Caliphate

Caliphate, the political-religious state comprising the Muslim community and the lands and peoples under its dominion in the centuries following the death (ad 632) of the Prophet Muḥammad. Ruled by a caliph (Arabic khalīfah, “successor”), who held temporal and sometimes a degree of spiritual authority, the empire of the Caliphate grew rapidly through conquest during its first two centuries to include most of Southwest Asia, North Africa, and Spain. Dynastic struggles later brought about the Caliphate’s decline, and it ceased to exist with the Mongol destruction of Baghdad in 1258.

The urgent need for a successor to Muḥammad as political ... (100 of 940 words)

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caliphate - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)

The Caliphate was the name of the lands ruled by Muslims from AD 632 to 1258. The leaders of Islam after the prophet Muhammad had the title of caliph, which means "successor" in Arabic. The caliphs built an empire that stretched from India in the east to Spain in the west.

caliphate - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

From 632 until 1258 the nominal ruling power in the Islamic world was the caliphate, an institution formed to head off a leadership crisis brought on by the death in 632 of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. The successor chosen was Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law and longtime companion. His title was caliph, a term that means both "successor" and "deputy."(See also Islam; Muhammad.)