The Medieval Muslim World
The centuries between the Abbasid high point and the early modern empires: successor dynasties, the Crusades and the Muslim response, the Mongol shock, and the travellers and historians who described it all.
Start LearningBegins with Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171 CE)
Learning Sequence
Articles are ordered so each builds on the one before. You can also read them in any order that suits you.
- Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171 CE)dynastyMedieval Islamic WorldA major Shia Islamic caliphate (909-1171 CE) that ruled North Africa, Egypt, and parts of the Middle East. Founded by the Ismaili Shia dynasty claiming descent from Fatim…
- Samanid Dynasty - The Persian Renaissance in Central AsiadynastyMedieval Islamic WorldThe Samanid Dynasty (819-999 CE) ruled a vast empire in Central Asia and Khorasan, presiding over a remarkable cultural renaissance. This Persian dynasty preserved Persia…
- Ghaznavid Empire - The Turkish-Persian SynthesisdynastyMedieval Islamic WorldThe Ghaznavid Empire (977-1186 CE) was a powerful Turkish-Persian dynasty ruling Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and parts of India. Founded by Sebük-Tegin and reaching its …
- Seljuk Empire - The Turkish Transformation of the Islamic WorlddynastyMedieval Islamic WorldThe Seljuk Empire (1037-1194 CE) was a powerful Turkish-Sunni dynasty that dominated the Middle East and Anatolia, defeated the Byzantine Empire at Manzikert, established…
- Alp Arslan: Manzikert and the Opening of AnatoliapersonMedieval Islamic WorldAlp Arslan (c. 1029-1072) was the second Seljuk sultan, whose victory over the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV at Manzikert in 1071 broke Byzantine defences in Asia Minor an…
- Malik-Shah I: The Seljuk Empire at Its HeightpersonMedieval Islamic WorldMalik-Shah I (1055-1092) was the third Seljuk sultan, under whom the empire reached its greatest extent and its administrative and cultural height. His reign produced the…
- Nizam al-Mulk - The Master Statesman of the Seljuk EmpirepersonMedieval Islamic WorldNizam al-Mulk (1018-1092 CE) was one of the greatest statesmen in Islamic history, serving as vizier to the Seljuk sultans. He established the Nizamiyya schools that revo…
- The CrusadeseventMedieval Islamic WorldThe Crusades were a series of religious wars launched from Western Europe between 1095 and 1291 CE to capture Jerusalem and the Holy Land. They reshaped medieval Christia…
- Nur al-Din Zengi: The Unifier of Muslim SyriapersonMedieval Islamic WorldNur al-Din Zengi (1118-1174) united Muslim Syria under a single authority, made the recovery of Jerusalem a stated public purpose, and built the network of madrasas and i…
- Muhammad al-Idrisi: Geographer of the Norman CourtpersonMedieval Islamic WorldAl-Idrisi (c. 1100-c. 1165) was an Andalusi-Maghribi geographer who worked at the court of Roger II of Sicily. His Nuzhat al-Mushtaq, with seventy sectional maps and a wo…
- Battle of Hattin - Saladin's Decisive VictoryeventMedieval Islamic WorldThe decisive battle of July 4, 1187 CE, where Saladin's forces crushed the Crusader armies near Hattin in Palestine. This pivotal victory led to the recapture of Jerusale…
- Saladin (Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi) - Liberator of JerusalempersonMedieval Islamic WorldSalah al-Din (Saladin, 1137-1193 CE) was the Kurdish Muslim commander who founded the Ayyubid dynasty and united Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. He recaptured Jerusalem fr…
- Ayyubid Dynasty - Saladin's Legacy and the Unification of the Muslim EastdynastyMedieval Islamic WorldThe Ayyubid Dynasty (1171-1260 CE) was founded by Saladin and ruled Egypt, Syria, and Yemen. The Ayyubids recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders, promoted Sunni Islam, a…
- Shajarat al-Durr: The Slave Who Became Sultan of EgyptpersonMedieval Islamic WorldShajarat al-Durr (died 1257 CE) rose from slavery to become Sultan of Egypt during the establishment of the Mamluk state. Her leadership during the Seventh Crusade helped…
- Mamluk Sultanate - The Slave Soldiers Who Became KingsdynastyMedieval Islamic WorldThe Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517 CE) was a powerful military state that ruled Egypt and Syria for nearly three centuries. Founded by former slave soldiers, the Mamluks def…
- Baybars - The Lion of Egypt and Scourge of the CrusaderspersonMedieval Islamic WorldBaybars I (c. 1223-1277 CE) was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, one of Islamic history's most formidable military commanders. Rising from slavery to become s…
- Siege of Baghdad (1258)eventMedieval Islamic WorldComprehensive history of the Mongol siege and conquest of Baghdad in 1258, marking the end of the Abbasid Caliphate and one of the most devastating events in Islamic hist…
- Sayf al-Din Qutuz: The Sultan Who Stopped the MongolspersonMedieval Islamic WorldSayf al-Din Qutuz (c. 1221-1260) was the third Mamluk sultan of Egypt, reigning under a year. He executed Hulegu's envoys, marched into Syria, and defeated the Mongol arm…
- Battle of Ain Jalut: Turning Back the Mongol TideeventMedieval Islamic WorldThe 1260 CE battle where the Mamluk Sultanate defeated the Mongol Empire in the Jezreel Valley, marking the first major Mongol defeat and halting their westward expansion…
- Al-Nawawi: Jurist of the Shafi'i School and Compiler of Riyad al-SalihinpersonMedieval Islamic WorldAl-Nawawi (1233-1277) was a Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar of Damascus who died at forty-four having written some of the most widely used books in Sunni Islam, includi…
- Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya: Jurist, Moralist and Student of Ibn TaymiyyapersonMedieval Islamic WorldIbn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292-1350) was the foremost student of Ibn Taymiyya and a Hanbali jurist of Damascus. His works on legal theory, prophetic guidance and the spirit…
- Ibn Kathir: Exegete and Historian of Mamluk DamascuspersonMedieval Islamic WorldIbn Kathir (c. 1300-1373) was a Shafi'i scholar of Mamluk Damascus whose commentary on the Quran and universal history became two of the most widely read works in Sunni I…
- Ibn Battuta: The Greatest Traveler of the Medieval WorldpersonMedieval Islamic WorldIbn Battuta (1304-1368/69 CE) was a Moroccan scholar and explorer who traveled over 75,000 miles across the Islamic world and beyond, documenting his journeys in the Rihl…
- Ibn KhaldunpersonMedieval Islamic WorldAbd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406 CE) was the greatest historian and social theorist of the medieval Islamic world. His Muqaddimah founded a science of civilization, e…
- Islam in Southeast AsiaconceptMedieval Islamic WorldIslam reached Southeast Asia through Indian Ocean trade from the thirteenth century, spreading via Muslim merchants, Sufi teachers, and converting rulers. Today the regio…