1. The Islamic Caliphates
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2. Islam was born in Arabia, home of the bedouins

3. When was the Birth of Islam?
622!
-Muhammed was the founder
-He was a trader in Mecca, which was a trade hub.
-He became disillusioned with the commercialism he saw and went to the mountains to meditate
-When he came back to town, he said the angel Gabriel had revealed Allah’s message to him
-Gathered followers, taught them about the FIVE PILLARS of Islam

4. The Sunni/Shia Split
After Muhammed died, the Muslims had to decide who would take over. His followers split into two groups, the Sunni and the Shia. 
(For more on Sunni/Shia split, read this)

5. Shia
Shia Muslims believed (and still believe) that succession should be traced to the bloodline of Muhammed; his cousin Ali should have taken charge, and only Ali’s descendants should be imams, or religious leaders.
They tend to be more conservative. Only about 10% of the world's Muslims are Shia.

6. Sunni
Sunni Muslims believed (and still believe) that the caliph should be chosen by the community, and that he is both a secular and religious leader.
Today, 85-90% of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims are Sunni.

7. (Current Events, according to the BBC)
"Today, many conflicts in the [Middle Eastern] region have strong sectarian overtones.
In Syria, Iranian troops, Hezbollah fighters and Iranian-backed Shia militiamen have been helping the Shia-led government battle the Sunni-dominated opposition. Sunni jihadist groups, including Islamic State (IS), have meanwhile been targeting Shia and their places of worship in Syria and neighbouring Iraq."

8. Phase 1: "The 4 Rightly Guided Caliphs": The Islamic Conquests 634-711
For Sunnis, the first four successors of Muhammad are known as "The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs"
All were prominent companions of Muhammad and belonged to the tribe of Quraysh.
"The Golden Age"

9. Rightly Guided Caliph #1: Abu Bakr
The first Sunni 
He had been Muhammed’s best friend and father-in-law. 
Collected the teachings of Muhammed into the Quran 

10. Rightly Guided Caliph #2: Umar
Set up the Islamic State as a government. Expanded the empire!

11. Rightly Guided Caliph #3: Uthman
Canonized the Qu'ran (made it the law)
Rich member of Umayyad clan, which originally opposed Muhammed. He converted and made an alliance.
Chosen as a compromise between factions—his murder started a civil war.

12. Rightly Guided Caliph #4: Ali
Cousin and Son-in-Law of Muhammed.
Shia believe he is THE FIRST Rightly Guided Caliph because he was related to Muhammed.
Sunni and Shia Muslims believe he did a good job, but there was civil unrest during his reign
He was assassinated. After more war, the Umayyads took over the caliphate and turned it into a monarchy.

14. The New Empire
When early Muslim armies conquered Sassanid (Persian) and Byzantine lands, they didn’t consider themselves the “new owners.”​
They set up military camps outside the cities and lived on taxes they collected from conquered people. ​
They didn’t try to convert anyone in their conquered lands to Islam.

15. Phase 2: The Umayyad Caliphate
In 661, the Umayyad Caliphate set up headquarters in Damascus, Syria. (Sunnis!)
Started favoring Arab Muslims: making them leaders, using Arabic as the language of government, and using Muslim silver and gold coins as currency.
Non-Arab converts to Islam started resenting the Umayyads for that favoritism.
Pious Muslims also resented the Umayyads because they thought the caliphs weren’t religious enough.

16. Umayyad timeline 661 C.E. The beginning of the Umayyad rule.
711 C.E. Muslims enter Spain in the west and India in the east. Eventually almost the entire Iberian Peninsula is under Islamic control.
750 C.E. The Abbasids take over rule from the Umayyads, shifting the seat of power to Baghdad.

18. Phase 3: The Abbasid Caliphate
In 750, the Umayyad caliphs were replaced by the Abbasid caliphs
In 762 AD the Abbasids moved their capital from Damascus in Syria to the new city of Baghdad in Iraq.
The Abbasids ruled the Islamic Empire until 1258 (when the Mongols came and rolled the caliph up in a rug!). 

19. What were the Abbasids like?
At first, they were much more concerned with religion than the Umayyads had been. 
Because they had taken over Persian land, they became more Persianized and less religious as time went on. 
Because Islamic rule unified much of the Eastern world, trade was freer, safer, and more extensive than it had been since the time of Alexander the Great.
Muslim traders established trading posts as far away as India, the Philippines, Malaya, the East Indies, and China.

20. They loved Science!
Muslim doctors and astronomers developed skills and theories that Europeans learned from much later.
Ibn al-Haytham, an Egyptian astronomer, figured out that the Milky Way lies far beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and explained why the sun and moon appear larger on the horizon than overhead.
Muslim scientists developed chemical processes to make glazes for pottery, soap, gunpowder, glass, kerosene, and weapons involving some kind of “liquid fire”

22. They loved music and poetry!
Highly educated slave girls who lived in the royal courts were famous musicians and poets. 

23. The loved ancient civilizations!
They translated the great old literature of Greece, Persia, and India into Arabic. Without them, we wouldn’t know anything about ancient civilizations!

24. Actually, let’s just let John Green tell us about the Abbasids
Actually, let’s just let John Green tell us about the Abbasids. (If there's time) (CC: Dark Ages #14, start at 3:58)

25. The Abbasid Caliphate got too big!
Around 1,000 CE, the empire was fragmented and becoming more difficult for caliphs to manage. 
The Silk Road became VERY DANGEROUS and almost fell out of use completely.

26. A slide about the Mamluks, because I think they’re awesome.
They were Turkish slave soldiers the Abbasids started using in their armies.
Like John Green said, it’s not a good idea to use slaves as your soldiers. 
Turkish armies started conquering areas of the Abbasid Empire. 

27. The Abbasid Empire got weaker and weaker until. . .

28. The Mongols! Nomads. Amazing with horses and archery
In 1206 they elected a leader for their unified tribes; he took the title Great Khan. ("Genghis Khan")
In 1258, the Mongols took over the Abbasid Empire.