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Ancient Trade Routes

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The Arabian Peninsula is located near the intersection of Africa, Asia, and Europe which is called "Crossroads location". Deserts and huge sand dunes cover most of Arabia. The climate is hot with dry air which makes it difficult for plants and animals to live. Water mainly exists in oasis areas of the Arabia.

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Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali were known as the 4 Caliphs after Muhammad. Abu Bakr became caliph at age 59 before his death 2 years later in 634. In those 2 years he put down revolts by tribes in the area and reunited the Arabs. Umar was appointed by Abu Bakr to be his successor before his death. Umar is the second Caliph who wanted his armies to conquer more land. He ruled from 634 to 644 CE expanded the Islamic Empire greatly. His rule ended when he was murdered by a Persian Slave. He appointed a council on his deathbed who chose Uthman as the next Caliph.

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Uthman ruled for 12 years from  644-656 CE. Uthman continued to conquer new land but with the rapid expansion created challenges for the Muslim government. In 656 Uthman was murdered by a number of disgruntled people from the province of Egypt. After Uthman´s death it threatened the unity of the Muslim State so Ali was the natural choice. Ali was Muhammad´s cousin and son in law. Ali ruled from 656 to 661 CE. He was assassinated while praying the Great Mosque of Kufa.

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The Umayyad Caliphate ruled the Islamic Empire from 661 to 751 CE. The Empire had a population of about 62 million people. At the time it was 30% of the world's population Their government was modeled after the Byzantines who had ruled these lands that the Umayyad conquered. In 750 a rival clan of the Umayyad called the Abbasid overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and rose to power.

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The Abbasid had two major periods where they ruled. 750-1258 CE is referred as the Golden Age of Islam where strong leader ruled and created culture. Then in 1258 CE they were sacked by the Mongols causing The Abbasids to flee to Egypt.  The second period was from 1261 CE to 1517 CE. The Abbasid Caliphate was now located at Cairo, Egypt. The Mamluks a group of former slave warriors ruled with The Abbasid controlling the government and armies while the Abbasids had the authority over the Islam religion. They then ruled together til 1517 when they were conquered by the Ottoman Empire.

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The Ottoman Empire was founded  in 1299 by Osman I, a leader of the Turkish tribes. The Empire ruled a large portion of the Middle East and Eastern Europe for over 600 years.
From 1520 to 1566 the Ottoman Empire reached its peak under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During this time the empire expanded greatly including much of Eastern Europe, Greece, and Hungary. In the late 1600s the Ottoman Empire started to decline. They faced economic competition from India and Europe, had internal corruption, and poor leadership which all led to the abolish of the empire. In 1923 the country of Turkey was declared a republic.