Editing Arabs (section)

===== Umayyad era (661–750 and 756–1031) =====
{{main|Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad Caliphate}}
{{Further|Arab conquest of armenia|Arab conquest of the Maghreb|Muslim conquest of Spain|Muslim conquest of Transoxiana
|Umayyad campaigns in India}}
{{See also|Abbadid|Taifa|Nasrid dynasty (Sistan)|Zengid dynasty|Ikhshidid dynasty|Caliphate of Córdoba|Al-Andalus|}}
In 661, the Rashidun Caliphate fell into the hands of the [[Banu Umayya|Umayyad dynasty]] and [[Damascus]] was established as the empire's capital. The Umayyads were proud of their Arab identity and sponsored the poetry and culture of pre-Islamic Arabia. They established garrison towns at [[Ramla]], [[Raqqa]], [[Basra]], [[Kufa]], [[Mosul]] and [[Samarra]], all of which developed into major cities.<ref name="Lunde">{{Cite book|last=Lunde|first=Paul|title=Islam|publisher=Dorling Kindersley Publishing|year=2002|isbn=978-0789487971|location=New York|pages=50–52}}</ref> [[Caliph]] [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] established Arabic as the Caliphate's official language in 686.<ref>John Joseph Saunders, ''A history of medieval Islam'', Routledge, 1965, page 13</ref> Caliph [[Umar II]] strove to resolve the conflict when he came to power in 717, demanding that all Muslims be treated as equals, but his intended reforms did not take effect, as he died after only three years of rule. By now, discontent with the Umayyads swept the region and an uprising occurred in which the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]] came to power and moved the capital to [[Baghdad]].
[[File:La civilització del califat de Còrdova en temps d'Abd-al-Rahman III.jpg|thumb|The [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Caliphate of Còrdova]] during the reign of [[Abd al-Rahman III]]. Receiving the Ambassador by [[Dionisio Baixeras Verdaguer]] 1885 CE.]]
Umayyads expanded their Empire westwards capturing North Africa from the Byzantines. Before the Arab conquest, North Africa was conquered or settled by various people including [[Punics]], Vandals and Romans. After the [[Abbasid Revolution]], the Umayyads lost most of their territories with the exception of Iberia.

Their last holding became known as the [[Emirate of Córdoba]]. It was not until the rule of the grandson of the founder of this new emirate that the state entered a new phase as the [[Caliphate of Córdoba]]. This new state was characterized by an expansion of trade, culture and knowledge, and saw the construction of masterpieces of [[al-Andalus]] architecture and the library of [[Al-Ḥakam II]] which housed over 400,000 volumes. With the collapse of the Umayyad state in 1031 CE, [[Al-Andalus]] was divided into [[Taifa|small kingdoms]].<ref>Clifford Edmund Bosworth [https://books.google.com/books?id=UB4uSVt3ulUC&pg=PA264 Historic cities of the Islamic world], Brill, Leyden, 2007, {{ISBN|9004153888}} p. 264</ref>