caliphate

Examples of caliphate in the following topics:

• Expansion Under the Umayyad Caliphates

  • The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad.
  • Under the Umayyads, the caliphate territory grew rapidly.
  • Although the Umayyad Caliphate did not rule all of the Sahara, nomadic Berber tribes paid homage to the caliph.
  • The revival of the Umayyad Caliphate in Al-Andalus (what would become modern Spain) was called the Caliphate of Córdoba, which lasted until 1031.
  • This map shows the extension of Islamic rule under Muhammad, the Rashidun Caliphate, and the Umayyad Caliphate.

• The Abbasid Empire

  • The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 750 CE, and ruled over a large, flourishing empire for three centuries.
  • Several factions challenged the Abbasids' claims to the caliphate.
  • The Shiʻa Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah of the Fatimid dynasty, who claimed descent from Muhammad's daughter, declared himself Caliph in 909 CE and created a separate line of caliphs in North Africa.
  • In the 11th century, the loss of respect for the caliphs continued, as some Islamic rulers no longer mentioned the caliph's name in the Friday khutba, or struck it off their coinage.
  • Map of the Abbasid Caliphate at its greatest extent, c. 850 CE

• Muhammad's Successors

  • Ali would eventually become the fourth Sunni caliph.
  • Sunnis further argue that a caliph should ideally be chosen by election or community consensus.
  • They believe God chose Ali to be Muhammad's successor and the first caliph of Islam.
  • Umar ibn Khattab, the second caliph, was killed by a Persian named Piruz Nahavandi.
  • Under the Rashidun, each region (Sultanate) of the caliphate had its own governor (Sultan).

• Islamic Conquest of the Maghreb

  • The Islamic conquest of the Maghreb region took place largely under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), which at the peak of its influence ruled one of the vastest empires ever to exist.
  • The conquest of the Maghreb region (more or less west of Egypt) took place largely under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), which was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad.
  • It resulted in a series of four caliphs between the death of Muawiya in 680 and the accession of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (Abdalmalek) in 685.
  • Strife ended only in 692, which brought about a return of domestic order that allowed the caliph to resume the Islamic conquest of North Africa.
  • Age of the Caliphs: [dark purple] Expansion under the Prophet Mohammad, 622-632; [dark pink] Expansion during the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632-661; [dark orange] Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750.

• Post-Byzantine Egypt

  • The Rashidun Caliphate was the Islamic caliphate in the earliest period of Islam, comprising the first four caliphs.
  • Caliph Umar conquered more than 2,200,000 km² area in less than ten years and is known as the most powerful caliph in the history of Islam.
  • The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shia Islamic caliphate that spanned a large area of North Africa, from the Red Sea in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
  • He founded the Ayyubid dynasty and incorporated the Fatimid state into the Abbasid Caliphate.
  • The Rashidun Caliphate expanded gradually.

• Spread of Islam

  • In the years following the Prophet Muhammad's death, the expansion of Islam was carried out by his successor caliphates, who increased the territory of the Islamic state and sought converts from both polytheistic and monotheistic religions.
  • The expansion of the Arab Empire in the years following the Prophet Muhammad's death led to the creation of caliphates occupying a vast geographical area.
  • These early caliphates, coupled with Muslim economics and trading and the later expansion of the Ottoman Empire, resulted in Islam's spread outwards from Mecca towards both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the creation of the Muslim world.
  • During the Abbasid Caliphate, expansion ceased and the central disciplines of Islamic philosophy, theology, law, and mysticism became more widespread, and the gradual conversions of the populations within the empire occurred.
  • Discuss the spread of Islam and identify how the caliphs maintained authority over conquered territories

• The Isaurian Dynasty

  • The Isaurian emperors were successful in defending and consolidating the Empire against the Caliphate after the onslaught of the early Muslim conquests, but were less successful in Europe, where they suffered setbacks against the Bulgars, had to give up the Exarchate of Ravenna, and lost influence over Italy and the Papacy to the growing power of the Franks.
  • Leo averted an attack by Maslamah by clever negotiations, in which he promised to recognize the Caliph's suzerainty, but on 25 March 717, he entered Constantinople and deposed Theodosios.
  • Leo secured the Empire's frontiers by inviting Slavic settlers into the depopulated districts and by restoring the army to efficiency; when the Umayyad Caliphate renewed their invasions in 726 and 739, as part of the campaigns of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, the Arab forces were decisively beaten, particularly at Akroinon in 740.
  • The Second Arab siege of Constantinople in 717–718 was a combined land and sea offensive by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople.

• The Islamic Golden Age

  • The Islamic Golden Age refers to a period in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century, during which much of the historically Islamic world was ruled by various caliphates and science, economic development, and cultural works flourished.
  • This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786–809) with the inauguration of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, where scholars from various parts of the world with different cultural backgrounds were mandated to gather and translate all of the world's classical knowledge into the Arabic language.
  • Notably, eight generations of the Nestorian Bukhtishu family served as private doctors to caliphs and sultans between the 8th and 11th centuries.
  • Beginning in 692, the Islamic caliphate reformed the coinage of the Near East by replacing visual depiction with words.

• The Theme System

  • This became essential after 650, when the Islamic Caliphate was far more resourceful and powerful then the Byzantines were.
  • The loss of the Empire's richest provinces, coupled with successive invasions, had reduced the imperial economy to a relatively impoverished state, compared to the resources available to the Caliphate.

• The Emperor Irene

  • Elpidius fled to Africa, where he defected to the Abbasid Caliphate.
  • Nevertheless, Irene was constantly harried by the Abbasids, and in 782 and 798 had to accept the terms of the respective Caliphs Al-Mahdi and Harun al-Rashid.