The Umayyads and the Centralisation of Polity The conquest of large territories destroyed the caliphate based in Medina and replaced it with an increasingly authoritarian polity. The Umayyads implemented a series of political measures which consolidated their leadership within the umma . The first Umayyad caliph, Muawiya, moved his capital to Damascus and adopted the court ceremonies and administrative institutions of the Byzantine Empire. He also introduced hereditary succession and persuaded the leading Muslims to accept his son as his heir.
These innovations were adopted by the caliphs who followed him, and allowed the Umayyads to retain power for years and the Abbasids, for two centuries. The Umayyad state was now an imperial power, no longer based directly on Islam but on statecraft and the loyalty of Syrian troops. There were Christian advisers in the administration, as well as Zoroastrian scribes and bureaucrats. However, Islam continued to provide legitimacy to their rule.
The Umayyads always appealed for T HE C ENTRAL I SLAMIC L ANDS T HEMES IN W ORLD H ISTORY unity and suppressed rebellions in the name of Islam. They also retained their Arab social identity. During the reign of Abd al-Malik ( - ) and his successors, both the Arab and Islamic identities were strongly emphasised. Among the measures Abd al-Malik took were the adoption of Arabic as the language of administration and the introduction of an Islamic coinage.
The gold dinar and silver dirham that had been circulating in the caliphate were copies of Byzantine and Iranian coins ( denarius and drachm ), with symbols of crosses and fire altars and Greek and Pahlavi (the language of Iran) inscriptions. These symbols were removed and the coins now carried Arabic inscriptions. Abd al- Malik also made a highly visible contribution to the development of an Arab-Islamic identity, by building the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.