|
Umayyad
dynasty
The first Islamic dynasty, based in Damascus. The Umayyad caliphs
ruled from 660 to 750 AD. The dynasty was founded by Mu’awiya Ibn
Abi Sifyan, the governor of Syria under the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
The Umayyad caliphs were:
Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sifyan, 661-680
Yazid ibn Muawiyah, 680-683
Muawiya ibn Yazid, 683-684
Marwan ibn Hakam, 684-685
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, 685-705
al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, 705-715
Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik, 715-717
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, 717-720
Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik, 720-724
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, 724-743
al-Walid ibn Yazid , 743-744
Yazid ibn al-Walid, 744
Ibrahim ibn al-Walid, 744
Marwan ibn Muhammad (ruled from Harran
in the Jazira) 744-750
The Muslim empire expaned greatly under the reign of the Umayyads.
At its height it extended from the Atlantic coast of North Africa to
the Indus valley. The administrative structures of the preceding
Byzantines and Persians were left intact, but authority was
consolidated to kinsmen of the caliph. Arabic became the official
language and Islam the official religion of the empire. Before his
death, Mu’awiya secured allegiance to his son, Yazid, thereby
introducing dynastic succession to Muslim rule. The Umayyads were
overthrown in the east by the Abbasid dynasty after their defeat in
the Battle of the Zab in 750. The Umayyad dynasty ended with the
assassination of all the family members except Abdul Rahman who fled
to Spain and founded another Umayyad dynasty which ruled in Cordoba
from 756 to 1031 AD.
The Umayyads built garrison towns such as Basra and Kufa, and cities
on trade routes. They built fortress-like desert palaces in Syria,
Jordan and Palestine where the elite went on hunting and gardening
retreats. Some of the palaces were newly built; others were
converted Roman or Byzantine forts. Some of the desert palaces
remain today: Qusayr Amrah and Mshatta in Jordan, Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi
and Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi in Syria, Khirbet al-Mafjar in Jericho,
and Anjar in Lebanon. The palace layout contained halls, baths,
residences, mosques, courtyards, stables and garden enclosures. They
were lavishly decorated with floor mosaics, tiled walls and stucco
carvings.
The Umayyad period is considered the formative period in Islamic
art. Architecture and art were influenced by classical and Roman
forms and by the styles of Mesopotamia and central Asia as artists
continued to work in their established manner. In time new
techniques, forms, and decorative conventions developed that
distinguished this period and made it distinctly Islamic.
The oldest Umayyad mosque, the Dome of
the Rock in Jerusalem was built by Abd al-Malik in 691. The Great
Mosque in Damascus was built by the caliph al-Walid bin Abd al-Malik
in 705. The Umayyads introduced the mihrab, the minaret and the dome
to mosque architecture, and decorations such as mosaics,
inscriptions, wall painting, frescoes, sculpture and carving.
|
