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Timeline · 632 CE to today

Fourteen centuries on one line

The twelve eras as coloured bands, and sixteen milestones from the first caliph to the end of the Ottoman caliphate. Scroll along it like a road; the timeline grows as the eras are written.

Travel the timeline Read era by era
632 CE → today 16 milestones 12 eras

From the first caliph to today

The road through time

Milestones sit above the line; the eras run beneath it, in their jewel colours. Pick an era to light up its moments.

  1. Abu Bakr becomes the first caliphRashidun
  2. Jerusalem opened under UmarRashidun
  3. The Umayyad caliphate beginsUmayyads
  4. Muslims enter al-AndalusAl-Andalus
  5. The Abbasid caliphate beginsAbbasids
  6. Baghdad is foundedAbbasids
  7. Crusaders take JerusalemCrusades
  8. Salahuddin retakes JerusalemCrusades
  9. The Mongols sack BaghdadMongols
  10. Battle of Ain JalutMamluks
  11. Mansa Musa’s HajjWest Africa
  12. Ibn Battuta sets outTravellers
  13. Constantinople conquered by Mehmed IIOttomans
  14. Granada fallsAl-Andalus
  15. The Mughal Empire is foundedMughals
  16. The Ottoman caliphate is abolishedOttomans

The eras

  • Rashidun632–661
  • The Umayyads661–750
  • Al-Andalus711–1492
  • The Abbasids & the Golden Age750–1258
  • The Crusades & Salahuddin1095–1291
  • Islam in South-East Asia & Chinafrom c. 13th century
  • West Africa: Mali, Songhai & Timbuktuc. 1235–1591
  • The Mongols & the Mamluks1258–1517
  • The Ottomans1299–1922
  • The Safavids & the Mughals1501–1857
  • Colonialism & Renewalc. 1800–1950
  • The Modern Ummah1924–today

All dates are CE. “c.” marks an approximate date. Eras overlap where history does.

Drag the line, scroll sideways, or focus it and use ← → Home End.

Stop at a station

Every band is an era waiting to be read

The first station, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, is open as a template. The rest follow, one era at a time.

See all twelve eras Play a Rihla