(661–750) First great Muslim dynasty.
It was founded by Alī , to become the fifth caliph. He moved the capital from Medina to Damascus and used the Syrian army to extend the Arab empire. The Umayyads' greatest period was under Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), when their empire extended from Spain to Central Asia and India. Their decline began with a defeat by the Byzantine Empire in 717; intertribal feuding, discontent among non-Arab Muslim converts, and the failure of financial reforms eventually led to their unseating by the Abbāsid dynasty . See also Abd al-Rahmān III ; Abū Muslim ; al-{{link=Husayn ibn Ali, al-">Husayn ibn Alī .