Caliphate

ISLAMIC CALIPHATE

Islam was founded by the Prophet Muhammad, a native of Mecca in what is now Western Saudi Arabia in 610. His religion slowly grew over the course of his life until, at his death in 632 it was the dominant force in Arabia. While he was alive, he ruled as both religious and secular head of the movement. Following his death, his secular powers were continued in the office of the Khalīfah (Anglicised as "Caliph"), or Successor.

The first four Caliphs, called the Rashidun, or Rightly-Guided Caliphs, were close companions and in-laws of the Prophet Muhammad. They were largely based in the Hejaz and presided over the Islamic Conquest of Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia and Egypt. The last of them, `Alī, took power in violent circumstances and was overthrown by Mu`awiyah, a prominent general and distant cousin of Muhammad, who founded the Umayyad Caliphate. `Ali's descendants maintained a claim to ultimate authority over Islam, some of them to this day; their followers are the Shia and compose up to 20% of modern Muslims.

Under the Umayyads, who were based at Damascus, in Syria, Islamic armies conquered North Africa and Spain in the West and penetrated far into Central Asia in the East. Their Caliphate was the largest Islamic state the world has ever seen, but it was very decentralised and highly unstable.

A revolt in Persia, led by as-Saffāḥ, a closer cousin of Muhammad succeeded in toppling the Umayyads and establishing the `Abbāsid Caliphate in 750, which was based at Baghdad, in Iraq. One Umayyad prince fled to Spain, where his descendants proclaimed themselves Caliphs of al-Andalus, but the rest of the Muslim world came under the control of the `Abbasids. Initially `Abbāsid rule was strong, but from the 800s the various provinces began to drift into independence.

In the 900s the Fātimids, descendants of Muhammad through his daughter, seized control of North Africa, Egypt and the Hejaz and declared theselves Caliphs. They maintained their rule for almost three hundred years until conquered by the Zengids of Syria.

Throughout this period, the `Abbāsids continued to claim pre-eminence over all Islam, but their actual power rarely extended far beyond the walls of Baghdad. When the Mongols sacked Baghdad in 1249 even that power was ended, though a completely powerless cadet line were maintained in Cairo by the Mamluk rulers of Egypt.

The divided state of the Muslim world after that date made the title of Caliph essentially meaningless, though it was used as a secondary title by the Ottoman Padishahs after their Conquest of Egypt in 1517. The title was finally abolished in 1922 after the declaration of the Republic of Turkey.