The Umayyad Dynasty (Arabicالأمويون / بنو أميةumawiyy; in Turkish, Emevi) was the first dynasty of caliphs of the Prophet Muhammad who were not closely related to Muhammad himself, though they were of the same Meccan tribe, the Quraish. The first dynasty reigned from 661 to 750. Ironically, the Quraishi clan from which the Umayyads originated had originally been bitter enemies of Muhammad.
The Courtyard of the Omayyad Mosque, Damascus
Muawiyah had been the governor of Syria under the 3rd caliph and his kinsman, Uthman ibn Affan. After the assassination of Uthman, he was replaced by the new caliph, Ali Ben Abu Talib. Rather than relinquish his post, Muawiyah took up a rebellion against Ali. The two fought many battles, and eventually they agreed to partition the Muslim empire. However, Ali was assassinated in 661, and Muawiyah declared himself caliph of all Muslim lands. This established the Umayyad dynasty, the capital was moved to Damascus
The Umayyads were overthrown in the east by the Abbasid dynasty after their defeat in the Battle of the Zab in 750, following which most of the clan was massacred by the Abbasids. An Umayyad prince, Abd-ar-rahman I, took over the Muslim territory in Spain and founded a new Umayyad dynasty there.
The Omayyads were accused by their numerous missionaries of every imaginable vice; in their, hands Islam was not safe; it would be a godly work to extirpate them from the earth.
All the evidence shows that, during the reign of the Omayyads, life in Damascus and the rest of Syria was austere and in striking contrast to the dissolute manners which prevailed in Medina.
The missionaries were charged with the task of undermining the authority of the Omayyads, by drawing attention to all the injustices that took place under their reign, and to all the luxury and wantonness of the court, as contrasted with the misery of many of their subjects.
Damascus was conquered by the Caliph Omar in A.D. Immediately thereafter, the city's power and prestige reached its peak when it became the capital of the OmayyadEmpire, which extended from Spain to India from A.D. to A.D., when the Abbasid caliphate was established at Baghdad, Iraq.
After this, Damascus was ruled from Baghdad, and then, for a time, by the Fatimid Caliphs in Cairo.
Ayyubid rule (and independence) came to an end with the Mongol invasion of Syria in 1260, and Damascus became a provincial capital of the Mameluke Empire following the Mongol withdrawal.
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