Administration, Society, and Culture under the

Umayyads

Administration, society and culture under the Umayyads:

The purpose of writing this literature review is to comprehensively analyze the rein of Muslim
rulers specifically the Umayyads caliphate, their unity at the time of trials and the disunity going
on between them along with the administration, society and culture of the Umayyads.

Before coming to the main points that what were the administration system and social norms and
cultural approach of Umayyad I will briefly discuss about the rein of Umayyads after the caliph
Hazrat Ali R.A (656-661).Umayyad or Omayyad stands for the dynasty of Muslims to rule the
empire of caliphate (661-750). The head of Umayyad was Abu Sufyan who was the uncle of
Hazrat Muhammad SAW but was the enemy of prophet for many years until 627 after that they
became the immediate successors of prophet SAW. Abu Sufyan was from the family of mer-
chants in Makah named Quraysh. His son Muwaiah I stood against Ali RA to rule the caliphate
and became victorious after the assassination of Uthman bin Affan the third caliph (reigned 644-
656).Muwaiah at that time was the governor of Syria and he became the first Umayyad caliph.

Now Umayyad caliphate is further divided into two clans one is of Sufyanids particularly
Muwaiah I who reigned from 661 -680 and other is of Marwanids1 who reigned particularly
Marwan I from 684-750.the Syrian army was the strength of Sufyanids Umayyad reign under
Muwaiah I enabling the creation of united empire through great control of the conquered prov-
inces and of Arab tribal rivalries. They had conquered many areas of the world leading them to
the campaign against Constantinople (669-678) but there they failed because that was against the
Christians. Although there were conflicts and problems in their political system yet they were
organized along Arab tribal lines as there the caliphs were chosen by the peers and act on the ad-
vice of Shura2.But Muwaiah declined the system of as he wanted to secure the allegiance of his

1
Marwan b. al-Hakam b. Abi l-'As b. Umayya b. 'Abd Shams b. 'Abd Manaf was the fourth
Ummayads caliph and head of Marwanids. The Prophet exiled Marwan and his father, to Taif. He
was taken back to Medina by the third caliph, 'Uthman b. 'Affan, where he received a position in the
administration of the caliphate. In the battles of Jamal and Siffin, he stood against Imam Ali(r.a)
2
Shūrā, (Arabic: “consultation”), in early Islāmic history, the board of electors that
was constituted by the second caliph (head of the Muslim community), ʿUmar I (634–644), to elect
son Yazid and therefore he introduced an alien system of hereditary succession. This led to civil
war and after the death of Yazid I in 683 and Mu’awiyah II in 684 the rule of Sufyanids ended
and Marwanids took the proclaim of caliph in Syria in 684.

Marwanids conquered many cities including Sindh in India and in Central Asia the Khorasanians
garrison conquered Bukhara Samarkand Khwarizmi, Fergana and Tashkent. They made Arabic
the state language and replaced Persian and GREEK officials with Arabs and converted the cur-
rency with Arabic coinage.

Their decline begins with the defeat of the Syrian army by the Byzantium emperor Leo III3 and
their military power was reduced. More over economic reforms including tax revenues included
by Umar at his time for the residence of Mawalis4 by placing all Muslims in the same footage
regardless of ethnicity caused more financial crisis. Moreover feuds between tribes of Qays
(northern) and Kalb (southern) in Arab caused further decline in the military power.

The lasts of the Ummayads Hasham Abd Al Malik held the tide of the caliph but then due to the
expansion the Muslims, when they tried to reach France they were caught at Poitiers5 and Arab
forces were destroyed at Anatolia (Turkey). The revolts between the Kays and Qalb was the
highest in Syria, Iraq and Khorasan after the death of Hasham.Mawalis became involved with
Hashimiyyah(a religio political group that denied the legitimacy of Umayyads).The last of the
Ummayads was Marwan II who got defeated at the battle of Great Zab River(750)6.Members of
the Umayyad house were hunted down and killed, but one of the survivors, Abd al-Raḥmān, es-
caped and established himself as a Muslim ruler in Spain (756), founding the dynasty of the
Umayyads in Córdoba.

Administration under Ummayads:

During the time of these caliphs, the process of Kinship, and succession became the private prop-
erty which was after the reign of Hazrat Ali RA. Yazid I of Muwaiah son was elected by
Muwaiah who in turn nominated his eldest son Mu’awiyah II to the caliphate. As we have men-

his successor. Thereafter, in Muslim states, shūrā variously designated a council of state, or advis-
ers to the sovereign, a parliament (in modern times), and—in certain Arab states—a court of law with
jurisdiction over claims made by citizens and public officials against the government. The
word shūrā provides the title of the 42nd chapter of the Qurʾān, in which believers are exhorted to
conduct their affairs “by mutual consultation.”
3
Leo III, byname Leo The Isaurian, (born c. 675, –680, Germanicia, Commagene, Syria—died June
18, 741, Constantinople), Byzantine emperor (717–741), who founded the Isaurian, or Syri-
an, dynasty, successfully resisted Arab invasions, and engendered a century of conflict within the
empire by banning the use of religious images (icons).
4
Singular Mawla The Non Arab Muslims
5
Battle of Tours, also called Battle of Poitiers, (October 732), victory won by Charles Martel, the
de facto ruler of the Frankish kingdoms, over Muslim invaders from Spain. The battlefield cannot be
exactly located, but it was fought somewhere between Tours and Poitiers, in what is now west-
central France.
6
In Mesopotamia and to the proclamation of first Abbasid caliph named Abu Al- Abbas Al- Saffah
tioned that there became two branches of Umayyads one was of Sufyanids and the other of
Marwanids. This method of nomination became troubled and after the murder of Walid II (son of
Yazid II who was the brother of Abdul Aziz).

 Concept of Shura was already abolished although Umar II tried to restore the institute of
Shura but HE had not much time to restore it. At first Muwaiah foremost duty which he
duly filled was to establish a proper administrative system in his time. He followed the
main ideas of the Byzantine Empire which had ruled the same region previously, and had
three main governmental branches: political and military affairs; tax collection; and reli-
gious administration. Each of these was further subdivided into more branches, offices,
and departments. At that time the rule of Umayyads was expanded to fairly large lands
and due to this expansion the empire had many provinces for which of each the governor
was appointed by the caliph. The governor was in charge of the religious officials, army
leaders, police, and civil administrators in his province. At that time the central govern-
ment resided in Damascus and all the remaining taxes after collection used to be sent to
Damascus annually. But unfortunately at the end of Ummayads dynasty many governors
were corrupt and they didn’t send back the revenues to the government but instead filled
their own bellies.
 Some more about Revenue: with the establishment of Monarchy by Mu’waiyah, the
revenue of the state became the private property of the Caliphs. These revenues are of the
Land tax, the poll tax on non Muslim subjects (jizya) the poor rates, customs and excise
duties, tributes paid under treaties, the fifth of the spoils of the war, Al Fay7, additional
imports in kind, presents on occasions of festivals and child tribute from the
bers8.there was a specific special officer who was appointed to collect the taxes especial-
ly the land tax and he bore the title of Sahib al Kharaj and he was directly responsible to
the caliph.

The Central government In Damascus: there were 5 boards in order to serve the caliph in
administration. Those were Diwanul Jand (the military board), Diwanul Kharaj (the board of fi-
nance), Diwanul Rasail (the board of correspondence), Diwanul Khatam (the board of signet)
and Diwanul Barid (The board of posts).

Diwanul Kharaj: the central board of Revenue whose responsibility was to collect the taxes of
the entire empire and also monitor the regular distribution of revenues.

7
Fayʾ in classical legal thought is usually the collective wealth of Muslims derived from the taxation
of conquered peoples. Fayʾ revenue is contrasted, on the one hand, with ghanīma, spoils taken
through battle, and, on the other, with ṣadaqa (or zakāt), alms paid by the Muslims themselves. The
Fayʾ is usually to be redistributed to Muslim fighters as a ʿaṭāʾ (stipend) and sometimes for other
public purposes (maṣāliḥ).
8
Berbers, or Amazighs, are an ethnic group of several nations mostly indigenous to North Africa and
some northern parts of West Africa. Berbers mostly live in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Maurita-
nia, northern Mali, northern Niger, and a small part of western Egypt.
Diwanul Khatam: bureau of registry was to report the forgery attempted in any state instituted
by Mu’waiyah. It used to make and preserve a copy of each official document before sealing and
dispatching the original to its destination. Thus in the course of time a state archive developed in
Damascus by the Umayyads under Abd al-Malik. This department survived till the middle of the
Abbasid period.

Diwanul Rasail: it issued state memorandums and circulars to the central and provincial offi-
cials. It co-ordinate the work of all Boards and dealt with all correspondence as the chief secre-
tariat.

Diwanul Barid: the board of posts established by Mu’waiyah. This was meant for state but al-
so used by subjects later on. Abd Malik extended it and Walid made full use of it. Umayyad Ca-
liph Abd al-Malik developed a regular postal service. Umar bin Abdul-Aziz developed it further
by building caravanserais at stages along the Khorasan highway. Mails were carried out by hors-
es or camels but later the mails. Through this board the messages and all posts were carried from
one part of the empire to the other.

Diwanul Jand: The Diwan of Umar assigning annuities to all Arabs and to the Muslim soldiers
of other races underwent a change in the hands of the Umayyads. The Umayyads meddled with
the register and the recipients regarded pensions as the subsistence allowance even without being
in active service. Hisham reformed it and paid only to those who participated in battle. On the
pattern of the Byzantine system the Umayyads reformed their army organization in general and
divided it into five corps: the centre, two wings, vanguards and rearguards while on march or in a
battle field following the same formation. Marwan II (740–50) abandoned the old division and
introduced Kurdus (cohort) a small compact body. The Umayyad troops were divided into three
divisions: infantry, cavalry and artillery. Arab troops were dressed and armed in Greek fashion.
The Umayyad cavalry used plain and round saddles. The artillery used arradah (ballista),
manjaniq (the mangonel) and dabbabah or kabsh (the battering ram). The heavy engines, siege
machines and baggage were carried on camels behind the army.

Political administration:
At the time of Hisham the political structure started getting disturbed because the problem was
not Hisham but the result of the earlier political system followed by the Patriarchal caliphs of
Medina. Earlier the political system was more based on military organization just to do war and
enjoy the fruits of it so it lacked the administrative measure for the other purposes and problems.
Umayyads at their time made an efficient effort and made the system workable. The challenges
faced by them made it necessary to give as much power to the Caliph to have the hold on the
tribes.
The empire was divided into five provinces i.e., Hejaz Yemen Central Arabia under one viceroy,
the lower and Upper Egypt made another. Iraq Arab Babylonia and Chaldea and Iraq –Azam,
Persia together with Yemen was another one. Bahrain, Karman, Sistan, Kabul, Khorasan,
Transoxiana, Sindh and Portions of the Punjab under the viceroy of Iraq, formed a big prov-
ince.Mexoptemia with Armenia and Azerbaijan made another Province. North Africa, Spain and
south of France together with Sicily, Sardinia and Balearic isles formed the most important prov-
ince.

Role Of viceroy: the viceroy had the full control over his political and military administration
of the province he was appointed to. These governors with the time of expansion appointed pre-
fects for the regularity of the province. For judicial purpose Caliph used to assign a Qazi who
was recommended by public. The administration of justice for Non Muslims was confined to
their own religious heads.

Removing the Greek and Persian Officers and appointing the Arabs was the step taken by Abdul
Malik. They trained those Arabs officials and Arab coinage was introduced.

Military Measures: at the time of internal conflicts and the disunity among the Muslims, at
the time of tension, the rise of Kharijites and the Berbers, it was necessary for Umayyad caliphs
to take necessary measures of strengthening the military and for that purpose they made such ar-
rangements such as granting 1000 Derhams per head with pensions so that people join the mili-
tary on their own Walid II increased the Pay by 10 Derhams. But Yazid II cut the salaries by 10
Derhams. However at the time of Umar II, due to financial crisis there was an irregularity in the
payment of the salaries. Many converts joined the Army in the way of Allah.

Military Ammunition:
They had lances, bows, arrows in quivers, javelins9, doubled edged swords, horses, masses hav-
ing sharp iron knot, and long shields. They wore helmets to protect their heads and dress made of
leather with many folds to protect the body.

Division of corps and ship building in Egypt and Syria: Ummayads dropped down the old way of
lining the soldiers as Arabs did and introduces the small compact bodies of Troops.

Damascus was the city for central government after the four caliphs under Umayyads and their
war with Byzantines made them develop ships and Navy ammunition to fight better with the ar-
mies along the coasts and the opposite sides of the seas. Mu’awiyah himself observed the pro-
gress going on in yard. He conquered Sicily and returned with great booty. Again Junadah bin

9
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today
predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the bow and arrow and
slingshot, which shoot projectiles from a mechanism.
Umayya al Azid conquered the Rhodes from the Byzantines and Muslim fleet struck terror in the
heart of Greeks. Junadah and Abdullah bin Qays are the important admirals who led the naval
expeditions under Mu’awiyah

Abdul Malik at his time built the biggest ship building factory in Tunis. Under Walid Hajjaj Bin
Yusuf attacked Sindh and almost conquered that. The reason of attack was that the Indian pirates
had plundered some of their ships. The fleet was divided in 5 squadrons:
 One of Syria with headquarters at Laodicea
 Africa
 Egypt with Alexandria at starting point
 The Nile with headquarters at Babylon, a special one to defend the coast from Byzan-
tines.

Division of Naval traffic in two Separate areas: their activities were centered in two different ar-
eas, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. The ships of Mediterranean were larger than
the ships of red sea or Indian Ocean. Moreover the planks in the red sea were stitched together
while in Mediterranean Sea they were nailed together.

Social Condition under Umayyads:

Well before proceeding to the society of Umayyads let’s have a look at the Administration of
Mawalis in Arab under Omer II. Omar bin Abdul Aziz, also known in history as Omar II, was
the first revivalist Emir in Islamic history. After Mu’awiyah, the character of the Caliphate
changed and dynastic rule was established. The corruption of the Umayyads reached its crescen-
do with Karbala. The Umayyads built lavish palaces, surrounded themselves with servants and
maids, accumulated enormous estates, treated the public treasury as their privy purse and lived
like princes and kings. There was no accountability for their wealth or for their actions. The pop-
ulace had no say in the affairs of the state. The Caliph was not nominated nor could he be ques-
tioned. The people were there merely to obey the strongman, pay taxes and serve in the armed
forces. Before his accession to the Caliphate, Omar bin Abdul Aziz was a dashing young man,
fond of fashion and fragrance. But when he accepted the responsibilities of Caliphate, he proved
to be the most pious, able, far-sighted and responsible of all the Omayyad Emirs.

Indeed, Omar bin Abdul Aziz set out to reform the entire political, social and cultural edifice of
the community and to bring back the transcendental values that had governed the Islamic state in
its infancy. Administration of Mawalis was done under Omar II but is intention was pure to bring
all the Muslims under the umbrella of one holy Unity .he abolished Jizya and Kharaj for them
and ordered that every mawali serving under Army will be paid like an Arab Muslim. Due to the
behavior of previous caliphs with Mawalis they Kind of developed hatred towards Ummayads
and despite these privileges they still aligned with Abbasids and hastened the fall of Ummayads
dynasty.

Umayyads had a really lavish life and enjoyed the kingship with full zeal until Omar II. Damas-
cus became the beautiful city in the world and the center of culture and also the seat of Islamic
Empire. The caliph ornamented it with huge massive buildings and, fountains and pleasure hous-
es, and maintained the standard of the court with the fashion of Khusraws and ceasers. They had
to maintain the High Court of Appeal more like a Supreme Court of today. The rulers listened
the subjects either in public or private.

Under Umayyads Non Muslims also enjoyed their rights. Christians, Jews Parses all were under
security. Caliphs secured the protection of their churches, synagogues and other holy places of
the Non muslims. Even their Holy places were rebuilt in case of thrown down due to natural ca-
lamity. They were allowed the implementation of their own judicial laws and moreover they en-
joyed the right of property and security of Honor.
Private life of caliphs was full of blemish except Omar II who lived a simple life and rejected all
the luxuries of kingship. Every caliph had their personal concubines or Harem. Yazid II had two
singing girls whom he was attached to. Under Yazid I he introduced Wine for which he got the
title of Yazid ul khumur. Yazid II and Walid II were constant Drunkards. The wine parties used
to be thrown by them. Along with that singing, dancing and dice games were also common in
that society. Horse racing was popular. Music became the important essence of their lives and
they used to spend a lot on singers and musicians.
More over Umayyads worked a lot on poetry revival and their critics and writers in order to un-
derstand the previous cultures of Islam and even before that they explored ancient scriptures and
poetry materials of those eras. Notwithstanding such new developments, the traditional qaṣīdah
form of poetry was by no means neglected during the Umayyad period. Moreover, as the satirists
of Iraq rose to fame, the naqāʾiḍ (slanging matches on parallel themes) between Jarīr (died c.
729) and al-Farazdaq (died c. 728 or 730) excited and delighted tribesmen of the rival settle-
ments of Basra and Kūfah (places that later also became rival centers of philological and theo-
logical schools). The work of these two poets has furnished critics and historians with rich mate-
rial for a study of the political and social situation in the early 9th century.

However prose literature was still restricted to religious writings only. At that time collection f
Hadith also started and it turned out to be 6 Great collections after compilation, out of which on-
ly 2 i.e. Al Bukhari and Muslim Ibn Al Hajjaj is of importance after Quran. The first studies of
religious law and legal problems, closely connected with the study of the Qurʾān, also belong to
that period.

Status of Women:
Women’s status under Umayyad under goes from activism to Domestication. In Umayyad Em-
pire time period Status of women is divided into 3 stages i.e. at first they were warriors and were
allowed to interfere in political matters, in the second stage they were barred from participating
in politics and were confined to domestic works but they still did those works under veil. In the
third stage they were completely domesticated and were considered as political tools by their
male counterparts. Throughout these periods women established their own schools, were poets
and writers. Under Early Umayyad period they were given every kind of freedom and right to
live. Under middle Umayyad period women became dependent on men because they left labor
work and dependent on male assets which were given to them in the form of dowers and gifts
and others, but still they affected politics behind the veil. Under the influences of newly adapted
civilizations, the Arabs also adapted gender discriminated policy towards women and many Had-
iths were fabricated against women cause. Among famous women for their learning, these names
may be counted:
Sauda bint Hamdaniyah, Bukharan bint al-Hilaliyah, Arwa bint al-Harith, alZarqa, Umm Sinan,
al-Darmiyah, Dhakwanniyah, Maysun al-Kalbiyah, Tumadir, al-Ayyaq, Umaymah, Kanzan,
Hind ai-julahiyah, hamidah, Dhat al-Khal, alThurayyah, Laylah al-Amriyah, Laylah al-
Akhiliyah, Hind al-Ansariyah, Bint Bahdal, Maysun al-Bahiliyah Rubab al-Kalbiyah and Fati-
mah bint al-Hussain. These are some learned women of that time, who made great contributions
in Arabic language and literature, Ulume Quran, Hadith literature, Arabic poetry, Prose, Medi-
cine, Histories, Law and other subjects. The later period was a little problematic one. They forgot
the idea of feminism devised by hazrat Aisha and so women were okay with their lives free of
any labor. Honor got associated with the name of women and many were killed in the name of
honor. Domestication also strengthened the gender stereotypes that prevailed that time as women
themselves proved being a good wives, good mothers, good daughters and good sisters. Their
own identification was hidden behind their males. The polygamy developed among the Mus-
lims/Arabs in result of this domestication. Such things were strengthened by the interpretation of
Islam by males’ point of view.
Population of Umayyad was divided in to four classes:
 The first was of caliphs
 Second was of Mawalis under Arabian Muslims
 The third class of ahl Al Dhimmah, the Jews he Christians and other Muslims who had
covenants with them.
 The last one was of slaves who were strictly prohibited by prophet PBUH but Umayyads
used to bring slaves from faraway lands and they considered it necessary because of the
increasing wealth of the rulers. Only Omar II abolished this tradition.
By the end of Umayyad period feudalism was strongly grasped its roots in the entire Islamic em-
pire.
Education:
Before Umayyad’s education was only confined to learning the teachings of Quran, studying
Traditions of the Prophet SAW (al-Hadith), and jurisprudence (Al-Fiqh) and the study of pre Is-
lamic poetry.
But with the development under Umayyads grammar science history and geography was intro-
duced in the culture but during early period not much system of education was developed. Later
on Maqtabs were developed and palace schools were organized in order to make people learn
education. But those palace schools had limited curricula and they could not always attract well-
trained teachers; physical facilities were not always conducive to a congenial educational envi-
ronment; and conflicts between religious and secular aims in these schools were almost irrecon-
cilable. More over due to these limitations and several more a new type of school was needed
which was called Madrasa. The Madrasa was an outgrowth of the masjid, a type of Mosque Col-
lege dating to the 8th century. But this was something that came into being in later Umayyad’s
period, otherwise only home education regarding Quranic teachings were coached by teachers.
Alongside Basra and Kūfah were the intellectual twin cities which were famous for the intellec-
tual activity where students from far off places came for the purpose of learning Arabic pronun-
ciation and recitation of poems. The founder of Grammar of Arabic Abdul Aswad Duwali was
flourished in Basra. He was followed by Khalid ibn Ahmed who compiled an Arabic dictionary
Kitab Al Ayan. During Umayyad’s time we have famous names like Hassan al basri and Mu-
hammad ibn e Seereen, both of which were the leading light of Basra in their own day. Al Basri
was a man of integrity and wholly averse to the falsification of the facts.

Culture under Umayyads:

Having successful in converting the kingdom from religious one to the dynastic one, Umayyads
also had the cultural heritage and there were several cities considered as the centers of culture at
different times of Caliphs.
Kufa as a cultural center:
After the Prophet PBUH many Kufans contributed in expanding the Arabic Culture there. These
Kufans were basically the descendents or followers of Prophet SAAW notable of which are Ab-
dullah Ibn e Masud, Ali RA. Ali RA having duties to perform in Iraq could not keep much in
Kufa but he was a tradionalist there. But it was Abdullah Ibn Masud who contributed a lot in
keeping the Arabic culture in Kufa. He was the eloquent student of Quran and many people used
to consult him for their problems to which he used to give solutions through Quran at the time of
Prophet SAW. At the time of Hazrat Umar RA, Abdullah ibn Masud was sent to Kūfah to teach
people as he was a man of profound judgment. He did not hesitate to make any discretion if there
was no clear or direct indication or solution of some particular issue or problem In Quran or
Hadith. Many prominent names as students of Quran were of his own as Alqamah, Al Aswad,
Masruq, Ubaydah Al Harith, Ibn Qays and Amr ibn Shurhabil. These scholars were also the ju-
rists who carried his work and contributed further in securing Arabic culture.
Syria a Center Of Culture: Syria became part of the land of Islam in AD 640. The capital of Syr-
ia, Damascus (Dimashk or Al Sham, as its inhabitants call it in Arabic) was part of the Muslim
Umayyad Dynasty in the seventh century and became a cultural, religious and artistic center. The
famous Umayyad Mosque was built at that time and drew many scholars and visitors from all
parts of the new empire. It had witnessed many other cultures such as the cultures of the Phoeni-
cians, the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Romans. Some Syrian cit-
ies also became famous for the centers of learning and culture among Which Damascus, Antioch,
Beirut and Hims. Learning of different ideas from different schools like Theology from the He-
brews, Written alphabet from the Phoenicians, philosophical thoughts from the Greeks and Judi-
cial system from roman made Syria influenced the Muslim culture in the later days, The native
Arabic dialect of Quraysh was considered as the standard language although Greek and Hebrew
continued alongside with Arabic.
Malik, Ubaydah and Abu Darda were the first Islamic teachers there who made scholars and per-
sonalities like Abu Idris Al khalwani, Makhul Al Dimishqi, Umar ibn e Abdul Aziz, Raj ibn
hayawan, and Abdur Rehman Al awzai and Abu Hanifa.
These people were sent by Hazrat Umar to Syria to teach people the teachings of the Quran and
Fiqh (jurisprudence) Ubaydah Ibn al samit was the man of Medina Al Jarrah was the most intel-
ligent and knowledgeable man who had a reputation for dispension of justice. Abu Darda also
the companion of Muhammad SAW dies the Qazi of Damascus. Malik spent the last years of life
as teacher of the Quran in Syria.
Reviving the Historical Culture:
We have discussed in the previous pages that Muslims under Umayyads revived the preislamic
culture in regard of poetry and music and also the proceedings of the kings and rulers before Ca-
liphs along with to become familiar with the life of Prophet SAW. These prominent things led to
historical research. Jews and Muslims are also working together at that time, among them a
Yemenite Jew, Kab Al Ahbar; Muslims like Abid Ibn Shariyah, Wahb Ibn Manabí, and Kab Al
Ahbar became the story tellers and historians. Kab al Ahbar converted to Islam in the reign of
Hazrat Muwaiah.
Talking about the poetry of Umayyad’s caliphate people used it as an instrument of their busi-
ness. The greatest accomplishments were made in poetical composition. Some famous figures
are ibn Abu Rabia, Jamil Jarir, Farajdaq and Akhtal.10They formed a famous trio in Early Arabic
Literary History. Because they closely resembled in their style and poetry one can’t specifically
say who was superior. The verse of a poet like the Qurashite 'Umar bin Abī Rabīah (643–711)
gives a different impression. He wrote experimental poetry that deviated in tone and technique
from the poetry preceding it. Al Farazdaq11 was famous poet for his satires. His Diwan, the col-

10
He was a favorite panegyrist and friend of the Umayyad caliph Yazid I and his generals Ziyād ibn
Abī and al-Ḥajjāj. He continued as court poet to the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik but fell into disfavor under
Walid I. Al-Akhṭal’s poetry is highly political; he is known for panegyrics that defended Umayyad poli-
cies and for invective that skewered those who opposed them.
11
Living in Basra, al-Farazdaq (“The Lump of Dough”) composed satires on the Banū Nashal and
Banū Fuqaim tribes, and when Ziyād ibn Abīhi, a member of the latter tribe, became governor of Iraq
lection of his poetry, contains several thousand verses, including laudatory and satirical poems
and laments.
Mu’waiyah was fond of legendary stories for which he offered Abid ibn Sharayh, a Yemenite
story teller to come to his court. Abid put all stories into writings and this was the first semi his-
torical work which gradually developed into the most contributed work of Arabs to world litera-
ture. Khalid ibn Yazid asked many Istifanus12 to translate Logic into Arabic. Ibn Ishaq and Ibn
Uqbah wrote the life of Prophet. Ibn Miknaf compiled the list of the important events that took
place from the first caliph up to 743 A.D.
Lyrical poem: Qays bin Mulawa is celebrated in respect of the lyrical outburst of the poems.
He is known as Majnu in history for the love of Laila his love is proverbial to us. His poems are
permeated by the atmosphere of such genuine love that his work is unique from all points of
view.
Scientific Achievements: we have discussed that during the Umayyads Caliphate work on
Arabic language was started as schools were established and Arabic grammar and dictionary was
developed by some renowned scholars of that time. Similarly they were no less in progressing in
scientific culture. The Arabization of the Diwans and the translation of elementary scientific texts
that are required for the kuttab of the Diwan are closely related to some aspects of Umayyad
technology. They flourished a lot in scientific technology and they also boosted up the economy.
Many industries were established during their rein. Apart from this many works from Greek sci-
ence were translated in Arabic.
Irrigation system was introduced in Basra during Umar’s Period. He began building two im-
portant canals linking Basra with the Tigris River. These were al-Ubulla River and the Ma'qil
River. The canals were completed under the later governors and thus Basra obtained the neces-
sary drinking water, and the two canals were the basis for the agricultural development for the
whole Basra region. 'Umar also devised the policy of cultivating barren lands by assigning such
lands to those who undertook to cultivate them. This policy continued during the Umayyad peri-
od and it resulted in the cultivation of large areas of barren lands through the construction of irri-
gation canals by the state and by individuals. We find in the original Arabic sources much detail
about the irrigation works which were constructed in Iraq in the regions of Basra, Kufa, Wasit,
al-Raqqa and several other areas. Al-Hajjaj was particularly active in constructing irrigation
works and the later governors followed his policy. Norias (al-nawa'ir), or the large water-wheels
which were driven by the flow of water and raised water to a greater height, were used on large
scale on the Tigris and the Euphrates. They were used also on the Orontes (al-’ASI River) and on
al-Khabur River which is a tributary of the Euphrates River. The saqiya, or the animal-driven pot

in 669, he was forced to flee to Medina, where he remained for several years. On the death of Ziyād,
he returned to Basra and gained the support of Ziyād son, ʿUbayd Allah.
12
Christians took part in administration and the different jobs. Caliph Mu’awiyah ibn Abi-Sufyan (May
Allah be pleased with him), ruler of Great Syria, realized that Arab and Roman Christians are majori-
ty in Syria that they were artisans, employees, physicians and writers. Caliph recognized that he
cannot do without these Christian figures in case he wills to gain mastery in administering the Great
Syria, thus, he kept them in their jobs and showed favor to the brilliant of them.
wheel, was also used extensively. For power purposes the water mill was also well established.
The first mention of the windmill in the Islamic period occurs during 'Umar's caliphate, when
Abu Lu'lu'a told 'Umar that he could build an air-driven mill.
Numerous trades and crafts of Umayyad’s are of industrial chemistry type. Abdul Malik decided
to mint the Arabic Dinar and to liberate the economy from the dependence of Byzantine Dinar
and Persian ones also. This financial reform had far-reaching consequences and it is considered
one of the major achievements of the Umayyads. The Islamic gold dinar abolished the Byz-
antines' monopoly of golden currency. The economy of the Islamic countries was thus liberated
and a new era of Islamic financial supremacy on the international scene was established. The ap-
pearance of the Islamic gold dinar and the silver dirham implied the adoption of elaborate
measures in the mining of gold and silver and in strict and effective controls of the mint and of
the circulation of coins.

Luster-painting, which is characteristic of Islamic glass and pottery, is a metallic sheen applied
on the surfaces of glass or pottery objects. Its origin has been the subject of discussion amongst
historians, the suggested centers being, Syria, Iraq, Egypt or Iran.13
Other industries were of military ammunition and also Umayyads did great job in increasing na-
val power.
Architecture:
The Umayyad caliphs were the great patrons of architecture. They built many new cities and re-
built the older cities, which shows their great interest in architecture. Important among such
achievements is the Dome of Rock, Mosque of Damascus and Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
The Dome of the Rock:
The construction of the Dome of the Rock (Qubbah Al Sakhra) at Jerusalem was started by 'Abd
al-Malik in 687 and was completed in 691.teh significance if this mosque was that it was among
the earliest mosque having a dome. Also it’s a living association with the Prophet’s journey of
the Night. The materials were taken from the christen buildings. Although the building was built
by Non Muslims but it was according to the ideas and culture of Muslims.

Among the Umayyad palaces whose remains are in existence is aI-Mashatta Palace south of
Amman. It is one of the important Umayyad palaces and was probably built by al-Walid II
around 743. Another important palace is Qusayr 'Amra east of Amman. It was built according to
some historians during the caliphate of al-Walid 1 between 712 and 715 but other historians be-
lieve it was built by Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik (724-743). It is famous for its magnificent wall
illustrations. The Khirbat al-Mafjar in Jericho is considered the largest and the most beautiful
13
According to the latest reported archaeological finds, the earliest existing examples of luster glass
were of Syrian origin during the Umayyad period.(660–750).[18]Numerous Umayyad glass luster
fragments have been found at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi[19] that was built in (728–9) by the Umayyad
Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, who ruled between 723 and 742. In addition, the glass found at the
ancient site of Pella [20] in Jordan included Umayyad luster-painted and gilded fragments.
among the Umayyad palaces, and it was probably built by Yazid Ill in 127/744. There are two
great palaces which are also attributed to Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik; these are Qasr al-Hayr al-
Sharqi and Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi. They lie near the city of Palmyra (Tadmur). The Eastern Pal-
ace (al-Sharqi) was built in 729 and the Western (al-Gharbi) in 728.
Al Aqsa Mosque:
This was built by Abdul Malik near the dome of The Rock. It was rebuilt by Al Mansur Abbasid
caliph because of its destruction due to earth quack.
The Umayyad Mosque or the Mosque of Damascus:
The construction of the Great Mosque in Damascus was started in 705 by al-Walid and it was
completed in 715. The arches of the mosque are of horse shoe pattern and the interior decorated
with marbles and mosaics. This mosque shows the traces of ideas borrowed from Syrio Byzan-
tine architecture.
The Umayyad caliph Suleiman founded Ramla14 and built its congregational mosque which ac-
cording to Muqaddasi was a very fine building with marble columns and marble pavement.
Islamic music In Umayyads Dynasty:
Under the Umayyad caliphate (661–750) the classical style of Islamic music developed further.
The capital was moved to Damascus (in modern Syria) and the courts were thronged with male
and female musicians, who formed a class apart. Many prominent musicians were Arab by birth
or acculturation, but the alien element continued to play a predominant role in Islamic music.
The first and the greatest musician of the Umayyad era was Ibn Misjaḥ, often honored as the fa-
ther of Islamic music.
Ibn e Misjaḥ:
Born in Makah of a Persian family, he was famous for the introduction of rhythm in the Arabic
music. He was also among the first ones who used the Instrument Tambourine while singing in
the language to the accompaniment of the instrument. Ibn Misjaḥ traveled to Syria and Persia,
learning the theory and practice of Byzantine and Persian music and incorporating much of his
acquired knowledge into the Arabian art song. Although he adopted new elements such as for-
eign musical modes, he rejected other musical traits as unsuitable to Arabian music. Knowledge
of his contributions is contained in the most important source of information about music and
musical life in the first three centuries of Islam.
Other notable musicians of the period were Ibn Muḥriz, of Persian ancestry; Ibn Surayj, son of a
Persian slave and noted for his elegies and improvisations (murtajal); his pupil al-Gharīḍ, born of
a Berber family; and the Negro Maʿbad. Like Ibn Surayj, Maʿbad cultivated a special personal
style adopted by following generations of singers. Among them of songstress, Jamilah is the
name that comes first; whose residence became the center of attention for the leading musicians
of Makah and Medina. Habibah and Salama are the pupils of her and also the favorites of Yazid
II.

14
Ramla (also Ramle, Ramlah, Remle and sometimes Rama) is a city in central Israel. The city is
predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 CE by the
Umayyad governor and future caliph Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik.
Conclusion:
The period is called as the golden time period among Aras as it was a change of the Islamic state
in to a Dynastic one, the age of innumerable achievements in almost all the aspects of life.
Umayyads although lived more lavishly but still did a lot for the society and for the whole em-
pire. The age in which many successful succession were made and the empire was extended to
its fullest. Under Abd al-Malik, Ibn al-Zubayr was defeated and Umayyad power reasserted. Abd
al-Malik developed the Islamic Empire from a Byzantine and Persian successor state to its own
unique state, with Islam as its central ideology and Arabic as its language. In 711 AD, the
Umayyads conquered Spain from the Visigoths. The Umayyad Empire was the largest yet in his-
tory, but its military expansion was halted after the failed second siege of Constantinople in 717
AD and the defeat of Muslim forces in France at the Battle of Tours in 732 AD. While Umayyad
caliph Umar II treated the mawali—the non-Arab Muslims of the empire—very well, under most
caliphs’ only Muslim Arabs were first-class citizens. This caused widespread discontent under
the Umayyads. In 750, at the Battle of the Zab, the Umayyads were overthrown by a new dynas-
ty, the Abbasids, who had support from the Arabs living in the East, from the mawali, and from
the Shiites. Spain remained in the hands of the Umayyads, but the rest of the empire came under
the control of the Abbasids.

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