Rashidun & Umayyad
Islam's century of conquest, Medina to Damascus
Pre-Islamic Arabia
tribal Bedouin society, the Quraysh at Mecca, the Kaaba, and two exhausted empires
~500–610 CE
Muhammad
the prophet's life, the Hijra, the Quranic revelations, and the founding of the Muslim community
570–632 CE
The Rashidun Caliphs
Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali — the lightning conquests and the first Muslim civil war
632–661 CE
The Sunni-Shia Split
Karbala, the killing of Husayn, the formation of Shia Islam, and a thirteen-century political fault line
661–680 CE and forward
Damascus
Mu'awiya, Abd al-Malik, the Arabization of administration, and the gold dinar
661–705 CE
The Conquests West and East
Spain in 711, Sind in 711, Transoxiana in 712, and the failure at Constantinople in 718
705–732 CE
Architecture and the Religion
the Dome of the Rock, the Great Mosque of Damascus, early hadith, and the dhimmi system
685–740 CE
The Abbasid Revolution
the fiscal crisis, the mawali grievance, the Battle of the Zab, and the Umayyad survivor in Spain
740–750 CE