Caliphate
THE JEWEL OF ISLAM
Much like Europe longed to return to the unity of the Roman Empire, the medieval Islamic world longed to return to the strength and unity of the Caliphate. The Caliphate had ruled over an Empire which had once stretched from Grenada in Spain to Timbuktu in Africa and the Indus river valley. By the middle of the 13th century, the Caliphate had been reduced to those lands we call Iran, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait today. Egypt had been lost in the Fatimid revolt, and the Fatimids were doing an excellent job of removing the various kingdoms of Outremer. The Caliphate could do nothing against either the Fatimids nor the crusaders because of the Mongol hordes which were occupying all that was left of the military strength of this once mighty empire. |
Regional Histories |