▲ Banner of Muhammad This illustration from a Spanish manuscript shows Muslim soldiers carrying the banner of Muhammad.

MAIN IDEAS

Government The Umayyads expanded Muslim rule to the east and westward into Europe.

Government The Umayyads built a unified empire based on a strong government, a common language, and a common coinage.

Government By 750, religious and political differences caused the Muslim Empire to split.

TAKING NOTES

Reading Skill: Finding Main IdeasIdentifying the main ideas in a passage will help you understand key historical events. As you read each section of this lesson, look for essential information on the main ideas. Record this information in a chart like the one shown below.

Lesson

1

Skillbuilder Handbook, page R2

Umayyad Expansion

Unifying the Empire

Umayyad Downfall

112 • Chapter 4

7.2.4 Discuss the expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim civilization and the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language.

CST 1 Students explain how major events are related to one another in time.

CST 3 Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems.

The Expansion of Muslim RuleBuild on What You Know You might have seen on the television news that when a leader dies or resigns, a power struggle follows to determine his or her successor. After Muhammad died, several groups fought for control of the Muslim world. In 661, the Umayyad family won this power struggle. The Umayyads built a great empire with Damascus (located in present-day Syria) as its capital.

Expansion Under the Umayyads ESSENTIAL QUESTION What lands did the Umayyads add to the Muslim Empire?

Once the Umayyads had taken control, they began to conquer new lands. In less than 100 years, their empire spanned parts of three continents—Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Expansion to the East Under the Umayyads, the Muslim Empire expanded. When they took power in 661, the empire’s eastern boundary extended into Persia. (See the map on the next page.) They quickly pushed that border farther eastward into Central Asia. At first, Umayyad armies staged hit-and-run raids, attacking such cities as Bukhara (boo•KAHR•uh) and Samarkand. These were the region’s major trading centers. Soon, however, occasional raids turned into organized campaigns for conquest. By the early 700s, the Umayyads had taken control of much of Central Asia.

TERMS & NAMES

Iberian Peninsula

bureaucracy

Abd al-Malik

Connect to Today

The Great Mosque, Damascus The magnificent Great Mosque was originally built by the Umayyads. ▼

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Constantinople

Mecca

AlexandriaDamascus

Córdoba

Venice

Seville

Kairouan

Tripoli

ToursParis

Toledo

Cairo

Rome

Jerusalem

Baghdad

Samarkand

Bukhara

Merv

Medina

Danube R.

Indu

sR.

Nile

R.

Syr Darya R.

Sicily

Crete

Black Sea

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Persian GulfArabian

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CaspianSea

Mediterranean Sea

ATLANTICOCEAN

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SPAIN

A R A B I A

B Y Z A N T I N E E M P I R E

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Lands conquered by Muslims by 661

Lands conquered during Umayyad rule

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Expansion Under the Umayyads, A.D. 661–750

MapQuest.Com, Inc.

McDougal-Littell, 7th grade World History Programwh07pe-020401-003

Expansion under the Umayyads, 661-7503rd proof date: 6/23/04

Map note:

Standard type sizes have been reduced due to map scale and amount of info shown.

Westward Expansion The Umayyads also expanded the empire to the west. By 710, they controlled the whole of North Africa from the Nile River to the Atlantic Ocean. The following year, they moved northward across the Mediterranean Sea into the Iberian Peninsula. The Iberian Peninsula is the southwestern tip of Europe where the modern nations of Spain and Portugal are located. Using military force and treaties, they took control of nearly all of the peninsula.

From strongholds in Spain, Muslim forces launched raids ever deeper into Europe. However, Christian forces stopped their advance in 732 at the Battle of Tours. (See the map above.) Over the next few years, Muslim forces retreated back to Spain.

How did the Umayyads expand the Muslim world?

Uniting Many Peoples ESSENTIAL QUESTION How did the Umayyads build a unified empire?

By the early 700s, the Umayyads controlled a huge empire that covered many lands. As a result, Umayyad leaders needed to take steps to unite and govern the many peoples of this far-flung empire.

Umayyad Government The Umayyads patterned their government on the bureaucracy used in the lands they won from the Byzantine Empire. A bureaucracy is a system of departments and agencies that carry out the work of the government. Umayyad caliphs, through this bureaucracy, ruled the entire empire from their capital city of Damascus.

The suffix –cracy means “government” and “rule.” It comes from a Greek word that means “strength” or “power.”

Vocabulary Strategy

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDERINTERPRETING MAPSLocation What bodies of water mark the eastern and western boundaries of the Umayyad Empire?

114 • Chapter 4

To rule the different provinces of the empire, the caliphs appointed Muslim governors called emirs (ih•MEERZ). These emirs relied on local clan leaders to help them govern. Working with local leadership helped the Umayyads win support in lands far from Damascus.

A Common Language and Coinage At first, language served as a barrier to unity in the empire. People in different parts of the empire spoke their own languages. Abd al-Malik (uhb•DUL muh•LIHK), who became caliph in 685, solved this problem. He declared Arabic the language of government for all Muslim lands. Having a common language for government helped people throughout the empire communicate more easily with other regions. Even so, most Muslims still spoke their own languages in everyday life.

Around 700, Abd al-Malik further unified the empire by introducing a common coinage. Coins were engraved with Arabic quotations from the Qur’an. The coins helped the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language. They also made commerce among the different parts of the empire much easier.

The Pilgrimage Muslims from across the empire made the pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca. On the hajj, pilgrims shared their languages and cultures. In addition, they brought knowledge of the Arabic culture and Umayyad rule back to their homelands. So the pilgrimage helped bring about the blending of many different cultures.

How did the Umayyads unify the scattered Muslim states?

The Overthrow of the Umayyads ESSENTIAL QUESTION What caused the Muslim Empire to split?

The Umayyads conquered many new lands and brought Islam to large numbers of people. By the mid-700s, however, the Umayyads faced major challenges to their rule.

Rising Protests Some Muslims felt that the Umayyads did not take their duties as leaders of Islam seriously. They accused the Umayyads of being too interested in living a life of luxury and holding on to power. Over time, different groups throughout the empire began to protest Umayyad rule.

The Hajj This Persian painting shows a caravan of pilgrims on the road to Mecca. ▼

The Rise of Muslim States • 115

LessonReview

Activity

Homework HelperClassZone.com

The Abbasids One group, the Abbasids (uh•BAS•IHDS), gained support from other Muslims who opposed the Umayyads. By 750, these combined forces had taken power. According to some historians, the Abbasids invited Umayyad leaders to a meeting to talk about peace. At that meeting, the Umayyads were murdered.

Only one prominent Umayyad, Abd al-Rahman (uhb•DUL rahk•MAHN), escaped this ambush. He fled to Spain. There, he re-established the Umayyad dynasty. After this, the Muslim Empire was permanently split into eastern and western sections.

Why did the Umayyads lose power?

Lesson Summary• The Umayyads rose to control all Muslims and

create a huge empire.

• Umayyad caliphs created a large bureaucracy to serve the far-flung Muslim lands.

• Religious and political differences among Muslim groups eventually ended Umayyad rule.

Why It Matters Now . . .Muslims continue to learn the Arabic language in order to practice their religion, as they did in Umayyad times.

Terms & Names1. Explain the importance of

Iberian Peninsula bureaucracy Abd al-Malik

Using Your NotesFinding Main Ideas Use your completed chart to answer the following question:2. What was the greatest accomplishment of the

Umayyads? Give reasons for your answer. (7.2.4)

Main Ideas3. How did the Umayyads bring new lands into

the Muslim Empire? (7.2.4)4. How did the Umayyads unite the many lands

and peoples of the Muslim Empire? (7.2.4)5. What were some of the problems that triggered

the Umayyads’ downfall? (7.2.4)

Critical Thinking6. Comparing How did the policies of the Muslims

toward conquered lands compare with other empire builders such as the Romans? (CST 1)

7. Drawing Conclusions What role did religion play in the expansion of the Muslim Empire? (7.2.4)

Making a Map Take out the map that you began in Chapter 2. Then use the maps on pages 114 and 121 to draw in the boundaries of the Umayyad and Abbasid empires at their height.

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Umayyad Expansion

Unifying the Empire

Umayyad Downfall

Gold Coin The inscription on this coin is the Muslim declaration of faith: There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet. ▼

116 • Chapter 4

(Framework)