622 –
Mohamed’s exile from Mecca to
Medina marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar (the Hegira).
632 –
Year of Mohamed’s death. The
new religion has triumphed in a unified Arabia.
632-660 – Four elected successors undertake the
conquest of vast territories belonging to the Persian and Byzantine
empires spreading the Muslim
faith. The 2nd half of the 7th century Arab unity is
undermined by schism and civil war
between Shiites and Sunnis.
661 – The Umayad
family from Mecca create a hereditary dynasty, a Caliphate (lasting until 750) with its new capital outside Arabia
in Damascus. The Muslim empire
achieves its greatest expansion from Narbonne in France to Samarkand in central
Asia and Multan in Pakistan.
762 – The Abbasids
overthrow the Umayads and establish a new capital in Bagdad in the territories of the former Persian Empire. Iranians achieve a decisive position in
the administration and culture of the empire.
929 – Central authority crumbles on the edges of
the empire with the establishment of independent caliphates in Spain, the
Maghreb (western North Africa) and central Asia.
969 – A new Shiite caliphate from Tunisia seizes
Egypt and Arabia and founds a new capital in Egypt, Cairo.
1031 – The collapse of the Cordova caliphate in
Spain signals the beginning of the Christian
“reconquista” with the taking of Toledo.
1055 – An aggressive tribe from Central Asia, the Turks capture Bagdad. The new strongman
is no longer the Caliph but the Turkish Sultan.
The Sultan’s authority extends from Central Asia to Syria. He combats Shiism
and promotes Sunnism. The Turks conquer Byzantine Anatolia and spread the
Muslim faith to India where they establish the Delhi sultanate.
1085 – Spain and the Maghreb are united under
successive Berber dynasties based in Marrakesh.
1099 – The Crusaders
capture Jerusalem.
1171 – The military ruler Saladin captures Cairo putting an end to the Shiite caliphate.
1187 – Saladin recaptures Jerusalem. His family will
henceforth rule Egypt and Syria from Cairo.
1200 – Seville and Cordova are lost to the
Christians.
1250 – The Mamluks,
originally soldier slaves recruited in the Caucasus and Central Asia by the
rulers of Egypt take over Cairo establishing a durable regime (until 1517).
Cairo becomes the largest city of the Muslim world.
1258 – Genghis
Khan leads the Mongols to an invasion of the Near East. Baghdad is captured
and its Abbasid rulers and population slaughtered.
1260 – The Mamluks successfully repel the Mongol
invaders. The Muslim world is divided into a Persian speaking entity in the
East and an Arab one in North Africa, Syria and Arabia.
1330 – The heir to Mongol power is Timur (Tamerlane), another fearsome
invader. His successors, however, were enlightened patrons of the arts and
sciences and dominated the 15th century Iranian world.
1347 – The Muslim world and Europe are ravaged by
the plague. Blossoming of the mystical cult of Sufism which appeals most particularly to the Turko-Mongol elites.
In the 14th century the sultans of Delhi extend their rule over two
thirds of India and the Turks seize the Balkans in Europe.
1453 – Fall
of Constantinople which becomes the new capital of theTurkish Ottoman Empire. In the following
century the Ottomans extend their Empire into Hungary and the Danube provinces
, Crimea, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and the Maghreb to the borders of Morocco.
1492 – The fall
of Granada spells the end of Muslim Spain. The Muslim world, however, reaches its apogee encompassing
30% of the world population.
1501 – The Safavid dynasty conquers Iran and imposes
Shiism as the state religion.
1526 – The Mughal
dynasty unites Islamic India.
1683 – The defeat of the Ottomans at the siege of
Vienna spells the beginning of the decline of Ottoman power.
1798 – Bonaparte
invades Egypt signaling the beginning of European intervention in the
Middle East.
1799 – The British take over India after their
victory at Seringapatam.
1821 – Beginning of the Greek war of independence.
The establishment of an independent Greek state in 1830 signals the beginning
of the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans.
1830 – France conquers Algeria.
1881-85 – Russian annexation of Muslim Central Asia
north of Iran.
1882 – Egypt becomes a British protectorate.
1913
– Turkey loses its last
provinces in Europe except for Istanbul and Thrace.
1920
– Dismantling of the Ottoman Empire
at the end of the First World War. Only Turkey, Persia and Saudi Arabia survive
as diminished independent states. The rest of the Muslim world is entirely
under European colonial administration or occupation.