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Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750

The establishment and expansion of the Umayyad Empire: ‘Abd al-Malik’s reforms, expansion and the fall of the Umayyads

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on Abd al-Malik’s Arabic administration, coinage and Dome of the Rock, Umayyad expansion into Spain and beyond, Christian subjects, the mawali, the Third Fitna and the end and decline of Umayyad rule.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Evaluation

Why did Abd al-Malik make Arabic the language of government?

Who and when

How did Umayyad rule end?

Who and when

How did the Umayyads come to rule Spain?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why did Abd al-Malik make Arabic the language of government?

    Model answer

    Records had been kept in Greek and Persian by the existing bureaucrats, and switching to Arabic asserted that this was an Arab and Muslim empire, brought the revenue departments under Muslim control and forced non-Arab officials to adopt the rulers' language.

  2. 2

    Describe Abd al-Malik's reform of the coinage.

    Model answer

    He replaced coins carrying imperial portraits and Persian imagery with gold and silver coins bearing only Arabic religious inscriptions, creating a distinct Islamic currency and ending dependence on Byzantine models.

  3. 3

    Which building did Abd al-Malik raise in Jerusalem, and what did it declare?

    Model answer

    He built the Dome of the Rock, whose scale, position and inscriptions asserted the triumph of Islam over the Christian and Jewish claims to the city.

  4. 4

    Name the regions into which the Umayyads expanded after the Second Fitna.

    Model answer

    They expanded across North Africa and into Spain, eastwards through Central Asia beyond the Oxus, and into Sindh and the Punjab.

  5. 5

    How did the Umayyads come to rule Spain?

    Model answer

    A largely Berber force under Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed from North Africa in 711, destroyed the Visigothic king and his army in a single battle, and overran most of the peninsula within a few years.

  6. 6

    What limits did the Umayyads reach in the west and against Byzantium?

    Model answer

    Their advance into Gaul was halted by the Franks in 732, and their second great assault on Constantinople in 717 to 718 failed with heavy losses.

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