Umayyad Caliphate

Epic card · No. 7548

The Umayyad Caliphate, or the Umayyad Empire (US: ; Arabic: ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, romanized: al-Khilāfa al-Umawiyya), was the second Islamic caliphate, ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 661 to 750. It succeeded the Rashidun Caliphate, whose third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan (r. 644–656), was also a member of the Umayyad clan. The Umayyad family established hereditary rule under Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the long-time governor of Syria, who became caliph in 661 after emerging victorious in the First Fitna. Syria served as the caliphate's metropolitan province thereafter, with Damascus as its capital. Umayyad authority was later challenged in the Second Fitna, during which the Sufyanid line of Mu'awiya (which includes only the first three Umayyad caliphs) was replaced in 684 by Marwan ibn al-Hakam, who founded the Marwanid line that became the ruling Umayyad house henceforth. His eldest son and successor Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan restored Umayyad control over the Caliphate after defeating...

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