Rashidun Caliphate[edit]
Main articles: Rashidun and Rashidun Caliphate
Under the Rashidun Caliphate, the newly united and religiously inspired Muslim's invaded the Sassanian Empire during the Rashidun conquest of Persiaand the Byzantine Empire during the Byzantine-Arab Wars. The war of conquest resulted in a complete conquest of the Sassanid Persian Empire and two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. Within a decade, Rashidun caliphs controlled an empire stretching from the Indus River to the Atlas mountains. Khalid ibn Walid was responsible for most of the conquests on the Byzantine front. After a civil war in 657–661, the almost republic disintegrated and was succeeded by the Ummayad dynasty.
Umayyad Caliphate[edit]
Main article: Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate completed the Muslim expansion after conquering Roman North Africa, Visigothic Hispania, and a small part of the border of theIndo-Pak subcontinent and northwestern China. As a result, the Islamic Empire became the largest empire the world had yet seen. However, Umayyad expeditions into the Frankish Kingdom and Byzantium were unsuccessful, as they were eventually stopped by the Bulgarians and Byzantines in 718 and the Franks in 732. Nonetheless, the Caliphate remained a huge military power with a mighty navy.
The period of the Abbasid Caliphate is considered the Golden Age of Islam. The empire was rich with flourishing trade across Asia, Europeand Africa. Its culture was thriving, influenced by the Persians, and boasted great achievements in its economy, arts, architecture,literature, mathematics, philosophy, science, and technology. Many cities grew with large populations, beautiful palaces and gardens such as Baghdad, which had a population of a million at its peak, as well as Damascus, Cairo and Cordoba. The Caliphate eventually diminished in size, and was further reduced during the Crusades. The Caliphate later disintegrated after invasions from the Mongol Empire from the east, ending with the sack of Baghdad in 1258.
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims, or Moors, at various times in the period between 711 and 1492.[8] As a political domain or domains, it was successively a province of the Umayyad Caliphate initiated successfully by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711–750), the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750–929), the Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031), and finally the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms.
The Caliphate enjoyed immense prosperity throughout the 10th century. Abd-ar-Rahman III not only united al-Andalus, but brought the Christian kingdoms of the north, through force and diplomacy, under control. Abd-ar-Rahman stopped the Fatimid advance into Caliphate lands in Morocco and al-Andalus. This period of prosperity is marked by growing diplomatic relations with Berber tribes in North African, Christian kings from the north, with France and Germany, and Constantinople. The death of Abd-ar-Rahman III led to the rise of his 46-year-old son Al-Hakam II in 961. Al-Hakam II more-or-less followed in his father's footsteps, occasionally dealing with a few disruptive Christian kings and North African rebels, though trying not to be too severe. Unlike his father, al-Hakam's dependence upon his advisers was more distinct.
Fatimid Caliphate
The al-Fātimiyyūn was the Arab Shi'a dynasty that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Egypt, and the Levant from 5 January 909 to 1171, and established the Egyptian city of Cairo as their capital. The term Fatimite is sometimes used to refer to the citizens of this caliphate. The ruling elite of the state belonged to the Ismaili branch of Shi'ism. The leaders of the dynasty were also Shia Ismaili Imams, hence, they had a religious significance to Ismaili Muslims. They are also part of the chain of holders of the office of Caliph, as recognized by most Muslims. Therefore, this constitutes a rare period in history in which some form of the Shia Imamate and the Caliphate were united to any degree, excepting the Caliphate of Ali himself.
Ayyubid Sultanate
he Ayyubid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin, founded by Saladin and centered in Egypt. The dynasty ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they supplanted them under Saladin, Ayyub's son. The Ayyubid Sultanate in the Middle East managed to rebuild the weakened Arab State. In 1174, Saladin proclaimed himself Sultan following the death of Nur al-Din. The Ayyubids spent the next decade launching conquests throughout the region and by 1183, the territories under their control included Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and the North African coast up to the borders of modern-day Tunisia. Most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and beyond Jordan River fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. However, the Crusaders regained control of Palestine's coastline in the 1190s.
After the death of Saladin, his sons contested control over the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil eventually established himself as Sultan in 1200. In the 1230s, the Ayyubid rulers of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and remained divided until Egyptian Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored Ayyubid unity by taking over most of Syria, excluding Aleppo, by 1247. During their relatively short tenure, the Ayyubids ushered in an era of economic prosperity in the lands they ruled and the facilities and patronage provided by the Ayyubids led to a resurgence in intellectual activity in the Islamic world. This period was also marked by an Ayyubid process of vigorously strengthening Sunni Muslim dominance in the region by constructing numerous madrasas (schools) in their major cities.
Bahri Mamluks Empire[edit]
The Bahriyya Mamluks (Bahri dynasty) was a Mamluk dynasty of mostly Kipchak Turkic origin that ruled Egypt, the Levant, and some parts of Sudan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Libya, from 1250 to 1382. Their name means 'of the sea', referring to the location of their original residence on Al-Rodah Island in the Nile (Baḥr an-Nīl) in Cairo[9] at the castle of Al-Rodah which was built by the Ayyubid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub[10][11]
Under Saladin and the Ayyubids of Egypt, the power of the mamluks increased until they claimed the sultanate in 1250, ruling as the Mamluk Sultanate. Mamluk regiments constituted the backbone of the late Ayyubid military. Each sultan and high-ranking amir had his private corps, and the sultan as-Salih Ayyub (r. 1240–1249) had especially relied on this means to maintaining power. His mamluks, numbering between 800 and 1,000 horsemen, were called the Bahris, after the Arabic word bahr (بحر), meaning sea or large river, because their barracks were located on the island of Rawda in the Nile. They were mostly drawn from among the Kipchak Turks who controlled the steppes north of the Black Sea.
The Bahriyya were succeeded by the Burji dynasty, another group of Mamluks. Tehj Burji saw a turbulent and short-lived Sultanate. Political power-plays often became important in designating a new sultan.
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