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The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) was the first Islamic dynasty. Muʿawiya ibn Abi Sufyan established himself as caliph in Damascus after his victory over ʿAli ibn Abi Talib in the civil war that followed the murder of ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan in Medina. Muʿawiya and his successors expanded the territory under Muslim rule dramatically. At their peak, the Umayyads ruled an empire stretching from Spain to the frontiers of China and India. The Umayyads made significant contributions to the development of the Islamic faith and to the spread of the Arabic language throughout the region. Dynastic crises, revenue shortfalls, and the limitations of an empire based on conquest ultimately led to their demise at the hands of the Abbasids in 750.

_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe178