Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyad Caliphate (Arabic: بنو أمية‎, trans. Banu Umayyah; "Sons of Umayyah") (c. 661–750 CE/41–132 AH) was the second of the four major Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the city of Mecca, their capital was Damascus. At its greatest extent, it covered more than five million square miles (13,000,000 km2), making it the largest empire the world had yet seen, and the seventh largest contiguous empire ever to exist. After the Umayyads were overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate, they fled across North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus), where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba, which lasted until 1031 before falling due to the Fitna of al-Ándalus.