Umayyad Caliphate (Umayyad World)

The Umayyad Caliphate (Arabic: Al-Ḫilāfat al-'umawiyya) was the second of three major Islamic caliphates established in the name of the Islamic religion. The caliphate was established in 661 by the Umayyads, or the Umayyad dynasty, which was derived from the family tree of Umayya ibn Abd Shams. Following the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate, the seat of Islamic authority was moved to Damascus in Syria, a controversial move at the time. Nevertheless, the Umayyad family secured power and the caliphs reigned for nearly 100 years, largely being credited for opening Europe to Islamic expansion campaigns.

In 750, however, the Abbasid Revolt broke out, plunging the caliphate into civil war. The civil war lasted nearly 40 years and overlapped with the Grand War in Europe and Anatolia. The Abbasid family, who claimed to have closer blood relation to Muhammed, established a caliphate of their own in the east, mainly based in Persia, and raised an army of Muslims loyal to them, launching a series of attacks on the Umayyad Caliphate, eventually sacking Damascus, Medina, Mecca, and other major cities while attempting to wipe put the Umayyad royal family, and moving the seat of power to the new city of Baghdad. Eventually, though, the Umayyads who had successfully escaped to the Maghreb reorganized an army of loyal supporters and reclaimed the Levant and the Hejaz, but remained at war with the Abbasid clan for several years before it fell apart and was absorbed by the surrounding states.

Following the reconquest of the Mashriq and eastern half of the caliphate, the Umayyad family remained in power ever since, and have continually held a firm grip on Islamic power save for a few revolts and civil wars over the years, always emerging victorious. Today, the caliphate is among the greatest powers in the world, and is hailed by most Muslims as the reason their campaigns to spread Islam and wage jihad against Europe and the far east were so successful. It is a cultural center for the Muslim world, as all Muslims must make the hajj to Mecca in the caliphate annually. Grand mosques dot the caliphate, and it is a center of world trade and scientific advancement.