The Umayyad Caliphate was formed in 661 CE by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan following the assassination of Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad.
[1]
It ended with the defeat of the Umayyads by the Abbasids in the Third Fitna (a series of Muslim civil wars) in 750 CE.
[2]
The Ummayad Caliphs, based in Damascus in Syria, ruled a large territory stretching from the Near East all the way through North Africa and into southern Spain.
Population and political organization
The caliph was a tribal patriarch and head of the ummah, the entire Islamic community. The central government of the Umayyad Caliphate was almost non-existent at the start of the period but entered a more developed stage in the mid-8th century. One of the reasons for this lack of central administration was the exceptionally successful Arab-Muslim army combined with the existence of functioning bureaucracies in the former Sassanid and Byzantine domains, which were left largely intact.
[3]
Thus, under Muawiya - the first Ummayad Caliph - the ruler was ’surrounded by Arab chiefs’ with no other central administration.
[4]
At Damascus, an administrative system staffed by permanent officials
[5]
dates from the reigns of al-Malik (685-705 CE) and al-Walid (705-715 CE).
[4]
The caliphs, from their residence in Damascus (661-744 CE) and then Harran (744-750 CE), employed a chamberlain to manage visitors and regulate daily affairs,
[4]
and maintained an office of the chancery
[6]
with officials called diwans to manage the collection of taxes and payment of salaries.
[7]
In order to impose their authority over the provinces, which had a combined population of up to 33 million,
[8]
the Umayyads typically sent civil and military governors (amel and amir).
[9]
In the regions they conquered, the Ummayads had no choice but to use the resident staff because institutions to train and educate bureaucrats had not yet developed in the Arab Muslim context. In Egypt, for the first century of Umayyad rule, ’all the provincial officials were Christians’.
[10]
The Umayyad Caliphate was thus an exceptionally multicultural empire with a diverse governmental and cultural heritage.
This diversity was reflected in the number of languages spoken across the territory conquered by Muslims: from Basque in the far west to Berber and African Romance languages along the southern shores of the Mediterranean, and Aramaic, Turkic, Hebrew, Armenian and Kurdish in the east.
[11]
The use of Arabic as an administrative language began in Iraq in 697 CE, but spread outwards to Syria, Egypt and, by 700 CE, Khurasan in modern-day northeastern Iran.
[5]
In Egypt, the adoption of Arabic as the language of local government took over 100 years; initially, almost all papyruses were written in Greek. The first known bilingual Greek-Arabic document dates to 643 CE, and the last to 719. The earliest known Egyptian document written exclusively in Arabic is dated to 709 CE, and Greek was still being used up until 780 CE.
[12]
[1]: (Madelung 1997, 108, 297) Wilferd Madelung. 1997. The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2]: (Esposito, ed. 2003, 691) John L. Esposito, ed. 2003. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[3]: (Lapidus 2012, 55) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[4]: (Lapidus 2012, 80-90) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[5]: (Lapidus 2012, 36-38) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[6]: (Lapidus 2012, 50-51) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[7]: (Kennedy 2001, 88) Hugh N. Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. London: Routledge.
[8]: (Blankinship 1994, 37-38) Khalid Y. Blankinship. 1994. The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham Ibn ’Abd Al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
[9]: (Lambton 2011) Ann K. S. Lambton. 2011. ’Cities iii: Administration and Social Organization’, in Encyclopedia Iranica V/6, 607-23; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cities-iii (accessed 2 April 2017).
[10]: (Raymond 2000, 17) André Raymond. 2000. Cairo. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
[11]: (Lapidus 2002, 126) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. A History of Islamic Societies. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[12]: (Raymond 2000, 23) André Raymond. 2000. Cairo. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
| none |
| Islam |
| Abbasid Caliphate I |
| 9,000,000 km2 | 700 CE |
| continuity |
| UNCLEAR: [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Abbasid Caliphate I (iq_abbasid_cal_1) [continuity] |
| unitary state |
| Year Range | Umayyad Caliphate (sy_umayyad_cal) was in: |
|---|---|
| (661 CE 663 CE) | Upper Egypt Southern Mesopotamia |
| (663 CE 664 CE) | Upper Egypt Southern Mesopotamia Susiana |
| (664 CE 670 CE) | Upper Egypt Southern Mesopotamia Susiana Yemeni Coastal Plain |
| (670 CE 749 CE) | Upper Egypt Southern Mesopotamia Susiana Yemeni Coastal Plain Kachi Plain |
| (749 CE 750 CE) | Yemeni Coastal Plain Kachi Plain |
Damascus: 661-744 CE; Harran: 744-750 CE ... this could not be machine read Muawiyah established Damascus as the capital during his rule.
[1]
[1]: ’Umayyad Caliphate’ in Esposito, John L, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p.691.
Al-Ḫilāfa al-ʾumawiyya ... this could no be machine read
Al-Ḫilāfa al-ʾumawiyya ... this could no be machine read
Al-Ḫilāfa al-ʾumawiyya ... this could no be machine read
The Umayyad Caliphate was formed in 661 CE by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, following the assassination of Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. It ended with the defeat of the Umayyads by the Abbasids in the Third Muslim Civil war in 750 CE. [1]
[1]: Esposito, John L, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p.691.
km squared.
"Under the administrations of the Caliphs ’Abu al-Malik and Al-Walid, tax registers, resumes and correspondences were translated from local languages to Arabic. The process of using Arabic as an administrative language radiated outward from the centre, being implemented first in Iraq in 697 CE, then to Syria and Egypt, and Khurasan by 700 CE." [1] "A multitude of languages were spoken in the territories conquered by Islamic conquest, from Basque in Iberia to Aramaic and Armenian,the various Berber language, African Romance, Georgian, Hebrew, Turkic, Kurdish, and others." [2] In Egypt the adoption of Arabic as the language of local government took over 100 years. Initially almost all papyruses were written in Greek. 643 CE saw the first bilingual Greek-Arabic document and 719 the last. Earliest known Arabic only document is dated 709 CE. The last papyrus written in Greek was in 780 CE. [3]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 50)
[2]: (Lapidus 2002, p. 126
[3]: (Raymond 2000, 23)
"Under the administrations of the Caliphs ’Abu al-Malik and Al-Walid, tax registers, resumes and correspondences were translated from local languages to Arabic. The process of using Arabic as an administrative language radiated outward from the centre, being implemented first in Iraq in 697 CE, then to Syria and Egypt, and Khurasan by 700 CE." [1] "A multitude of languages were spoken in the territories conquered by Islamic conquest, from Basque in Iberia to Aramaic and Armenian,the various Berber language, African Romance, Georgian, Hebrew, Turkic, Kurdish, and others." [2] In Egypt the adoption of Arabic as the language of local government took over 100 years. Initially almost all papyruses were written in Greek. 643 CE saw the first bilingual Greek-Arabic document and 719 the last. Earliest known Arabic only document is dated 709 CE. The last papyrus written in Greek was in 780 CE. [3]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 50)
[2]: (Lapidus 2002, p. 126
[3]: (Raymond 2000, 23)
"Under the administrations of the Caliphs ’Abu al-Malik and Al-Walid, tax registers, resumes and correspondences were translated from local languages to Arabic. The process of using Arabic as an administrative language radiated outward from the centre, being implemented first in Iraq in 697 CE, then to Syria and Egypt, and Khurasan by 700 CE." [1] "A multitude of languages were spoken in the territories conquered by Islamic conquest, from Basque in Iberia to Aramaic and Armenian,the various Berber language, African Romance, Georgian, Hebrew, Turkic, Kurdish, and others." [2] In Egypt the adoption of Arabic as the language of local government took over 100 years. Initially almost all papyruses were written in Greek. 643 CE saw the first bilingual Greek-Arabic document and 719 the last. Earliest known Arabic only document is dated 709 CE. The last papyrus written in Greek was in 780 CE. [3]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 50)
[2]: (Lapidus 2002, p. 126
[3]: (Raymond 2000, 23)
"Under the administrations of the Caliphs ’Abu al-Malik and Al-Walid, tax registers, resumes and correspondences were translated from local languages to Arabic. The process of using Arabic as an administrative language radiated outward from the centre, being implemented first in Iraq in 697 CE, then to Syria and Egypt, and Khurasan by 700 CE." [1] "A multitude of languages were spoken in the territories conquered by Islamic conquest, from Basque in Iberia to Aramaic and Armenian,the various Berber language, African Romance, Georgian, Hebrew, Turkic, Kurdish, and others." [2] In Egypt the adoption of Arabic as the language of local government took over 100 years. Initially almost all papyruses were written in Greek. 643 CE saw the first bilingual Greek-Arabic document and 719 the last. Earliest known Arabic only document is dated 709 CE. The last papyrus written in Greek was in 780 CE. [3]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 50)
[2]: (Lapidus 2002, p. 126
[3]: (Raymond 2000, 23)
Ctesiphon.
Ctesiphon in 622 CE: 500,000.
[1]
How many remained after Seige of Ctesiphon, and its subsequent looting in 637 CE is unknown.
Kairwan in 800 CE: 80,000.
[1]
Fustat in 800 CE: 100,000.
[1]
Fustat c750 CE: 200,000.
[2]
Fustat (earliest period): 10,000 soldiers.
[3]
Arab population of Fustat 30,000: 670 CE; 50,000 750 CE. Including slaves, clients and Copts 200,000: 750 CE.
[4]
Samarkand in 800 CE had a population of 75,000.
[1]
Alexanderia in 622 CE had a population of 94,000, which increased to 95,000 by 800 CE .
[1]
Damascus in 800 CE had a population of 65,000.
[1]
[1]: (Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet)
[2]: (Raymond 2000, 18 cite: Gayraud)
[3]: (Raymond 2000, 18)
[4]: (Raymond 2000, 18 cite: Kubiak)
squared kilometers. 6,700,000: 661 CE; 7,850,000: 680 CE; 9,000,000: 700 CE; 11,100,000: 720-750 CE
[1]
Actual control of this territory, especially in areas recently conquered means that this estimate should be viewed with some skepticism. Much of the territory was uninhabited desert.
[1]: (Chase-Dunn Spreadsheet)
For issues with population estimates, especially in the period before large scale conversion to Islam, see the arguments presented in Blankinship’s End of the Jihâd State
[1]
For detailed coverage of the individual polities below, see Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A historical encyclopedia
[2]
The settlement hierarchy can be divided into six subsets:
1. Metropoles 50,000-150,000 Cairo, Damascus
[3]
2. Provincial Centres 20,000-50,000: Antioch, Alexandria
[3]
3. Provincial cities 10,000-20,000: Jerusalem
[3]
4. Small towns 500-10,000 Gaza, Hebron
[3]
5. Villages 200-500
6. Nomadic peoples (i.e Berbers)
[1]: (Blankinship 1994, 272-275)
[2]: (Dumper and Stanley 2007)
[3]: (Shatzmiller ????, 59)
In theory the Caliphate and governors were the head of the Sunni faith, but in practice local religious scholars (ulama) attracted the wider populace as definers of doctrine. Unlike the Orthodox or Catholic faith, the structure of the Islamic faiths were not clearly hierarchical as all were theoretically equal before Allah. The period also saw the rise of the religious sects.
[1]
1. Caliph as head of the Sunni Muslim Umma.
2. Imams: successors of the prophet and leaders of the Muslim world.
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 82, 215)
In the beginning of the Umayyad Caliphate the Army was effectively a tribal institution supported by local auxiliaries and foreign military units that had deserted from the Caliph’s enemies. Demarcating a distinct command is effectively impossible as it was non existent. Tribal loyalty determined who men would follow over a title. Following a period of Civil war, the military was reformed under the reign of ’Abd al-Malik (685 CE-705 CE)to a more permanent system. This was not the case with the guards of the provincial cities and the Caliph, as indicated below.
Domestic Guardsmen
The Shurta (police) and the Haras (guards) were responsible for the securing the capital and maintaining the security of the Caliph and his family.
[1]
1. Caliph
2. Sahid-al-Shurta (provincial commander)
3. Common guardsman (661 CE-705 CE)
Military
The layout below is an oversimplification. In the earlier period of the Umayyad Caliphate the Caliphs had relied on the service of Arab tribes originally from Arabia, and subsequently settled in garrison cities in newly conquered lands. As the empire expanded this system changed to an increasingly professional army paid for in cash rather than a tribal nation in arms. The was also geographic variation. In Syria, Permanent garrisons differed from the temporary Arabic cohorts used for Jihad campaigns.
[2]
661-705 CE
1. Caliph
2. Amir
3. Muqualtila (fighting men)
[3]
705-750 CE
1. Amir al-mu’ minin (official title of the Caliph)
2. Amir (commander or governor of a province or army)
3. Qa-id (military officer)
4. Arif (leader of a militay unit of ten to fifteen soldiers)
5. Muquatila (Muslim soldiers paid a salary)
[1]: (Kennedy 2004, 49)
[2]: (Kennedy ????, 12-51)
[3]: (Kennedy ????, 5-6, 18-19)
In the beginning of the Umayyad Caliphate the Army was effectively a tribal institution supported by local auxiliaries and foreign military units that had deserted from the Caliph’s enemies. Demarcating a distinct command is effectively impossible as it was non existent. Tribal loyalty determined who men would follow over a title. Following a period of Civil war, the military was reformed under the reign of ’Abd al-Malik (685 CE-705 CE)to a more permanent system. This was not the case with the guards of the provincial cities and the Caliph, as indicated below.
Domestic Guardsmen
The Shurta (police) and the Haras (guards) were responsible for the securing the capital and maintaining the security of the Caliph and his family.
[1]
1. Caliph
2. Sahid-al-Shurta (provincial commander)
3. Common guardsman (661 CE-705 CE)
Military
The layout below is an oversimplification. In the earlier period of the Umayyad Caliphate the Caliphs had relied on the service of Arab tribes originally from Arabia, and subsequently settled in garrison cities in newly conquered lands. As the empire expanded this system changed to an increasingly professional army paid for in cash rather than a tribal nation in arms. The was also geographic variation. In Syria, Permanent garrisons differed from the temporary Arabic cohorts used for Jihad campaigns.
[2]
661-705 CE
1. Caliph
2. Amir
3. Muqualtila (fighting men)
[3]
705-750 CE
1. Amir al-mu’ minin (official title of the Caliph)
2. Amir (commander or governor of a province or army)
3. Qa-id (military officer)
4. Arif (leader of a militay unit of ten to fifteen soldiers)
5. Muquatila (Muslim soldiers paid a salary)
[1]: (Kennedy 2004, 49)
[2]: (Kennedy ????, 12-51)
[3]: (Kennedy ????, 5-6, 18-19)
1. Caliph (tribal Patriarch, head of the Umma)
_ Central government line _
2. "in Mu’awiya’s time, the caliph was surrounded by Arab chiefs."
[1]
3. "in Mu’awiya’s time, the caliph was surrounded by Arab chiefs. Now [i.e. some time after Mu’awiya] a chamberlain kept visitors in order and regulated daily business."
[1]
4. office of the Chancery staffed by professionals.
[1]
5. ... ? ...
"Under the Arab domination the East Roman civil servants continued to work for the government. The Byzantine theologian, John of Damascus, belonged to the well-known family of Mansur and under the first Umayyad Caliph Muawiya the financial administration of the Caliph had been controlled by Sarjun ibn Mansur. These Christians, formerly in the service of the East Roman exchequer, carried through vital financial reforms for the Caliphs. As the East Romans had done in the case of the great imperial army, they divided up the Arab tribes into separate katasters which registered all members of each particular tribe. ... They also had the idea of departing from Byzantine precedent which divided the land among the soldiers and settled them on it as military farmers. But they grouped them together in strongholds which were set up in districts which could supply their economic needs. Thus military establishments were placed in Kufa, Basra and Cairo (al-Fustat) because the troops garrisoned in these places could easily be provisioned from the fertile and highly developed countryside."
[2]
_ Provincial line _
2. Amel (civilian governor) and Amir (military governor)"In the early years after the Islamic conquest both “civil” governors (ʿāmels) and military governors (amīrs) were appointed over towns and districts as circumstances demanded."
[3]
Regional military governors (members of Arab tribal coalition). Mu’awiya (661-680 CE) "appointed regional governors over tribal army but did not create a "centralized government apparatus"
[4]
Prefects sent from Damascus administered Egypt.
[5]
The Egyptian capital had a governor.
[5]
3?. Local rulers of Sasanid/Byzantine regionsfor example, the "shahr" district under Sasanids had a "king" appointed by the King of Kings.
In the Umayyad period did this official report directly to the caliph’s regional governors or to the caliph himself?
4?. Head administrator of local governmentE.g. Sasanid local government was run by a shahrab and a mowbed and often an accountant.
5?. Official of a rustagReported to the local government bureaucracy?
6?. village headman
It is important to make a distinction between the central government line and provincial line in the administrative hierarchy of the Umayyad Caliphate.
The central government line was non-existent at the beginning and was in a developing stage in the mid-8th century, so there was low administrative hierarchy in the central government throughout this period. However, the provincial line of government was extremely well-developed from the start because the Muslim-Arabs retained the bureaucracies of the Sasanids and Byzantines, and in fact also kept their administrators.
According to Lapidus: the Muslim-Arabs: "Reconstructed the governing apparatuses of the Byzantine and Sasanid empires."
[6]
One could therefore speculate the Caliph replaced the Sasanid provincial governors (the Shahrabs) with his own military chiefs and kept the e.g. Sasanid bureaucracy below it intact. In Iraq this may have been a Sasanid district called a shahr, which had its own chief or king and a government (further levels of complexity). A division within a shahr was called a rustag. There was a further division below this called a "deh" run by a village headman.
[7]
The Abbasids who followed the Umayyad’s formalised a "hierarchy of districts" in Iraq, Iran and Egypt including the bottom unit called "rustag." The Sasanids who preceded the Umayyads also had a "rustag."
[1]: (Lapidus 2012, 80-90) Ira M Lapidus. 2012. ’The Caliphate to 750.’ Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2]: (Haussig 1971, 210) Haussig, H W.trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson.
[3]: (Lambton 2011) Lambton, Ann K S. 2011. CITIES iii. Administration and Social Organization. Encyclopedia Iranica. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cities-iii
[4]: (Lapidus 2013, 80-90)
[5]: (Raymond 2000, 17)
[6]: (Lapidus 2013, 55)
[7]: (Daryaee 2009, 124-135)
"The armies of the Umayyad and early ’Abbasid period were paid stipends in minted coin. At the beginning of this period, these stipends could be thought of as the hereditary right of those whose names appeared in the diwan registers. During the course of the second/eighth century, the Caliphs and their representatives forced a transformation so that the stipend became a true salary, a payment for work done. Unlike their contemporaries in the West, the soldiers of the Caliphs were never given land grants in lieu of salaries. Sometimes they might be given houses or plots of land on which to build, but not to provide an alternative income. One the rare occasions when larger land grants were given to soldiers it was as a reward for past services, rather than payment for continuing and future ones. Both Umayyads and ’Abbasids normally maintained the separation of the military from tax-collecting: apart from dire emergencies, soldiers were never given the right to collect taxes with which to pay themselves. This was always done by the government diwans."
[1]
The Muqatila, translated as fighting men, were the cornerstone of the Umayyad Caliphates armed forces. They in term were registered in Diwans that were based on where the tribes had been garrisoned. The actual number of men who could or would muster during a campaign varied considerably.
[2]
"The Arab armies which overran Sasanid Iraq and Iran in the middle decades of the 7th century A.D. comprised essentially the levée en masse of the male, free Muslim Arab cavalrymen (the moqātela), receiving stipends (ʿaṭāʾ) from the dīvān".
[3]
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 88) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Kennedy ????, 19-23)
[3]: (Bosworth 2011) Bosworth, C E. 2011. ARMY ii. Islamic, to the Mongol period. www.iranicaonline.org/articles/army-ii
If not initially, later developed.
Sunni Islam did not have the equivalent of a professional priest. The leader of the daily prayers was given a special title and a person widely thought to be learned would be awarded a title of Imam, but this did not connote a hierarchy of belief. The Caliph was in theory the head of the entire religious community made up of all Muslims. Certain originators of judiciary schools were awarded special titles, but these rare individuals were not the equivalent of saints. The increasing fractured nature of Sunni and Shi’ite religious controversy led to a divergence in the use of titles to members of the umma.
[1]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 133-155)
If not initially, later developed.
Sunni Islam did not have the equivalent of a professional priest. The leader of the daily prayers was given a special title and a person widely thought to be learned would be awarded a title of Imam, but this did not connote a hierarchy of belief. The Caliph was in theory the head of the entire religious community made up of all Muslims. Certain originators of judiciary schools were awarded special titles, but these rare individuals were not the equivalent of saints. The increasing fractured nature of Sunni and Shi’ite religious controversy led to a divergence in the use of titles to members of the umma.
[1]
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 133-155)
Military commanders were selected from the tribal nobility, called the Ashraf. The state could shift the ri’asa, or headship of tribes from one family to another, a sort of half formed precursor to professional military commanders. Internally, the structure of command was very fluid.
[1]
"Men were appointed to command armies for different reasons: they were loyal to the regime, they could recruit followers and attract men to their service, they could organise the collection and payment of revenues and they were effective and knowledgeable commanders in battle. ... In the main, however, it is unhelpful to think of a hierarchy, of generals, or of an officer class."
[2]
[1]: (Kennedy ????, 19-23)
[2]: (Kennedy 2001, 21) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London.
Military commanders were selected from the tribal nobility, called the Ashraf. The state could shift the ri’asa, or headship of tribes from one family to another, a sort of half formed precursor to professional military commanders. Internally, the structure of command was very fluid.
[1]
"Men were appointed to command armies for different reasons: they were loyal to the regime, they could recruit followers and attract men to their service, they could organise the collection and payment of revenues and they were effective and knowledgeable commanders in battle. ... In the main, however, it is unhelpful to think of a hierarchy, of generals, or of an officer class."
[2]
[1]: (Kennedy ????, 19-23)
[2]: (Kennedy 2001, 21) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London.
In the early period the conquering Arabs had no choice but to hire the best educated available because institutions to educate Muslim-Arabs had not been established. For example. in Egypt "during the first hundred years, all the provincial officials were Christians."
[1]
From the Copts, Orthodox Greeks and Jews the Arabs "drew the bureaucrats they needed to administer the country."
[2]
Or?
kinship and connections were the most important part in determining promotion. Alternatively, skilled writers could seek patronage of the caliph directly, leading to a fiscal reward for skill. However, to gain access to such a network required the right background and social network.
However?
There may not have been an explicit policy to promote on merit but the officials who ran the bureaucracies of the Caliphate were not picked based on their Muslim-Arab heritage. Both Arab and non-Arab were appointed as administrators.
[3]
Arab-Muslims did not have the personnel to staff an empire and relied on local bureaucrats, who therefore kept their positions based on their skills rather than removed because they were conquered people.
From the end of the 7th century "the business of government was conducted by professional administrators (both Arab and non-Arab) rather than by councils of Arab chiefs." However, the non-Arabs (except in Persia?) came to work in Arabic. "In the first decades of the Arab empire, administration had been carried out by Greek- and Persian-speaking officials inherited from the older Empires. By 700, however, a new generation of Arabic-speaking clients came to power - an indication of a broad process of Arabization in the region."
Caliph Umar (717-720 CE) "believed that the domination of one ethnic caste over other peoples was un-Islamic. The peoples who filled the armies and staffed the administration, the merchants and artisans who took a leading part in the propagation of Islam, would all have to be accepted as participants in the empire. The antagonisms between Arab and non-Arab would have to be dissolved into a universal Muslim unity."
[4]
However, the Abbasids "returned to the principles of Umar II, The Abbasids swept away Arab caste supremacy and accepted the universal equality of Muslims."
[5]
[1]: (Raymond 2000, 17)
[2]: (Raymond 2000, 20)
[3]: (Lapidus 2013, 86)
[4]: (Lapidus 2013, 88)
[5]: (Lapidus 2013, 93)
The administrative system was staffed by permanent officials. [1] from the reign of al-Malik (685-705 CE) and al-Walid (705-715 CE) [2] . In Mu’awiya’s reign, the caliph was surrounded by Arab chiefs.
[1]: (Lapidus 2002, 36-38)
[2]: (Lapidus 2013, 80-90)
“In order to deal with the essential conditions that Claude Cahen and Gabriel Baer laid down so well in their articles, I would like to take as an example of an Islamic guild the Islamic legal professions, called madhhabs, and their institutional organization of legal education, as of the second half of the ninth century. The first steps toward the pro- fessionalization of legal studies were taken after the Inquisition, Mihna, which ended at the midpoint ofthe ninth century. The Inquisition was the culmination of an on-going struggle between two movements: one, of phil- osophical theology, the other, of juridical theology. It was fought over a theological question: whether the Koran was the created or uncreated word of God? We need retain here only that the philosophically-oriented movement entered the Inquisition supported by the central power; which power fifteen years later, made an about-face and came out in support of the juridically-oriented movement. To put it in simple terms: law won out over philosophical speculation. In the century following the Inquisition, the available sources make possible the recognition of the first colleges where law was taught. In the eleventh century, legal professions reached the height of their development with yet a new set of colleges, and a clear-cut structure of scholastic personnel, with various grades and functions.”
[1]
"In legal matters, Patricia Crone points out, "there is no trace of the Prophetic tradition until about 770" and it was the lawyers in particular who created the stories about Mohammed simply to back up their own arguments in law. "Numerous Prophetic traditions can be shown to have originated as statements made by the lawyers themselves ... it was the lawyers who determined what the Prophet said, not the other way around." Bukhari is said to have accumulated as many as 600,000 traditions, of which he only accepted as authentic 7,000, or just over one per cent!"
[2]
-- these are religious scholars not lawyers as this variable codes? lawyers do "red tape", defend, prosecute, submit claims etc.
[1]: (Makdisi 1985) Makdisi, G. 1985. The Guilds of Law in Medieval Legal History: An Inquiry into the Origins of the Inns of Court. 34 Clev. St. L. Rev. 3: 3-16. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/U4CNJ8Q5/library
[2]: (Pickard 2013, 432) Pickard, J. 2013. Behind the Myths: The Foundations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. AuthorHouse.
We code present for specialist judges. If judges were "multicompetent state officials" it does not appear they are specialists who only judge law. For similar case e.g. the Roman Principate.
Judges were "multicompetent state officials dealing with justice, police, tax, and finance issues."
[1]
Judges were appointed by the Caliph and were called Qadi.
[2]
Caliphal appointment of judges from 642 CE.
[1]
In Egypt "a judge (qadi) arbitrated civil and criminal cases."
[3]
[1]: (Lapidus 2012, 96)
[2]: (Weiss 1998, 6)
[3]: (Raymond 2000, 17)
[1] Map of Middle East region shows locations of "Annual market fairs." [2] Markets established for army to sell troops weapons, sometimes grain, which they were expected to buy with their own money. [3]
[1]: (Bloom and Blair, eds. 2009, 80)
[2]: (Nicolle 1993, 4) Nicolle, D. 1993. Armies of the Muslim Conquest. Osprey Publishing.
[3]: (Kennedy 2001, 87) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London.
Canals, aqueducts and qanats were used alongside mechanical water driven machinery (norias) to raise water to higher levels as well as the animal powered saqiyas. Water was crucial in Mosques because of the cleansing rituals. Drinking fountains were called Sabil. [1]
[1]: (Bloom and Blair, eds. 2009, 77-78)
Boat bridge over river Nile. [1] "Bridge building and renovation was an essential part of imperial building programs in the Islamic lands ... Many early bridges were decorated with stone plaques that commerated their patron." [2]
[1]: (Raymond 2000, 21)
[2]: ’Bridge’ in Bloom and Blair, eds. 2009, p.304.
[1] Abu-Ja’far Muhammed (d. 923 CE) wrote the definitive historical work of the period, the Ta’risk al-rusul wa-l-muluk, which for the next three centuries was held in the highest esteem. He relied on earlier writers and compliers of events from the preceding Umayyad period who had had access to vast records and correspondences of the state, allowing for a large degree of evidence and checking of sources. [2]
[1]: (Beeston 1983)
[2]: Young, Latham, and Serjeant, eds. ????, 188-216)
[1] The first Umayyad coins were imitations of Roman and Sasanid coins. In the reign of Abd Malik, a distinctly Islamic coin was issued with Arabic script and a uniform size and shape. [2] There were two principle coinages in circulation, the gold Dinar and the silver dirham. This was in part a legacy of the conquest of Byzantine and Sasanid territories where the two coins were the major form of currency.
[1]: (Kennedy ????, 67-70)
[2]: (Sayles 2009, 132)
[1] The first Umayyad coins were imitations of Roman and Sasanid coins. In the reign of Abd Malik, a distinctly Islamic coin was issued with Arabic script and a uniform size and shape. [2] There were two principle coinages in circulation, the gold Dinar and the silver dirham. This was in part a legacy of the conquest of Byzantine and Sasanid territories where the two coins were the major form of currency.
[1]: (Kennedy ????, 67-70)
[2]: (Sayles 2009, 132)
The Umayyad had a department of the state running the post office, called the Barīd. The system was based on a group of mounted couriers and a large network of inns and stables connecting the capitol of Damascus to other cities, covering an distance of 4,000 miles from Algiers to Kabul. [1] [2] "The Muslim conquerors adopted many ancient institutions, including the postal system, which they called barīd. Although there is some controversy over whether it was primarily the Byzantine or Sasanid model that was followed (see, e.g. EI2, s.v. Barīd; Camb. Hist. Iran III/1, p. 564), it is probable that elements of both were taken over (Mez, p. 466). In the eastern part of the empire at least, ancient Persian practices and terminology seem to have prevailed." [3] For a detailed portrayal of Postal systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic world, see Adam J. Silverstein’s work on the subject. [4]
[1]: (Alcock, Bodel and Talbert, eds. 2012, 7-41)
[2]: (Gosch, Stephen, and Stearns 2007, 112-115)
[3]: (Floor 1990) Floor, Willem. 1990. ČĀPĀR. www.iranicaonline.org/articles/capar-or-capar-turk
[4]: (Silverstein 2007 7-41)
Unknown whether this was accessible to private individuals as a general postal service. The Umayyad had a department of the state running the post office, called the Barid. The system was based on a group of mounted couriers and a large network of inns and stables connecting the capitol of Damascus to other cities, covering an distance of 4,000 miles from Algiers to Kabul. [1] [2] "The Muslim conquerors adopted many ancient institutions, including the postal system, which they called barīd. Although there is some controversy over whether it was primarily the Byzantine or Sasanid model that was followed (see, e.g. EI2, s.v. Barīd; Camb. Hist. Iran III/1, p. 564), it is probable that elements of both were taken over (Mez, p. 466). In the eastern part of the empire at least, ancient Persian practices and terminology seem to have prevailed." [3] For a detailed portrayal of Postal systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic world, see Adam J. Silverstein’s work on the subject. [4]
[1]: (Alcock, Bodel and Talbert, eds. 2012, 7-41)
[2]: (Gosch, Stephen, and Stearns 2007, 112-115)
[3]: (Floor 1990) Floor, Willem. 1990. ČĀPĀR. www.iranicaonline.org/articles/capar-or-capar-turk
[4]: (Silverstein 2007 7-41)
As used around Baghdad. [1] Note: technology to make fortifications was present, but in the case of large cities it was not implemented as the Caliphs preferred battles over long sieges, and because of concerns that citizens would use them for protection during revolts. The defense of the Caliphate came from a nation in arms rather than siege craft, and the stabilization of the frontiers in Anatolia had not taken place until the Abbasid Caliphate. The fortifications given below were largely the result of captured fortresses rather than new designs.
[1]: Kennedy, the Armies of the Caliphs pp. 185-192
Siege of Al-Wasit, last Umayyad stronghold in Iraq: "In the first such encounter Umayyad forces were defeated, and they retreated to the moat that surrounded the western section of the city." [1]
[1]: (Elad 1986, 65) Saron, M. 1986. Studies in Islamic History and Civilization: In Honour of Professor David Ayalon. Brill.
"a clear line of continuity can be followed from the Roman military architecture of the second to fourth centuries AD to the Umayyad period, with very important intermediary provided by some presumably sixth century villae or palaces. The latter mark the abandonment of the military function, but not of its general layout. Yet this line of continuity is essentially related to the external part of the buildings, that is the enclosure wall or rampart." [1]
[1]: (Genequand 2006, 25) Kennedy H N. ed. 2006. Muslim Military Architecture in Greater Syria: From the Coming of Islam to the Ottoman Period. Brill
"It is believed that Indian steel was exported in the early centuries A.D. and was known even in the time of Alexander. By the sixth century there is more definite evidence of the manufacture of Damascene swords and the steel used for this purpose came from India." [1] Use of Damascene steel certainly by 540 CE: "This unique type of steel was a major technological innovation and Iran played an important role in its production over the centuries. Circumstantial evidence suggests that a trade in a special steel, conceivably the ingots from which damascene steel was made, was underway in the Parthian and Sasanian period. Sometime after 115 A.D. the Parthians were importing iron (steel) from some point to the east" [2]
[1]: (Abraham 1988, 171) Meera Abraham. 1988. Two medieval merchant guilds of south India. Manohar Publications.
[2]: (Piggott 2011) Pigott, V C. 1984 (2011). “Ahan.” Encyclopedia iranica. I/6. pp. 624-633. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahan-iron Site accessed: 25 September 2017.
Torsion engines in use in Arabic warfare in this period. [1] [2] "A fragment of a wall painting depicting the use of a traction trebuchet at the siege of Penjikent (700-725) in modern Tajikistan. This unique painting is contemporary with Tang China, displaying how the traction trebuchet was used along the Silk Road." [3]
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 184
[2]: Kelly DeVries, ’siege engines’ in The Oxford Companion to Military History, Eds. Holmes, Singleton, and Jones Oxford University Press: 2001)
[3]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
’Arab’ and Persian’ bows mentioned in sources, both composite bows. [1] Unlike Medieval Europe, archery was seen as a noble pursuit. Bows were present, but no evidence of compound steppe bows appears until the Abbasid period. More esoteric weaponry such as fire arrows were also present and reportedly used to ignite dwellings. Volunteers and informal levies were reported to have used slings, makeshift spears and other unconventional weapons. The large scale conquests during the period attracted large numbers of volunteers armed with an array of weapons taken from the conquered. [2]
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 177-178)
[2]: (Kennedy 2001, 168-182)
Reconstructing the exact military equipment of armies during the Umayyad Caliphate is problematic as the amount of surviving visual evidence is lacking. As such, sources are primarily literary and focus on notable equipment of unusual rarity or value. In Muslim armies a full equipage was rare and body armour even more so. Coats of mail was available to the Caliphate armies, but only to a small number of elite military members. Besides mail there is some evidence of lamellar leggings and breastplates. Helmets and shields were more widely available. Shields were smaller than their European counterparts and made of leather and wood. [1]
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 168-178)
[1] "A poem describes the defensive armament of the Arab warrior in the following terms. ’We wore helmets and Yemeni leather shields ... and glittering coats of mail having visible folds about the belt.’ The helmets were fabricated of hammered iron or cast bronze and were either of Byzantine or Persian design; they were no doubt imported. Metal helmets were very expensive and were affordable only by the wealthy. Those of lesser standing usually had only a thick cloth turban for head protection. Later it became the Arab habit to wrap a cloth turban around the metal helmet worn underneath." [2]
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 168-178)
[2]: (Gabriel 2007, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Muhammad: Islam’s First Great General. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman.
"The early Islamic sources treat the coast of mail as a standard piece of military equipment." [1] However in 704 CE use was not common. "When Qutayba b. Muslim was appointed governor of Khurasan ... it was said that there were only 350 coats of mail (dir’an) in the entire province, which is not very many for a military force of some 50,000 men." [1] Chain-mail. [2]
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 168) Kennedy, H. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Gabriel 2007, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Muhammad: Islam’s First Great General. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman.
Around 646 CE Muawiyah ’started building a fleet for sea raids. Arabs from Egypt now raided the African Exarchate.’ [1] The ships were largely crewed by Coptic Christians, and in the Siege of Constantinople (717-718 CE) the crews defected en-masse. The forces were further weakened by the Byzantium empire’s use of Greek fire. The Naval commitments of the Umayyad Caliphate largely mimicked their opponents, as the ships were of pre-existing design. [2] Boatyard established on Rawdah (in Egypt) in 673 CE [3] - did this have a military function?.
[1]: (Treadgold 1997, 312) Warren Treadgold. 1997. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press. California.
[2]: (Blankinship 1994, 26,87,105,304, 309)
[3]: (Raymond 2000, 18)