Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate, also known as the Umayyad Empire, was the second of the four major Islamic caliphates established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by Mu'awiya I, a companion of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty (, Banu Umayyah), an Arab dynasty who came from Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia. Damascus was their capital from 661–744, Harrran from 744–750, and after the Abbasid revolution, Córdoba (756–1031) in Al-Andalus, where they established the Emirate of Córdoba and then the Caliphate of Córdoba.