Rise+of+the+Umayyad+Cailphate+essay

BACK = Rise of the Umayyad Caliphate Essay =

The Umayyad Caliphate was very good at expanding the empire on the short time that they had. In eighty-nine years the Umayyads managed to double the Islamic empire. Although the Umayyad caliphate was founded during a war and right after an assassination Mu’awiya, the first Umayyad caliph, was able to create 20 years of internal peace. When the Umayyads expanded, the conquered peoples were able to keep their own cultures and religions. Their cultures also affected the Umayyad’s culture. They were also able to create inner peace by sharing their wealth with the tribal leaders. Although the Umayyad caliphate only lasted eighty-nine years they were able to expand fairly easily by being very tolerant and that is something that we could learn from.

First, when the Umayyads expanded, the conquered peoples were able to keep their cultures and religions. By doing this people were less likely to revolt. There was no prejudice against different religions, there were no real disadvantages. The taxes were the same as before but if anyone switched to Muslim their taxes would be lowered. By letting the conquered people continue to live their lives in the same way as before the peoples were more likely to just let the Umayyads take over peacefully. This worked well for the Umayyads and as they expanded the Islamic empire by a very large amount.

Second, the conquered peoples’ culture often affected the Umayyad’s culture. It created a fairer environment that showed that the Umayyads were open to change and new ideas that would enrich Umayyad culture. Many things were influenced by Byzantine and Sasanid culture, politics, agriculture and economy. By incorporating other cultures into their own they were able to not only make people more comfortable under new rule, but were also able to improve the Umayyad and future Islamic world.

Finally, to create internal peace, instead of keeping all of their wealth and luxuries to themselves they shared it with tribal leaders from all provinces. This showed that the Umayyads weren’t selfish or greedy and although they surrounded themselves with luxury they helped others to as well. The Umayyads built all of the tribal leaders desert castles, now known as the Umayyad Desert Castles, which were fully self contained buildings used for agriculture but also for palaces. This served the Umayyads well because the tribal leaders content with the Umayyad rule and would help when needed. By being on the good side of the tribal leaders it was easier to squash revolts and rebellions before they got out of control.

In conclusion, although the Umayyads lasted less than a century, they accomplished a lot and there is much that can be learned from them. The Umayyads managed to expand their empire in a fairly peaceful way compared to people now. Instead of completely destroying a place and their culture they let them live on peacefully and incorporate their lives into their own, and instead of talking everything for themselves they shared the wealth. It shows that it is not impossible to handle things without giant never-ending wars. The world is a very different place now but we can still learn alot from the Umayyads.

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