Far away in Baghdad, the current Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur, had long been planning to depose the Umayyad who dared to call himself emir of al-Andalus.

In 750 the Abbasid dynasty overthrew the Umayyad caliph and shifted the capital to Baghdad, with emirs retaining nominal control over the Libyan coast on behalf of the far-distant caliph.

The tenth Umayyad caliph, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, built a palatial complex known as Khirbet al-Mafjar about one mile north of Tell as-Sultan in 743, and two mosques, a courtyard, mosaics, and other items from it can still be seen in situ today, despite its having been partially destroyed in an earthquake in 747.

One of the earliest examples of these kinds of conversions was in Damascus, Syria, where in 705 Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I bought the church of St. John from the Christians and had it rebuilt as a mosque in exchange for building a number of new churches for the Christians in Damascus.

The first minaret was constructed in 665 in Basra during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I. Muawiyah encouraged the construction of minarets, as they were supposed to bring mosques on par with Christian churches with their bell towers.

However, the Umayyad caliph Umar II later forbade non-Muslims from entering mosques, and his ruling remains in practice in present day Saudi Arabia.

Mecca re-entered Islamic political history briefly when it was held by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, an early Muslim who opposed the Umayyad caliphs and again when the caliph Yazid I besieged Mecca in 683.

In 718, the Umayyad caliph Umar II strictly forbade collection of jizya from Muslim converts.

* After a forty-year vacancy, Stephen becomes Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch at the suggestion of Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik.

* Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( 724 – 743 ) is succeeded by al-Walid II ibn Abd al-Malik ( 743 – 744 ).

* February 6 – Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph

* Umayyad caliph al-Walid II dies and is succeeded by his brother Yazid III, who dies shortly after.

* April 16 – al-Walid II ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph

* Umayyad caliph Yazid II ibn Abd al-Malik ( 720 – 724 ) is succeeded by Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( 724 – 743 ).

* Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Umayyad caliph ( b. 646 )

* The Umayyad caliph Yazid I ( 680 – 683 ) is succeeded by Muawiya II ibn Yazid ( 683 – 684 ).

* Yazid I, Umayyad caliph

* The Umayyad caliph Marwan I ( 684 – 685 ) is succeeded by Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ( 685 – 705 ).

* Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph ( b. 674 )

* Umayyad caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz is succeeded by Yazid II ibn Abd al-Malik.

* Hisham II the Nephast is restored as Umayyad caliph of Córdoba, succeeding Muhammad II al-Mahdi.

* Suleiman II is restored as Umayyad caliph of Cordoba, succeeding Hisham II.

* Abd-ar-Rahman IV succeeds Suleiman II as Umayyad caliph.

Following at the Battle of Uhud in 625, it is said that after killing Hamzah ibn Abdu l-Muṭṭalib, his liver was consumed by Hind bint ‘ Utbah ( the wife of Abû Sufyan ibn Harb one of the commanders of the Qurayš army ) who later reportedly converted to Islam and became the mother of Muawiyah I founder of the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate.

* Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib is assassinated ; with his assassination the Rashidun Caliphate ends and Muawiyah I founds the Umayyad caliphate.

Most historians consider Caliph Muawiyah ( 661 – 80 ) to have been the second ruler of the Umayyad dynasty, even though he was the first to assert the Umayyads ' right to rule on a dynastic principle.

Muawiyah I ( ; 602 – 6 May 680 ) was the first Caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty.

Muawiyah thus established the Umayyad Caliphate, which was to be a hereditary dynasty, and governed from Damascus in Syria instead of Medina in Arabia.

In accordance with the ways of Empire, Muawiyah favoured his Arab subjects over non-Arab Muslims ( the Mawalis )-the discriminatory treatment of non-Arab Muslims by the victorious Umayyad forces are documented by both Sunni and Shia sources as in the example below concerning Muawiyah's commands to his governor Ziyad ibn Abih.

Muawiyah had a personal library collection ( bayt al-hikmah ) that was enlarged by his successors " throughout the Umayyad period.

The first four Caliphs were elected in this fashion as Sunni Muslims believed Muhammad had originally intended before Muawiyah, the fifth caliph, turned the Caliphate into what is known as the Umayyad Dynasty, a hereditary monarchy.

When Hasan ibn Ali agreed to make a peace treaty with Muawiyah I, the first Umayyad caliph, he left Kufa and went to Medina with his brother Husayn.

Muawiyah also established the Umayyad caliphate which was a centralized monarchy.

He briefly succeeded his father Ali ibn Abi Talib as the righteous Caliph following the latter's death, before retiring to Madinah and entering into an agreement with the first Umayyad ruler, Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, who assumed the Caliphate.

When Ali was made caliph after the death of Uthman, the Caliphate was in the hands of the Banu Hashim, but he was almost immediately challenged by Muawiyah, who was a member of the Umayyad clan.

After Ali's assassination at the hands of the Kharajites, the Shi ' a hoped his son Hasan would become Caliph, but he was forced to defer to Muawiyah, who, in violation of the treaty signed with Hasan bin Ali, established the Umayyad line of Caliphs.

Muawiyah II ( or Mu ' āwiya ibn Yazīd ) (‎) ( 28 March 661 – January / February 684 ) was an Umayyad caliph for about four months after the death of his father Yazīd.

Relying on Syrian military support, Muawiyah emerged as the victor in the First Fitna and established the Umayyad Caliphate.

The first enlargement of the Al-Baqi ' cemetery in history was made by Muawiyah I, the first Umayyad leader.

Muawiyah transformed the caliphate into a hereditary office, thus founding the Umayyad dynasty.

* Muawiyah I, first Umayyad Caliph ( r. 661 – 680 )

Muawiyah I, the first caliph of the Umayyad dynasty bought her house in Medina for 180, 000 dirhams.

Theophanes mentions that the Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I settled a whole army of 5, 000 Slavic mercenaries in Syria in the 660s.

However, Shi ' a accounts say that the Muawiyah I who later became the first Umayyad Caliph was the actual killer of Ibn Abi Bakr.