Started strong on day one
Mu'awiya, Umayyad state from 661
From 661 Mu'awiya ran a fast-growing state from Damascus by keeping the skilled officials who already ran Syria and putting them to work for the new state. He added a chancellery and a courier service, and governed by consulting councils of Arab notables.
The starting point
Mu'awiya had governed Syria for about twenty years before he became caliph. Syria had been run by Rome and then Byzantium for centuries, and it had trained clerks, tax records and a large Christian population (Britannica).
Day one
- Civil service: he kept the administrative methods that already worked. Christians from families that had served Byzantium held senior posts, and Greek stayed in use in the tax offices for decades (Britannica).
- New offices: he is credited with two bureaus (diwans). One was a chancellery (diwan al-khatam), which sealed and copied official letters so they could not be forged. The other was a postal and courier service (barid) to speed news across the state (Barid).
- Consultation: he kept the old Arab councils. The shura was a council of notables. The wufud were delegations from the Arab communities that kept the caliph informed and carried his word home.
What was new
He did not tear down a working system to start again. He kept the people who knew how to run things and made them serve a new state. Speed of communication, through the barid, held a large territory together.
How it held people together
Tolerance of Christian officials was part of his policy in a land with a large Christian population. Community leaders were heard through the shura and the wufud.
The result
The Umayyad state lasted until 750 and grew into one of the largest states the world had then seen. Arabic became its language of government under his successors (Umayyad Caliphate).
What critics record
His rule followed the first civil war (fitna) among Muslims, and many Muslims, Shia Muslims above all, view his part in it critically. He secured allegiance for his son Yazid, which began hereditary rule. Many scholars since have criticised that break with choosing the caliph by consultation (Britannica).
What it shows for Somalia
Somalia already has trained people working in ministries, states, banks and telecom firms. A new start can keep what works and the people who make it work.
Sources
- Britannica · britannica.com
- Barid · en.wikipedia.org
- Umayyad Caliphate · en.wikipedia.org
Gathered in our research record “How successful countries stood up government on day one”. Wikipedia is used only as a backup.
Toosoo!
Since 1895, every generation has worked for one united, prosperous Somalia. Now it is our generation.
Can you help with Mu'awiya, Umayyad state from 661? Tell us what you can give.
I want to help with this
Keep reading
- Medina under the Prophet (peace be upon him), 622Soon after the Hijrah in 622, the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned Medina, a city of rival clans, into one community under one written agreement.
- Umar ibn al-Khattab, 634 to 644How Umar ibn al-Khattab, 634 to 644 stood up working government on day one: what was in place, what was new, and the lesson it holds.
- Mehmet II, Ottoman state after 1453After taking Constantinople in 1453, Mehmet II rebuilt it as Istanbul and turned a frontier state into a central government run by salaried officials loyal…
- Dutch Republic, 1579 to 1648In 1579 seven provinces in the Low Countries joined in the Union of Utrecht, then declared independence from Spain in 1581.
- United States, 1789How United States, 1789 stood up working government on day one: what was in place, what was new, and the lesson it holds.
- Meiji Japan, 1868How Meiji Japan, 1868 stood up working government on day one: what was in place, what was new, and the lesson it holds.