Spread of Islam and Decline by Yazmin Ortega

By hearteyeselectra
  • Oct 5, 632

    632

    632
    Death of Muhammad. Abu Bakr chosen as caliph (sub-leader of Islam).
  • Sep 28, 661

    661

    Imam Ali is killed, bringing to an end the rule of the four "righteous caliphs": Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. This also marks the beginning of the Umayyad rule.
  • Sep 28, 711

    711

    711
    Muslims cross the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain and push north into France.
  • Sep 28, 732

    732

    732
    Muslims were defeated in the at the battle of Tours. Additionally, the Muslim advance into Western Europe was halted.
  • Sep 28, 750

    750

    From their capital at Damascus in Syria, the Umayyad family directed the spectacular conquests that carried Islam from the Atlantic to the Indus Valley.
  • Sep 28, 850

    850

    Abbassid control over the Arab empire fragmented. In Spain, Egypt and elsewhere, independent dynasties ruled separate Muslim states. As the caliph's power faded, civil wars erupted, and Shiite rulers took over parts of the empire.
  • Sep 28, 900

    900

    The Seljuk Turks migrated into the Middle East from Central Asia. They adopted Islam and built a large empire across the Fertile Crescent.
  • Sep 28, 1055

    1055

    A Seljuk sultan, or authority, controlled Baghdad, but he left the Abbassid caliph as a figurehead. As the Seljuks pushed into Asia Minor, they threatened the Byzantine empire.
  • Sep 28, 1095

    1095

    Reports of Seljuk interference with Christian pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem led Pope Urban II to call for the First Crusade.
  • Sep 28, 1099

    1099

    After a long and bloody siege, Christian crusaders captured Jerusalem.
  • Sep 28, 1187

    1187

    The Muslims general Salah al-Din, or Saladin, ousted Christians from Jerusalem.
  • Sep 28, 1216

    1216

    Genghiz Khan led the Mongols out of Central Asia across Persia and Mesopotamia.
  • Sep 28, 1255

    1255

    Mongols capture Baghdad; city is sacked and caliph is killed. End of Abbasid caliphate.
  • Sep 28, 1300

    1300s

    Another Mongol leader, Timur the Lame, or Tamerlane, led his armies into the Middle East.
  • Sep 28, 1492

    1492

    Castile and Aragon capture Granada. All Muslims (and Jews) expelled from Spain.
  • Sep 28, 1520

    1520

    Reign of Suleyman the Magnificent; Ottoman Empire reaches its zenith. Hungary and coastlands of Algeria and Tunisia come under Ottoman rule.