Editing Umayyad Caliphate (section)

===Early Marwanid period===
====Marwanid transition and end of Second Fitna====
[[File:Second Fitna Territorial Control Map ca 686.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Map of the Middle East with shaded areas indicating the territorial control of the main political actors of the Second Muslim Civil War|Map of the caliphate during the [[Second Fitna]] in {{circa|686}}. The area shaded in red represents the approximate territory of the Umayyads, while the areas shaded in blue, green and yellow respectively represent the territories of the [[Mecca]]-based caliph [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr]], the pro-Alid ruler of [[Kufa]] [[Mukhtar al-Thaqafi]], and the [[Kharijites]] ]]

Umayyad authority nearly collapsed in their Syrian stronghold after the death of Mu'awiya II.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=90–91}} Al-Dahhak in Damascus, the [[Qays]] tribes in [[Jund Qinnasrin|Qinnasrin]] (northern Syria) and the Jazira, the [[Judham]] in Palestine, and the Ansar and South Arabians of Homs all opted to recognize Ibn al-Zubayr.{{sfn|Crone|1994|p=45}} Marwan ibn al-Hakam, the leader of the Umayyads expelled to Syria from Medina, was prepared to submit to Ibn al-Zubayr as well but was persuaded to forward his candidacy for the caliphate by Ibn Ziyad. The latter had been driven out of Iraq and strove to uphold Umayyad rule.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=90–91}} During a summit of pro-Umayyad Syrian tribes, namely the Quda'a and their Kindite allies, organized by Ibn Bahdal in the old Ghassanid capital of [[Jabiya]], Marwan was elected caliph in exchange for economic privileges to the loyalist tribes.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=91}}{{sfn|Crone|1994|p=46}} At the subsequent [[Battle of Marj Rahit (684)|Battle of Marj Rahit]] in August 684, Marwan led his tribal allies to a decisive victory against a much larger Qaysite army led by al-Dahhak, who was slain.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=91}} Not long after, the South Arabians of Homs and the Judham joined the Quda'a to form the tribal confederation of [[Yaman (tribal group)|Yaman]].{{sfn|Crone|1994|p=46}} Marj Rahit led to the long-running [[Qays–Yaman rivalry|conflict between the Qays and Yaman]] coalitions. The Qays regrouped in the [[Euphrates river]] fortress of [[Circesium]] under [[Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi]] and moved to avenge their losses.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|pp=201–202}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=33}} Although Marwan regained full control of Syria in the months following the battle, the inter-tribal strife undermined the foundation of Umayyad power: the Syrian army.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=182}}

In 685, Marwan and Ibn Bahdal expelled the [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Utba al-Fihri|Zubayrid governor of Egypt]] and replaced him with Marwan's son [[Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan|Abd al-Aziz]], who would rule the province until his death in 704/05.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=92–93}} Another son, [[Muhammad ibn Marwan|Muhammad]], was appointed to suppress Zufar's rebellion in the Jazira.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=92}} Marwan died in April 685 and was succeeded by his eldest son [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=93}} Although Ibn Ziyad attempted to restore the Syrian army of the Sufyanid caliphs, persistent divisions along Qays–Yaman lines contributed to the army's massive rout and Ibn Ziyad's death at the hands of the pro-Alid forces of [[Mukhtar al-Thaqafi]] of Kufa at the [[Battle of Khazir]] in August 686.{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|pp=32–33}} The setback delayed Abd al-Malik's attempts to reestablish Umayyad authority in Iraq,{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=33}} while pressures from the Byzantine Empire and raids into Syria by the Byzantines' [[Mardaite]] allies compelled him to sign a peace treaty with Byzantium in 689 which substantially increased the Umayyads' annual tribute to the Empire.{{sfn|Dixon|1969|pp=220–222}} During his siege of Circesium in 691, Abd al-Malik reconciled with Zufar and the Qays by offering them privileged positions in the Umayyad court and army, signaling a new policy by the caliph and his successors to balance the interests of the Qays and Yaman in the Umayyad state.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=97–98}}{{sfn|Dixon|1969|pp=174–176, 206–208}} With his unified army, Abd al-Malik marched against the Zubayrids of Iraq, having already secretly secured the defection of the province's leading tribal chiefs, and defeated Iraq's ruler, Ibn al-Zubayr's brother [[Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr|Mus'ab]], at the [[Battle of Maskin]] in 691.{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=33}}{{sfn|Dixon|1969|pp=235–239}} Afterward, the Umayyad commander [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]] [[siege of Mecca (692)|besieged Mecca]] and killed Ibn al-Zubayr in 692, marking the end of the Second Fitna and the reunification of the caliphate under Abd al-Malik's rule.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=98}}

====Domestic consolidation and centralization====
[[File:First Umayyad gold dinar, Caliph Abd al-Malik, 695 CE.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Abd al-Malik introduced an independent Islamic currency, the [[gold dinar]], in 693, which originally depicted a human figure, likely the caliph, as shown in this coin minted in 695. In 697, the figural depictions were replaced solely by Qur'anic and other Islamic inscriptions]]

Iraq remained politically unstable and the garrisons of Kufa and Basra had become exhausted by warfare with Kharijite rebels.{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=76}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=33}} In 694 Abd al-Malik combined both cities as a single province under the governorship of al-Hajjaj, who oversaw the suppression of the Kharijite revolts in Iraq and Iran by 698 and was subsequently given authority over the rest of the eastern caliphate.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=87}}{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=231}} Resentment among the Iraqi troops towards al-Hajjaj's methods of governance, particularly his death threats to force participation in the war efforts and his reductions to their stipends, culminated with a mass Iraqi rebellion against the Umayyads in {{circa|700}}. The leader of the rebels was the Kufan nobleman [[Ibn al-Ash'ath]], grandson of al-Ash'ath ibn Qays.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|pp=87–88}} Al-Hajjaj defeated Ibn al-Ash'ath's rebels at the [[Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim]] in April.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=88}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=34}} The suppression of the revolt marked the end of the Iraqi ''muqātila'' as a military force and the beginning of Syrian military domination of Iraq.{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=77}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=34}} Iraqi internal divisions, and the utilization of more disciplined Syrian forces by Abd al-Malik and al-Hajjaj, voided the Iraqis' attempt to reassert power in the province.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=88}}

To consolidate Umayyad rule after the Second Fitna, the Marwanids launched a series of centralization, [[Islamization]] and [[Arabization]] measures.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=85}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=62}} These measures included the creation of multiple classes of Arabic-inscribed administrative media as a way to proliferate their particular political, cultural, and religious disposition to both Arab and non-Arab audiences.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ramadan |first=Tareq A. |date=2017 |title=Inscribed Administrative Material Culture And The Development Of The Umayyad State In Syria-Palestine 661-750 CE (Dissertation) |journal=Wayne State University Dissertations |url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1860/}}</ref> To prevent further rebellions in Iraq, al-Hajjaj founded a permanent Syrian garrison in [[Wasit]], situated between Kufa and Basra, and instituted a more rigorous administration in the province.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=88}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=34}} Power thereafter derived from the Syrian troops, who became Iraq's ruling class, while Iraq's Arab nobility, religious scholars and ''mawālī'' became their virtual subjects.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=88}} The surplus from the agriculturally rich [[Sawad]] lands was redirected from the ''muqātila'' to the caliphal treasury in Damascus to pay the Syrian troops in Iraq.{{sfn|Kennedy|2001|p=34}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=85}} The system of military pay established by Umar, which paid stipends to veterans of the earlier Muslim conquests and their descendants, was ended, salaries being restricted to those in active service.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=89}} The old system was considered a handicap on Abd al-Malik's executive authority and financial ability to reward loyalists in the army.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=89}} Thus, a professional army was established during Abd al-Malik's reign whose salaries derived from tax proceeds.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=89}}

In 693, the Byzantine gold ''[[solidus (coin)|solidus]]'' was replaced in Syria and Egypt with the [[gold dinar|dinar]].{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=77}}{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=28, 94}} Initially, the new coinage contained depictions of the caliph as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community and its supreme military commander.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=28}} This image proved no less acceptable to Muslim officialdom and was replaced in 696 or 697 with image-less coinage inscribed with Qur'anic quotes and other Muslim religious formulas.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=28, 94}} In 698/699, similar changes were made to the silver [[dirham]]s issued by the Muslims in the former Sasanian Persian lands of the eastern caliphate.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=94}} Arabic replaced [[Middle Persian|Persian]] as the language of the ''dīwān'' in Iraq in 697, [[Greek language|Greek]] in the Syrian ''dīwān'' in 700, and Greek and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] in the Egyptian ''dīwān'' in 705/706.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=28, 94}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=63}}{{sfn|Duri|1965|p=324}} Arabic ultimately became the sole official language of the Umayyad state,{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=94}} but the transition in faraway provinces, such as Khurasan, did not occur until the 740s.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|pp=63–64}} Although the official language was changed, Greek and Persian-speaking bureaucrats who were versed in Arabic kept their posts.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|pp=219–220}} According to Gibb, the decrees were the "first step towards the reorganization and unification of the diverse tax-systems in the provinces, and also a step towards a more definitely Muslim administration".{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=77}} Indeed, it formed an important part of the Islamization measures that lent the Umayyad Caliphate "a more ideological and programmatic coloring it had previously lacked", according to Blankinship.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=95}}

In 691/692, Abd al-Malik completed the [[Dome of the Rock]] in Jerusalem.{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=424–426}}{{sfn|Elad|1999|p=45}} It was possibly intended as a monument of victory over the Christians that would distinguish Islam's uniqueness within the common [[Abrahamic]] setting of Jerusalem, home of the two older Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=60}} An alternative motive may have been to divert the religious focus of Muslims in the Umayyad realm from the Ka'aba in Zubayrid Mecca (683–692), where the Umayyads were routinely condemned during the Hajj.{{sfn|Grabar|1986|p=299}}{{sfn|Johns|2003|pp=425–426}}{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=60}} In Damascus, Abd al-Malik's son and successor [[al-Walid I]] ({{reign|705|715}}) confiscated the cathedral of [[John the Baptist|St. John the Baptist]] and founded the [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque]] in its place as a "symbol of the political supremacy and moral prestige of Islam", according to historian Nikita Elisséeff.{{sfn|Elisséeff|1965|p=801}} Noting al-Walid's awareness of architecture's propaganda value, historian Robert Hillenbrand calls the Damascus mosque a "victory monument" intended as a "visible statement of Muslim supremacy and permanence".{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1994|pp=71–72}}

====Renewal of conquests====
{{See also| Muslim conquest of Armenia|Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|Muslim conquest of Hispania|Muslim conquest of Transoxiana|Umayyad campaigns in India}}
[[File:Caliphate 750.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=Old map of western Eurasia and northern Africa showing the expansion of the Caliphate from Arabia to cover most of the Middle East, with the Byzantine Empire outlined in green|The expansion of the Muslim Caliphate until 750, from [[William R. Shepherd]]'s ''Historical Atlas''.<br>{{legend2|#df9860|Muslim state at the death of [[Muhammad]]}} {{legend2|#c29d44|Expansion under the [[Rashidun Caliphate]]}} {{legend2|#e4af90|Expansion under the Umayyad Caliphate}} {{legend-line|#99a53a solid 5px|[[Byzantine Empire]]}}]]

Under al-Walid I the Umayyad Caliphate reached its greatest territorial extent.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=90}} The war with the Byzantines had resumed under his father after the civil war,{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=77}} with the Umayyads defeating the Byzantines at the [[Battle of Sebastopolis]] in 692.{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=77}}{{sfn|Lilie|1976|pp=110–112}} The Umayyads frequently raided Byzantine Anatolia and Armenia in the following years.{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=77}}{{sfn|Lilie|1976|pp=112–116}} By 705, Armenia was annexed by the caliphate along with the principalities of [[Caucasian Albania]] and [[Principality of Iberia|Iberia]], which collectively became the province of [[Arminiya]].{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=107}}{{sfn|Ter-Ghewondyan|1976|pp=20–21}}{{sfn|Lilie|1976|pp=113–115}} In 695–698 the commander [[Hassan ibn al-Nu'man al-Ghassani]] restored Umayyad control over Ifriqiya after defeating the Byzantines and Berbers there.{{sfn|Kaegi|2010|p=14}}{{sfn|Talbi|1971|p=271}} [[Battle of Carthage (698)|Carthage was captured]] and destroyed in 698,{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=77}}{{sfn|Talbi|1971|p=271}} signaling "the final, irretrievable end of [[Exarchate of Africa|Roman power in Africa]]", according to Kennedy.{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|p=217}} Kairouan was firmly secured as a launchpad for later conquests, while the port town of [[medina of Tunis|Tunis]] was founded and equipped with an arsenal on Abd al-Malik's orders to establish a strong Arab fleet.{{sfn|Gibb|1960b|p=77}}{{sfn|Talbi|1971|p=271}} Hassan ibn al-Nu'man continued the campaign against the Berbers, defeating them and killing their leader, the warrior queen [[al-Kahina]], between 698 and 703.{{sfn|Kaegi|2010|p=14}} His successor in Ifriqiya, [[Musa ibn Nusayr]], subjugated the Berbers of the [[Hawwara]], [[Zenata]] and [[Kutama]] confederations and advanced into the [[Maghreb]] (western North Africa), conquering [[Tangier]] and [[Sous|Sus]] in 708/709. Musa's Berber ''[[mawla]]'', [[Tariq ibn Ziyad]], invaded the [[Visigothic Kingdom]] of [[Al-Andalus|Hispania]] (the Iberian Peninsula) in 711 and within five years most of [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Hispania was conquered]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=90}}{{sfn|Lévi-Provençal|1993|p=643}}{{sfn|Kaegi|2010|p=15}}

[[File:Umayyad Caliphate coinage temp Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik al-Hind (possibly Multan) mint. Dated AH 97 (AD 715-6).jpg|thumb|300px|Umayyad coinage in India, from the time of the first [[Caliphal province of Sind|Governor of Sind]] [[Muhammad ibn Qasim]]. Minted in India "[[al-Hind]]" (possibly in the city of [[Multan]]), dated AH 97 (715–716 CE): obverse circular legend ''"in the name of Allah, struck this dirham in [[al-Hind]] ([[File:India in Abd al-Malik al-Hind coin 715 CE (detail).jpg|20px]] ''{{lang|ar|[[:ary:لهند|لهند]]}}'' l'Hind) in the year seven and ninety"''.]]

Al-Hajjaj managed the eastern expansion from Iraq.{{sfn|Kennedy|2002|p=127}} His lieutenant governor of [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]], [[Qutayba ibn Muslim]], launched numerous campaigns against [[Transoxiana]] (Central Asia), which had been a largely impenetrable region for earlier Muslim armies, between 705 and 715.{{sfn|Kennedy|2002|p=127}} Despite the distance from the Arab garrison towns of Khurasan, the unfavorable terrain and climate and his enemies' numerical superiority,{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=438}} Qutayba, through his persistent raids, gained the surrender of [[Bukhara]] in 706–709, [[Khwarazm]] and [[Samarkand]] in 711–712 and [[Farghana]] in 713.{{sfn|Kennedy|2002|p=127}} He established Arab garrisons and tax administrations in Samarkand and Bukhara and demolished their [[Zoroastrian]] [[fire temple]]s.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|pp=437–438}} Both cities developed as future centers of Islamic and Arabic learning.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=438}} Umayyad suzerainty was secured over the rest of conquered Transoxiana through tributary alliances with local rulers, whose power remained intact.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|pp=90–91}} From 708/709, al-Hajjaj's kinsman [[Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi|Muhammad ibn al-Qasim]] conquered northwestern South Asia and established out of this new territory the [[Sind (caliphal province)|province of Sind]].{{sfn|Dietrich|1971|p=41}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=91}} The massive war spoils netted by the conquests of Transoxiana, Sind and Hispania were comparable to the amounts accrued in the [[early Muslim conquests]] during the reign of Caliph Umar.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=82}}

Al-Walid I's successor, his brother [[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik|Sulayman]] ({{reign|715|717}}), continued his predecessors' [[militarism|militarist]] policies, but expansion mostly ground to a halt during his reign.{{sfn|Eisener|1997|p=821}} The deaths of al-Hajjaj in 714 and Qutayba in 715 left the Arab armies in Transoxiana in disarray. For the next 25 years, no further eastward conquests were undertaken and the Arabs lost territory.{{sfn|Gibb|1923|p=54}} The [[Tang dynasty|Tang Chinese]] defeated the Arabs at the [[Battle of Aksu (717)|Battle of Aksu]] in 717, forcing their withdrawal to [[Tashkent]].{{sfn|Beckwith|1993|pp=88–89}} Meanwhile, in 716, the governor of Khurasan, [[Yazid ibn al-Muhallab]], attempted to conquer the principalities of [[Jurjan]] and [[Tabaristan]] along the southern [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] coast.{{sfn|Madelung|1975|pp=198–199}} His Khurasani and Iraqi troops were reinforced by Syrians, marking their first deployment to Khurasan, but the Arabs' initial successes were reversed by the local Iranian coalition of [[Farrukhan the Great]]. Afterward, the Arabs withdrew in return for a tributary agreement.{{Sfn|Madelung|1993}}

[[File:47-cropped-manasses-chronicle.jpg|thumb|upright=1|left|alt=Medieval illustration showing cavalry sallying from a city and routing an enemy army|A 14th-century illustration of the [[Siege of Constantinople (717–718)|siege of Constantinople]]]]

On the Byzantine front, Sulayman took up his predecessor's project to capture Constantinople with increased vigor.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=344}} His brother [[Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik|Maslama]] [[Siege of Constantinople (717–718)|besieged the Byzantine capital]] from the land,{{sfn|Powers|1989|pp=39–40}} while [[Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari]] launched a naval campaign against the city.{{sfn|Eisener|1997|p=821}} The Byzantines destroyed the Umayyad fleets and defeated Maslama's army, prompting his withdrawal to Syria in 718.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|pp=347–348}} The massive losses incurred during the campaign led to a partial retrenchment of Umayyad forces from the captured Byzantine frontier districts,{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=33–34}}{{sfn|Lilie|1976|pp=132–133}} but already in 720, Umayyad raids against Byzantium recommenced. Nevertheless, the goal of conquering Constantinople was effectively abandoned, and the frontier between the two empires stabilized along the line of the [[Taurus Mountains|Taurus]] and [[Anti-Taurus Mountains]], over which both sides continued to launch regular raids and counter-raids during the next centuries.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=117–121}}{{sfn|Lilie|1976|pp=143–144, 158–162}}

====Caliphate of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz====
Contrary to expectations of a son or brother succeeding him, Sulayman had nominated his cousin, [[Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz]], as his successor and he took office in 717. After the Arabs' severe losses in the offensive against Constantinople, Umar drew down Arab forces on the caliphate's war fronts, though [[Narbonne]] in modern France was conquered during his reign.{{sfn|Cobb|2000|p=821}}{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|pp=33–34}}{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|p=268–269}} To maintain stronger oversight in the provinces, Umar dismissed all his predecessors' governors, his new appointees being generally competent men he could control. To that end, the massive viceroyalty of Iraq and the east was broken up.{{sfn|Cobb|2000|p=821}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=106}}

Umar's most significant policy entailed fiscal reforms to equalize the status of the Arabs and ''mawali'',{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=31}} thus remedying a long-standing issue which threatened the Muslim community.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=107}} The [[jizya]] (poll tax) on the ''mawali'' was eliminated.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=77}} Hitherto, the jizya, which was traditionally reserved for the non-Muslim majorities of the caliphate, continued to be imposed on non-Arab converts to Islam, while all Muslims who cultivated conquered lands were liable to pay the {{Transliteration|ar|kharaj}} (land tax). Since avoidance of taxation incentivized both mass conversions to Islam and abandonment of land for migration to the garrison cities, it put a strain on tax revenues, especially in Egypt, Iraq and Khurasan.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|pp=77–79}} Thus, "the Umayyad rulers had a vested interest in preventing the conquered peoples from accepting Islam or forcing them to continue paying those taxes from which they claimed exemption as Muslims", according to Hawting.{{sfn|Hawting|2000|p=78}} To prevent a collapse in revenue, the converts' lands would become the property of their villages and remain liable for the full rate of the {{Transliteration|ar|kharaj}}.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=107}}

In tandem, Umar intensified the Islamization drive of his Marwanid predecessors, enacting measures to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims and inaugurating Islamic [[iconoclasm]].{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=32}} His position among the Umayyad caliphs is unusual, in that he became the only one to have been recognized in subsequent Islamic tradition as a genuine caliph (''khalifa'') and not merely as a worldly king (''malik'').{{sfn|Kennedy|2002|p=107}}