Umayyad Caliphate (Saracen Jihad)

The ‘’’Umayyad Caliphate’’’ (Arabic: الخلافة الأموية‎, trans. Al-Ḫilāfat al-ʾumawiyya) was the second major Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was centered around the Umayyad dynasty (Arabic: الأمويون‎, al-ʾUmawiyyūn, or بنو أمية, Banū ʾUmayya, "Sons of Umayya"), which originated 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 Abi Sufyan, 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 established as their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) into the Muslim world.