Timeline of Islam

c. Birth of Muhammad.
570
CE
c. Muhammad receives first vision in a cave near Mecca.
610
CE
c. Muhammad preaches in Mecca.
610-
22 CE
622 Hijira - Muhammad and followers flee to Medina.
CE Islamic calendar (AH, Anno Hegirae) begins.
624 Muslims successfully attack Meccan caravans at Badr.
CE
625 Muslims are defeated by Meccans at Uhud.
630 Muslims capture Mecca. Ka'ba is cleansed, pilgrimage rites are Islamicized, tribes of
Arabia vow allegiance to Muhammad
632 Death of Muhammad. Abu Bakr chosen as caliph.
632- Wars of ridda (apostasy) restore allegiance to Islam
33
633 Muslim conquests (Futuhat) begin.
633- Muslim armies take the Fertile Crescent (Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia),
42 North African coast, parts of Persian and Byzantine Empires
c. Caliph Uthman has the Qur'an written down.
650
656 Uthman is murdered; Ali becomes fourth caliph.
657 Battle of Siffin. Mu'awiya, governor of Syria, claims the caliphate.
659 Arbitration at Adruh is opposed by Ali's supporters.
661 Ali is murdered; Mu'awiya becomes caliph. Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate (661-
750).
680 Death of Husayn marks beginning of the Shi'at Ali ("party of Ali") or Shi'a sect.
685- Reign of Abd al-Malik. Centralization of administration - Arabic becomes official
705 written language (instead of Greek and Persian) and Arab coinage is established.
late Ruling classes in East and West Africa convert to Islam.
600s
700- Groups of ascetics and mystics begin to form
800s
710 Arab armies enter Spain from North Africa.
732 Muslim empire reaches its furthes extent. Battle of Tours prevents further advance
northwards.
747 Revolt defeats the Umayyads.
750 Abu l'Abbas becomes caliph in Iraq
754 Baghdad (Madinat al-Salam, "city of peace") becomes the new capital of the
Abbasid empire.
755 Abd ar-Rahman founds an Umayyad Dynasty in Cordoba, Spain.
765 Division within Shi'ites - majority are the modern Imamiyya (Twelvers) who co-
exist with Abbasid caliphs; minority are more extreme Isma'iliyaa (Seveners).
786- Reign of Harun ar-Rashid, best known through the stories of The Thousand and
809 One Nights.
800s Written collections of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) are compiled. Sicily comes
under Muslim rule.
813- Reign of Ma'mun. Theological controversy over whether the Qur'an is created or
33 uncreated and eternal. Center for translation of texts from Greek to Arabic founded
in Baghdad.
869- Uprisings of black slaves (Zanj) are eventually defeated.
883
908 First Fatimid caliph in Tunisia.
928 Umayyad Abd ar-Rahman III declares himself caliph in Cordoba.
940 Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth imam, disappears. Twelvers still await the future
return of the "Hidden Imam."
945 The Buyids (Persian) invade Baghdad and take power from caliph.
969 Fatimids gain power in Egypt and attack Palestine, Syria, and Arabia. Cairo (Al-
Qahira, "the victorious city") is founded.
980- Life of Avicenna, Iranian physician and Aristotelian philosopher.
107
996- Reign of Fatimid al-Hakim. Hamza ibn Ali forms basis of esoteric Druze religion.
1021
late West Africa begins to convert to Islam
900s
1030 Umayyad caliphate in Cordoba defeated by the Christian Reconquista.
1055 Seljuk Turks take Baghdad; Abbasids now only nominal rulers.
1000s Reconquista takes more of Spain, Sicily falls to the Normans, Crusader kingdoms
are briefly established in Palestine and Syria.
1071 Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert.
1090 Hasan-i Sabbah takes Alamut in the Persian mountains, the Assassin sect forms
around him.
1099 Christian Crusaders take Jerusalem.
1100- Sufi orders (turuq) are founded.
1200s
1126- Life of Averroës, Muslim philosopher from Cordoba who sought to integrate Islam
98 with Greek thought.
1171 Fatimid power ends in Egypt with the conquests of Saladin.
1174 Saladin declares himself sultan of Egypt and Syria.
1193 Death of Saladin; most of Crusader states have returned to Islam.
1200s Assassins wipes out by the Mongols. Indian rulers in Delhi take title of Sultan.
Spanish mystic Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240) flourishes.
1221 Genghis Khan and the Mongols enter Persia.
1241 Mongols take the Punjab.
1258 Mongols capture Baghdad; city is sacked and caliph is killed. End of Abbasid
caliphate.
1281- Reign of Uthman (Osman), who founds the Ottoman Empire. Muslim merchants
1324 and missionary Sufis settle in SE Asia.
mid- Ottomans capture Bursa and Iznik and move into Europe.
1300s
1366 Capital of Ottoman Empire moved from Bursa to Adrianople.
late Ottomas take control of the Balkans.
1300s
1400s Islam reaches the Philippines.
1453 Mehmet Fatih (rules 1451-81) conquers Constantinople. The two halves of the
Ottoman Empire are united and the sultan becomes Byzantine emperor.
1492 Castile and Aragon capture Granada. All Muslims (and Jews) expelled from Spain.
1501 Isma'il (1487-1524) claims to be the Hidden Imam and is proclaimed Shah (king)
of Persia. Twelver Shi'ism becomes official religion of Persia.
1516 Ottomans conquer Syria and Egypt.
1517 Ottomans control Mecca and Medina.
152 Reign of Suleyman the Magnificent; Ottoman Empire reaches its zenith. Hungary
-66 and coastlands of Algeria and Tunisia come under Ottoman rule.
1526 Babur (Mongolian) seizes the Delhi sultanate and takes control of northern India.
1556 Akbar founds the Mughal dynasty in northern India.
1600- Venetians, Habsburgs, and Russians divide European Ottoman lands between
1700s them.
1625 Java comes under rule of Muslim kingdom of Mataram.
1699 Treaty of Karlowitz confirms first substantial losses of Ottoman Empire in Europe.
1700s Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab rejects Sufism and all innovation (bid'a). Founds what
becomes the Saudi Arabian kingdom. Hindus regain power from Mughals in
northern India.
1738 Mughal empire invaded by the Afghans.
1779 Afghans ousted by Qajar dynasty, which rules Persia until 1925.
1798 Napoleon's expedition to Egypt.
1805 Muhammad Ali becomes governor of Egypt, which becomes independent of the
Ottomans, gains control of western Arabia and extends into the Sudan.
1807- Tanzimat period. Ottoman Empire undergoes extensive program of modernization
76 in government, law, and medicine.
1830 Greece regains independence from Ottomans.
1850s Non-Muslim Ottoman citizens granted equality with Muslims.
1858 Last Mughal in India is deposed and India comes under British rule.
1876- Reign of Abd al-Hamid II; autocratic and religiously conservative period in Ottoman
1908 rule.
1878 Congress of Berlin recognizes independence of Balkan states previously under
Muslim rule.
1882- Egypt occupied by the British.
1952
1908- Last decade of Ottoman rule. Rise of nationalistic "Young Turks." More liberal
18 policies develop.
1912 Founding of Islamic Union (Sareket Islam), a modernizing movement in SE Asia.
1918 Fall of Ottoman Empire. League of Nations grants Britain mandatory status over
Palestine and Iraq, and France over Lebanon and Syria.
1923 Republic of Turkey established. Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) is first president.
1927 Tablighi Jamaat reform movement founded in India.
1928 Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brothers) founded in Egypt.
1941 Jamaat-i Islami reform movement founded in Lahore, India.
1945 Indonesia becomes independent republic.
1945- Islam spreads to the West with mass migrations from Asia, Africa, and India.
60s
1947 Pakistan founded as an Islamic nation. Islam becomes a minority religion in India.
1957 Independent Malayan state established with Islam as the official religion but
 guaranteed tolerance.
1960s Familes from SE Asia and North Africa emigrate to Europe and the Americas.
1979 Shah of Iran is overthrown by Ayatullah Ruhullah Khumayni, who establishes strict
fundamentalist rule of Shi'a principles.
late Taliban come to power in Afghanistan.
1990s
2001 Muslim extremists attack the United States.
2003 Saddam Hussein ousted by Western forces.

List of Abbasid caliphs

The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were

members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from
the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came to power in the Abbasid Revolution in 748–750, supplanting
the Umayyad Caliphate. They were the rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate, as well as
the generally recognized ecumenical heads of Islam, until the 10th century, when
the Shi'aFatimid Caliphate (established in 909) and the Caliphate of
Córdoba (established in 929) challenged their primacy. The political decline of the
Abbasids had begun earlier, during the Anarchy at Samarra (861–870), which
accelerated the fragmentation of the Muslim world into autonomous dynasties. The
caliphs lost their temporal power in 936–946, first to a series of military strongmen,
and then to the Shi'a Buyid dynasty that seized control of Baghdad; the Buyids
were in turn replaced by the Sunni Seljuk Turks in the mid-11th century, and
Turkish rulers assumed the title of "Sultan" to denote their temporal authority. The
Abbasid caliphs remained the generally recognized suzerains of Sunni Islam,
however. In the mid-12th century, the Abbasids regained their independence from
the Seljuks, but the revival of Abbasid power ended with the Sack of Baghdad by
the Mongols in 1258.
In 1261, the Abbasid caliphate was re-established by a cadet branch of the dynasty
at Cairo, under the auspices of the local Mamluk sultans. Once again, the caliph
was a purely religious and symbolic figure, while temporal power rested with the
Mamluks. The revived Abbasid caliphate lasted until the Ottoman conquest of
Egypt in 1517, after which the caliphal title passed to the Ottoman dynasty.

List of Abbasid caliphs

Caliphs of Baghdad (25 January 750 – 20 February 1258)
Not accepted by the Muslim dominions in the Umayyad-ruled Iberian
Peninsula (cf. Emirate of Cordoba and Caliphate of Cordoba), and the Fatimid and
later Almohad-ruled parts of North Africa.
Regnal
No. Reign Personal Name Parents Notes
Name
1. 750 – as-Saffāḥ Abū’l-ʿAbbās Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Descendant of
 Abbas, Muhammad
uncle.
10
Abdallah Battle of Talas
June ʿAbd Allāh
Raita al-Harsia secures Muslim
754
predominance in
Asia.
Fugitive Umayyad
Abd al-Rahman I
10
Muhammad ibn Ali ibn the Emirate o
June Abū Jaʿfar
2. al-Manṣūr Abdallah Córdoba in
754 – ʿAbd Allāh
Sallamah 56).
775
Foundation
of Baghdad
775 –
al-
4 Abū ʿAbd Allāh
3. Mahdībi-'llā Al-Mansur
August Muḥammad
h
785
August
785 –
Abū
14 Al-Mahdi
4. al-Hādī Muḥammad
Septe Al-Khayzuran bint 'Atta
Mūsā
mber
786
14
Zaydi Shi'a
Septe
dynasty established
mber
Hārūn ar- Al-Mahdi in Morocco
5. 786 – Hārūn
Rashīd Al-Khayzuran bint 'Atta Aghlabids
24
autonomous
March
in Ifriqiya 
809
March
809 – Harun ar-Rashid Civil war of the
24/25 Abū Mūsā Zubaidah bint Ja`far, Fitna. Al-Amin depose
6. al-Amīn
Septe Muḥammad granddaughter of al- and killed at the
mber Mansur Baghdad.
813
Victor of the civil war
Anti-caliphate of
Septe
ibn al-Mahdi
mber
Harun ar-Rashid (817–819) ends with a
813 – Abū'l-ʿAbbās
7. al-Maʾmūn Marajil, concubine Ma'mun's return t
9 ʿAbd Allāh
from Badghis Baghdad.
August
Start of official suppor
833
for Mu'tazilism
of the miḥnah
9 al- Harun ar-Rashid Establishment o
Abū Isḥāq
8. August Muʿtaṣimbi Marida, the Turkish
Muḥammad
833 – -’llāh probably Turkishconcubin positions of power
 Militarization an
5 centralization of th
Januar e administration.
y 842 Move of the capita
to Samarra
5
Januar
y 842 al-Wāṯiq bi- Abū Jaʿfar Al-Mu'tasim
9.
– 10 'llāh Hārūn Qaratis, Greekconcubine
August
847
10 End of official suppor
August for Mu'tazilism
847 – al- of the miḥnah
Al-Mu'tasim
10. 11 Mutawakkil Jaʿfar Return to Sunn
Shuja
Decem ʿalā ʾllāh orthodoxy.
ber Assassinated by th
861 Turkish military.
861 –
al- Al-Mutawakkil
7 or 8 Abū Jaʿfar Reigned durin
11. Muntaṣirbi- Hubshiya, Greekconcubin
June Muḥammad the Anarchy at Samarra
'llāh e
862
Reigned durin
the Anarchy at Samarra
al- Fled to Baghdad in 865
862 – Muhammad, son of al-
12. Mustaʿīnbi- Aḥmad where h
866 Mu'tasim
ʾllāh was besieged
deposed by the Turkis
military.
Reigned durin
al-
866 – the Anarchy at Samarra
13. Muʿtazzbi- Muḥammad Al-Mutawakkil
869 Deposed by the Turkis
ʾllāh
military.
869 – Reigned durin
al-
21 Abū Isḥāq Al-Wathiq the Anarchy at Samarra
14. Muhtadībi-'l
June Muḥammad Qurb, Greekconcubine Assassinated by th
lāh
870 Turkish military.
Actual power in th
hands of his brother,
Muwaffaq
21
Start of the "Abbasi
June
al- Al-Mutawakkil revival". Repulse o
870 – Abū'l-ʿAbbās
15. Muʿtamidʿ Fityan, concubine the Saffarids
15 Aḥmad
alā ’llāh from Kufa subjugation of the
Octob
Revolt.
er 892
Establishment of th
autonomous
dynasty in Egypt, an
 overthrow o
the Tahirids
the Saffarids
Height of the "Abbasi
revival". Recover
Octob
of Jazira, 
er 892 al- Al-Muwaffaq, regent of
Abū'l-ʿAbbās Return of the capital t
16. – 5 Muʿtaḍidbi the Abbasid Caliphate
Aḥmad Baghdad.
April -'llāh Dirar, Greekconcubine
Start o
902
the Qarmatian
activity and raids.
5 April
Recovery of Egypt an
902 – al-
Abū Aḥmad Al-Mu'tadid Syria from the
17. 13 Muktafībi-'ll
ʿAlī Jijak, Turkishconcubine End of the "Abbasi
August āh
revival".
908
First reign
Unsuccessful usurpatio
attempt in favou
13 of Abdallah ibn a
'al-
August Abū'l-Faḍl Al-Mu'tadid Mu'tazz (908).
18. Muqtadirbi-
908 – Jaʿfar Shaghab, Greekconcubine Caliphal title also claime
'llāh
929 by al-Mahdi Billah
the Fatimids
and 'Abd ar-Rahma
III of Córdoba
First reign; installed b
al-Qāhir bi- Abū al-Manṣūr the commander-in
19. 929 Al-Mu'tadid
'llāh Muḥammad chief Mu'nis a
Muzaffar for a few days.
Second reign; killed i
battle before Baghda
929 –
'al- against Mu'nis a
31 Abū'l-Faḍl
20. Muqtadirbi- Muzaffar.
Octob Jaʿfar
'llāh Qarmatian
er 932
of Mecca 
0).
31
Octob al-Qāhir bi- Abū al-Manṣūr
21. Second reign
er 932 'llāh Muḥammad
– 934
934 –
Ibn Ra'iq
23 Abū'l-ʿAbbās
ar-Rāḍī bi-'l al-umarāʾ
22. Decem Aḥmad/Muḥam Al-Muqtadir
lāh 936); end of calipha
ber mad
temporal power.
940
940 – al- Abū Isḥāq Al-Muqtadir Overthrown and blinde
23.
944 Muttaqīli-'ll Ibrāhīm Khalub or Zahrah by the
 āh umarāʾ Tuzun
Septe
Installed by the
mber
al- umarāʾ Tuzun
944 –
24. Mustakfībi- ʿAbd Allāh Al-Muktafi Deposed and blinde
29
ʾllāh after the
Januar
of Baghdad and Iraq.
y 946
29
Installed b
Januar al-Muṭīʿ li- Abū'l-Qāsim al-
25. Al-Muqtadir the Buyid 
y 946 ʾllāh Faḍl
Dawla.
– 974
Deposed b
974 – aṭ-Ṭāʾiʿ li-
26. Abd al-Karīm Al-Muti the Buyid 
991 amri ʿllāh
Dawla.
1
Novem Installed b
ber the Buyid 
991 – al-Qādir bi- Al-Muttaqi Dawla.
27. Aḥmad
29 'llāh Tumna Upholding of Sunn
Novem orthodoxy; publication o
ber the Baghdad Manifesto
1031
End and disintegration o
the Caliphate o
29
Córdoba (1031).
Novem
Takeover of Baghdad b
ber al-Qāʾimbi-
28. Al-Qadir the Seljuk
1031 – amri 'llāh
Turksunder
2 April
), end of Buyid rule
1075
Tughril is recognize
as Sultan 
2 April
Muhammad, son of al-
1075 – al-
Abū'l-Qāsim Qa'im
29. Februa Muqtadībi-
ʿAbd Allāh Urjuman, Armenianconcu
ry amri ’llāh
bine
1094
Februa
ry First Crusade
al-
1094 – Abū l-ʿAbbās 1099); establishment o
30. Mustaẓhirbi Al-Muqtadi
6 Aḥmad the Crusader states i
-'llāh
August the Levant.
1118
6
August
al- Foundation o
1118 – Abū'l-Manṣūr
31. Mustarshid Al-Mustazhir the Almohad Caliphate
29 al-Faḍl
bi-'llāh the Maghreb
August
1135
 29
ar- Deposed by the Selju
August Abu Jaʿfar al-
32. Rāshidbi-'ll Al-Mustarshid Sultan Ghiyath ad-Di
1135 – Manṣūr
āh Mas'ud.
1136
1136 –
al-
12 Abū ʿAbd Allāh Siege of Baghda
33. Muqtafīli- Al-Mustazhir
March Muḥammad (1157) by the Seljuks.
ʾamri ’llāh
1160
12
March
1160 – al-
Abū'l-Muẓaffar Al-Muqtafi
34. 20 Mustanjidbi
Yūsuf Thawus
Decem -'llāh
ber
1170
20
Decem
End of the
ber al-
Caliphate 
35. 1170 – Mustaḍīʾbi- al-Ḥasan Al-Mustanjid
restoration of Sunni rul
30 amri ʾllāh
in Egypt under
March
1180
2
March
1180 – Recovery o
an-Nāṣir li- Abu'l-ʿAbbās Al-Mustadi
36. 4 Jerusalem
Dīni’llāh Aḥmad Zumurrud, concubine
Octob Crusaders (1187).
er
1225
5
Octob
er
aẓ-Ẓāhir bi-
37. 1225 – Muḥammad An-Nasir
amri’llāh
11
July
1226
11
July
1226 – al-
Abū Jaʿfar al-
38. 2 Mustanṣirbi Az-Zahir
Manṣūr
Decem -'llāh
ber
1242
2
Last Abbasid Caliph i
Decem al-
Baghdad; executed afte
39. ber Mustaʿṣim ʿAbd Allāh Al-Mustansir
the Mongol sack o
1242 – bi-'llāh
Baghdad.
20
 Februa
ry
1258

Caliphs of Cairo (13 June 1261 – 22 January 1517)

The Cairo Abbasids were largely ceremonial caliphs under the patronage of
the Mamluk Sultanate that existed after the takeover of the Ayyubid dynasty.[3][4]
Regnal Persona
No. Reign Parents Notes
Name l Name
13 June
Installed as Caliph in Cairo, Egypt by th
1261 – al- Abū'l-
Mamluk Sultan Baybars in 1261. Title als
1. 28 Mustanṣ Qāsim Az-Zahir
claimed by al-Hakim I, installed as caliph b
Novembe irbi-llāh Aḥmad
the ruler of Aleppo, Aqqush al-Burli
r 1261
16
al- Abbasid descent disputed; installed as calip
Novembe
Ḥākimbi Abū'l- by ruler of Aleppo, Aqqush al-Burli, in 1261
r 1262 –
2. - ʿAbbās proclaimed as caliph by Baybars
19
Amri'llā Aḥmad Mustansir II died.
January
h I Fall of the Almohad Caliphate 
1302
20
Abū ar-
January al-
Rabīʾ
3. 1302 – Mustakfī Al-Hakim I
Sulaym
February bi-llāh I
ān
1340
February Abū
Muhammad,
1340 – al-Wāṯiq  ʾIsḥāq
4. son of al-
17 June bi-'llāh I ʾIbrāhī
Hakim I
1341 m
al-
Ḥākimbi Abū'l-
1341 –
5. - ʿAbbas Al-Mustakfi I
1352
Amri'llā ʾAḥmad
h II
al- Abū al-
1352 – Muʿtaḍi Fatḥ
6. Al-Mustakfi I
1362 dbi-'llāh  Abū
I Bakr
Abū
al-
ʿAbd
1362 – Mutawa
7. Allāh Al-Mu'tadid I First reign
1377 kkilʿalā'
Muḥam
llāh I
mad
8. 1377 al- Abū Al-Wathiq I First reign
 Mustaʿṣ Yaḥya
imbi-'llā Zakarīy
h āʾ
Abū
al-
ʿAbd
1377 – Mutawa
9. Allāh Second reign
1383 kkilʿalā'
Muḥam
llāh I
mad
Septemb
er 1383 – al-Wāṯiq  Abū
10. 13 bi-'llāh I Ḥafṣ Al-Wathiq I
Novembe I ʿUmar
r 1386
al- Abū
1386 – Mustaʿṣ Yaḥya
11. Second reign
1389 imbi-'llā Zakarīy
h āʾ
Abū
al-
1389 – 9 ʿAbd
Mutawa
12. January Allāh Third reign
kkilʿalā'
1406 Muḥam
llāh I
mad
22
January al- Abū al- Al- Became Sultan of Egypt from 7 May –
13. 1406 – 9 Mustaʿī Faḍl al- Mutawakkil I November 1412, as a titular figurehead fo
March nbi-'llāh ʿAbbas Bay Khatun Shaykh al-Mahmudi.
1414
al-
Abū al- Al-
1414 – Muʿtaḍi
14. Fatḥ Mutawakkil I
1441 dbi-'llāh 
Dāwud Kazal
II
1441 – al- Abū al-
29 Mustakfī Rabīʿ Al-
15.
January bi-llāh I Sulaym Mutawakkil I
1451 I ān
al-
Abū al-
1451 – Qāʾimbi Al-
16. Baqāʾ
1455 -ʾamr Mutawakkil I
Ḥamza
Allāh
1455 – 7 al- Abū al-
Al-
17. April Mustanji Maḥāsin
Mutawakkil I
1479 dbi-'llāh Yūsuf
5 April
al- Abū al-
1479 –
Mutawa ʿIzz Al-Musta'in
18. 27
kkilʿalā' ʿAbd al- Haj al-Malik
Septemb
llāh II ʿAzīz
er 1497
 al-
Abū al- Al-
1497 – Mustam
19. Ṣabr Mutawakkil First reign
1508 sikbi-'llā
Yaqūb II
h
al-
1508 – Mutawa Muḥam
20. First reign
1516 kkilʿalā' mad
llāh III
al-
Abū al-
1516 – Mustam
21. Ṣabr Second reign
1517 sikbi-'llā
Yaqūb
h
Second reign
He formally surrendered the title of caliph a
al-
well as its outward emblems—
Mutawa Muḥam
22. 1517 mantle of Muhammad—to Ottoma
kkilʿalā' mad
Sultan Selim I in 1517, making him the las
llāh III
caliph from Abbasid dynasty
Quraysh.
Genealogy

Genealogical tree of the Abbasid family. In green, the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad.
In yellow, the Abbasid caliphs of Cairo. Muhammad is included (in caps) to show
the kinship of the Abbasids with him.
 Geographic Territories

Rise of the Abbasid Dynasty

750 C.E.
Shiites revolted against Umayyaads created own dynasty called “Abbassid” dynasty
Murdered remaining members of Umayyad family
One escaped and set up a dynasty in Spain, merged with Berber armies
Moved new capital to Baghdad in 762 C.E.
Location on a key trade route
Abbasid Dynasty
Built strong bureaucracy
Sent diplomats throughout the world
Caliphate would last from 750 C.E. to 1258 C.E.
Baghdad fell to the Mongols
Rival Groups
Independent Muslim states continued to spring up in smaller regions

Fatimid Dynasty
Named after Muhammad’s daughter Fatima
Began in North Africa and spread from Red Sea to western Arabia and Syria
 Muslim Trade Network
Two major trading sea trading zones

Mediterranean Sea
Indian Ocean

Land network connected to the silk road

Contacts from China to Europe and Africa
Unification of Muslim world
Single language- Arabic
Currency- Abbasid dinar
To encourage flow of trade, Muslims set up banks throughout the empire
Early forms of credit and checks
 Age of the Caliphs

  Expansion under Muhammad, 622–632/A.H. 1-11

  Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphate, 632–661/A.H. 11-40
  Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750/A.H. 40-129

Damascus – history, arts and architecture

Capital city of Syria and one of the chief cities of the Middle East.

The 3 minarets of the Great Mosque of Damascus: Qaitbay (built 1488), Bride (~9–12th c.)
& Jesus (9–13th c.)
Damascus is located in southern Syria on the banks of the Barada river. The area of
Damascus forms an oasis on the edge of the Great Syrian desert. The name Damascus is
pre-Semitic and is mentioned in Egyptian texts of the second millen-nium BCE. The oldest
standing remains date from the Roman period and include parts of the city wall, columns
marking the lines of street, and the enclosure on which the Umayyad mosque is built.
During the Umayyad period Damascus was established as capital of the Islamic world which
stretched from Spain to Central Asia. With the establishment of the Abbasid caliphate based
in Iraq and later the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt the status of the city declined. In 1154 Nur
al-Din established it as his capital, and under his successors the Ayyubids it was once again
one of the principal cities of the Islamic world. The Mongol raids of the second half of the
thirteenth century reduced the city to a secondary role with Cairo established as the Mamluk
capital. The Ottoman conquest in 1516 restored the prosperity which was reinforced by its
position as starting point of the Ottoman Hajj caravans. During the eighteenth century the
city was eclipsed by the commercial prosperity of Aleppo, though Damascus remained the
political capital. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 Damascus was re-
established as an Arab capital.
Mud brick and wood are the principal materials of construction for traditional houses. The
lower parts of houses have thick walls made out of mud brick which are strengthened at the
corners with wooden stakes laid horizontally. The upper parts of the houses are often
cantilevered over the street on wooden beams. The walls of the upper part are made out of
a wooden framework with bricks laid in between often in a herringbone pattern. The more
important monuments are made of stone with baked brick or stone rubble used for domes
and vaulting. A characteristic of the monumental masonry of Damascus is the use of ablaq
(alternating courses of dark and light masonry) made out of white limestone and black
basalt.
There are few standing remains from the Umayyad period with the exception of the Great
Mosque which is the oldest major mosque still preserved in its original form. Little was done
to alter the pre-Islamic plan of the city and many of the Byzantine buildings were simply
converted; thus the caliph’s palace, behind the Great Mosque, was formerly the residence of
the Byzantine governors. The plan of the city at this time formed a roughly rectangular
shape along the banks of the Barada river, a shape which was retained until the expansion
during the sixteenth century.
In the three centuries following the fall of the Umayyads Damascus suffered a state of near
anarchy. In 1076 strong rule was restored by the Turkoman chief Atsiz ibn Uvak and for the
next eighty years the city was ruled by Turkish chiefs or Taabegs. During this period a
hospital was built and seven madrassas were established.
 
With Nur al-Din’s capture of Damascus in 1154 the city became the centre of activity
directed against the Crusaders who had seized Palestine. During this period there was a
great deal of military and religious building. The walls of the city were strengthened with
new gateways such as the Bab al-Seghir whilst the older gateways were reinforced. The
citadel was also remodelled with a new gate and a large mosque. The number of mosques
and madrassas were increased in order to promote orthodox Sunni Islam against both Shi’is
and the Christianity of the Crusaders. Other important buildings included the maristan, or
hospital, of Nur al-Din and the madrassa and tomb of Nur al-Din. The hospital, which also
functioned as a medical school, has a magnificent portal which is a mixture of Roman,
Iranian and Mesopotamian styles.
Directly above the door is a classic Roman pediment above which there is an arch with a
muqarnas archway. The top of the structure is crowned with an Iraqi-style conical dome.
Inside the hospital is built like a madrassa with four iwans opening on to a central courtyard
with a fountain in the centre. One of the iwans is a prayer hall whilst the other is a
consultation room. The tomb of Nur al-Din is located on the corner of his madrassa and
comprises a square chamber covered with a muqarnas dome resembling that of the hospital
and ultimately the conical domes of Iraq.
Under the Ayyubids the madrassa became the main form of religious building with more
than twenty examples recorded by Ibn Jubayr in 1184. Most of these tombs were
commemorative structures which usually had the tomb of the founder attached. The
standard form of Ayyubid tomb was a square room covered with an octagonal zone of
transition made up of squinches and blind arches; above this there was usually a sixteen-
sided drum which was pierced with windows and arches. The domes are usually tall, slightly
pointed structures with broad fluting. The interior of the tombs was usually decorated with
painted stucco designs. Important examples include the tomb of Badr al-Din Hassan and the
mausoleum of Saladin in the Madrassa Aziziya. The cenotaph of Saladin is made of carved
wooden panels whilst the walls were covered with polychrome tiles by the Ottomans in the
sixteenth century. Another feature of Ayyubid architecture was the introduction of ablaq
masonry.
The Mongol invasion of 1260 put an end to the most brilliant period of Damascus’s post-
Umayyad history. Although the Mamluks continued to develop the city it was no longer the
foremost capital in the region. Baybars, the first Mamluk sultan, was particularly fond of the
city and refur-bished the citadel as a royal residence for himself. To the west of the city he
built another palace known as the Qasr Ablaq which was built out of alternating courses of
black and ochre-coloured masonry. Madrassas continued to be built although not on the
same scale as before. There was a proliferation of mausoleums and to this period may be
ascribed the invention of the double mausoleum where two mausoleums were included
within a single complex. Examples of this type of building include the tomb of the Mamluk
sultan Kit Bugha and the tomb of the Muhajirin commemorating a Mamluk who had fought
the Mongols. The form of these double mausoleums was of two symmetrical domed tombs,
with a monumental portal between them which would lead to the madrassa or memorial
mosque.
In the later Mamluk period there was a development in the outward appearance of buildings
characterized by the growth in the number of decorative octagonal minarets. These towers
were decorated with blind niches, muqarnas corbelling elaborate finials and stone inlays.
There was also a development of the markets outside the city centre and to this period may
be ascribed the development of the suqs known as Taht Qal’a (below the citadel).
The Ottoman conquest of the early sixteenth century re-established Damascus as a regional
capital, a position which was reinforced by its position at the start of the Hajj (pilgrimage)
route to Damascus. New facilities both religious and practical were built to accommodate the
vast numbers of pilgrims coming from Anatolia, Syria and even from Iran. The most
important monument was the Tekiyya of Sulayman the Magnificent designed by his architect
Sinan and completed in 1555. The Tekiyya is built on the river bank on the site of the old
Mamluk palace, Qasr Ablaq. The Tekiyya comprises a mosque, kitchens and a camping
ground for pilgrims. The mosque is built in the classical Ottoman style with a prayer hall
covered by a large dome and a double arcade running round it on three sides. The twin
minarets are tall pencil-like structures with sharp pointed roofs. The pure Ottoman
appearance of the building is modified by the use of alternating black and white (ablaq)
masonry. Other Ottoman mosques of the period also display a mixture of local and Ottoman
features, thus the Sinaniya (after Sinan Pasha the governor of Damascus, not the architect)
mosque has a large central dome in the Ottoman style but the use of ablaq masonry and
the monumental muqarnas portal resemble earlier Mamluk buildings.

Khan As'ad Pasha – Old City of Damascus

The Ottoman conquest also brought a fresh impetus to the trade of the city with the
establishment of numerous khans. One of the earliest Ottoman examples is Khan al-Haria
built in 1572 around a square courtyard with stables and store rooms on the ground floor
and accomodation above. In eighteenth- century khans the central courtyard was often
smaller and covered with domes. The most famous example of this later type is the As’ad
Pasha Khan which is a square building covered with eight small domes and a large central
dome supported on marble columns. The eighteenth century also saw the development of
domestic architecture influenced by buildings such as the Azzam palace which was built
around a courtyard in the traditional Syrian manner but with decoration that recalls the
mansions of Istanbul.

The Prophet's Mosque (Classical Arabic: ‫ي‬

ّ ‫ـو‬
ِ َ‫ِـد ٱلـ َّنـب‬
ُ ‫ـسـج‬
ْ ‫م‬َ ‫ٱ ْلـ‬, Al-Masjidun-
Nabawiyy)
Is a mosque established and originally built by the Islamic prophetMuhammad, situated in
the city of Medina in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia. It was the third mosque built in
the history of Islam,[a] and is now one of the largest mosques in the world. It is the
second-holiest site in Islam, after the Great Mosque in Mecca.[8] It is always open,
regardless of date or time.
The site was originally adjacent to Muhammad's house; he settled there after
his migration from Mecca to Medina in 622. He shared in the heavy work of construction.
The original mosque was an open-air building. The mosque served as a community center, a
court, and a religious school. There was a raised platform for the people who taught
the Quran. Subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated it. In 1909, it became
the first place in the Arabian Peninsula to be provided with electrical lights.[9] The mosque
is under the control of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The mosque is located in
what was traditionally the center of Medina, with many hotels and old markets nearby. It is
a major pilgrimage site. Many pilgrims who perform the Hajj go on to Medina to visit the
mosque, due to its connection to Muhammad.
After an expansion during the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, it now incorporates
the final resting place of Muhammad and the first two Rashidun caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar.
[10] One of the most notable features of the site is the Green Dome in the south-east
corner of the mosque,[11] originally Aisha's house,[10] where the tomb of Muhammad is
located. In 1279, a wooden cupola was built over the tomb which was later rebuilt and
renovated multiple times in late 15th century and once in 1817. The current dome was
added in 1818 by the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II,[11] and it was first painted green in
1837, hence becoming known as the "Green Dome"
Al-Jam`e Al-ِAqmar (Arabic: ‫الجــامع األقمر‬, literally: Moonlit mosque) or Al-
Aqmar Mosque, also called Gray mosque, is
a mosque in Cairo, Egypt dating from the Fatimid era.

It was built under vizier al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi during the caliphate of Imam Al-Amir bi-

Ahkami l-Lah. The mosque is located on north Muizz Street.

Features
The mosque is notable for its façade, which is elaborately decorated with inscriptions and
geometric carving. This is both the first mosque in Cairo to have such decoration, and it also
the first to have a façade which follows the line of the street, built at an angle to the
rectangular hypostyle hall whose orientation is dictated by the qibla direction.

Main inscription just below the top cornice in front face

The main inscription lies just below the top cornice in front face of the mosque. Its opening
words are missing as the right wing got damaged, but the remaining suggest following:
In the name of God, the beneficent the most merciful, its construction was ordered by……
Imam Amir …son of …Imam Mustaali… give victory to army of …Imam Amir over… all
infidels…. May god strengthen through him the religion….in the year 519[1125].
 Pierced medallion just over the main entrance gate, Aqmar Mosque, Cairo
The another inscription is seen in pierced medallion just over the main entrance gate with
quran verse 33;33 encircling names of Muhammad and Ali.
O people of the house (Ahle-bayt), God only desires to put away from you abomination and
with cleansing to cleanse you.”[3]

Inscription of 5 'Muhammad'chain and Ali in middle at left wing of Aqmar

Mosque, Cairo
In addition to above, combination of Mohammad and Ali are further prominent in the
decoration of the left half of the façade, here name of Ali is in center and encircled by five
linked Muhammad.
 Chamfered Aqmar corner with three niches
There is chamfered corner appear three niches having verse 16:128:
Verily God is with (top), those who are God-fearing (bottom right), and with those who are
good doers (bottom left).
On both sides of top niches there are roundel one having name of Muhammad and another
of Ali. Hence top portion can be also read as:
Verily God is with Muhammad and Ali.