Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

Cultural Activities under the Utiiin/yads 481
of dissemination of knowledge and culture in the distant parts of the Holy Prophet’s world. Mosque has left it is legacy in the form of Maktab. It was considered a necessary adjunct to the mosque. ”There was no school in Makkah or Medina, but those who wanted to acquire knowledge, used to make journey either to Syria or to Iran and Mesopotamia. The first known philosopher and physician of Makkah had studied medicine and philosophy in the college of Junde-Shapur in South-West Iran”.
Under the Pious Caliphs the same system of education of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was continued with more elaboration and extensive application. During this period many branches of the knowledge were studied. Like Qur’an, Hadith, Tafseer, Fiqah, Prose and Poetry of that time.
”Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) sent these scholars to all parts of Islamic dominion with the directive that on Fridays the Muslim should be instructed about the fundamentals of Islam as enunciated in the Qur’an and the Hadith”. The second Caliph appointed a number of learned men to lecture in mosque in the new cantonments of Kufa, Basra, Damascus and other places on Islamic teachings. According to A.S. Tritton, ”The early caliphs did not appoint teachers for children because they thought it was the duty of fathers to instruct their sons” So it is clear that the appointment of the teachers in early caliphate for the new-Muslims and non-Muslims. The Caliphate rendered the great services in this field. Umayyad Period
Umayyad period was mainly the period of conquests and the consolidation of Islamic Empire. Muslims became comparatively free to turn their attention towards other activities of their life. For the first time they started formalizing their educational system which hitherto largely remained non-formal ”The Umayyad Khalifa had taken interest in some branches of sciences known to foreign nations. Mu’awiya, the first caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, was fond of hearing legendary stories and grandson Khalid was interested in logic and alchemy. Before the end of the Umayyad rule, Muslims had begun to study history, geography and astronomy besides tradition, philosoph> and theology.”
Abdul Malik was the patron of learning and education. Hajjaj bin Yusuf was the teacher who later on became an important figure of political history of early Umayyads. The study of Qur’an was the basic element of the Umayyad’s education. The Curriculum

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of the schools comprised, Qur’an. Hadith. Tafseer, Fiqah, Poetry, Prose and Science of Language. With the passage of time the cultural trends of Umayyads had changed, Damascus became the centre of learnings of all kinds of knowledge’s branches. Arabs began to study history, geography, chemistry, astronomy and natural sciences.
Mu’awiya was the great lover of poetry and prose. Under him the cultural life of Damascus enhanced with the court poetry and general meeting of the poets. ”Apart from court poetry, thousands of verses have come down to us, revealing to the*expert the Umayyad period in all its manifold phases”. Mu’awiya was quite liberal in his policies towards non-Muslims.
His policy towards the Christian subjects deserves special place in the history of world. He ordered the Christians to rebuild the Church of Edessa which had been damaged by an earthquake. Ibn Athal was the famous poet of the Umayyad period. Like Hunain bin Ishaq in the Abbasid period, Ibn Athal was the translator of many medical and astronomical manuscripts. Medical sciences developed under the personal efforts of Mu’awiya. Khalid bin Yazid was the great patron of alchemy and philosophy. He was an average public speaker and poet. ’”He appointed Stephens and Marians for the translation of books into Arabic. Wai id \\as the great general in Islamic history. He conquered many new areas and administered according to the administrative structure of the Islamic state.
Umar bin Abdul Aziz was a great religious reformer in Umayyad history. Fiqah and Tafseer developed under him.”He was interested in foreign language like Persian, Hebrew, Greek. Under him the age of translation started, many Persian books were translated into Arabic from Persian. Under the Umayyads the cities, Makkah, Medina and Damascus were at height of civilization. The glory that ”Damascus covered the regimes of the fifth caliph Abdul Malik and his son Walid. Ibn-Jubayr says about the Damascus: ”If Paradise be on earth Damascus must be it,: if there is heaven, Damascus can parallel and match it”.
This was also due to the cultural achievements under the Umayyads. Once the Arab Empire was established, a primitive system of education, embracing at least the rudiments of knowledge came into existence, for we soon begin to meet with reference to the elementary school, kept b\ a ”Muallim”. Elementary education seems to have been thoroughly established in the early Umayyad period. The general public in search of knowledge reported to the