Under the first four caliphs - Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali - the Islamic caliphate expanded rapidly through conquest, taking over the Persian Empire and much of the Byzantine Empire. The Umayyad dynasty then ruled from 661-750 AD, establishing their capital in Damascus and expanding the caliphate further west into North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, and east into Central Asia. The Abbasid dynasty then rose to power in 750, building their new capital of Baghdad and ruling during a period of cultural and scientific achievements known as the Islamic Golden Age, though the caliphate became decentralized over time.

1. ISLAMIC CALIFATE

2. Rise of caliphate.
After Muhammad´s death (632) Abu Bakr was made the first caliph.
He had two tasks in mind, avenge the defate by Byzantine but before
doing that he needed to get rid of the arabic tribes’ rebelion.
Abu Bakr died early (634), a new caliph was named after him, Umar. This
one was killed after reigning 10 years.
His successor Uthman was also assessinated in 656.
In 656 Ali, Prophet´s son-in-law, was elected caliph, and was killed in
661, as the other two.
Despite of all the killing the Islamic had a great expansion and conquered
the whole Presian Empire and most of the Byzantine. ( See following map)

3. Muslim expansion.
First muslim expansion under the Four First Caliphs known as the
Rightly Guided Caliphs.

4. The Umayyad dynasty.
After Ali, Mu’awiya, who was governor of a province, became caliph
starting the Umayyad dynasty.
Under the Umayyads (661-750)the muslims conquered Magrib and
the Iberian Peninsula in the west. In the East they expanded to Sindh
and Central Asia.
The Umayyad placed their capital in Damascus, current day Siria´s
capital.
Ummayyad caliphs thought that the Islam was an Arab empire where
the new Muslims couldn´t reach the highest levels in the imperial
administration.

5. Muslim expansion.
During the Umayyads Caliphate the muslims conquered the Iberian Peninsula
and called it Al-Andalus, this was the begining of 800 years of islamic presence
in Spain.

6. Abbasid dynasty.
In 750 the descendants of Abbas ibn Abd-al Muttalib, the uncle of the Prophet,
rised against the Umayyad, killed them all but one and started the Abassid
Caliphate.
The Abbasid built their capital near Babylon and named it Baghdad, the City of
Peace.
Abbasid caliphate is known as the Islamic Golden Age. In this time the Arabian
Nights tales were written.
During the Abbasid dinasty the islam lost its union and broke into many little
kingdoms as the Al-Andalus Umayyad Caliphate.
In 1258 Baghdad was conquered by the mongols and the Abbasid dinasty
finished.

7. Activities.
The four first caliphs were also known as.......
Who was the first caliph?
Do you think being caliph was a risky job? Why?
Which territories were conquered under the four first caliphs?
Where was the Umayyads capital?
How are the Umayyads related to the Iberian Peninsula?
When did the Abbasid dynasty start? Where was its capital?
Draw a map in your notebook with the different conquer stages of the Islamic empire, make a
list of the current-day countries inside its boundaries.
Make a time line of the Islamic Caliphate.