earlier caliphs had been elected by popular support in Medina or by the consultation of the senior companions of Muhammad.[39] Mu'awiya's Umayyad kinsmen in Medina, including Marwan and Sa'id, accepted Mu'awiya's decision, albeit disapprovingly.[40] The principal opposition emanated from Husayn ibn Ali, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, Abd Allah ibn Umar and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, all prominent Medina-based sons of earlier caliphs or close companions of Muhammad.[41]

Yazid acceded in 680 and three years later faced a revolt by the people of Medina and Ibn al-Zubayr in Mecca. Yazid's cousin, Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Sufyan, and the Umayyads residing in Medina, led by Marwan, were expelled.[42] Yazid dispatched his Syrian army to reassert his authority in the Hejaz and relieve his kinsmen.[43][44] The Umayyads of Medina joined the Syrians in the assault against the rebels in Medina and defeated them at the Battle of al-Harra.[43] The Syrians proceeded to besiege Mecca, but withdrew upon the death of Yazid.[45] Afterwards, Ibn al-Zubayr declared himself caliph and expelled the Umayyads of the Hejaz a second time. They relocated to Palmyra or Damascus, where Yazid's son and successor, Mu'awiya II, ruled at a time when Umayyad authority over the Caliphate largely dissolved, with most provinces of the Caliphate acknowledging Ibn al-Zubayr as caliph[43]

Early Marwanid period

The Umayyad Caliphate around 740

After Mu'awiya II died in 684, the junds of Palestine, Homs and Qinnasrin recognized Ibn al-Zubayr, while loyalist tribes in Damascus and Jordan scrambled to nominate an Umayyad as caliph. The Banu Kalb, lynchpins of Sufyanid rule, nominated Yazid's surviving sons Khalid and Abd Allah, but they were considered young and inexperienced by most of the other loyalist tribes. Marwan ibn al-Hakam volunteered his candidacy and gained the consensus of the tribes, acceding to the caliphate at a summit in Jabiya in 684. Per the arrangement agreed by the tribes, Marwan would be succeeded by Khalid, followed by Amr al-Ashdaq, the son of Sa'id ibn al-As. Marwan and the loyalist tribes, led by the Kalb, defeated Ibn al-Zubayr's supporters in Syria, led by the Qurayshite governor of Damascus, al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, and the Qays tribes of Qinnasrin, and afterward retook Egypt. Before his death in 685, Marwan voided the succession arrangement, appointing his sons Abd al-Malik and Abd al-Aziz, in that order, instead. Abd al-Aziz was made governor of Egypt and another son, Muhammad was appointed to defeat the Qays tribes of the Jazira. Soon after Abd al-Malik acceded, while he was away on a military campaign, he faced an attempted coup in Damascus by Amr al-Ashdaq. Abd al-Malik suppressed the revolt and personally executed his kinsman.[46] By 692, he defeated Ibn al-Zubayr, who was killed, and restored Umayyad rule across the Caliphate.[47]

Dome of the Rock in Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem was built by the Marwanid caliph Abd al-Malik around 685–692

Abd al-Malik concentrated power into the hands of the Umayyad dynasty. At one point, his brothers or sons held nearly all governorships of the provinces and the districts of Syria.[48][49] Abd al-Aziz continued to rule over Egypt until his death shortly before Abd al-Malik's in 705. He was replaced by Abd al-Malik's son Abdallah.[50] Abd al-Malik appointed his son Sulayman over Palestine, following stints there by his uncle Yahya ibn al-Hakam and brother Aban ibn Marwan.[51] In Iraq, he appointed his brother Bishr ibn Marwan over Kufa and a distant cousin, Khalid ibn Abdallah ibn Khalid ibn Asid, in Basra,[52] before combining the governorships of both cities under the purview of his trusted general al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.[53] Abd al-Malik's court in Damascus was filled with far more Umayyads than under his Sufyanid predecessors, a result of the clan's exile to the city from Medina.[54] He maintained close ties with the Sufyanids through marital relations and official appointments, such as according Yazid's son Khalid a prominent role in the court and army and wedding to him his daughter A'isha.[55][56] Abd al-Malik also married Khalid's sister Atika, who became his favorite and most influential wife.[55]

Great Mosque of Damascus in Syria was built by Abd Al-Malik's successor caliph al-Walid I around 706–715[57]

After his brother Abd al-Aziz's death, Abd al-Malik designated his eldest son, al-Walid I, his successor, to be followed by his second eldest, Sulayman. Al-Walid acceded in 705. He kept Sulayman as governor of Palestine, while appointing his sons to the other junds of Syria, with Abd al-Aziz over Damascus, al-Abbas over Homs and Umar over Jordan, as well as giving them command roles in the frontier wars against the Byzantines in Anatolia.[58][49] He retired his uncle Muhammad ibn Marwan from the Jazira, installing his half-brother Maslama there instead. Al-Walid I's attempt to void his father's succession arrangements by replacing Sulayman with his son Abd al-Aziz failed and Sulayman acceded in 715.[59] Rather than nominating his own sons or brothers, Sulayman appointed his cousin, Umar II, the son of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, as his successor. While the traditional sources present the choice as related to the persuasion of the court theologian, Raja ibn Haywa, it may have been related to Umar II's seniority and his father's previous position as Marwan I's second successor.[60] The family of Abd al-Malik protested the move, but were coerced into a compromise whereby Yazid II, the son of Abd al-Malik and Atika, would follow Umar II.[61]

Rule over al-Andalus

Great Mosque of Córdoba in Spain was built by the Umayyads of al-Andalus, originally built by Abd al-Rahman I in 785 and expanded by his successors.[62]

A survivor of the Abbasid massacres of the Umayyad family, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya (better known as Abd al-Rahman I), a grandson of Caliph Hisham, made his way to al-Andalus (Islamic Spain), where the mawali of the Umayyads helped him establish a foothold in the province. Once he established the Emirate of Cordoba in 756, he invited other Marwanids, who were keeping a low profile under Abbasid rule, to settle in the Emirate.[63] The 12th-century Andalusian poet al-Hijari quotes Abd al-Rahman stating: "among the many [favors] bestowed on us by the Almighty is his allowing us to collect in this country our kindred and relatives, and enabling us to give them a share in this empire".[63][a]

The Umayyad immigrants were granted estates, stipends, command roles in the army, and provincial offices. The emirs, and later, caliphs of al-Andalus were direct descendants of Abd al-Rahman I. Families of Abd al-Rahman's more distant Umayyad relatives, namely Marwan I's grandson Abd al-Malik ibn Umar ibn Marwan (the Marwani clan) and al-Walid I's great-grandson Habib ibn Abd al-Malik (the Habibi clan) both attained prominence at the provincial, military, judicial and cultural levels into the 10th century.[64]

The Umayyads longed for the Levant, and they established in al-Andalus the same trees, plants and food crops which their ancestors had cultivated in Syria, serving the same traditional foods. Wholesale importation of Syrian styles of living contributed to an extensive Syrianization of the entire countryside of al-Andalus.[65]

Branches and descendants

In the early 7th century, prior to their conversion to Islam, the main branches of the Umayyads were the A'yas and the Anabisa.[8] The former grouped the descendants of Umayya's sons Abu al-As, al-As, Abu al-Is and al-Uways, all of whose names shared the same or similar root, hence the eponymous label, 'A'yas'.[8] The Anabisa, which is the plural form of Anbasa, a common name in this branch of the clan, gathered the descendants of Umayya's sons Harb, Abu Harb, Abu Sufyan Anbasa, Sufyan, Amr and Umayya's possibly adopted son, Abu Amr Dhakwan.[8]

Two of the sons of Abu al-As, Affan and al-Hakam, each fathered future caliphs, Uthman and Marwan I, respectively.[8] From the latter's descendants, known as the Marwanids, came the Umayyad caliphs of Damascus who reigned successively between 684 and 750, and then the Cordoba-based emirs and caliphs of Muslim Spain, who held office until 1031.[8] Other than those who had escaped to al-Andalus, most of the Marwanids were killed in the Abbasid purges of 750. However, a number of them settled in Egypt and Iran, where one of them, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, authored the famous source of Arab history, the Kitab al-Aghani, in the 10th century.[8] Uthman, the third Rashidun caliph, who ruled between 644 and 656, left several descendants, some of whom served political posts under the Umayyad caliphs.[8] From the Abu al-Is line came the politically important family of Asid ibn Abi al-Is, whose members served military and gubernatorial posts under various Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs.[8] The al-As line produced Sa'id ibn al-As, who served as one of Uthman's governors in Kufa.[8]

The most well-known family of the Anabisa branch was that of Harb's son Abu Sufyan Sakhr.[66] From his descendants, the Sufyanids, came Mu'awiya I, who founded the Umayyad Caliphate in 661, and Mu'awiya I's son and successor, Yazid I.[67] Sufyanid rule ceased with the death of the latter's son Mu'awiya II in 684, though Yazid's other sons, Khalid and Abd Allah, continued to play political roles, and the former was credited as the founder of Arabic alchemy.[67] Abd Allah's son Abu Muhammad Ziyad al-Sufyani, meanwhile, led a rebellion against the Abbasids in 750, but was ultimately slain.[67] Abu Sufyan's other sons were Yazid, who preceded Mu'awiya I as governor of Syria, Amr, Anbasa, Muhammad and Utba.[67] Only the last two left progeny.[67] The other important family of the Anabisa were the descendants of Abu Amr, known as the Banu Abi Mu'ayt.[67] Abu Amr's grandson Uqba ibn Abu Mu'ayt was captured and executed on Muhammad's orders during the Battle of Badr for his previous incitement against Muhammad.[67] Uqba's son, al-Walid, served as Uthman's governor in Kufa for a brief period.[67] The Banu Abi Mu'ayt made Iraq and Upper Mesopotamia their home.[67]

The 10th-century geographer al-Hamdani held that several Umayyad groups inhabited the Upper Egyptian town of Tanda and its environs. Among those he counted were the families of Aban ibn Uthman (a son caliph Uthman) and Habib ibn (Umar ibn) al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, as well as another tribe descended from Marwan called the 'Marawna'.[68] The Marawna still inhabit the regions of Qena, Sohag and Minya in Egypt today.[69] Al-Hamdani notes these Umayyads were relatives of the Umayyads then in power in al-Andalus and that other Umayyads were scattered across the Maghreb and present in the Balqa region of Syria.[70]

List of Umayyad rulers

Umayyad caliphs (661-750)

No. Coin[b] Name[c] Reign Parents Life details
Sufyanids
(661-684)
1
Mu'awiya I
أبو عبد الرحمن معاوية بن أبي سفيان
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān		 28 July 661
–
27 April 680
(19 years)		 597-605 – 27 April 680
(aged 75–83)
2
Yazid I
أبو خالد يزيد بن معاوية
Abū Khālid Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya		 27 April 680
–
11 November 683
(3 years)		 646 – 11 November 683
(aged 37)
3
Mu'awiya II
معاوية بن يزيد
Muʿāwiya ibn Yazīd		 11 November 683
–
June 684
(7 months)		 664 – 684
(aged 20)
  • Heir apparent of Yazid I; Reportedly refused power and withdrew from public life.
  • Died of unknown causes (possibly plague); collapse of Umayyad authority and wider recognition of Zubayrid caliphate.
Marwanids
(684-750)
4
Marwan I
أبو عبد الملك مروان بن الحكم
Abū ʿAbd al-Malik Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam		 June 684
–
12 April 685
(~10 months)		 623/626 – April/May 685
(aged 59-63)
  • Elected by Umayyad loyalists as caliph due to the youth of Yazid I's son, Khalid.
  • Secured Syria from rival factions; recovery of Egypt from Zubayrids.
  • Sidelined Khalid ibn Yazid to secure succession for his sons.
5
Abd al-Malik
أبو الوليد عبد الملك بن مروان
Abū al-Walīd ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān		 12 April 685
–
8 October 705
(~20 years)		 July 644/647 – 9 October 705
(aged 58-61)
6
al-Walid I
أبو العباس الوليد بن عبد الملك
Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik		 8 October 705
–
23 February 715
(~9 years)		 July 674 – 23 February 715
(aged 41)
7
Sulayman
أبو أيوب سليمان بن عبد الملك
Abū Ayyūb Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik		 23 February 715
–
22 September 717
(~2 years)		 675 – 24 September 717
(aged 42)
8
Umar II
أبو حفص عمر بن عبد العزيز
Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz		 22 September 717
–
4 February 720
(~2 years)		 680 – 5 February 720
(aged 40)
  • Named first heir by his cousin, Sulayman.
  • Maternal great-grandson of Umar I.
  • Siege of Constantinople lifted; expansion into Anatolia halted.
  • Instituted reforms; extended equal treatment to non-Arabs, angering Arab elites.
  • Died of illness; possibly poisoned.
  • Sometimes called the fifth Rashidun caliph.
9
Yazid II
أبو خالد يزيد بن عبد الملك
Abū Khālid Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik		 4 February 720
–
26 January 724
(~4 years)		 690/691 – 26 January 724
(aged 33-34)
  • Named second heir by his brother, Sulayman.
  • Maternal grandson of Yazid I.
  • Largely reversed Umar II's policies.
  • Resumed warefare against Khazars.
10
Hisham
أبو الوليد هشام بن عبد الملك
Abū al-Walīd Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik		 26 January 724
–
6 February 743
(~19 years)		 691 – 6 February 743
(aged 52)
  • Named first heir by his brother, Yazid II.
  • Largest geographical extent of Umayyad caliphate (or any Islamic state).
  • Defeats at Tolouse (721) and Tours (732); end of expansion in Europe.
  • Defeats against Khazars (730) and Byzantines (740).
  • Berber Revolt (740); permanent independence of Maghreb from caliphate.
11
al-Walid II
أبو العباس الوليد بن يزيد
Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Walīd ibn Yazīd		 6 February 743
–
17 April 744
(~1 year)		 709 – 17 April 744
(aged 35)
  • Named second heir by his father, Yazid II.
  • Known for hedonism; alienated elites.
  • Overthrown and killed by his cousin, Yazid III.
12
Yazid III
يزيد بن الوليد
Yazīd ibn al-Walīd		 17 April 744
–
4 October 744
(~6 months)		 701 – 4 October 744
(aged 43)
  • Overthrew his cousin; promised pious rule.
  • Died of a brain tumor.
13
Ibrahim
إبراهيم بن الوليد
Ibrāhīm ibn al-Walīd		 4 October 744
–
4 December 744
(~2 months)		 d. January 750
  • Heir apparent of his brother, Yazid III.
  • Rule disputed outside Syria.
  • Abdicated after Marwan II's march on Damascus.
  • Executed after Abbasid takeover (750).
14
Marwan II
أبو عبد الملك مروان بن محمد
Abū ʿAbd al-Malik Marwān ibn Muḥammad		 4 December 744
–
25 January 750
(~5 years)		 691 – 6 August 750
(aged 59)
  • Grandson of Marwan I; became caliph after Ibrahim's abdication.
  • Syrian tribal revolts due to his takeover.
  • Abbasid revolution begins (747).
  • Defeated by Abbasids (750). Fled to Egypt, where he was caught and executed.


Umayyad rulers of Córdoba (756-1031)

No. Coin Name[d] Reign Parents Notable Events
Emirs of Córdoba
(756–929)
1
Abd al-Rahman I
أبو المطرف عبد الرحمن بن معاوية الداخل
Abū'l-Muṭarrif ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muʿāwiya al-Dākhil		 15 May 756
–
30 September 788
(~32 years)		 7 March 731 – 30 September 788
(aged 57)
  • Grandson of caliph Hisham (r. 724-743).
  • Survived Abbasid purges; fled to Spain.
  • Consolidated his by defeating Fihrids. Adopted the title of Emir.
  • Repulsion of Abbasid invasion (763); independence from Abbasids secured.
  • Construction of Mosque of Cordoba (787).
2
Hisham I
أبو الوليد هشام بن عبد الرحمن
Abū'l-Walīd Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān		 6 October 788
–
16 April 796
(~7 years)		 757 – 16 April 796
(aged 38)
  • Heir apparent of Abd al-Rehman I.
  • Expeditions against Franks (793).
  • Known for his piety.
3
al-Hakam I
أبو العاص الحكم بن هشام
Abū'l-ʿĀṣ al-Ḥakam ibn Hishām		 12 June 796
–
21 May 822
(~26 years)		 771 – 21 May 822
(aged 51)
  • Second son and heir apparent of Hisham I.
  • Suppression of rebellions in Toledo (797) and Cordoba (806, 818).
4
Abd al-Rahman II
أبو المطرف عبد الرحمن بن الحكم المتوسط
Abū'l-Muṭarrif ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Mutawassiṭ		 21 May 822
–
852
(~30 years)		 792 – 852
(aged 60)
5
Muhammad I
أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الرحمن
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān		 852
–
886
(~14 years)		 823 – 886
(aged 63)
6 al-Mundhir
أبو الحكم المنذر بن محمد
Abū'l-Ḥakam al-Munḏhir ibn Muḥammad		 886
–
888
(~2 years)		 842 – 888
(aged 46)
  • Campaigns against Umar ibn Hafsun.
  • Died while besieging Bobastro; possibly killed by his brother, Abd Allah.
7
Abdullah
أبو محمد عبد الله بن محمد
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad		 888
–
15 October 912
(~24 years)		 844 – 912
(aged 68)
  • Brother of al-Mundhir.
  • Continuation of war against Umar ibn Hafsun.
  • Widespread rebellions; rise of local lords.
8
Abd al-Rahman III
أبو المطرف عبد الرحمن بن محمد
Abū'l-Muṭarrif ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad		 16 October 912
–
17 January 929
(~16 years)		 18 December 890 – 15 October 961
(aged 70)
  • Grandson and heir apparent of Abd Allah.
  • Subjugation of rebel lords; restoration of central Umayyad rule.
  • Establishment of Saqaliba, Slavic slave soldiers.
  • Umar ibn Hafsun's death (917); end of rebellion (928).
  • Adopted the title of caliph, challenging Fatimid and Abbasid claims (929).
Caliphs of Córdoba
(929-1031)
1
Abd al-Rahman III
أبو المطرف عبد الرحمن بن محمد الناصر لدين الله
Abū'l-Muṭarrif ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh		 17 January 929
–
15 October 961
(~32 years)		 18 December 890 – 15 October 961
(aged 70)
  • Construction of Medinat al-Zahra (936).
  • Protectorate over Maghreb; most control lost to Fatimids later (958).
  • Continued warfare against Leon and Navarre.
2
al-Hakam II
أبو المطرف الحكم بن عبد الرحمن المستنصر بالله
Abū'l-Muṭarrif al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh		 15 October 961
–
1 October 976
(~15 years)		 13 January 915 – 16 October 976
(aged 61)
  • Heir apparent of Abd al-Rahman III.
  • Launch of a massive translation movement.
  • War against the Fatimids in Maghreb (974).
3
Hisham II
أبو الوليد هشام بن الحكم المؤيد بالله
Abū'l-Walīd Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam al-Muʾayyad bi-llāh		 16 October 976
–
15 February 1009
(~32 years)		 966 – 1013
(aged 47)
4 Muhammad II
محمد بن هشام المهدي بالله
Muḥammad ibn Hishām al-Mahdī bi'llāh		 February 1009
(~1 month)
  • Hisham bin Abd al-Jabbar
  • Muzna
 976 – 23 June 1010
(aged 34)
5
Sulayman
سليمان بن الحكم المستعين بالله
Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Mustaʿīn bi'llāh		 February 1009
–
May 1010
(~1 year)
  • al-Hakam ibn Sulayman
  • Thabiya
 965 – 23 June 1016
(aged 51)
  • Great-grandson of Abd al-Rahman III.
  • Proclaimed caliph by Berbers disgruntled by Muhammad II's rule.
  • Defeated Muhammad II's forces, and captured Córdoba.
  • Reinstalled Hisham II, before deposing him and assuming direct rule.
  • Defeated by Muhammad II. Escaped to Algeciras.
(4) Muhammad II
محمد بن هشام المهدي بالله
Muḥammad ibn Hishām al-Mahdī bi'llāh		 May 1010
–
June 1010
(~1 month)
  • Hisham bin Abd al-Jabbar
  • Muzna
 976 – 23 June 1010
(aged 34)
  • Defeated Sulayman with his saqaliba troops.
  • Abandoned by his soldiers after a defeat by Sulaymaan.
  • Arrested by his vizier Wadih; tried and executed.
(3)
Hisham II
أبو الوليد هشام بن الحكم المؤيد بالله
Abū'l-Walīd Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam al-Muʾayyad bi-llāh		 23 July 1010
–
19 April 1013
(~3 years)		 966 – 1013
(aged 47)
(5)
Sulayman
سليمان بن الحكم المستعين بالله
Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Mustaʿīn bi'llāh		 1013
–
1016
(~3 years)
  • al-Hakam ibn Sulayman
  • Thabiya
 965 – 23 June 1016
(aged 51)
  • Recaptured Cordoba with Berber forces.
  • Caliphal rule mostly limited to Cordoba.
  • Deposed and executed after Hammudid capture of Córdoba.
Hammudid rule (1016-1018)
6 Abd al-Rahman IV
عبد الرحمن بن محمد المرتضى بالله
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Murtaḍā bi-llāh		 1018
(~few days)
  • Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik
 d. 1018
  • Great-grandson of Abd al-Rahman III.
  • Proclaimed caliph by some conspirators after Ali al-Nasir's assassination.
  • Claim contested with Hammudid ruler al-Qasim al-Ma'mun.
  • Killed in a campaign to capture Córdoba.
Hammudid rule (1018-1023)
7 Abd al-Rahman V
عبد الرحمن بن هشام المستظهر بالله
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Hishām al-Mustaẓhir bi-llāh		 1023
–
1024
(~47 days)
  • Hisham bin Abd al-Jabbar
  • Ghaia
 1001 – 1024
(aged 23)
  • Great-grandson of Abd al-Rahman III. Brother of Muhammad II.
  • Chosen by Córdobans after al-Qasim's expulsion.
  • Deposed by a gruntled mob, who chose his second cousin, Muhammad III, as caliph; executed soon after.
8 Muhammad III
محمد بن عبد الرحمن المستكفي بالله
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mustakfī bi-llāh		 17 January 1024
–
26 May 1025
(~1 year)
  • Abd al-Rahman bin Ubayd Allah
  • Hawra
 976 – 1025
(aged 49)
  • Great-grandson of Abd al-Rahman III.
  • Chosen by Córdobans who had deposed Abd al-Rahman V.
  • Fled Córdoba after learning of a plot to depose him; possibly poisoned during escape.
Hammudid rule (1025-1027)
9 Hisham III
هشام بن محمد المعتد بالله
Hishām ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtad bi-llāh		 1027
–
1031
(~4 years)
  • Muhammad bin Abd al-Malik
  • Ateb
 973 – 1036
(aged 63)
  • Great-grandson of Abd al-Rahman III; brother of Abd al-Rahman IV.
  • Chosen by Córdobans after Hammudid removal by saqaliba.
  • Deposed and exiled after riots due to his unpopular rule.
  • End of Córdoban state; al-Andalus collapses into Taifas.

Genealogy

Family tree of Umayyad rulers, and their relationship to the Banu Hashim, the clan of Muhammad, the Alids, and Abbasids. Unless a separate year of death is given, the rulers ruled till death (or died soon after deposition).
Abd Manaf
Abd ShamsHashim
d. 497
UmayyaAbd al-Muttalib
d. 578
HarbAbu al-AsAbdullah
d. 570		Abu Talib
d. 619		al-Abbas
d. 653
Abu Sufyan
d. 653		AffanAl-Hakam
d. 656		Muhammad
d. 632		Ali
r. 656–661		Abdullah
d. 687
Mu'awiya I
r. 661–680		Uthman
r. 644–656		Marwan I
r. 684–685		AlidsAbbasids
r. 750–1258
Yazid I
r. 680–683		Abd al-Malik
r. 685–705		Abd al-Aziz
d. 705		Muhammad
d. 720
Mu'awiya II
r. 683–684		Al-Walid I
r. 705–715		Sulayman
r. 715–717		Yazid II
r. 720–724		Hisham
r. 724–743		Umar II
r. 717–720		Marwan II
r. 744–750
Yazid III
r. 744		Ibrahim
r. 744, d. 750		Al-Walid II
r. 743–744		Mu'awiya
d. 737
Abd al-Rahman I
r. 756–788
Hisham I
r. 788–796
Al-Hakam I
r. 796–822
Abd al-Rahman II
r. 822–852
Muhammad I
r. 852–886
Al-Mundhir
r. 886–888		Abdullah
r. 888–912
Muhammad
Abd al-Rahman III
r. 912–961
Al-Hakam II
r. 961–976		Abd al-JabbarSulaymanUbayd AllahAbd al-Malik
Hisham II
r. 976–1009, 
1010–1013		HishamAl-HakamAbd al-RahmanMuhammad
Muhammad II
r. 1009, r. 1010		Abd al-Rahman V
r. 1023–1024		Sulayman
r. 1009–1010, 
1013–1016		Muhammad III
r. 1024–1025 		Abd al-Rahman IV
r. 1018		Hisham III
r. 1027–1031, d. 1036

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Among those who heeded Abd al-Rahman I's call to join him in al-Andalus were his brother al-Walid and the latter's son al-Mughira, his first cousin Ubayd al-Salam ibn Yazid ibn Hisham, and his nephew Ubayd Allah ibn Aban ibn Mu'awiya. Others who arrived included Juzayy, the son of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, and Abd al-Malik ibn Umar (both grandsons of Marwan I from Egypt), Bishr ibn Marwan's son Abd al-Malik from Iraq, and al-Walid I's great-grandson Habib ibn Abd al-Malik, who had escaped the Abbasid massacre of Nahr Abi Futrus.[64]
  2. ↑ Before Abd al-Malik's introduction of Islamic coinage, caliphs continued using Byzantine and Sasanian coins, albeit with slight modifications, such as Bismillah and the caliph's name and title of Amir al-Mu'minin.
  3. ↑ Unlike the later Abbasids, known by their regnal laqabs, Umayyad caliphs lack such titles. Islamic historiography instead refers to them by the given name and patronym, while Western historiography instead uses given name and regnal number.
  4. ↑ The caliphs of Cordoba adopted the custom of using regnal titles from Abbasids, and are referred to by their given name and regnal title in Islamic historiography.

References

  1. ↑ Nardo, Don (12 September 2011). The Islamic Empire. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. ISBN 9781420508024. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  2. ↑ Clot, André (February 2014). Harun al-Rashid: And the World of the Thousand and One Nights. Saqi Books. ISBN 9780863565588. Archived from the original on 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  3. ↑ Simon Barton (30 June 2009). A History of Spain. Macmillan International Higher Education. pp. 44–5. ISBN 978-1-137-01347-7.[permanent dead link]
  4. ↑ Francis Preston Venable (1894). A Short History of Chemistry. Heath. p. 21.
  5. 1 2 3 Watt 1986, p. 434.
  6. 1 2 Hawting 2000a, pp. 21–22.
  7. 1 2 3 Della Vida 2000, p. 837.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Della Vida 2000, p. 838.
  9. ↑ Donner 1981, p. 51.
  10. ↑ Donner 1981, p. 53.
  11. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 40–41.
  12. ↑ Donner 1981, p. 54.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Hawting 2000, p. 841.
  14. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, p. 41.
  15. ↑ Poonawala 1990, p. 8.
  16. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 20–21.
  17. ↑ Donner 1981, p. 82.
  18. ↑ Donner 1981, pp. 83–84.
  19. ↑ Madelung 1997, p. 45.
  20. ↑ Donner 1981, p. 114.
  21. 1 2 Madelung 1997, pp. 60–61.
  22. 1 2 Madelung 1997, p. 61.
  23. ↑ Ahmed 2010, p. 106.
  24. 1 2 Ahmed 2010, p. 107.
  25. 1 2 Hawting 2000a, p. 26.
  26. 1 2 Hawting 2000a, p. 27.
  27. ↑ Hawting 2000a, pp. 27–28.
  28. ↑ Hawting 2000a, p. 28.
  29. ↑ Hawting 2000a, pp. 28–29.
  30. 1 2 Hawting 2000a, p. 30.
  31. 1 2 3 Hawting 2000a, p. 31.
  32. 1 2 Kennedy 2004, p. 83.
  33. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, p. 135.
  34. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 135–136.
  35. ↑ Bosworth 1991, pp. 621–622.
  36. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, p. 136.
  37. ↑ Madelung 1997, p. 345, note 90.
  38. ↑ Madelung 1997, p. 346.
  39. ↑ Lewis 2002, p. 67.
  40. ↑ Madelung 1997, pp. 342–343.
  41. ↑ Donner 2012, p. 177.
  42. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 152–156.
  43. 1 2 3 Bosworth 1991, p. 622.
  44. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, p. 154.
  45. ↑ Kennedy 2004, p. 90.
  46. ↑ Gibb 1960, p. 76.
  47. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, p. 200.
  48. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 221–222.
  49. 1 2 Bacharach 1996, p. 30.
  50. ↑ Becker 1960, p. 42.
  51. ↑ Crone 1980, pp. 124–125.
  52. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, p. 227.
  53. ↑ Kennedy 2016, p. 87.
  54. ↑ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 167, 222.
  55. 1 2 Wellhausen 1927, p. 222.
  56. ↑ Ahmed 2010, p. 118.
  57. ↑ Cytryn-Silverman 2009, p. 49.
  58. ↑ Crone 1980, p. 126.
  59. ↑ Kennedy 2002, p. 127.
  60. ↑ Eisener 1997, p. 822.
  61. ↑ Shaban 1971, pp. 130–131.
  62. ↑ Dodds, Jerrilynn D. (1992). "The Great Mosque of Córdoba". In Dodds, Jerrilynn D. (ed.). Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 11–26. ISBN 0870996371.
  63. 1 2 Scales 1994, p. 113.
  64. 1 2 Scales 1994, pp. 113–114.
  65. ↑ Gerber, Jane S. (1994-01-31). Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience. Simon and Schuster. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-02-911574-9. Archived from the original on 2023-10-26. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  66. ↑ Della Vida 2000, pp. 838–839.
  67. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Della Vida 2000, p. 839.
  68. ↑ Al-Mughayri al-Lami 2019, p. 61.
  69. ↑ Fathi, Mohamed (24 August 2024). "لهذا السبب.. سميت قرية الخضيرات بنجع حمادي بهذا الاسم؟ (Is this why the village of Al-Khudairat in Naga Hammadi was named as such?)". Khalf El-Hadath (in Arabic). Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  70. ↑ Al-Mughayri al-Lami 2019, p. 61.

Sources

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_dynasty