-
Period: Jun 8, 632 to Dec 31, 661
The Rightly Guided Caliphs
The first four caliphs are known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs. Three of the four were murdered. -
Period: Dec 31, 661 to Dec 31, 750
The Caliphate of the Umayyads
The Umayyads made Islam even bigger. In 661, under the caliph Mu'awayiya, Damascus in Syria became the capital of the Islamic Empire. From about 690, Arabic became the official language of the government. -
Period: Dec 31, 750 to Dec 31, 1055
The Caliphate of the Abbasids
After a civil war he Abbasid family came into power. Abu'l Abbas became the first Abbasid caliph. Arabic became the official language in all the countries of the Islamic Empire. Iraq was made the centre of the empire, and Baghdad was made the new capital in 763. It remained a powerful city until the Mongols detroyed it in 1258. Stories such as the Arabian Nights began to be told around 786. -
Period: Dec 31, 1055 to Dec 31, 1258
The Caliphate of the Seldjuks
A wave of invasions by Turkish wandering trive changed the Empire. In 1091 the Seldjuks, made Baghdad their capital city. Pope Urban began the first Crusade in 1096. By 1118 the Seldjuk emprie had broken up into small states. Between 1171-93 Saladin ruled. -
Period: Dec 31, 1258 to Dec 31, 1517
The Mamluks
Mongol tribes from Central Asia invaded the Islamic world. Baghdad was destroyed in 1258, so the centre of Islamic life moved out of Iraq to Cairo in Egypt and Damascus in Syria.