Islamic Conquests (1 ene 622 año – 1 ene 750 año)

Descripción:

After the death of Muhammad, a division of opinion sprang up on who would succeed him. Many believed it should be Muhammad's close friend and advisor Abu Bakr, while many others believed that Muhammad chose his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib. These groups would later be known as Sunni Islam and Shia Islam respectively.

As it happens the majority of people chose Abu Bakr as the next ruler and he became the Rashidun Caliph, meaning "rightly guided successor." After spending a year defeating rebellions he immediately waged war on the two main empires they bordered, the Byzantine and the Persian Sassanian.

Over the years the various Caliphate continued it's conquests and captured much of Western Asia including lands such as modern-day Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. Raids continued against the Byzantines too, but never quite managed to conquer Anatolia or the capital Constantinople. By the 740s the Muslim world had spread over 4.2 million sq miles.