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104-513: The Damascene Sword monument, widely considered as the symbol of the city, stands in the square, and is considered a symbol and reminder "of the victories, strength and achievements of the Syrian people". The name of the square is a reference to the Umayyads who took Damascus as the capital of their caliphate in the 7th century. On 20 June 2011 a massive pro- President al-Assad rally was held in

208-553: A better chance of advancement if they hitched themselves to the glitter of the Umayyad name. Although the Umayyads did not have a historical presence in the region (no member of the Umayyad family was known to have ever set foot in al-Andalus before) and there were grave concerns about young Abd al-Rahman's inexperience, several of the lower-ranking Yemeni commanders felt they had little to lose and much to gain, and agreed to support

312-488: A brief period. The Banu Abi Mu'ayt made Iraq and Upper Mesopotamia their home. Abd al-Rahman I Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ( Arabic : عبد الرحمن إبن معاوية إبن هشام , romanized :  ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām ; 7 March 731 – 30 September 788), commonly known as Abd al-Rahman I , was the founder and first emir of the Emirate of Córdoba , ruling from 756 to 788. He established

416-532: A former Umayyad vassal. The ambitious Ibn Habib, a member of the illustrious Fihrid family, had long sought to carve out Ifriqiya as a private dominion for himself. At first, he sought an understanding with the Abbasids, but when they refused his terms and demanded his submission, Ibn Habib broke openly with the Abbasids and invited the remnants of the Umayyad dynasty to take refuge in his dominions. Abd al-Rahman

520-566: A gift Abd al-Rahman was given while in Málaga. The gift was a beautiful young slave girl, but Abd al-Rahman humbly returned her to her previous master. News of the prince's arrival spread like wildfire throughout the peninsula. During this time, emir al-Fihri and the Syrian commander al-Sumayl pondered what to do about the new threat to their shaky hold on power. They decided to try to marry Abd al-Rahman into their family. If that did not work, then Abd al-Rahman would have to be killed. Abd al-Rahman

624-501: A grandson of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik , escaped to Muslim Spain, where he founded the Emirate of Córdoba , which his descendant, Abd al-Rahman III , transformed into a caliphate in 929. Under the Umayyads, Al-Andalus became a centre of science, medicine, philosophy and invention during the Islamic Golden Age . The Caliphate of Córdoba disintegrated into several independent taifa kingdoms in 1031, thus marking

728-478: A great fire and threw his scabbard into the flames. Abd al-Rahman told his men that time had come to go down fighting rather than die of hunger. The gate lifted and Abd al-Rahman's men fell upon the unsuspecting Abbasids, thoroughly routing them. Most of the Abbasid army was killed. The heads of the main Abbasid leaders were cut off, preserved in salt, identifying tags pinned to their ears, and then bundled together in

832-532: A gruesome package and sent to the Abbasid caliph , who was on pilgrimage at Mecca . Upon receiving the evidence of al-Ala's defeat in al-Andalus, al-Mansur is said to have gasped, "God be praised for placing a sea between us!" Al-Mansur hated, and yet apparently respected Abd al-Rahman to such a degree that he dubbed him the "Hawk of Quraysh " (the Umayyads were from a branch of the Quraysh tribe ). Despite such

936-644: A later date. Abd al-Rahman, Yahya, and Bedr quit the village, narrowly escaping the Abbasid assassins. On the way south, Abbasid horsemen again caught up with the trio. Abd al-Rahman and his companions then threw themselves into the River Euphrates. The horsemen urged them to return, promising that no harm would come to them; and Yahya, perhaps from fear of drowning, turned back. The 17th-century historian Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari poignantly described Abd al-Rahman's reaction as he implored Yahya to keep going: "O brother! Come to me, come to me!" Yahya returned to

1040-609: A most difficult city to reign over for not only Abd al-Rahman, but his successors as well. In the year 777–778, several notable men including Sulayman ibn Yokdan al-Arabi al-Kelbi , the self-appointed governor of Zaragoza, met with delegates of the leader of the Franks, Charlemagne . "[Charlemagne's] army was enlisted to help the Muslim governors of Barcelona and Zaragoza against the Umayyad [emir] in Cordoba...." Essentially Charlemagne

1144-471: A narrow pass in the Pyrenees , where his rearguard was wiped out by Basque and Gascon rebels (this disaster inspired the epic Chanson de Roland ). Charlemagne was also attacked by Sulayman's relatives, who had freed Sulayman. Now Abd al-Rahman could deal with Sulayman and the city of Zaragoza without having to fight a massive Christian army. In 779 Abd al-Rahman offered Husayn, one of Sulayman's allies,

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1248-543: A prisoner and not allowed to leave the city limits of Córdoba. Al-Fihri would have to report once a day to Abd al-Rahman, as well as turn over some of his sons and daughters as hostages. For a while al-Fihri met the obligations of the one-sided truce, but he still had many people loyal to him—people who would have liked to see him back in power. Al-Fihri eventually did make another bid for power. He quit Córdoba and quickly started gathering supporters. While at large, al-Fihri managed to gather an army allegedly numbering 20,000. It

1352-739: A revolt by the people of Medina and Ibn al-Zubayr in Mecca. Yazid's cousin, Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Sufyan , and the Umayyads residing in Medina, led by Marwan, were expelled. Yazid dispatched his Syrian army to reassert his authority in the Hejaz and relieve his kinsmen. The Umayyads of Medina joined the Syrians in the assault against the rebels in Medina and defeated them at the Battle of al-Harra . The Syrians proceeded to besiege Mecca , but withdrew upon

1456-528: A small part of his family fled Damascus, where the center of Umayyad power had been; people moving with him included his brother Yahya, his four-year-old son Sulayman, and some of his sisters, as well as his Greek mawla (freedman or client), Bedr. The family fled from Damascus to the River Euphrates . All along the way the path was filled with danger, as the Abbasids had dispatched horsemen across

1560-447: A torrent of ordnance from the Umayyad lines. Abd al-Rahman's warriors spilled into the city's streets, quickly thwarting al-Husayn's desires for independence. Abd al-Rahman did much work to improve al-Andalus' infrastructure. He also built the world-famous Great Mosque of Córdoba (the present-day cathedral of Córdoba), which took place from 785 to 786 (169 AH ) to 786–787 (170 AH). It was expanded multiple times by his successors up to

1664-539: A tremendous victory, Abd al-Rahman had to continuously put down rebellions in al-Andalus. Various Arab and Berber tribes fought each other for varying degrees of power, some cities tried to break away and form their own state, and even members of Abd al-Rahman's family tried to wrest power from him. During a large revolt, dissidents marched on Córdoba itself; However, Abd al-Rahman always managed to stay one step ahead, and crushed all opposition; as he always dealt severely with dissidents in al-Andalus. Zaragoza proved to be

1768-475: Is doubtful, however, that his troops were "regular" soldiers, but rather a hodge-podge of men from various parts of al-Andalus. Abd al-Rahman's appointed governor in Sevilla took up the chase, and after a series of small fights, managed to defeat al-Fihri's army. Al-Fihri himself managed to escape to the former Visigoth capital of Toledo in central al-Andalus; once there, he was promptly killed. Al-Fihri's head

1872-409: Is not considered part of the Umayyad dynasty because he was chosen by consensus ( shura ) among the inner circle of Muslim leadership and never attempted to nominate an Umayyad as his successor. Nonetheless, as a result of Uthman's policies, the Umayyads regained a measure of the power they had lost after the Muslim conquest of Mecca. The assassination of Uthman in 656 became a rallying cry for

1976-526: The Abbasids , the Berbers , and other Muslim Spaniards. His legacy started a new chapter for the Umayyad Dynasty ensuring their survival and culminating in the new Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba by his descendants. Abd al-Rahman was the son of Mu'awiya , son of Hisham , son of Abd al-Malik , according to Abd el-Wahid Merrakechi when reciting his ancestry. Abd al-Rahman's mother was a member of

2080-612: The Fihrid family and a favorite of the old Arab settlers ( baladiyun ), mostly of south Arabian or " Yemeni " tribal stock—was locked in a contest with his vizier (and son-in-law) al-Sumayl ibn Hatim al-Kilabi, the head of the "Syrians"—the shamiyun , drawn from the junds or military regiments of Syria, mostly of north Arabian Qaysid tribes—who had arrived in 742. Among the Syrian junds were contingents of old Umayyad clients, numbering perhaps 500, and Abd al-Rahman believed he might tug on old loyalties and get them to receive him. Bedr

2184-693: The Qays tribes of Qinnasrin, and afterward retook Egypt. Before his death in 685, Marwan voided the succession arrangement, appointing his sons Abd al-Malik and Abd al-Aziz , in that order, instead. Abd al-Aziz was made governor of Egypt and another son, Muhammad was appointed to defeat the Qays tribes of the Jazira . Soon after Abd al-Malik acceded, while he was away on a military campaign, he faced an attempted coup in Damascus by Amr al-Ashdaq. Abd al-Malik suppressed

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2288-496: The Sinai , and then into Egypt . Abd al-Rahman had to keep a low profile as he traveled. It may be assumed that he intended to go at least as far as northwestern Africa ( Maghreb ), the land of his mother, which had been partly conquered by his Umayyad predecessors. The journey across Egypt would prove perilous. At the time, Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri was the semi-autonomous governor of Ifriqiya (roughly, modern Tunisia ) and

2392-687: The Umayyad dynasty in al-Andalus , which continued for nearly three centuries (including the succeeding Caliphate of Córdoba ). Abd al-Rahman was a member of the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus , and his establishment of a government in Iberia represented a break with the Abbasids , who had overthrown the Umayyads in Damascus in 750. He was also known by the surnames al-Dakhil ("the Immigrant"), Saqr Quraysh ("the Falcon of Quraysh "). Abd al-Rahman

2496-476: The early Muslim conquests , conquering the Maghreb , Hispania , Central Asia , Sind , and parts of Chinese Turkestan , but the constant warfare exhausted the state's military resources, while Alid and Kharijite revolts and tribal rivalries weakened the state from within. Finally, in 750 the Abbasids overthrew Caliph Marwan II and massacred most of the family. One of the survivors, Abd al-Rahman ,

2600-405: The tribes of Arabia , "be accepted with caution", but "that too great skepticism with regard to tradition would be as ill-advised as absolute faith in its statements". Della Vida asserts that since the Umayyads who appear at the beginning of Islamic history in the early 7th century were no later than third-generation descendants of Umayya, the latter's existence is highly plausible. By circa 600,

2704-549: The 10th century. Abd al-Rahman knew that one of his sons would one day inherit the rule of al-Andalus, but that it was a land torn by strife. In order to successfully rule in such a situation, Abd al-Rahman needed to create a reliable civil service and organize a standing army. He felt that he could not always rely on the local populace in providing a loyal army; and therefore bought a massive standing army consisting mainly of Berbers from North Africa as well as slaves from other areas. The total number of soldiers under his command

2808-541: The 10th century. Christians more often converted to Islam than Jews although there were converted Jews among the new followers of Islam. There was a great deal of freedom of interaction among the groups: for example, Sarah, the granddaughter of the Visigoth king Wittiza , married a Muslim man and bore two sons who were later counted among the ranks of the highest Arab nobility. Abd al-Rahman died c. 788 in Córdoba, and

2912-513: The 10th century. The Umayyads longed for the Levant , and they established in al-Andalus the same trees, plants and food crops which their ancestors had cultivated in Syria, serving the same traditional foods. Wholesale importation of Syrian styles of living contributed to an extensive Syrianization of the entire countryside of al-Andalus. In the early 7th century, prior to their conversion to Islam,

3016-466: The Abbasid massacres of the Umayyad family, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya (better known as Abd al-Rahman I), a grandson of Caliph Hisham, made his way to al-Andalus, where the mawali of the Umayyads helped him establish a foothold in the province. Once he established the Emirate of Cordoba in 756, he invited other Marwanids, who were keeping a low profile under Abbasid rule, to settle in the Emirate. He

3120-640: The Abu al-Is line came the politically important family of Asid ibn Abi al-Is, whose members served military and gubernatorial posts under various Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs. The al-As line produced Sa'id ibn al-As, who served as one of Uthman's governors in Kufa. The most well-known family of the Anabisa branch was that of Harb's son Abu Sufyan Sakhr. From his descendants, the Sufyanids, came Mu'awiya I, who founded

3224-633: The Banu Makhzum, led by Abu Jahl , as a result of the heavy losses that the Banu Makhzum's leadership incurred fighting the Muslims at the Battle of Badr in 624. An Umayyad chief, Abu Sufyan , thereafter became the leader of the Meccan army that fought the Muslims under Muhammad at the battles of Uhud and the Trench . Abu Sufyan and his sons, along with most of the Umayyads, embraced Islam toward

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3328-639: The Banu Umayya's parent clan, the Banu Abd Shams. Mu'awiya, who had been appointed governor of Syria by Umar, retained his post. Two Umayyads, al-Walid ibn Uqba and Sa'id ibn al-As , were successively appointed to Kufa , one of the two main Arab garrisons and administrative centers in Iraq. Uthman's cousin, Marwan ibn al-Hakam , became his chief adviser. Although a prominent member of the clan, Uthman

3432-561: The Caliph denied this. Then they suggested Mu'awiya (founder of the Umayyad Caliphate), but the Caliph again denied it. Then they suggested Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (one of the greatest of the Umayyad caliphs), but again no. They asked who it was, and al-Mansur replied: The falcon of Quraysh is Abd al-Rahman, who escaped by his cunning the spearheads of the lances and the blades of the swords, who after wandering solitary through

3536-568: The Marwanids were killed in the Abbasid purges of 750. However, a number of them settled in Egypt and Iran, where one of them, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani , authored the famous source of Arab history, the Kitab al-Aghani , in the 10th century. Uthman, the third Rashidun caliph, who ruled between 644 and 656, left several descendants, some of whom served political posts under the Umayyad caliphs. From

3640-520: The Muslim community). Abu Bakr showed favor to the Umayyads by awarding them a prominent role in the Muslim conquest of Syria . He appointed an Umayyad, Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As , as commander of the expedition, but replaced him with other commanders, among whom was Abu Sufyan's son, Yazid . Abu Sufyan had already owned property and maintained trade networks in Syria. Abu Bakr's successor, Caliph Umar ( r.  634–644 ), while actively curtailing

3744-520: The Nafza Berbers with whom he found refuge after the murder of his family in 750. Abd al-Rahman married a Spanish Sephardi woman named Hulal. She is said to have been very beautiful and was the mother of Hisham . Abd al-Rahman was the father of several sons, but the identity of their mother(s) is not clear: In his lifetime, Abd al-Rahman was known as al Dakhil ("the Entrant"), but he

3848-609: The Quraysh had developed trans-Arabian trade networks, organizing caravans to Syria in the north and Yemen in the south. The Banu Umayya and the Banu Makhzum , another prominent Qurayshite clan, dominated these trade networks. They developed economic and military alliances with the nomadic Arab tribes that controlled the northern and central Arabian desert expanses, gaining them a degree of political power in Arabia. Muhammad

3952-589: The Qurayshite opposition to his successor, Muhammad's cousin and son in-law Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib of the Banu Hashim. The Qurayshite elite did not hold Ali responsible, but opposed his accession under the circumstances of Uthman's demise. Following their defeat at the Battle of the Camel near Basra , during which their leaders Talha ibn Ubayd Allah and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam , both potential contenders of

4056-481: The Umayyad Caliphate in 661, and Mu'awiya I's son and successor, Yazid I . Sufyanid rule ceased with the death of the latter's son Mu'awiya II in 684, though Yazid's other sons, Khalid and Abd Allah, continued to play political roles, and the former was credited as the founder of Arabic alchemy . Abd Allah's son Abu Muhammad Ziyad al-Sufyani , meanwhile, led a rebellion against the Abbasids in 750, but

4160-558: The Umayyad clan, was the third Rashidun caliph, ruling in 644–656, while other members held various governorships. One of these governors, Mu'awiya I of Syria , opposed Caliph Ali in the First Muslim Civil War (656–661) and afterward founded the Umayyad Caliphate with its capital in Damascus . This marked the beginning of the Umayyad dynasty, the first hereditary dynasty in the history of Islam , and

4264-581: The Umayyad clients sent out feelers to their rivals, the Yemeni commanders. Although the Yemenis were not natural allies (the Umayyads are cousins of the Qaysid tribes), their interest was piqued. The emir Yusuf al-Fihri had proven himself unable to keep the powerful al-Sumayl in check and several Yemeni chieftains felt their future prospects were poor, whether in a Fihrid or Syrian-dominated Spain, so that they had

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4368-481: The Umayyad lines. An attempt at negotiations soon followed in which it is likely that Abd al-Rahman was offered the hand of al-Fihri's daughter in marriage and great wealth. Abd al-Rahman, however, would settle for nothing less than control of the emirate, and an impasse was reached. Even before the fight began, dissension spread through some of Abd al-Rahman's lines. Specifically, the Yemeni Arabs were unhappy that

4472-480: The Umayyads, leading representatives of those who had opposed the Prophet [Muhammad] until the latest possible moment, had within thirty years of his death reestablished their position to the extent that they were now at the head of the community which he had founded. In contrast to Uthman's empowerment of the Umayyads, Mu'awiya's power did not rely on the clan and, with minor exceptions, he did not appoint Umayyads to

4576-489: The Upper March. He was intent on keeping this important northern border city within the Umayyad fold. By 783 Abd al-Rahman's army advanced on Zaragoza. It appeared as though Abd al-Rahman wanted to make clear to this troublesome city that independence was out of the question. Included in the arsenal of Abd al-Rahman's army were thirty-six siege engines . Zaragoza's famous white granite defensive walls were breached under

4680-468: The army too. Abd al-Rahman triumphantly marched into the capital, Córdoba . Danger was not far behind, as al-Fihri planned a counterattack . He reorganized his forces and set out for the capital Abd al-Rahman had usurped from him. Again Abd al-Rahman met al-Fihri with his army; this time negotiations were successful, although the terms were somewhat changed. In exchange for al-Fihri's life and wealth, he would be

4784-485: The banks of the Euphrates with his sisters. Abd al-Rahman's sisters were unable to make the long voyage to al-Andalus. Abd al-Rahman placed his family members in high offices across the land, as he felt he could trust them more than non-family. The Umayyad family would again grow large and prosperous over successive generations. One of these kinsmen, Abd al-Malik ibn Umar ibn Marwan , persuaded Abd al-Rahman in 757 to drop

4888-510: The caliphate, died, the mantle of opposition to Ali was taken up chiefly by Mu'awiya. Initially, he refrained from openly claiming the caliphate, focusing instead on undermining Ali's authority and consolidating his position in Syria, all in the name of avenging Uthman's death. Mu'awiya and Ali, leading their respective Syrian and Iraqi supporters, fought to a stalemate at the Battle of Siffin in 657. It led to an indecisive arbitration, which weakened Ali's command over his partisans, while raising

4992-402: The city's most important streets and highways: 33°30′50″N 36°16′35″E  /  33.51389°N 36.27639°E  / 33.51389; 36.27639 Umayyad dynasty The Umayyad dynasty ( Arabic : بَنُو أُمَيَّةَ , romanized :  Banū Umayya , lit.   'Sons of Umayya') or Umayyads ( Arabic : الأمويون , romanized :  al-Umawiyyūn )

5096-566: The clan by provoking internal divisions. Among the measures taken was the replacement of Marwan from the governorship of Medina in 668 with another leading Umayyad, Sa'id ibn al-As. The latter was instructed to demolish Marwan's house, but refused. Marwan was restored in 674 and also refused Mu'awiya's order to demolish Sa'id's house. Mu'awiya appointed his own nephew, al-Walid ibn Utba ibn Abi Sufyan , in Marwan's place in 678. In 676, Mu'awiya installed his son, Yazid I , as his successor. The move

5200-710: The death of Yazid. Afterward, Ibn al-Zubayr declared himself caliph and expelled the Umayyads of the Hejaz a second time. They relocated to Palmyra or Damascus, where Yazid's son and successor, Mu'awiya II , ruled at a time when most provinces of the Caliphate discarded Umayyad authority. After Mu'awiya II died in 684, the junds of Palestine, Homs and Qinnasrin recognized Ibn al-Zubayr, while loyalist tribes in Damascus and al-Urdunn scrambled to nominate an Umayyad as caliph. The Banu Kalb, lynchpins of Sufyanid rule, nominated Yazid's surviving sons Khalid and Abd Allah , but they were considered young and inexperienced by most of

5304-578: The deserts of Asia and Africa, had the boldness to seek his fortune without an army, in lands unknown to him beyond the sea. Having naught to rely upon save his own wits and perseverance, he nonetheless humiliated his proud foes, exterminated rebels, organized cities, mobilized armies, secured his frontiers against the Christians, founded a great empire and reunited under his scepter a realm that seemed already parcelled out among others. No man before him ever did such deeds. Mu'awiya rose to his stature through

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5408-411: The direction of Mecca's military affairs in times of war, instead of an actual field command. This early experience in military leadership proved instructive, as later Umayyads were known for possessing considerable political and military organizational skills. The historian Giorgio Levi Della Vida suggests that information in the early Arabic sources about Umayya, as with all the ancient progenitors of

5512-417: The end of Muhammad's life, following the Muslim conquest of Mecca . To secure the loyalty of prominent Umayyad leaders, including Abu Sufyan, Muhammad offered them gifts and positions of importance in the nascent Muslim state. He installed another Umayyad, Attab ibn Asid ibn Abi al-Is , as the first governor of Mecca. Although Mecca retained its paramountcy as a religious center, Medina continued to serve as

5616-750: The family, their burgeoning alliance with the powerful Banu Kalb tribe as a counterbalance to the influence of the Himyarite tribes who entered the Hims district during the conquest, or the lack of a suitable candidate at the time, particularly amid the plague of Amwas , which had already killed Abu Ubayda and Yazid. Caliph Umar died in 644 and was succeeded by Uthman ibn Affan , a wealthy Umayyad merchant, early convert to Islam, and son-in-law and close companion of Muhammad. Uthman initially kept his predecessors' appointees in their provincial posts, but gradually replaced many with Umayyads or his maternal kinsmen from

5720-556: The genealogical tradition would have lived in the late 5th century, was charged with the maintenance and protection of the Kaʿba and its pilgrims. These roles passed to his sons Abd Shams , Hashim and others. Abd Shams was the father of Umayya , the eponymous progenitor of the Umayyads. Umayya succeeded Abd Shams as the qa'id (wartime commander) of the Meccans. This position was likely an occasional political post whose holder oversaw

5824-409: The hands of Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri 's supporters until 779 (submission of Zaragoza). It is unclear whether Abd al-Rahman proclaimed himself caliph. There are documents in the archives of Cordoba that state that this was his first act upon entering the city. However, historically he is recorded as Emir and not Caliph. Abd al-Rahman's 7th descendant, Abd al-Rahman III, would, however, take up

5928-573: The influence of the Qurayshite elite in favor of Muhammad's earlier supporters in the administration and military, did not disturb the growing foothold of Abu Sufyan's sons in Syria, which was all but conquered by 638. When Umar's overall commander over the province, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah , died in 639, he appointed Yazid governor of the Damascus , Palestine and Jordan districts of Syria. Yazid died shortly after and Umar installed his brother Mu'awiya in his place. Umar's exceptional treatment of Abu Sufyan's sons may have stemmed from his respect for

6032-435: The job of Zaragoza's governorship. The temptation was too much for al-Husayn, who murdered his colleague Sulayman. As promised, al-Husayn was awarded Zaragoza with the expectation that he would always be a subordinate of Córdoba. However, within two years al-Husayn broke off relations with Abd al-Rahman and announced that Zaragoza would be an independent city-state. Once again Abd al-Rahman had to be concerned with developments in

6136-495: The main branches of the Umayyads were the A'yas and the Anabisa. The former grouped the descendants of Umayya's sons Abu al-As , al-As, Abu al-Is and al-Uways, all of whose names shared the same or similar root, hence the eponymous label, 'A'yas'. The Anabisa, which is the plural form of Anbasa, a common name in this branch of the clan, gathered the descendants of Umayya's sons Harb , Abu Harb, Abu Sufyan Anbasa, Sufyan, Amr and Umayya's possibly adopted son, Abu Amr Dhakwan. Two of

6240-429: The major provinces or his court in Damascus. He largely limited their influence to Medina, where most of the Umayyads remained headquartered. The loss of political power left the Umayyads of Medina resentful of Mu'awiya, who may have become wary of the political ambitions of the much larger Abu al-As branch of the clan—to which Uthman had belonged—under the leadership of Marwan ibn al-Hakam. Mu'awiya attempted to weaken

6344-535: The massacre of Nahr Abi Futrus. All the Umayyad immigrants were granted estates, stipends, command roles in the army, and provincial offices. While all the emirs, and later caliphs, of al-Andalus were direct descendants of Abd al-Rahman I, the families of Abd al-Malik ibn Umar (the Marwani clan) and Habib ibn Abd al-Malik (the Habibi clan) both became prominent at the provincial, military, judicial and cultural levels into

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6448-709: The name of the Abbasid caliph from the Friday prayers (a traditional recognition of sovereignty in medieval Islam), and became one of his top generals and his governor in Seville . By 763 Abd al-Rahman had to get back to the business of war. Al-Andalus had been invaded by an Abbasid army. Far away in Baghdad , the current Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur , had long been planning to depose the Umayyad who dared to call himself emir of al-Andalus. Al-Mansur installed al-Ala ibn-Mugith as governor of Africa (whose title gave him dominion over

6552-412: The near shore, and was quickly dispatched by the horsemen. They cut off his head and left his body to rot. Al-Maqqari quotes earlier historians reporting that Abd al-Rahman was so overcome with fear that from the far shore he ran until exhaustion overcame him. Only he and Bedr were left to face the unknown. After barely escaping with their lives, Abd al-Rahman and Bedr continued south through Palestine ,

6656-606: The only one to rule over the entire Islamic world of its time. Umayyad authority was challenged in the Second Muslim Civil War , during which the Sufyanid line of Mu'awiya was replaced in 684 by Marwan I , who founded the Marwanid line of Umayyad caliphs, which restored the dynasty's rule over the Caliphate. The Islamic empire reached its largest geographical extent under the Umayyads. The Umayyads drove on

6760-722: The other junds of Syria, with Abd al-Aziz over Damascus, al-Abbas over Homs and Umar over Jordan, as well as giving them command roles in the frontier wars against the Byzantines in Anatolia. He retired his uncle Muhammad ibn Marwan from the Jazira, installing his half-brother Maslama there instead. Al-Walid I's attempt to void his father's succession arrangements by replacing Sulayman with his son Abd al-Aziz failed and Sulayman acceded in 715. Rather than nominating his own sons or brothers, Sulayman appointed his cousin, Umar II ,

6864-568: The other loyalist tribes. Marwan volunteered his candidacy and gained the consensus of the tribes, acceding to the caliphate at a summit in Jabiya in 684. Per the arrangement agreed by the tribes, Marwan would be succeeded by Khalid, followed by Amr al-Ashdaq , the son of Sa'id ibn al-As. Marwan and the allied tribes, led by the Kalb, defeated Ibn al-Zubayr's supporters in Syria, led by the Qurayshite governor of Damascus, al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri , and

6968-432: The political center of the Muslims. Abu Sufyan and the Banu Umayya relocated to the city to maintain their growing political influence. Muhammad's death in 632 created a succession crisis, while nomadic tribes throughout Arabia that had embraced Islam defected from Medina's authority. Abu Bakr , one of Muhammad's oldest friends and an early convert to Islam, was elected caliph (paramount political and religious leader of

7072-475: The political end of the Umayyad dynasty. The Umayyads, or Banu Umayya, were a clan of the larger Quraysh tribe, which dominated Mecca in the pre-Islamic era . The Quraysh derived prestige among the Arab tribes through their protection and maintenance of the Kaʿba , which at the time was regarded by the largely polytheistic Arabs across the Arabian Peninsula as their most sacred sanctuary. A Qurayshite leader, Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy , who based on his place in

7176-430: The prince was mounted on a fine Spanish steed and that his mettle was untried in battle. The Yemenis observed significantly that such a fine horse would provide an excellent mount to escape from battle. Being the ever-wary politician, Abd al-Rahman acted quickly to regain Yemeni support, and rode to a Yemeni chief who was mounted on a mule named "Lightning". Abd al-Rahman averred that his horse proved difficult to ride and

7280-514: The prince. Bedr returned to Africa to tell Abd al-Rahman of the invitation of the Umayyad clients in al-Andalus. Shortly thereafter, they set off with a small group of followers for Europe. When some local Berber tribesmen learned of Abd al-Rahman's intent to set sail for al-Andalus, they quickly rode to catch up with him on the coast. The tribesmen might have figured that they could hold Abd al-Rahman as hostage, and force him to buy his way out of Africa. He did indeed hand over some amount of dinars to

7384-420: The province of al-Andalus). It was al-Ala who headed the Abbasid army that landed in al-Andalus, possibly near Beja (in modern-day Portugal ). Much of the surrounding area of Beja capitulated to al-Ala, and in fact rallied under the Abbasid banners against Abd al-Rahman. Abd al-Rahman had to act quickly. The Abbasid contingent was vastly superior in size, said to have numbered 7,000 men. The emir quickly made for

7488-467: The redoubt of Carmona with his army. The Abbasid army was fast on their heels, and laid siege to Carmona for approximately two months. Abd al-Rahman must have sensed that time was against him as food and water became scarce, and his troops morale likely came into question. Finally Abd al-Rahman gathered his men as he was "resolved on an audacious sally". Abd al-Rahman hand-picked 700 fighters from his army and led them to Carmona's main gate. There, he started

7592-403: The region to try to find the Umayyad prince and kill him. The Abbasids were merciless with all Umayyads that they found. Abbasid agents closed in on Abd al-Rahman and his family while they were hiding in a small village. He left his young son with his sisters and fled with Yahya. Accounts vary, but Bedr likely escaped with Abd al-Rahman. Some histories indicate that Bedr met up with Abd al-Rahman at

7696-464: The region's Arab tribal nobility. As a result, Mu'awiya became widely recognized as caliph, though opposition by the Kharijites and some of Ali's loyalists persisted at a less consistent level. The reunification of the Muslim community under Mu'awiya's leadership marked the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate. Based on the accounts of the traditional Muslim sources, Hawting writes that: ...

7800-427: The revolt and personally executed his kinsman. By 692, he defeated Ibn al-Zubayr, who was killed, and restored Umayyad authority across the Caliphate. Abd al-Malik concentrated power into the hands of the Umayyad dynasty. At one point, his brothers or sons held nearly all governorships of the provinces and Syria's districts. Abd al-Aziz was retained over Egypt until his death shortly before Abd al-Malik's in 705. He

7904-654: The sea to al-Andalus , where Abd al-Rahman could not have been sure whether or not he would be welcomed. Following the Berber Revolt of the 740s, the province was in a crisis, with the Muslim community torn by tribal dissensions among the Arabs (the Qays–Yemeni feud ) and racial tensions between the Arabs and Berbers. At that moment, the nominal ruler of al-Andalus, emir Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri —another member of

8008-695: The setback, al-Fihri turned his army back south to face the "pretender". The fight for the right to rule al-Andalus was about to begin. The two contingents met on opposite sides of the River Guadalquivir , just outside the capital of Córdoba on the plains of Musarah. The river was, for the first time in years, overflowing its banks, heralding the end of a long drought. Nevertheless, food was still scarce, and Abd al-Rahman's army suffered from hunger. In an attempt to demoralize Abd al-Rahman's troops, al-Fihri ensured that his troops not only were well fed, but also ate gluttonous amounts of food in full view of

8112-465: The son of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, as his successor. While the traditional sources present the choice as related to the persuasion of the court theologian, Raja ibn Haywa , it may have been related to Umar II's seniority and his father's previous position as Marwan I's second successor. The family of Abd al-Malik protested the move, but were coerced into a compromise whereby Yazid II , the son of Abd al-Malik and Atika, would follow Umar II. A survivor of

8216-457: The sons of Abu al-As, Affan and al-Hakam , each fathered future caliphs, Uthman and Marwan I, respectively. From the latter's descendants, known as the Marwanids, came the Umayyad caliphs of Damascus who reigned successively between 684 and 750, and then the Cordoba -based emirs and caliphs of Muslim Spain, who held office until 1031. Other than those who had escaped to al-Andalus, most of

8320-605: The square as well as in Homs , Aleppo , Sweida , Latakia , Deraa , Hasaka , Tartous as well other locations during the Syrian civil war . Prior to the opening of the new 1.2 million sqm fairground to house the Damascus International Fair , the fair which was held annually since 1954 (before being cancelled in 2012 and reopening in 2017) was held in the square. The Umayyad square is connected with seven of

8424-520: The stature of Mu'awiya as Ali's equal. As Ali was bogged down combating his former partisans, who became known as the Kharijites , Mu'awiya was recognized as caliph by his core supporters, the Syrian Arab tribes, in 659 or 660. When Ali was assassinated by a Kharijite in 661, Mu'awiya marched on Kufa, where he compelled Ali's son, Hasan , to cede caliphal authority and gained recognition from

8528-541: The suddenly hostile local Berbers. Just as Abd al-Rahman launched his boat, another group of Berbers arrived. They also tried to obtain a fee from him for leaving. One of the Berbers held on to Abd al-Rahman's vessel as it made for al-Andalus, and allegedly had his hand cut off by one of the boat's crew. Abd al-Rahman landed at Almuñécar in al-Andalus, to the east of Málaga , in September 755; however, his landing site

8632-653: The time, Abd al-Rahman and Bedr were keeping a low profile, staying in Kabylie , at the camp of a Nafza Berber chieftain friendly to their plight. Ibn Habib dispatched spies to look for the Umayyad prince. When Ibn Habib's soldiers entered the camp, the Berber chieftain's wife Tekfah hid Abd al-Rahman under her personal belongings to help him go unnoticed. Once they were gone, Abd al-Rahman and Bedr immediately set off westwards. In 755, Abd al-Rahman and Bedr reached modern-day Morocco near Ceuta . Their next step would be to cross

8736-415: The title of caliph. In the meantime, a call went out through the Muslim world that al-Andalus was a safe haven for friends of the house of Umayya , if not for Abd al-Rahman's scattered family that managed to evade the Abbasids. Abd al-Rahman probably was quite happy to see his call answered by waves of Umayyad faithful and family. He was finally reacquainted with his son Sulayman, whom he last saw weeping on

8840-498: The turban and the spear became the banner and symbol of the Andalusian Umayyads. Abd al-Rahman led the charge toward al-Fihri's army. Al-Sumayl in turn advanced his cavalry out to meet the Umayyad threat. After a long and difficult fight "Abd ar-Rahman obtained a most complete victory, and the field was strewn with the bodies of the enemy.". Both al-Fihri and al-Sumayl managed to escape the field (probably) with parts of

8944-511: Was a member of the Banu Hashim , a Qurayshite clan related to the Banu Umayya through their shared ancestor, Abd Manaf. When he began his religious teachings in Mecca, he was opposed by most of the Quraysh. He found support from the inhabitants of Medina and relocated there with his followers in 622. The descendants of Abd Shams , including the Umayyads, were among the principal leaders of Qurayshite opposition to Muhammad. They superseded

9048-568: Was also known as Saqr Quraish ("The Falcon of the Quraish "), bestowed on him by one of his greatest enemies, the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur . According to the chroniclers, al-Mansur once asked his courtiers who deserved the exalted title of "Falcon of the Quraysh " ( Saqr Quraish , foremost of the Quraysh). The obsequious courtiers naturally replied "You, O Commander of the Faithful !", but

9152-624: Was an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe who were the ruling family of the Caliphate between 661 and 750 and later of al-Andalus between 756 and 1031. In the pre-Islamic period , they were a prominent clan of the Meccan tribe of Quraysh , descended from Umayya ibn Abd Shams . Despite staunch opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad , the Umayyads embraced Islam before the former's death in 632. Uthman , an early companion of Muhammad from

9256-527: Was apparently sagacious enough to expect such a plot. In order to help speed his ascension to power, he was prepared to take advantage of the feuds and dissensions. However, before anything could be done, trouble broke out in northern al-Andalus. Zaragoza , an important trade city on the Upper March of al-Andalus, made a bid for autonomy. Al-Fihri and al-Sumayl rode north to quash the rebellion. This might have been fortunate timing for Abd al-Rahman, since he

9360-553: Was being hired as a mercenary, even though he likely had other plans of acquiring the area for his own empire. After Charlemagne's columns arrived at the gates of Zaragoza, Sulayman got cold feet and refused to let the Franks into the city, after his subordinate, al-Husayn ibn Yahiya , had successfully defeated and captured Abd al-Rahman's most trusted general, Thalaba Ibn Ubayd. It is possible that he realized that Charlemagne would want to usurp power from him. After capturing Sulayman, Charlemagne's force eventually headed back to France via

9464-582: Was born in Palmyra , near Damascus in the heartland of the Umayyad Caliphate , the son of the Umayyad prince Mu'awiya ibn Hisham and his concubine Raha, a Berber woman from the Nafza tribe, and thus the grandson of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik , caliph from 724 to 743. He was twenty when his family, the ruling Umayyads , were overthrown by the Abbasid Revolution in 748–750. Abd al-Rahman and

9568-465: Was dispatched across the straits to make contact. Bedr managed to line up three Syrian commanders—Ubayd Allah ibn Uthman and Abd Allah ibn Khalid, both originally of Damascus, and Yusuf ibn Bukht of Qinnasrin. The trio approached the Syrian arch-commander al-Sumayl (then in Zaragoza ) to get his consent, but al-Sumayl refused, fearing Abd al-Rahman would try to make himself emir . As a result, Bedr and

9672-700: Was filled with far more Umayyads than under his Sufyanid predecessors, a result of the clan's exile to the city from Medina. He maintained close ties with the Sufyanids through marital relations and official appointments, such as according Yazid's son Khalid a prominent role in the court and army and wedding to him his daughter A'isha. Abd al-Malik also married Khalid's sister Atika , who became his favorite and most influential wife. After his brother Abd al-Aziz's death, Abd al-Malik designated his eldest son, al-Walid I , his successor, to be followed by his second eldest, Sulayman . Al-Walid acceded in 705. He kept Sulayman as governor of Palestine, while appointing his sons to

9776-501: Was nearly 40,000. As was common during the years of Islamic expansion from Arabia, religious tolerance was practiced. Abd al-Rahman continued to allow Jews and Christians and other monotheistic religions to retain and practice their faiths, in exchange for the jizya . Possibly because of tribute taxes, "the bulk of the country's population must have become Muslim". However, other scholars have argued that though 80% of al-Andalus converted to Islam , it did not truly occur until near

9880-592: Was only one of several surviving Umayyad family members to make their way to Ifriqiya at this time. But Ibn Habib soon changed his mind. He feared the presence of prominent Umayyad exiles in Ifriqiya, a family more illustrious than his own, might become a focal point for intrigue among local nobles against his own usurped powers. Around 755, believing he had discovered plots involving some of the more prominent Umayyad exiles in Kairouan , Ibn Habib turned against them. At

9984-760: Was quoted by al-Maqqari as stating, "among the many [favors] bestowed on us by the Almighty ... is his allowing us to collect in this country our kindred and relatives, and enabling us to give them a share in this empire". Among those who heeded his call were his brother al-Walid and the latter's son al-Mughira, his first cousin Ubayd al-Salam ibn Yazid ibn Hisham, and his nephew Ubayd Allah ibn Aban ibn Mu'awiya. Others who arrived included Juzayy ibn Abd al-Aziz and Abd al-Malik ibn Umar (both grandsons of Marwan I) from Egypt, Bishr ibn Marwan's son Abd al-Malik from Iraq, and al-Walid I's grandson Habib ibn Abd al-Malik, who had escaped

10088-506: Was replaced by Abd al-Malik's son Abdallah . Abd al-Malik appointed his son Sulayman over Palestine, following stints there by his uncle Yahya ibn al-Hakam and brother Aban ibn Marwan . In Iraq, he appointed his brother Bishr over Kufa and a distant cousin, Khalid ibn Abdallah ibn Khalid ibn Asid , in Basra, before combining both cities under the governorship of his trusted general al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf . Abd al-Malik's court in Damascus

10192-425: Was sent to Córdoba, where Abd al-Rahman had it nailed to a bridge. With this act, Abd al-Rahman proclaimed himself the emir of al-Andalus. However, in order to take over southern Iberia , al-Fihri's general, al-Sumayl, had to be dealt with, and he was garroted in Córdoba's jail. Still, most of central and northern al-Andalus ( Toledo , Zaragoza , Barcelona , etc.) was out of his rule, with large swathes remaining in

10296-623: Was still getting a solid foothold in al-Andalus. By March 756, Abd al-Rahman and his growing following of Umayyad clients and Yemeni junds , were able to take Sevilla without violence. He managed to break the rebellion attempt in Zaragoza, but just about that time the Cordovan governor received news of a Basque rebellion in Pamplona . An important detachment was sent by Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman to quash it, but his troops were annihilated. After

10400-522: Was supposedly buried under the site of the Mezquita. Abd al-Rahman's alleged favorite son was his choice for successor, and would later be known as Hisham I . Abd al-Rahman's progeny would continue to rule al-Andalus in the name of the house of Umayya for several generations, with the zenith of their power coming during the reign of Abd al-Rahman III . Abd al-Rahman I was able to forge a new Umayyad dynasty by standing successfully against Charlemagne ,

10504-571: Was ultimately slain. Abu Sufyan's other sons were Yazid, who preceded Mu'awiya I as governor of Syria, Amr, Anbasa, Muhammad and Utba . Only the last two left progeny. The other important family of the Anabisa were the descendants of Abu Amr, known as the Banu Abi Mu'ayt. Abu Amr's grandson Uqba ibn Abu Mu'ayt was captured and executed on Muhammad's orders during the Battle of Badr for his previously harsh incitement against Muhammad. Uqba's son, al-Walid, served as Uthman's governor in Kufa for

10608-531: Was unconfirmed. Upon landing in Torrox , al-Andalus, Abd al-Rahman was greeted by clients Abu Uthman and Ibn Khalid and an escort of 300 cavalry. During his brief time in Málaga , he was able to amass local support quickly. Waves of people made their way to Málaga to pay respect to the prince they thought was dead, including many of the aforementioned Syrians. One famous story that persisted through history related to

10712-558: Was unprecedented in Muslim politics—earlier caliphs had been elected by popular support in Medina or by the consultation of the senior companions of Muhammad . Mu'awiya's Umayyad kinsmen in Medina, including Marwan and Sa'id, accepted Mu'awiya's decision, albeit disapprovingly. The principle opposition emanated from Husayn ibn Ali , Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr , Abd Allah ibn Umar and Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr , all prominent Medina-based sons of earlier caliphs or close companions of Muhammad. Yazid acceded in 680 and three years later faced

10816-462: Was wont to buck him out of the saddle. He offered to exchange his horse for the mule, a deal to which the surprised chief readily agreed. The swap quelled the simmering Yemeni rebellion. Soon both armies were in their lines on the same bank of the Guadalquivir. Abd al-Rahman had no banner, and so one was improvised by unwinding a green turban and binding it round the head of a spear. Subsequently,

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