Islamic Empires

Caliphates An Islamic state led by a supreme ruler known as a caliph. The role of caliph is both political and religious.

The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs (632-661) Abu Bakr The first caliph after Muhammad Muhammad’s father-in-law Appointment to caliphate was controversial, eventually leading to split between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. Appointed Umar to be the next Caliph

The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs (632-661) Umar Began the military campaigns outside of Arabia that would eventually lead to the establishment of one of the world’s great empires Conqueed Syria (636), Egypt (639-642), and the Sassanid Empire (632-651) Assassinated in 644, replaced by Uthman

The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs (632-661) Uthman Continued the tradition of expansion begun by Umar Established the first Islamic Navy Sent the first Islamic envoys to China Assassinated by rebels in 656, replaced by Ali

The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs (632-661) Muhammad’s son-in-law Appointed to be caliph by the rebels who had assassinated Uthman Ali initially turned down the offer to be caliph, but was eventually persuaded by his advisors to accept Shi’a Muslims consider Ali the first true caliph Died in 661, at which time the Umayyad Caliphate emerged to dominate the Islamic world.

Islamic Expansion

Umayyad Caliphate (661-750) Took over rule of Islam in 661 Transformed the caliphate into a hereditary monarch Began to emphasize the political aspects of the caliph over the religious aspects Brought about continued expansion of the empire

Umayyad Caliphate (661-750) Allowed local leaders relative autonomy to rule conquered regions Had tolerance for local customs and (to an extent) local religions Ruled an empire that was only about 10% Muslim Eventually fell due to Shi’ite rebellion One Umayyad prince managed to escape to Spain before the caliphate was replaced by the Abbasid

Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258) Moved the capital of Islam to Bagdad (modern Iraq) Expanded Islamic control over secular life Oversaw an Islamic Golden Age Advances in science, mathematics, and education Invented algebra Established the Arabic numerals we use today Built the Mustansiriya University, one of the oldest universities in the world

Arabic Numerals

In a few short years the Islamic empire grew from this…

To this

Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258) Empire became too large to control effectively Empire was over 6,000 miles end to end Couriers could travel at most 100 miles in a day, making it very difficult to effectively respond to rebellion and raids at the edges of the empire Pieces of the empire slowly began to break off Mamluks revolted and took over Egypt Caliphate began to become politically fragmented An opposing caliphate, the Fatmids, began to gain power Eventually the Abbasid Caliphate crumbled, though it had long been ineffective at ruling the Islamic empire.

Importance of Caliphates Spread Islam (first politically and then religiously) throughout Arabia, Northern Africa, and parts of Europe and East Asia Led to the acceptance of Islam as a major world religion Established a tradition of unity between politics and religion that persists even now Brought about advances in technology, mathematics, and education