Bilad al-Sham

Bilad al-Sham ( Arabic بلاد الشام, "land of the North") was a Rashidun , Umayyad and later Abbasid Caliphate province in the region of Syria . It incorporated former Byzantine territories of the Diocese of the East , organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in the mid-7th century, which was completed at the decisive Battle of Yarmouk .

Bilaad al-Sham ( Bilād a'š-Šām ) was a Rashidun , Umayyad and later Abbasid Caliphate province in what is now the Levant . It incorporated former Byzantine territories of the Diocese of the East , organized soon after the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the mid-7th century, which was completed at the decisive Battle of Yarmouk . The term "Bilad al-Sham" means "land to the north", literally "land on the left-hand" relative to someone in the Hejaz facing east ( Bilad al-Yaman ( بِـلَاد اليَـمَـن ) correspondingly means "land of the right hand").

Provincial region of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates This article is about region of the early Caliphates. Bilad al-Sham ( ), also historically known as Historical Syria and Natural Syria , is the Arabic endonym for the Greater Syria region. It refers to the province of the Rashidun , Umayyad , Abbasid , and Fatimid caliphates . It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East , conquered by the Muslims in 634–647. Under the Umayyads (661–750) Bilad al-Sham was the metropolitan province of the Caliphate and different localities throughout the province served as the seats of the Umayyad caliphs and princes. Bilad al-Sham was first organized into the four ajnad (military districts; singular jund ) of Filastin (Palestine), al-Urdunn (Jordan), Dimashq (Damascus), and Hims (Homs), between 637 and 640 by Caliph Umar following the Muslim conquest. The jund of Qinnasrin was created out of the northern part of Hims by caliphs Mu'awiya I ( r. 661–680 ) or Yazid I ( r. 680–683 ). The Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) was made an independent province from the Mesopotamian part of Qinnasrin by Caliph Abd al-Malik in 692. In 786 the jund of al-Awasim and al-Thughur were established from the northern frontier region of Qinnasrin by Caliph Harun al-Rashid . As centralized Abbasid rule over Bilad al-Sham collapsed in the 10th century, control over the region was divided by several potentates and the ajnad only represented nominal divisions. The Abbasids and the Egypt-based Fatimid Caliphate continued to officially recognize the province and its ajnad until the Crusader invasions of the coastal regions in 1099.

Provincial region of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates This article is about region of the early Caliphates. Bilad al-Sham ( Arabic : بِلَاد الشَّام , romanized : Bilād al-Shām ), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun , Umayyad , Abbasid , and Fatimid caliphates . It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East , conquered by the Muslims in 634–647. Under the Umayyads (661–750), Bilad al-Sham was the metropolitan province of the Caliphate and different localities throughout the province served as the seats of the Umayyad caliphs and princes. Bilad al-Sham was first organized into the four ajnad (military districts; singular jund ) of Dimashq ( Damascus ), Hims ( Homs ), al-Urdunn ( Jordan ), and Filastin ( Palestine ), between 637 and 640 by Caliph Umar following the Muslim conquest. The jund of Qinnasrin was created out of the northern part of Hims by caliphs Mu'awiya I ( r. 661–680 ) or Yazid I ( r. 680–683 ). The Jazira ( Upper Mesopotamia ) was made an independent province from the Mesopotamian part of Qinnasrin by Caliph Abd al-Malik in 692. In 786, the jund of al-Awasim and al-Thughur were established from the northern frontier region of Qinnasrin by Caliph Harun al-Rashid . As centralized Abbasid rule over Bilad al-Sham collapsed in the 10th century, control over the region was divided by several potentates and the ajnad only represented nominal divisions. The Abbasids and the Egypt-based Fatimid Caliphate continued to officially recognize the province and its ajnad until the Crusader invasions of the coastal regions in 1099.