Questions tagged [umayyad-caliphate]
Use this tag for questions specifically about Umayyad Caliphate, a medieval Empire which existed from 661-750 AD based in Syria and later established itself in Iberian peninsula from 756-1031 AD. It spanned over a number of Asian, North African, European, Caucasian countries. If your question is about the Syrian branch of the Empire, add the [syria] tag along with this tag. For Hispanic branch, use the [spain] tag instead.
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Why did the Moors invade the Iberian peninsula?
Almost all of the information that I can find with regards to the Moorish invasion of the Iberian Peninsula simply states when the Moors invaded. There seems to be very little on what the motivation ...
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How was Abd al-Rahman I recognized when he arrived in Islamic Hispania?
Abd al-Rahman I was the founder of the Umayyad dynasty in Hispania, and he was one of the last Umayyad survivors when the Abbasid overthrew the Umayyad caliphate in Damascus. According to what I read, ...
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Was the Battle of Tours really the turning point for the Umayyad expansion into Europe?
Considering how far the Umayyad Empire had come into Europe, and their defeat at the Battle of Tours could they have pushed further into Europe? Did Tours really stop their advance or were there ...
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What were the religious effects of the initial Arab conquests in the Byzantine Empire?
I've been reading some articles and books about the early Islamic conquests that started at about 634 CE, mainly in areas that belonged to the Byzantine Empire. Problem is, the majority of works I've ...
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Were the Islamic Caliphates (Umayyad and Abbasid) and the Mongol Empires truly as benevolent as they are portrayed?
My history textbooks insist on the same idea: these empires were religiously tolerant, allowed trade to flourish, and improved the quality of life for the subjects.
On the other hand, all the ...
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Why did the Byzantines not try to recover Syria during the war between Ali and Muawiya?
After the Caliph Othman get killed there was period of instability in the Islamic state for more than five years, and Syria was just taken by Muslims before around twenty years.
Why did the ...
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A zoo during the rule of Omayyad or Abbasid dynasty?
I recall that when I was in high school that I read a text -which sounds more like a legend- about an Arabic Sultan/Caliph who on a trip trough his empire passed by an injured (wild) animal (don't ...
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Primary sources from Umayyad times
Background
Most narratives about the events during the Umayyad rule come from sources that were compiled during the succeeding Abbasid rule. Since the Abbasids came to power through armed ...
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Why did European writers and artists continue to depict the Moors as being black skinned, even though they were mostly Berbers and Arabs
The Moors were foot soldiers of the Ummayad dynasties of Syria who crossed the straits of Gibraltar into the Iberian peninsula.
Later in that period, two new dynasties emerged: the Almoravids and the ...
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Are there any books solely about the Umayyad Invasion of Gaul?
I am very fascinated by the Umayyad Invasion of Gaul (the Arabic wiki-page on this subject is very interesting, though it starts with a lengthy description of the condition of Franks) and I am looking ...
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Why did the Umayyads spare some of the male members of the Family (Ahl-al-Bait) after Karbala?
Given that it's the Islamic month of Muharram, there's something that I have always wondered about the Battle of Karbala fought between Umayyad Empire and the family of the Prophet Muhammad.
In the ...
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Why was Caliph Suleyman disliked by the noted generals in the Umayyad army?
Caliph Suleyman of Umayyad Empire was by all accounts a rash man who kept a grudge. He also appears to have had stormy relations with the Army's Walidist generals.
His only apparent support in the ...
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What was the population of the Umayyad Caliphate in 750 CE?
What was the population of the Umayyad Caliphate at its greatest extent (750 CE)?
According to Wikipedia it was 22 million.
According to other various sources / websites it was 62 million (wikipedia ...
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Why does Retsö claim that only members/clients of Arabian tribes were considered "real Muslims" in the Umayyad Caliphate before 750?
In his book "The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads", Professor Jan Retsö writes:
The conflicts were aggravated by the fact that the tribes identified
the ...
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How many people did the Islamic Caliphate send to the Maghreb during the Arabization of North Africa?
I know that during the Muslim conquest of the North Africa it was more a military colonization than an Arabization an spread of their culture as the Berbers in North Africa kept their culture and were ...
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How did Muhammad bin Qasim die?
The wikipedia page about Muhammad bin Qasim says:
According to Al-Baladhuri, a 9th-century Persian historian, Qasim was
killed due to a family feud with the governor of Iraq. After the death
of ...
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