Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan

Timeline

1. 602–630Mecca · MeccaBorn into a noble family of the Umayyad branch in Mecca, his father Abu Sufyan long led Mecca's opposition to Muhammad's preaching; Mu'awiya also initially sided with Mecca, later converting to Islam with his family around the time of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
2. 639–661Damascus · DamascusHe governed Syria for a long period under the caliphs Umar and Uthman, reorganizing local military administration and maintaining pressure on the Byzantine frontier; after Uthman's assassination he refused to recognize Ali's supreme authority over all Muslims, becoming a key party in the first Islamic civil war.
3. 661–680Damascus · DamascusAfter Ali's assassination he established rule over Damascus and the wide regions of Syria, Egypt and elsewhere, founding the Umayyad dynasty; through bureaucratic administration, naval construction and control of Khurasan and other areas, he integrated the expanded Islamic state into an empire centered on Syria, and arranged for his son Yazid to succeed him.