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Muhammad was born in Mecca, in 570, into a poor clan. He was orpaned at a young age and was raised by hid grandparents and uncle. He became an honest and successful mechant as an adult, and married a wealthy widow and started a family. He later became the founder of Islam, the new monotheistic religion.
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When Muhammad was around fourty years old, he was visited in a cave by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel told Muhammad that he was a prophet sent to Earth by God. This meeting with Gabriel left Muhammad confused and scared, but his wife urged him to accept the call. Muhammad spent the rest of his life spreading Islam.
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At first, only a couple of people listened to Muhammad. He angered merchants by rejecting the traditional Arab gods. He then fled to Medina with his followers after Muhammad recieved death threats. This migration was known as the Hijra. He gained new converts in Medina, and he taught his followers that respect for Christians and Jews.
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Muhammad returned to Mecca in 630 with 10,000 troops. He conquered the city and destroyed all of the idols in the Kaaba, except for the statue of Allah. People in Mecca converted to Islam.
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Muhammad's death left his followers in grief, but Islam survived the death of their prophet. Abu Bakr, an early convert to Islam, was elected the first caliph, or successor to Muhammad.
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The Muslim army enters Egypt and defeat the Byzantine army. This conquer was considered the liberation of subjugted people to the Muslims.
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Islam begins to spread through North Africa by cultural diffusion. This caused more people in North Africa to convert to Islam.
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The death of Imam Ali marks the end of the four righteous caliphs; Ali, Umar, Abu Bakr and Uthman. His death also marks the beginning of the Umayyad rule.
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Muslim armies cross over the Strait of Gibraltart into Spain. They then push into France. Within seven years, the Muslims will completely conquer the Iberian Peninsula.
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Muslim armies are defeated at the battle of Tours in France. Their advance into Western Europe is stopped, but Muslims kept their rule in parts of Spain.
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Abu al-Abbas, the leader of some discontented Muslims, captures Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad family, in 750. Abu al-Abbas sets up the Abbassid dynasty after killing the Umayyad family. Under this dynasty, the Muslim civilization enjoyed a golden age.
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Arabs didn't advance further into India after they invaded the Indus Valley in 711. But in 1000, Muslim Turks and Afghans moved into India and robbed some of the north.
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Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in 1095, after there were reports of of Seljuk's interfering with some Christian pilgrams. Seljuk Turks migrated into Middle East from Central Asia. They built a cast empire in the Fertile Cresent and adopted Islam.
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Jerusalem is captured by Christian crusaders in 1099. Jerusalem was ruled by either the Muslims or Christians for about 150 years. The Christians also had rule over some small state in Palestine, but then became overruled.
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In the 1100's, the sultan of Ghur overran Hindu armies in the northern plain. He declared Delhi as his capital. His successors made a sultanate, a land ruled by a sultan.
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In Anatolia, Turkey, the first and earliest Ottoman State is formed.
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Mongol leader, Timur the Lame, led his Mongol armies into the Middle East. He conquered several Muslim and non-Muslim lands. His armies overran Mesopotamia and Persia, then invaded Russia and India.
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Tamerlane pushed through India in 1398, and moved into Delhi. Thousands of artisans were forced to construct Tamerlane's capital in Samarkand. Once again, northern India fragmented into enemy Hindu and Muslim states.
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Muhammad II captured Constantinople in 1453 after many failed attempts. The Ottoman's cannons blew up gaps in the walls guarding Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire continued to expand in the next 200 years.
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The Safavid dynasty had already united a srong empire in Persia by the early 1500's. This empire was located inbetween the Ottoman Empire and Mughal India, so they were frequently involved in warfare. Safavids were Shiite Muslims, and enforced their beliefs in the empire.
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Akbar the Great ruled 1556 to 1605. He was the chief builder of the Mughal empire. When he created a strong centeral government, he earned the title Akbar the Great. Even though Akbar was Muslim, he gained the support of his Hindu subjects through toleration.
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Abbas the Great, the Safavid shah (king), ruled from 1588 to 1629. Not only did he centralized the government, but he created a strong military that modeled the the Ottoman janizaries. He made a powerful economy by reducing the taxes of farmers to motivate the growth of industry.
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In the 1700's, Europe's advances in military technology and commerce left the Ottoman Empire behind. The Ottoman Empire was dependent on agriculture. Some sultans tried to bring back the once strong empire, but they did not succeed.
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The decline of the Safavid Empire emerged after the death of Shah Abbas. The pressure of the Ottoman armies was one cause of the decline of the empire. The Sunni Afghans rebelled and forced the last Safavid king to step down in 1722.
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When Jerusalem was captured, it was a sacred city for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The city kept its Roman name, but was changed to the Arabic al-Quads in the tenth century.
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Abbassid rule over the Arab empire fragmented. When the caliph's power started to fade, civil wars started and Shiite rulers started to gain control over parts of the empire.
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An Abbassid caliph declared Baghdad as the site of his new capital. Caliph Harun al-Rashid, who ruled from 786-809, helped Baghdad reach its peak under his rule. Harun was looked up to for centuries and known as a model ruler in the Muslim and Europe world.
