1. Islamic Empires

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

3. 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

4. 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 ( ), and the Sassanid Empire ( )
Assassinated in 644, replaced by Uthman

5. 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

6. 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.

7. Islamic Expansion

8. 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

9. Umayyad Caliphate ( )
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

10. Abbasid Caliphate ( )
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

11. Arabic Numerals

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

13. To this

14. Abbasid Caliphate ( )
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.

15. 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