Islamic Civilization and Empires

What the page covers

The page follows Islamic history from its beginnings to the later empires. Early items cover Arabia before Islam, such as the mind maps Pre-Islamic Arabia and Makkah before Muhammad, and the life of the Prophet. Next come the caliphates, including Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, and the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties. The Ottomans and the gunpowder empires come later.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map The Spread Of Islam. It explains that Islam spread mainly through conquest and that, after Muhammad died, leaders called caliphs ruled separate groups. Then open Umayyads & Abbasids. It covers Mu'awiyah, the hereditary caliphate, the capital at Damascus and conquests across North Africa.

The Abbasid Empire mind map follows on. It notes a golden age of learning, the spread of Islam to India and Southeast Asia, and later political decline and invasions. For the Ottomans, try The Ottoman Empire, which names Osman and the capture of Constantinople, now Istanbul.

Using maps, flashcards and quizzes together

1. Read a mind map to see how the ideas connect.
2. Go through a flashcard deck for key terms. World History Ch. 10.1 The Rise of Islam covers Muhammad, Hijrah, the Qur'an and Shari'a. World History Ch. 10.2 Islam Expands covers caliph, Sunni, Shi'a and Sufi.
3. Take a quiz, such as Islam Map Quiz or Trade and the Islamic World, and note what you missed.
4. Go back to the map for those gaps.

If you are working towards AP World History, the deck AP World HIstory-Ottoman Empire 1700-1914 is a useful place to look.

Where it sits

This unit belongs to the strand The Medieval World in the subject History. Teachers can use the notes, slides and maps as ready-made starting points for lessons.

When you are ready, pick one resource, work through it, and then make a map or deck of your own.