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This map illustrates the rise and rapid expansion of Islam from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (622–632 CE) through the great caliphates of the 7th to 9th centuries. Beginning in Arabia, the new faith and its armies spread under the Rashidun Caliphs (632–661 CE), followed by the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE) and the Abbasid Caliphate (750–c. 900 CE), creating one of history’s largest and most dynamic empires within just a few generations.
The conquests reshaped the political map of Eurasia and North Africa. Byzantine and Sassanian strongholds fell: Damascus (635), Jerusalem (638), Ctesiphon (636), and Alexandria (642), while new cities like Baghdad (founded 762 CE) rose as imperial capitals. Expansion continued west into North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, culminating in the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba (756–1031), and eastward into Central Asia as far as Samarkand (710). Beyond military victories, the spread of Islam brought lasting cultural, linguistic, and religious change, weaving together diverse peoples from Spain to Persia under shared networks of faith, trade, and learning.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
Netchev, S. (2021, June 08). Map of the Islamic Conquests in the 7th-9th Centuries. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14212/map-of-the-islamic-conquests-in-the-7th-9th-centur/
Chicago Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Islamic Conquests in the 7th-9th Centuries." World History Encyclopedia, June 08, 2021. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14212/map-of-the-islamic-conquests-in-the-7th-9th-centur/.
MLA Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Islamic Conquests in the 7th-9th Centuries." World History Encyclopedia, 08 Jun 2021, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14212/map-of-the-islamic-conquests-in-the-7th-9th-centur/.
