Umayyad Caliphate | |
---|---|
661–750 | |
![]() The Umayyad Caliphate at its greatest extent, under Caliph Umar II, c. 720 | |
Status | Empire |
Capital | |
Official languages | Arabic |
Common languages | (official in certain regions until 700) various regional languages |
Religion | Islam |
Government | Hereditary caliphate |
Caliph | |
• 661–680 | Mu'awiya I (first) |
• 744–750 | Marwan II (last) |
History | |
661 | |
750 | |
Area | |
720[1] | 11,100,000 km2 (4,300,000 sq mi) |
Currency | |
The Umayyad Caliphate (Arabic: الخلافة الأموية) also known as the Umayyad Empire, was the second of the four major Islamic caliphates established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by Mu'awiya I, a companion of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty (Arabic: بنو أمية, Banu Umayyah), an Arab dynasty who came from Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia. Damascus was their capital from 661–744, Harran from 744–750, and after the Abbasid revolution, Córdoba (756–1031) in Al-Andalus, where they established the Emirate of Córdoba (756-929) and then the Caliphate of Córdoba (929-1031), also known as the Second Umayyad Caliphate.[2][3]
By the mid 8th century AD, the territories of the Umayyad Caliphate spanned across three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe). The Umayyad Caliphate was the largest empire in the world at the time. It is the fifth largest empire in history.[4] Some place the beginning of the Islamic Golden Age as early as the Umayyad Caliphate.[5][6]
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