Topic summary
Banu Umayya
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Umayyad dynasty.
Pre-Islamic origins
By circa 600, the Quraysh had developed trans-Arabian trade networks, organizing caravans to Syria in the north and Yemen in the south. The Banu Umayya and the Banu Makhzum, another prominent Qurayshite clan, dominated these trade networks. To secure these routes, they developed economic and military alliances with the nomadic Arab tribes that controlled the expanses of the northern and central Arabian deserts, gaining them commercial influence and a degree of political power in Arabia.