Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik

Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik was the seventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 24 February 715 until his death. He began his career as governor of Palestine, while his father Abd al-Malik and brother al-Walid I reigned as caliphs. There, the theologian Raja ibn Haywa al-Kindi mentored him, and he forged close ties with Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, a major opponent of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, al-Walid's powerful viceroy of Iraq and the eastern Caliphate. Sulayman resented al-Hajjaj's influence over his brother. As governor, he founded the city of Ramla and built the White Mosque in it. The new city superseded Lydda as the administrative capital of Palestine, which was at least partly destroyed and whose inhabitants may have been forcibly relocated to Ramla. Ramla developed into an economic hub, became home to numerous Muslim scholars, and remained the administrative capital of Palestine until the 11th century.