The Umayyads were the first caliphal dynasty, ruling the Arab Empire from 661-750. Caliph Osman (644-656) also belonged to the same family.

The Umayyads were the richest merchant family of Mecca, whose head, Abu Sufyan, was at first the most stubborn opponent of what was started in this city sermons of the prophet Muhammad. At that time, Mecca and its location Kaaba were the main centers of the Arab pagan religion. The city derived enormous benefits from this, and Abu Sufyan believed that the new religion - Islam - could only bring these benefits to the Meccans. After Muhammad's flight to Medina A war broke out between her and Mecca, in which Abu Sufyan led the Meccan opponents of Islam. However, when success began to lean on the side of the Medinians, the resourceful Umayyads managed to reconcile with the Prophet. The agreement was made easier by the fact that one of their family members, Osman, was one of Muhammad's closest companions. In 630 the Umayyads surrendered Mecca to Medina Muslims and submitted to the authority of the Prophet. In the new united Arab state, this surname occupied a prominent position. With the great Muslim conquests that soon began, Umayyad Mu'awiya advanced, became a prominent military leader in Syria and built the first Islamic fleet there. Osman became the third caliph. The party of strict Muslims was dissatisfied with him, believing that Osman had moved away from the puritanical spirit of Islam and was too indulgent to his relatives. A crowd of zealots of the faith broke into Osman's palace and killed him (656). The faithful elected the Prophet's cousin, Ali, as the new caliph, but only the eastern half of the new Arab empire - Arabia and Persia - took his side. Syria and Egypt did not approve of excessive religious fanaticism and nominated Muawiyah as their own candidate for the caliphate. The entire reign of Ali (656-661) passed in civil war with rivals. In the end he too was killed. Ali's followers initially proclaimed his son caliph. Hasan, but this man, devoid of ambition, chose to renounce his rights to the throne in favor of his father’s successful rival, Muawiya, for a large sum of money. Hassan retired to Medina and soon died there at a young age.

Muawiyah's founding of the first dynasty of caliphs

The first, very important reform Caliph Mu'awiyah(661-680) there was a transfer of the capital from Medina to Damascus, where he was the ruler for a long time, came into contact with the Byzantine administration and adopted its experience. The Umayyad Caliphate is often called the Damascus Caliphate, in contrast to the Baghdad Abbasid Caliphate. This transfer of the capital dealt a decisive blow to the party of Ali's descendants ( Alidov), on whose side Medina was. For nineteen years, Muawiyah ruled as an absolute ruler, restoring the state unity of the Arab world after grave civil strife. He returned to his idea of ​​sea power and even dared to attack Byzantium. His tolerance towards Christians ensured his unwavering loyalty to Syria. Dying (680), he appointed his son as his heir Yazida. The first four caliphs were elected, but by appointing his son as successor, Muawiya created the first caliph dynasty - now the rank of commander of the faithful was to be inherited.

Civil war in the caliphate 680-690s

This caused a strong protest, which was taken advantage of by other claimants to the caliphate, and Yazid’s accession to the throne was not without bloodshed. Hassan's younger brother Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived as an exile in Medina during the reign of Muawiyah, at the call of his family’s followers, he left Mecca to join them in Iraqi Kufa, but was persecuted by Umayyad horsemen and was surrounded at Karbala. For ten days Hussein, accompanied by a small detachment, hoped that chance would help him out. The commander of the Caliph's army apparently intended to force him to surrender without a fight, but Hussein did not agree to this. Started Battle of Karbala. The caliph's army of four thousand easily dealt with Hussein's small detachment, and the latter fell under the blows of his enemies (680). This event, which did not have major military significance, had countless political and religious consequences: the Shiites, the party that demanded the transfer of the caliphate to the Alidam, had their first martyrs.

Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Panoramic view

After the death of Hussein, Caliph Yazid had to fight a much more dangerous challenger - Abdullah, son of Zubair, a close companion of the Prophet, who formerly, like Muawiyah, competed for the caliphate with Ali (656). After the death of Hussein, Abdallah proclaimed himself caliph in Mecca and was soon recognized by the entire Arabian Hijaz. Yazid's troops defeated the Medinans, who sided with this anti-caliph, and moved to Mecca. The siege of this city, during which the Kaaba was fired from catapults and set on fire, had already lasted more than two months when news of the death of Caliph Yazid arrived (683). The number of followers of Abdallah ibn Zubair immediately grew: he was recognized as caliph by South Arabia, Iraq and part of Syria. The rest of the Muslim world remained loyal to the Umayyads, despite the low merits of Yazid's two heirs, Mu'awiyah II and Merwan I (683-685). His third successor Abd al-Malik(685-705) found himself in a very difficult situation. The caliphate was already contested by three contenders: Muhammad, nicknamed the “son of the Hanafi” (the “illegitimate” son of Ali), Najda (a protégé of the Kharijites) and Abdallah, the son of Zubair. But Abd al-Malik, in a long and difficult struggle, restored the power of the Umayyads: Iraq was again conquered, the Kharijites were defeated, and Abdallah ibn Zubair died fighting in battle during the capture of Mecca by the Caliph's army in 692. Thus ended the attempt to prevent the founding of the Umayyad dynasty.

Arab conquests under the Umayyads

Under Abd al-Malik and his successor Valide I(705-715) thanks to the activities of a highly gifted, albeit despotic minister Hajjaja order was restored in the Muslim empire. Wars with Byzantium resumed.

Then the caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty quickly succeeded one another during the first half of the 8th century, except for a long reign Hishama(724-743). Of all these caliphs, the highly religious one stood out LobsterII(717-720) he stood for mercy even towards opponents (which almost led to the collapse of the state). Rest: Suleiman (715-717), YazidII (720-724), WalidII(743-744), lovers of arts and pleasures, only aroused the discontent of their subjects and contributed to the decline of the dynasty, despite the significance of the conquests made by their military leaders.

Arab conquests, briefly suspended under Ali, resumed with the same force during the Umayyad era, heading both east and west. In the east, the Arabs already reached Afghan Herat in 661, and from there their troops reached the Indus, passing through Afghanistan. Starting from 674, they attacked Transoxiana (the “interfluve” of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya) and by the beginning of the 710s. captured this area. They finally subjugated Armenia and rushed beyond the Caucasus, where they encountered powerful Khazars. Under Caliph Hisham, the Umayyad armies won a number of victories over the Khazar Khagans, reached the Volga, climbed along it to the latitude of Saratov, and on the way back carried out raids on the plains of Southern Rus'. However, they failed to conquer Anatolia, although the Arabs were already close to this and even within a year besieged Constantinople(717-718). In less than forty years, Islam reached the eastern Indus Valley.

In the western direction, the conquests were no less significant. At that time, the Berber tribes of North Africa, subordinate to Byzantium, were divided into three main groups: 1) lovata in the east (Tripolitania, Jerid, Or); 2) sanhaja in the west (Kutama in Kabylia Masmuda on the coast of Morocco and Sanhaja proper in the Sahara); 3) nomads zenata, in the Tlemcen region. The enmity between the Sanhaj and the Zenat played into the hands of the Arab conquerors.

Umayyad commander Okba (Uqba) ibn Nafi began to raid Ifriqiya (Tunisia) and in 670 founded Kairouan here, a stronghold fortified camp of the conquerors. After a daring raid, paused only on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, Okba was ambushed and killed. When the Umayyad position on the throne was strengthened, Caliph Abd al-Malik moved his troops to Carthage. The city was taken and destroyed (697), then recaptured by the Byzantines and abandoned by them again a year later. Neighboring Berbers organized resistance against the Muslims, led by the authoritative prophetess Kahina (literally, “Witch”). But the Arabs were again helped by the disunity of their opponents, and they managed to combine religious expansion with military expansion. The defeated Berbers converted to Islam and, carried away by the prospect of capturing military booty, became the best support for the Arabs during the subsequent conquest of Spain. Umayyad armies reached the coast of North Africa all the way to the Atlantic, captured Tangier and the Balearic Islands.

Okba Mosque in Kairouan (Tunisia). Founded by the commander Okba in the 670s, rebuilt in the 9th century by the local ruling dynasty of the Aghlabids

In a busy Visigoths In Spain, the people enslaved by feudal lords and bishops longed for liberation. The Arabs appeared in the role of liberators. Slaves and serfs bought their freedom at the cost of converting to Islam and made the task of the conquerors easier: the Arab cavalry prevailed over the Christian infantry, and in 711-714. Almost the entire Iberian Peninsula came under Muslim rule (see article Conquest of Spain by the Arabs).

From 721, the Arabs began to launch raids across the Pyrenees, into Gaul, where the Merovingian kingdom was dying like the Visigothic monarchy in Spain. Stopped by Count Eudom on the Garonne, the Arabs turned into the Rhone Valley and devastated it in 725. Seven years later, in 732, their horsemen crossed Gascony, took Bordeaux and rushed to Poitiers, where they (exactly one hundred years after the death of Muhammad) defeated in terrible battle Charles Martell. In 737, he again put them to flight at the Battle of Narbonne.

Despite this defeat, Arab military expansion did not stop. The Caliphate then reached the pinnacle of its greatness: it stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indus, from the Caspian Sea to the Nile Rapids. The activities of the caliphs were mainly aimed at centralization. Just as Muhammad knew how to fuse the mutually hostile tribes of Arabia into one religious community, so the Umayyads united in a huge empire peoples who had recently fought among themselves. To accomplish such a task, tolerance was necessary - political, religious and spiritual. It was always demonstrated by the Umayyads: the founder of this family, a contemporary of Muhammad, Abu Sufyan, lived in good harmony with Christians and Jews, and his descendants married Christian women, awarded pensions to speakers and poets, among whom there were both Christians and people thoroughly imbued with pagan traditions (not not to mention musicians, singers and singers). They quietly fell under the spell of the civilization of ancient Syria. This free-thinking shocked many believers who did not change the harsh spirit of early Islam. Orthodox Medina condemned Umayyad Damascus, as in the 16th century. Calvinist Geneva – “depraved” papal Rome.

Overthrow of the Umayyads by the Abbasids

But the Umayyad Empire was too vast and variegated for its unity to become strong. The further its borders expanded, the sharper the discrepancy between the mass of conquered peoples and the small number of Arab conquerors became apparent. In addition, making sure that conversion to Islam reduces tax revenues, the creator of the power of the Umayyad dynasty, Hajjaj, abolished the law on exemption from the poll tax for conversion to Islam, thanks to which the previously conquered population easily received equal rights with the conquerors. The main state principle of the Umayyad Caliphate was not the Muslim religion, but Arab nationalism. Under the Umayyads, the Arabs treated the conquered peoples as inferior, while these peoples were the heirs of ancient civilizations and raised here and there movements in favor of national independence. The agitation for “equality” was supported by the Kharijites and Shiites. Their active and skillful propaganda hastened the fall of the Umayyad dynasty.

The Shiites intensified their propaganda during the reign of the pious but weak Caliph Omar II in 720. But the supporters of the Shiite Alid dynasty were destined to once again work for others, and they noticed this too late. Since ancient times, the descendants of Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet, have gained the respect of Muslims with their worthy lives. The ever-increasing opposition against the Umayyads little by little led Abbasid to the idea of ​​overthrowing these caliphs and taking their place.

Loyal Abbasid agents were sent throughout the caliphate. They found particularly favorable soil in Khorasan (northeastern Iran), where the Persians, who considered themselves a more ancient and glorious nation than the Arabs, could not come to terms with enslavement. Abbas's descendants were lucky enough to receive unexpected help from the Shiites. These supporters of the Ali family, seeking to return it to power, were divided into two parties. The Imami, adherents of the son of Hussein, who fell at Karbala, stayed away from Abbasid propaganda. But another Shiite party, the Hashemites, stood for Hussein’s half-brother, nicknamed “the son of the Hanifite,” and then, after his death, for his son Abu Hashim (hence the name of the party). In 716, Abu Hashim died (possibly poisoned), bequeathing his “rights to the caliphate” to Abbas’s great-grandson Muhammad ibn Ali. The split in the Shia party contributed to Abbasid propaganda, which continued after the death of Muhammad ibn Ali. His two sons attracted the energetic and merciless Persian to their side. Abu Muslima. The black banners of the Abbasids were raised against the white banners of the Umayyads in the rebellion raised by the Khorasans in 747. Three years later, the first Abbasid - Abul Abbas al-Saffah- was proclaimed caliph in the mosque of Iraqi Kufa (750), and the last Umayyad Marwan II(744-750) suffered a crushing defeat and died. His relatives were subjected to merciless extermination. But one of them Abdarrahman, managed to escape to Spain. In 755-756 he founded there kingdom independent from the Abbasids, thus marking the beginning of the collapse of the caliphate.

In Damascus and Cordoba, the Umayyads are a dynasty of Syrian caliphs and Cordoba emirs, under which Islam from a local Arab religion turned into the state religion of many Mediterranean countries. Mu'awiya I became the first caliph from the family of Meccan Quraysh from the tribe of Umayya.

Mu'awiya, the governor and commander of the Arab troops in Syria, was put forward by the Arab nobility as a contender for supremacy in the Muslim world. But Ali, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, who was not popular with the nobility, was elected caliph.

In 661, Muawiya killed Caliph Ali, and his son Hassan “voluntarily” (for a huge ransom sum and a lifelong pension) transferred power to Muawiya. This coup split society into two groups - Shiites and Kharij.

The Shiites considered it correct to establish hereditary power in the caliphate, but, in their opinion, it should have been the power of the Alids, who came from the family of the prophet. The Kharij, for their part, put forward the principle “There is no caliph except by the will of Allah and the will of the people.” This democratic formulation attracted wide sections of the caliphate's non-Arab population. Historians consider Muawiya a fair ruler, under whom there were no religious persecutions or illegal extortions.

Under him, Islam became an established system of canonical provisions and rituals, and Sharia was formed. In the development of Islam, the Arabs used the traditions of early religions - Christian-Byzantine and Iranian-Zoroastrian. The construction of the first mosque is also associated with the name Muawiya. The building of the mosque, with minarets along the pediment and a pulpit for the preacher, with a domed vaulted roof borrowed from Iranian architecture, was magnificent.

Fearing assassination attempts, Mu'aviy introduced the custom of having the caliph accompanied by a detachment of spear-bearing bodyguards, and consolidated the power of his clan by declaring his son Yazid as his successor.

After the death of Mu'awiya I in 680, the Alids again laid claim to the caliphate: Ali's second son, Hussein, refused to swear allegiance to Yazid and moved to Kufa from Mecca, but was surrounded by the caliph's troops. Hussein refused to surrender, and then the soldiers, fearing personal responsibility for the murder of the prophet's grandson, all attacked him at once and chopped him down with swords. The site of Hussein's assassination is still considered holy by Shiites.

At the same time, Hussein refused to swear allegiance to Iahid and Abdallah, and the Medinians rebelled. On August 26, 683, in a fierce battle, the uprising was suppressed and the troops moved to Mecca, but the death of Yazid forced the siege to be lifted from the city.

Yazid's reign was short and turbulent, so after his death, power in the caliphate was easily seized by Ibn al-Zubayr. Muawiya's second cousin Marwan, who defeated the troops of Ibn al-Zubair, decided to defend the rights of his family. But this caliph did not reign for long: already at an advanced age, he died in 685, and his son Abd al-Malik became caliph.

It took Abd al-Malik eight years to restore the unity of the caliphate, and then he began to implement the reforms outlined under Muawiya: tax cadastres were translated from Middle Persian into Arabic, and Arabs became the head of the financial department.

At the same time, a monetary reform was carried out, and gold and silver coins began to be minted uniformly.

The construction of the mosque in Damascus, begun by Mu'awiya, continued, and the "Dome" was built in Jerusalem.

After the death of his father, Abd al-Malik summoned his nephew Omar, famous for his piety, to Damascus and married his daughter Fatima to him. Omar gained such favor with the caliph that he sat above all his sons, except for the heir Walid.

From the Umayyad dynasty, Omar stood out for his love of a luxurious lifestyle. He spent a lot of money on perfume, clothes and horses. At the laundromat, people even paid money to have their clothes washed along with Omar's so that they would be saturated with the scent of the perfume.

Omar also acted as a philanthropist: he generously paid poets for welcoming poems. It is known that one of them received 15 camels from Omar for his poem when he was the governor of Medina.

In 706, Omar was appointed governor of Medina. Here, at the request of Walid, he built a magnificent mosque building, which is called the “Umayyad Mosque.”

Concerned about the correct succession to the throne in the caliphate, Abd al-Malik determined that after Walid his brother Suleiman should become caliph. But Walid had a different opinion; he wanted power to pass to his own son. However, Walid died earlier, and Suleiman became caliph.

Suleiman loved to build. The founding of the main port of Palestine, Ramla, is associated with his name. But most of all he loved women and feasts.

In 716, Suleiman visited Mecca with Omar, and on the way back they stopped in Jerusalem, where Suleiman was extremely tired of the lepers with their bells, and he ordered them to be burned. But Omar spoke out in defense of the sick people, and the Caliph ordered them to be sent to a secluded village, where they could not communicate with other people.

On the way from Jerusalem, the pilgrims stopped at a Christian monastery. Here a certain man began to court one of the slaves belonging to Suleiman. Suleiman ordered the offender to be castrated, and the monastery has since been called the “monastery of eunuchs.”

In the autumn of the same year, Suleiman gathered an army in Northern Syria and sent it to conquer Constantinople. The city was under siege for a whole year, but Constantinople was saved by the efforts of Pope Leo III, and the distressed caliph was overcome by paralysis.

Suleiman left a will, according to which power passed into the hands of his cousin, the pious Omar, since the caliph's son Eyyub died before his father. But, not knowing about the existence of the will, the army swore allegiance to Omar’s uncle, Abd al-Malik’s brother, Abd al-Aziz. Omar was ready to refuse in favor of Abd al-Aziz, and Abd al-Aziz, in turn, announced that he approved of the proclamation of Omar as caliph. So Omar became Caliph Omar II.

There is a legend that Omar I, the father of Omar II, was predicted that one of his descendants who would have a mark on his face would fill the earth with justice. Omar II indeed had a sign: during his stay in Damascus, he was hit in the face by a horse's hoof.

In his youth, Omar was sincere but impractical and was ready to sacrifice his own religious utopias to the interests of the empire created by his ancestors, but when he became caliph, he changed.

Omar refused to use the Caliph's horses and rode his own mule; he also rejected the offer to settle in the Caliph's palace. He took care of replenishing the treasury, generously paid for the services of the troops, and helped those in need. And if he considered taxes illegal, he canceled them. At the court of Caliph Omar II, piety became mandatory. If Suleiman's courtiers seriously discussed the virtues of women and entertainment, now conversations about night prayers and the study of the Koran became common. Omar's family was also pious. His son Abd al-Melik, who died at age 19, was considered a model of piety. There is no exact information about Omar's death. According to one legend, he was poisoned by relatives after Omar promised to transfer power to a pious man who was not related to him. According to another version, he fell ill and died in the Deir Siman monastery.

The last Umayyad caliph was Merwan II (744–750). The Abbasids, led by Abu Muslim and Alida, united against him. Merwan fled to Egypt, but was captured and killed there. The Umayyads began to be mercilessly exterminated everywhere: they killed men and women, adults and children - everyone who had even a distant relationship with the overthrown dynasty. Very few survived, among them the grandson of the tenth Umayyad caliph, Abdarrahman I (731–788), who fled through North Africa to Spain.

Taking advantage of the discord that reigned in Andalusia among the Spanish Arabs, he captured its territories and forced them to recognize their power in almost all the Muslim possessions of Spain. He founded the Emirate of Cordoba there, marking the beginning of the Cordoba Umayyad dynasty.

Abdarrahman II (792–852), emir of the Emirate of Cordoba from 822, is known for his patronage of the arts and sciences. Spain also became the scientific center of Europe: people came here to study from England, France, Germany and Italy, and the library of the Cordoban emirs was famous throughout the world: its catalog alone consisted of 44 volumes.

Abdarrahman III (891-96I), in order to protect his state from external and internal enemies, began to create a force capable of resisting them. The slave guard, called the “saklab,” became such a force. It consisted of representatives of many nations: Slavs, Germans, Italians... The warriors were well trained, disciplined and armed, and besides, they were completely independent of the local population. Therefore, Abdarrahman easily managed to destroy the rebellions in a short time and eliminate the external threat posed by King Leon Ordono II. In 920, Leon's troops were defeated, and in 928, the rebel movement was finally strangled.

On January 16, 929, Abdarrahman III was solemnly proclaimed caliph in the Cordoba mosques with the title “Caliph Defender of the Faith of Allah.” The Emirate of Cordoba turned into a caliphate.

The destruction of strife contributed to the growth of crafts and the expansion of trade in the emirate. Weaving, weapons production, glass and iron production flourished. Silk, spices, wine and fruits were exported from Spain.

Abdarrahman built ports and a significant fleet, thanks to which the cities of Spain in the 10th century became the center of trade relations with the eastern Mediterranean.

By the time of the death of Abdarrahman III, the capital of the caliphate, the city of Cordoba, had been turned into a magnificent palace ensemble, and the residence of Caliph al-Zahra was considered one of the most remarkable architectural structures in Europe and Asia.

The reign of Abdarrahman III marked the peak of the development of the Emirate of Cordoba. The last Umayyad was dethroned in 1031, giving rise to numerous minor dynasties.

1. Umayya
2/1. Harb
3/1. Abu-l-Aziz
4/2. Abu Sufain
5/3. al-Hakam
6/4. Mu'awiya I (661-680)
7/6. Yazid I (680-683)
8/7. Mu'awiya II (683-684)
9/5. Marwan I (684-685)
10/9. Abd al-Malik (685-705)
11/9. Abd al-Aziz
12/9. Muhammad
13/10. al-Walid I (705-715)
14/10. Sulaiman (715-717)
15/11. Umar II (717-720)
16/10. Yazid II (720-724)
10/17. Hisham (724-743)
18/16. al-Walid II (743-744)
19/13. Yazid III (744)
20/13. Ibrahim (744)
21/17. Muawiya
22/12. Marwan II (744-750)
23/21. Abd ar-Rahman, founder of the Umayyads of Spain

1. Muawiya I

The Umayyad (Umayyid) family belonged to the ancient Meccan nobility and played a prominent role in pre-Islamic Mecca. The founder of the dynasty, Mu'awiya I (661-680), who was the governor of Syria from 639, spoke out in 656 against the next Caliph of Medina, Ali ibn Abu Talib (), and managed to defeat him in a bitter struggle. In 659 he proclaimed himself caliph, and by 661 his power was recognized in all the provinces of the caliphate. In 676, the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina swore an oath to Mu'awiya's son, Yazid, thus recognizing for the first time the hereditary nature of the caliph's power. Damascus became the capital of the new dynasty.

2. Yazid I. Karbala tragedy

After the death of Mu'awiya I in 680, his son Yazid I (680-683) easily took power in Syria. But when his men tried to swear in the Arabs of Arabia, they immediately encountered great difficulties. The matter was complicated by the fact that Husain, the son of the previous Caliph Ali and the daughter of Muhammad Fatima, who had numerous supporters in Arabia and Iraq, lived in Medina. Upon learning of Mu'awiya's death, he refused to swear allegiance to his son and fled with his family to Mecca. The news that the prophet's grandson did not want to swear allegiance to the Umayyads inspired the Iraqi Shiites (this is how representatives of a special movement in Islam began to be called, who believed that the caliph should be elected only from among the descendants of Ali, as the closest relative of the prophet). About ten thousand Kufis immediately swore an oath of allegiance to Husayn. In September, Husayn, surrounded by his followers, moved from Mecca to Kufa. Already on the way, he received news that the action in Iraq had been suppressed. Nevertheless, Husayn continued his campaign. In early October, near the village of Karbala, not far from Kufa, his entire detachment was stopped and killed in a stubborn battle by Yazid’s supporters. The martyrdom of Husayn and his relatives (three or four of his sons, seven brothers, three nephews and twelve other close relatives died near Karbala) made a huge impression on his contemporaries. This event completed the crystallization of Shiism, which lacked only its martyr for independent existence. From now on, the Shiites () became irreconcilable enemies of the Umayyads.

The reign of Yazid I passed relatively calmly, although all these years Arabia continued to remain a stronghold of the dissatisfied. In the spring of 683, the people of Medina rebelled against the caliph. He sent an army of five thousand against the rebellious ones. On August 27, after a stubborn battle, the Syrians broke into Medina and destroyed it. Three thousand townspeople were killed, including 306 Quraish. The Syrians then approached Mecca and began to lay siege to it. One of the sad episodes of this war was the fire of the Kaaba (October 31, 683), during which the famous Black Stone cracked and disintegrated. Shortly thereafter, on November 10, a drunken Yazid fell from his horse while hunting and was killed. Dying, he managed to appoint his eldest son Mu'awiya as his successor. The Caliph was 38 or 39 years old at this time. Muslim tradition has preserved discreet memories of him. Recognizing that he was an eloquent and generous man, a poet and improviser, the authors of the chronicles also report that Yazid did not adhere to ancient customs, was very fond of wine, women, cheerful company and hunting, and could not part with the objects of his affection for a single hour .

3. Second internecine war. Abd al-Malik

The choice of the heir also did not add good memory to the second Umayyad, since he turned out to be unsuccessful in all respects. Mu'awiya II (683-684) was neither fit in spirit nor in body to lead the state. Constant pain directed the flow of his thoughts towards death. According to one contemporary, he was “a pious young man who thought a lot about the other world.” Not wanting to defile himself with the affairs of this mortal world, Muawiya entrusted them to Hassan ibn Malik. The latter enjoyed authority in Palestine and Syria, but meant nothing outside their borders. The Arabian Arabs continued to be in opposition to the Umayyads. Other provinces have taken a wait-and-see approach. In fact, anarchy was established in the country. In February 684, Mu'awiya abdicated power. He did not appoint a successor for himself, since he soon died suddenly of the plague. His brother Khalid, who was interested in alchemy and Greek philosophy, also abandoned the throne. Yazid had no other adult sons, and the eyes of all supporters of the dynasty turned to the representative of another branch of the Umayyads, Marwan ibn al-Hakam. However, his rights were far from indisputable, and he could establish himself on the throne only as a result of struggle.

Meanwhile, at the end of February in Medina, the son of the famous associate of Muhammad al-Zubayr, Abdallah ibn al-Zubayr, proclaimed himself caliph. His power was soon recognized in Egypt and Palestine, Iraq and Khorasan. Syria alone refused to swear allegiance to him. In contrast to Ibn al-Zubair, the local Arabs in June 684 proclaimed Marwan I (684-685) caliph. At first, the position of this Umayyad seemed very unstable - even in Syria he had many opponents who swore allegiance to Ibn al-Zubair. But Marwan, unlike his rival, who sat in Medina without a break, acted very energetically. Swiftly moving towards Damascus, he took possession of the capital and all the supplies and money located there. Then, in a long battle that lasted about twenty days, Rahit Marwan defeated the supporters of Ibn al-Zubair, after which all of Syria and Palestine came under the rule of the Umayyads. Building on his success, the caliph moved to Egypt, occupied Fustat in December of the same year, quickly returned to Damascus and sent from here to Arabia a six-thousand-strong army under the command of Hubayshi ibn Dulje. He defeated the supporters of Ibn al-Zubair and easily occupied Medina, but was then defeated by the approaching Basri and fell in battle. Nevertheless, Marwan already felt so confident that in March 685 he declared his son Abd al-Malik as heir. Soon after this, on May 7, the old caliph died (apparently from the plague, although there is a version that his wife strangled him in his sleep with a pillow).

Abd al-Malik (685-705) became caliph at the age of 40. He was slender, handsome, loved poetry, was distinguished by prudence, firmness and intelligence, but at the same time he was somewhat stingy and partial to flattery. By the time he assumed power, he had acquired extensive military and administrative experience. The reign of the new caliph began in very difficult conditions. In addition to the internal civil unrest, an external war was added with the northern neighbor of the Caliphate, Byzantium. Soon after the death of Mu'awiya I, the Arabs were expelled from Rhodes, Crete and Cyprus. The Byzantine fleet regained supremacy at sea. In 684, the main bases of Arab rule in Asia Minor - Malatya and Marash - were taken. Then the Muslims gave the old capital of Syria, Antioch, to the enemy. In the summer of 685, the caliph managed to conclude a peace treaty with the Byzantine emperor Constantine IV. Its conditions were extremely difficult for Abd al-Malik (he undertook to pay 1000 dinars, one slave and one horse for each day of the truce), but the caliph had no other choice, because it was hardly possible to fight on two fronts simultaneously in his position .

Having made peace with the Byzantines, Abd al-Malik at the beginning of winter 686 sent a detachment to Arabia, which captured Medina, Khaybar and Fadak without a fight. But then the Caliph's attention was diverted by Iraqi events. In October 685, a Shiite uprising took place in Kufa, led by al-Mukhtar ibn Abu Ubayd al-Saqafi. Having barely captured the city, they launched an offensive against the Syrians. In August 686, they suffered a heavy defeat on the Khazir River, after which they surrendered Mosul and Nisibin to the enemy. In the midst of a successful offensive by the Kufi Shiites, they were unexpectedly attacked from the rear by the Basrians, supporters of the Meccan caliph Ibn al-Zubair. In April 687 they took Kufa by storm. Al-Mukhtar fell in battle. However, the Basris were unable to build on their success, since they began a war with the Kharijites, representatives of another opposition sect. By the beginning of 688, the latter had captured all of Southeast Arabia, including Oman, Bahrain and Yemen, as well as the Iranian regions of Kirman and Sistan.

Mutual strife between enemies gave Abd al-Melik a respite, but he could not take advantage of it due to lack of funds (a quarter of all tax revenues went to pay tribute to Byzantium). In addition, Syria was severely devastated by plague and famine. In 688, the caliph resumed the war with the Byzantines, which this time was successful for the Arabs. That same year they recaptured Antioch. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian II, who at that time was waging a difficult struggle in Europe with the Bulgarians, did not have the opportunity to prevent the Muslim advance. At the beginning of 689, he agreed to conclude a new peace treaty, much more beneficial for Abd al-Malik than the previous one. In the summer, the caliph moved to Nisibin and persuaded its defenders to come over to his side. The following year he also occupied Mosul without resistance. In October 691, the Basrians were defeated at Maskin, after which the caliph entered Kufa without a fight, and then Basra. In 692-693. The Kharijites of Eastern Arabia were defeated. After all these victories, only Najd remained in the hands of the Meccan caliph Ibn al-Zubair. In March 692, troops loyal to Abd al-Malik began a new siege of Mecca. Soon famine began here. Gradually, almost all of Ibn al-Zubayr’s supporters abandoned him. With the remaining handful of comrades, he tried to fight his way out of the city on November 5 and fell in battle. Arab unity was then restored. But the Iranian provinces were recaptured from the Kharijites only in 695.

4. Conquest of North Africa

During the last ten years of his reign, Abd al-Malik was able to carry out some very important changes. Under him, the minting of new dirhams with Muslim symbols began for the first time (before that, Byzantine and Iranian coins were in circulation in the Caliphate). The tax reform he carried out was of great importance, as a result of which government revenues increased significantly. External conquests, interrupted by a ten-year civil war, resumed. The war in North Africa, led by the talented commander Hassan ibn Nauman, was especially successful. In 696, Carthage was finally conquered. Hassan ordered to destroy this ancient city and tear down its walls. (After which Carthage was never revived again). However, having defeated the Byzantines, the Arabs encountered numerous Berber tribes in the area. At first, Hassan was defeated by them and had to retreat back to Kairouan. In 703, he began a new campaign and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Berbers at Mount Auras. The vanquished had to recognize the power of the caliph over themselves and accept Islam.

5. Al-Walid I. Conquest of Central Asia

In 705 Abd al-Malik was succeeded by his son al-Walid I (705-715). He was an energetic and active ruler. Like Umar I, he knew how to restrain his generals and governors with a firm hand, even when they were thousands of miles away from the capital. Ten years of al-Walid's reign were spent in continuous wars with all the neighbors of the Caliphate. In 705, the ruler of Khorasan, Kuteiba ibn Muslim, began the final conquest of the Turkic principalities of Central Asia. Peykend was taken in 706, Bukhara in 709, Kesh in 710, Samarkand and Khiva in 712. In 713, the Arabs crossed the Syr Darya and entered Fergana and Shash (Tashkent). Another Arab army, led by Muhammad ibn Qasim, advancing along the coast of the Indian Ocean, pushed the southeastern borders of the Caliphate all the way to the mouth of the Indus, where after a long siege the Indian city of Deibul was taken. After this, Muhammad moved up the Indus through Sind and southern Punjab and took the large city of Multan in 711.

6. Conquest of Spain. Fall of the Visigothic Kingdom

But the most ambitious conquests under al-Walid were carried out in the west, where another famous commander of that time, Musa ibn Nusayra, acted. Having strengthened his army with Berbers who had converted to Islam, in 706-709. conquered the remnants of North Africa, which still retained its independence, and reached the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Only Ceuta offered fierce resistance to the Arabs and delayed their advance for a long time. In the end, the Byzantine governor Julian who ruled here went over to Musa's side and provided him with important services during the war in Spain. One of Musa's generals, Abu Zura Tarif, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in 710 on ships provided to him by Julian, devastated the area around Algeciras and returned with great booty. The following year, another of Musa's generals, Tariq ibn Ziyad, repeated the invasion. The King of the Spanish Visigoths, Roderick, moved towards him. On July 19, a historic battle between Christians and Muslims began near the Wadi Bekka river. It lasted eight days and ended with the complete defeat of the Visigoths. Some time later they were finally defeated at the Battle of Ecija (). Cordoba and the capital of the kingdom, Toledo, surrendered without resistance. In 712, Musa himself crossed over to Spain. After a short siege, he took Seville. At Merida, the conquerors suffered significant losses. Nevertheless, by the end of 713 the entire north-west of the peninsula from Zaragoza to the Pyrenees was already in their power. A year later, the southeast was also conquered.

During the reign of al-Walid, the Arabs reached the peak of their power. After his death, a gradual weakening of the Caliphate began, caused by internal unrest. Since pre-Muslim times, there has been enmity in Arabia between the southern and northern Arabian tribes. The general name of the first was Kalbits, the second - Kaysits. As long as gifted rulers stood at the head of the state, it was possible to extinguish this hostility to some extent. Thus, under Abd al-Malik and al-Walid, the eastern provinces of the Caliphate were entrusted to the Kaysit Hajjaj, who appointed his fellow tribesmen to all important posts. As compensation, the Kalbits received freedom of action in the west, where the Yemeni Musa Tariq was in charge of all affairs.

7. Sulaiman. Siege of Constantinople

This tenuous balance was disrupted by the death of al-Walid I, who was succeeded in 715 by his brother Sulayman (715-717). The new caliph was very fond of women and merry feasts and did not know how to sacrifice his personal motives for the good of the state. He possessed neither the composure nor the wisdom of his predecessors, and of all the qualities of his family he inherited only arrogance. Under him, the Kalbits gained a clear advantage over the Kaysits. Kalbit Yazid ibn Mukhalaba, an old enemy of Hajjaj who died in 714, was appointed governor of Iraq. He immediately began persecuting the most honored and respected persons who belonged to the until recently dominant party of northerners. The remarkable commander of the previous reign, Muhammad ibn Qasim, was deprived of all his posts and executed. This caused great bitterness on the part of the Kaisites. However, the short duration of Sulaiman’s caliphate did not allow this confrontation to reach explosive proportions.

The main event of this period should be called the siege of the Byzantine capital by Muslims. In 717, Sulaiman moved a huge fleet and a strong army towards Constantinople. In August, the Arabs crossed to the Thracian coast and besieged the city from all sides. However, the siege was accompanied by enormous difficulties from the very beginning. The besiegers had great difficulty in collecting provisions, since the local population was very hostile towards them. In addition, strong storms and fiery Greek ships caused great damage to their fleet. To top off all the troubles, due to severe overcrowding in the Arab camp, a devastating epidemic began (). In August 718 the siege was ended. This happened after the death of Sulaiman, who was struck by paralysis in the fall of 717. Before his death, on the advice of the court theologian Raj ibn Haywa, he appointed his cousin Umar II (717-720) as his successor.

8. Umar II

The short caliphate of Umar II occupies a special place in the centuries-long history of Umayyad rule. As is known, in the Muslim historical tradition, a mostly negative attitude towards this family has been preserved. However, an exception was made for Umar, and for many subsequent generations he served not just as an example of what a real caliph should be, but also became the ideal of a pious Muslim sovereign in general. According to some news, the future caliph was born in Egypt, where his father Abd al-Aziz was the governor of his brother Caliph Abd al-Malik for many years. After his father's death in 704 or 705, Umar moved to Damascus. Although Abd al-Malik did not like his younger brother, he treated his nephew very well and even married his daughter Fatima to him. There is news that Umar's place at the table was higher than the seats of Abd al-Malik's own sons, and only one heir sat above him. Umar took an even higher position during the reign of al-Walid I. In 706 he was appointed governor of Medina. He amazed local residents with his luxurious lifestyle. They write that none of the townspeople then spent as much money on perfume, clothes and horses as Umar. One of his cloaks was supposedly worth a thousand dinars. However, luxury did not prevent him from being an active administrator. Of all of Umar's activities in the holy city, the most famous was related to the construction of a new mosque. The old one, founded by the prophet, was dismantled, and in its place a magnificent, spacious building was erected. (At the same time, Umar ordered the nearby huts of Muhammad’s wives to be destroyed, for which many condemned him). In 712, at the request of the all-powerful temporary ruler, Hajjaj Umar was recalled from Medina. In the same year, he took part in a raid on Byzantine possessions. After al-Walid's death, Umar continued to play a prominent role under his brother Sulayman.

As soon as he assumed power, Umar completely changed his lifestyle. Luxury was left forever. He refused to use the Caliph's horses and rode like a simple peasant on a mule. He did not want to move to the luxurious palace of Sulaiman, but lived in a tent, as if he were an ordinary Bedouin. By these and other actions of the same kind, Umar made it clear that he would live and rule differently from his predecessors. And subsequently, until his death, the caliph never lived in the Umayyad palace and generally rarely visited Damascus. His favorite location was the fortified town of Hunasira in Northern Syria, two days' journey from Aleppo. In everything: food, clothing, pleasures, he observed exceptional moderation. He became so thin and pale from fasting and abstinence that people who knew Umar in Medina or at the court of Sulaiman had difficulty recognizing him now that he had become caliph and the absolute ruler of the greatest empire in the world.

But of course, it was not only these external manifestations of piety that he won universal respect. In everything and always, Umar strove to act fairly and examined every case with such care, as if it was a matter of saving his soul. Moreover, many of his opinions and actions did not fit in with generally accepted views. He, for example, was an opponent of the idea of ​​jihad and believed that Muslims should be content with the possessions that they received from God, without undertaking any new conquests. Not sympathizing with the holy war, Umar tried to spread Islam through peaceful missionary work. (One of his first undertakings was the end of the unfortunate war with Byzantium - in August 718 the siege from Constantinople was lifted). Umar's justice applied equally to all his subjects - both Muslims and non-Muslims. The caliph won truly popular love by abolishing all illegally levied taxes (and all those not established by the prophet were considered such). Under him, the tax burden decreased significantly (though government revenues also became much smaller).

Piety became the norm of life during these years. If under al-Walid the conversations of the courtiers revolved around buildings, under Sulaiman - around concubines, then under Umar they focused on studying the Koran, prayers and fasting. The governors were ordered to take care of the purity of the morals of Muslims in the spirit of the precepts of Islam. The Caliph forbade the consumption of wine and ordered the shops where it was sold to be broken down and destroyed. Women were prohibited from entering public baths, and men were required to wear a mizar (a kind of bathing suit).

With his reign, Umar raised the authority of the caliph to unprecedented heights. He was glorified by all eastern authors, both Muslim and Christian, without exception. For his holiness and justice, he received from his descendants the nickname “the fifth righteous caliph,” that is, he was placed on a par with Abu Bakr, Umar I, Usman and Ali. No one else among the Umayyads and Abbasids received such a distinction.

9. Hisham. Revolts against the Umayyads and their suppression

Umar was succeeded in 720 by Abd al-Malik's third son, Yazid II (720-724). He was a frivolous, careless man (Ibn Tiktak calls him “the most dissolute of the Umayyads”). He ruled in disorder and managed to waste the entire treasury on his whims in four years. Yazid did not particularly care about state affairs and was zealously concerned only with poetry, music and his concubines. Under him, the Kaysits again took the helm of government, which caused strong indignation in all the eastern provinces. The rebels moved to Iraq, but were defeated on the banks of the Euphrates near Kufa.

In 724, the throne passed to Yazid's brother, Hisham (724-743), an intelligent, meek and chaste man. Under this caliph, some order was established in the affairs of government, for of all the sons of Abd al-Malik who ruled after al-Walid I, he was undoubtedly the most gifted. There was only one thing that harmed his reputation - immoderate stinginess. Hisham raised taxes everywhere and introduced new taxes. This measure caused strong indignation in the provinces and riots. However, centrifugal tendencies appeared only at the end of Hisham’s caliphate. And at first he even tried to lead conquests. Back in 718, Arabs from Spain penetrated the Pyrenees. In 720 they took Narbonne, which became their stronghold in the war with the Franks, and in 732 they advanced almost to the Loire itself. However, in 732 the Muslims were defeated by Charles Martel at Poitiers. At the time of great conquests, such a defeat could hardly delay the advance of their victorious army for long, but now its forward momentum has dried up. The empire is engulfed in turmoil. In 725, uprisings flared up in Central Asia. All provinces beyond the Amu Darya, as well as Balkh and Herat, fell away from the Caliphate. Only in 738 did the talented commander Nasr ibn Sayyar manage to conquer them again. The liberation movement in North Africa assumed an even greater scale. The Berber tribes were outraged at being put in the position of pagans. Under Hisham, they not only had to pay taxes on an equal basis with Jews and Christians, but also bore another humiliating duty - they supplied their daughters to the caliph's harem. This made them angry and bitter. In 740, the tribes living in what is now Morocco rebelled. A huge Syrian army, sent to suppress this rebellion, was defeated by them on the Sebu River. In 741, Spanish Berbers joined the rebels. But the very next year, the new governor of Kairouan, Hanzala ibn Safwan, defeated the rebellious near the village of Asnam near Kairouan and managed to briefly establish the power of the caliph throughout North Africa and Spain. In 743, shortly before Hisham's death, the empire was restored to its former borders for the last time.

10. New riots. Marwan II. Fall of the Umayyads

But as soon as the throne passed to Hisham’s nephew, al-Walid II (743-744), unrest and rebellion broke out with renewed vigor. The new caliph was a brave, generous and strong-willed man, but at the same time limited and despotic. At the same time, he indulged excessively in wine, singers and pleasures, and was distinguished by voluptuousness and cruelty. His enemies accused him of no longer being a Muslim even in appearance. As soon as he assumed power, al-Walid executed the honored governor, Kalbit Khalid ibn Abdallah, in the most inhumane manner. The latter's fellow tribesmen rebelled in 744 and proclaimed the son of al-Walid I, Yazid, caliph. Al-Walid II, abandoned by everyone, could only rely on the mercy of his enemies. Following the example of one of his predecessors, Caliph Uthman, he met the murderers with the Koran in his hands, but could not soften their hearts and, dying, stained the pages of the holy book with his blood. Ibn Tiktak writes that after him many good poems remained.

However, Yazid III (744), appointed by the Kalbits, was almost never recognized. The Qaysites of Hims immediately rebelled and marched on Damascus. At the same time, the governor of Armenia, Marwan ibn Muhammad (grandson of Marwan I), made claims to power. But before the war could flare up, Yazid III died in the fall of 744, transferring the throne to his brother Ibrahim (744) before his death. Neither Marwan nor the Kaysits recognized the new caliph.

On November 18, a great battle took place at Ain al-Jarr (between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon), in which 80 thousand supporters of Marwan completely defeated 120 thousand army of Ibrahim. The latter abdicated the throne, and after the surrender of Damascus, Marwan II (744-750) was proclaimed caliph.

The new ruler did not shine with special talents, but he was a brave warrior and a good administrator. However, if even a very talented person had been in his place, he would hardly have been able to prevent the fall of the dynasty.

In 745, the Kaisites of North Africa rebelled, led by Abd al-Rahman. He captured Kairouan and then captured all the provinces west of Tripoli. At the same time, Spain finally fell away from the Caliphate. In the same year, Marwan had to wage war against the Nubians, who invaded Egypt in 745 and occupied Fustat. He then moved to Iraq, where the Kharijites rebelled. And all these events were only a slight prelude to what awaited the caliph ahead. In 747, a powerful uprising broke out in the Merv region of Central Asia, prepared by the old opponents of the Umayyads - the brothers Ibrahim, Abu l-Abbas and Abu Jafar from the Abbasid clan. They were immediately accosted by Kalbit Arabs and numerous Persian Shiites. Several rebel armies moved west and within three years conquered all of Iran and Iraq. By the beginning of 750, hostilities moved to Mosul, where Marwan managed to gather a large army. He had enough strength to fight, but at the decisive moment, when the battle at the Great Zab unfolded, part of the Kalbit Arabs under his banner went over to the side of the Abbasids. Marwan was defeated and fled. In April, Damascus surrendered to the victors. Marwan retreated to Egypt and was once again defeated at Bushra. Tracked down thanks to treason, he was handed over to his enemies and killed on August 5, 750. After this, the winners began a real hunt for representatives of the Umayyad dynasty. Everyone who belonged to this family was subject to immediate destruction. Only a few managed to escape. So Hisham's grandson, Abd ar-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya, managed to escape to Spain, where he became the founder of the Spanish Umayyads (). Abbasid rule began in the rest of the Caliphate.

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