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- Muawiyah I became the first Umayyad caliph in 661 CE, after a dispute over the caliphate with Ali ibn Abi Talib.
- He established Damascus as the capital of the caliphate.
- He suppressed a rebellion by Kharijites in 659 CE.
- He established a centralized administration and bureaucracy.
- He expanded the empire by conquering Cyprus and parts of North Africa.
- He died in 680 CE and was succeeded by his son, Yazid I.
- Yazid I faced opposition from Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who led an uprising against him in 680 CE.
- Husayn and his supporters were martyred in the Battle of Karbala.
- Yazid I died in 683 CE and was succeeded by his son, Muawiyah II, who ruled for only a few months before being overthrown.
- Marwan I became the caliph in 684 CE after defeating his rivals in a civil war.
- He faced opposition from the supporters of Husayn, who believed that he should not have become caliph.
- He suppressed a rebellion by the Kharijites in 686 CE.
- He died in 685 CE and was succeeded by his son, Abd al-Malik.
- Abd al-Malik established Arabic as the official language of the empire and introduced a new currency system.
- He suppressed a rebellion by the supporters of Mus’ab ibn al-Zubayr in 691 CE.
- He conquered parts of Central Asia and India.
- He died in 705 CE and was succeeded by his son, al-Walid I.
- Al-Walid I expanded the empire by conquering Spain and parts of modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- He built the Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
- He died in 715 CE and was succeeded by his brother, Sulayman.
- Sulayman faced opposition from his cousin, Yazid II, who accused him of being too lenient with non-Arabs.
- Yazid II became caliph in 720 CE and ruled for only a few months before dying.
- Hisham became the caliph in 724 CE and ruled for 20 years.
- He faced a rebellion by the supporters of Ibn al-Ash’ath in 728 CE.
- He suppressed a revolt by the Kharijites in 740 CE.
- He conquered parts of modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
- He died in 743 CE and was succeeded by his son, al-Walid II.
- Al-Walid II was known for his love of music and alcohol, which led to opposition from religious scholars.
- He was overthrown in a rebellion led by Yazid III in 744 CE.
- Yazid III became caliph in 744 CE and ruled for only a few months before dying.
- Marwan II became the caliph in 744 CE and ruled for four years.
- He faced opposition from the supporters of the Abbasid family, who claimed that they had a better right to the caliphate.
- He was defeated in the Battle of the Zab in 750 CE by the Abbasid army led by Abu Muslim al-Khurasani.
