In late antiquity, no one could envision that a vast civilization would emerge from the desert landscape of the Arabian Peninsula. But following far reaching conquests, Caliphs and Sultans reigned over immense empires - through eras of prosperity, and of catastrophe. This, is a thousand years of Islamic history - focusing on its middle eastern heartland. In the 6th century, the Arabian Peninsula was the backyard of great empires - the Persian Sasanian Empire in the east, and the Christian Byzantine Empire in the west. The Arab inhabitants of the peninsula were an ethnic and cultural group consisting mainly of nomadic tribes. Most of them were polytheists - worshiping many deities. This was all about to change. Around 570 CE, Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca. According to Muslim tradition, he was chosen by God to serve as the last prophet in a line of prophets - including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muhammad was to spread monotheism in its true form among the Arabs. Tradition holds that over many years, the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet in segments, and was later compiled into the central book of Islam. At first, Muhammad was persecuted. But after migrating to the city of Medina, an event that marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar - he formed the new religion, consolidated the Muslim community, waged wars against idolaters, and united the Arab tribes into a Muslim nation. Muhammad died in 632. It was a time of crisis - who would succeed the religious, social, political and military leader? The question of rightful leadership will continue to be a central theme in the Islamic world throughout the ages. Muhammad's heirs established the title of Caliph - meaning "Successor". The first four caliphs, known as the "Rashidun" or “Rightly Guided Caliphs”, were chosen one by one based on their affiliation with the Prophet and personal qualities. They held power for 30 years. During this period, the first Muslim state emerged - with institutions, taxes and bureaucracy. The Caliphs conducted military campaigns, and in a rapid, colossal process, expanded the Caliphate from Iran to North Africa. The Byzantine Empire lost many territories, and the Sasanian Empire collapsed. Muslim tradition considers the Rashidun period as the Glory days of Islam. However, it was characterized by acute internal tensions, and three of the four Caliphs were assassinated. In particular, tension mounted around the supporters of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law. This group, that came to be known as Shias, claimed that Muhammad had appointed Ali as his successor, and therefore he and his descendants were the only legitimate rulers. On the other hand, their opponents, who would later be called Sunnis, did not recognize this appointment. In time, the political divide will become the biggest religious rift in Islam. In 661, the Umayyads, an Arab family that settled in Syria, came to power and ruled for 90 years. The Islamic capital moved from the Arabian Peninsula to Damascus. The new authority brought with it a new political system: a dynasty, where the position of Caliph is passed down from father to son. The Umayyad dynasty led the second wave of conquests, establishing an empire that stretched from Central Asia to the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslim defeat to Frankish forces in the battle of Tours marked the end of Muslim expansion in the west, preventing the Islamization of Western Europe. The Caliph Abd al-Malik strove to centralize power in Damascus, strengthened the Arab identity of the empire, bolstered its administrative system, and initiated construction projects - Notably, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. But social and political divisions, rebellions and civil wars shook the Umayyad Caliphate. In the battle of Karbala, the Umayyads murdered Ali's son, delivering a resounding and formative blow to the Shias. Finally, in the mid-8th century, the various oppositions to the ruling power organized into a military force that brutally massacred the Umayyad family. In 750, out of the chaos, the Abbasid dynasty rose to power. They were a Sunni Arab family that took pride in its lineage to Abbas, Muhammad's uncle. The period of upheaval had come to an end. The leadership of the Abbasid caliphs lasted for more than five hundred years. Immediately following their ascension to power, Muslim forces won the battle of Talas against the Chinese Empire, bringing to a close the advance in the east. The Abbasids ceased the expansionist policy, turning their gaze inward, to the construction of the Caliphate. They moved the capital from Damascus to a new city they built: Baghdad. It soon became known as the largest and most prosperous city in the world. The Caliphate served as a fertile ground for poets, writers, physicians, philosophers and astronomers. Scientific writings in Greek and other languages were translated into Arabic, forming the foundation of massive original scholarship. And so, the Abbasid period is considered the Golden Age of Islamic civilization. The Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, known from the tales of “Arabian Nights”, served as a patron of scholars, maintained diplomatic relations with Charlemagne, and even sent an elephant to Europe, arousing excitement in the Frankish kingdom. But alongside this flourishing, starting from the mid-9th century the Abbasids in Baghdad lost control throughout the empire, while local Muslim dynasties gained power and encroached on wide territories. Gradually, the Caliph lost political and military power, and became a mere figurehead. In addition, Arab exclusivity in the Caliphate weakened - as Persian and Turkic elements gradually rose to prominence. The Islamic story ceased to be only Arab, and became a multicultural one. In the west, Iberia was never ruled by the Abbasids, but by a remnant of the Umayyad dynasty. The Islamic presence in Spain lasted hundreds of years, slowly being pushed back by the Christian Reconquista. In the east, various Persian dynasties ruled at the expense of the Abbasids. Some of them were the engine behind a revival of Persian culture, which received a severe blow with the Arab conquest. The Persian language was reborn, and adopted the Arabic script. In 945, the Persian Buyid family took control of Baghdad. Even though the Buyids were Shias - they chose not to oust the Sunni Abbasid Caliph, but to limit his power, while controlling a confederation spanning Iraq and western Iran. Their presence lasted for more than a hundred years. At the same time, the Fatimids gained power. They were an ambitious Arab Shia dynasty that traced itself back to Fatima, Muhammad’s daughter and wife of Ali. The Fatimid dynasty spread through North Africa to Egypt, established Cairo as its capital, and from there ruled vast areas. It called for the overthrow of the Abbasid Caliph, managed networks of Shia missionaries, and was suspected of subversive activity - causing panic among the Sunni Caliphs. The Fatimids ruled their “shadow-caliphate” for an impressive 200 years, but failed to defeat Baghdad. In the 10th century, against the backdrop of the political success of Shia dynasties such as the Fatimids and the Buyids, Shia Islam took shape - turning from a collection of political groups into defined religious movements. In the 10th and 11th centuries, political and climatic challenges struck the steppes of Central Asia, stirring the movement of tribes of Turkic peoples. They were nomadic, economically based on horses and other livestock, and excellent mounted archers. Many came into the Middle East. The process was threefold: conversion to Sunni Islam, migration, and political takeover. In 1055, the Seljuks, a Sunni Turkic family, took control of Baghdad and removed the Shia Buyids. They assumed the title of Sultan, which will remain central in the Middle East for centuries to come. The Great Seljuks ruled over a wide empire, but similar to the Buyids, they did not depose the Abbasid caliph, but controlled him. In fact, the Seljuks defended the Abbasids against the Shia-Fatimid threat, and became the agents of a Sunni flowering. This indicates the symbolic centrality of the Abbasid Caliph, and his role as an exclusive source of legitimacy in the Sunni-Muslim world. In 1071, at the Battle of Manzikert, the Seljuk Sultan defeated the Byzantine Emperor. Anatolia was opened to the Turkic tribes. In the following centuries, Greek-Christian Anatolia was transformed into a Turkic-Muslim land. The most prominent political power of the region was the Sultanate of Rum - a Seljuk branch. The bedrock of modern Turkey was formed. In 1095, while the Islamic Middle East was politically divided, the Crusades were launched under the direction of the Catholic Church. Their declared goal: liberating holy places from the hands of Muslim infidels. European forces occupied Jerusalem, and established several states on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Crusader presence in the Middle East lasted for 200 years. During this period, Muslims tended to see their new neighbors as representatives of an unadvanced civilization, with a culture inferior to their own. In the 12th century, Saladin, a member of a Sunni Kurdish family, rose to prominence. He was a charismatic leader who eliminated the Shia Fatimid rule, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty that ruled Egypt and Syria. Saladin fought the Crusaders, defeated them in the Battle of Hattin in 1187, and freed Jerusalem from Christian hands. The blow to the Crusaders was severe, but not decisive in the long term - they would survive for another one-hundred years. Meanwhile, the Seljuk state collapsed, allowing the formation of a new regional power: the Turkic Khwarazmian Empire. Formerly a vassal of the Seljuks, the Khwarazmian state controlled Iran and part of Central Asia. The 13th century marks a watershed in Islamic and world history. Far away in the steppes north of China, Genghis Khan was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols - a group of nomadic tribes with a shamanic religion, legendary as mounted archers, like the Turks to their west. Within a few decades, under Genghis Khan and his descendants, the Mongol Empire expanded to become the largest contiguous land empire in human history. It was seen as invincible and merciless. In an ill-advised move, the Muslim rulers of the Khwarazmian Empire executed Mongol merchants. The ensuing bloodbath brought the end of the empire. By the mid-13th century, the Mongols ruled Iran, the Caucasus, and most of Anatolia. The Mongol ruler Hulagu Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson, demanded that the Abbasid Caliph surrender. The Caliph refused to submit to the non-Muslim hordes. In 1258, Hulagu besieged Baghdad, razed it to the ground, and massacred its inhabitants. The great library of the city, known as the "House of Wisdom," was no more - marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age. The Abbasid Caliph was rolled in a carpet, and trampled by horses. 500 years of Abbasid leadership had come to an end. Hulagu turned to Egypt. There, the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin was overthrown and replaced by a new power: the Mamluk Sultanate. The Mamluks were Turkic slave-soldiers who were brought from the steppes, converted to Islam, and served as an important military force for Muslim rulers beginning in the 9th century. In 13th century Ayyubid Egypt, this elite warrior class gained political power, and slaves became masters. In 1260, at the Battle of Ain Jalut, the Mamluks defeated the Mongols, unprecedentedly halting their advance. The Mamluk sultan Baibars, who played an important role in repelling the Mongols, also managed to crush the Crusaders, paving the way for their final collapse. This double victory earned the Mamluks the image of the defenders of Islam. It was further strengthened as Baibars reestablished the Abbasid Caliphate in Cairo, though it played a marginal role. The Mamluks continued to rule for 250 years. By the end of the 13th century, the Mongol Empire splintered into local Mongol dynasties, led by the descendants of Genghis Khan. Some of these dynasties, as well as many of the elites, converted to Islam and adopted Turkic dialects. This was the case with the Ilkhanid dynasty, descendants of Hulagu, who ruled from Anatolia to Iran. The Ilkhanids proved that the Mongols were not only brutal conquerors, but agents of economic, cultural and intellectual prosperity. The Ilkhanate collapsed in the 14th century, and was replaced by an empire created by the cruel Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur. The Timurids proved yet again that brutality and cultural flourishing are not mutually exclusive. The empire survived in some form until the end of the 15th century. At the same time, a new power grew in the West. Around 1300, a man named Osman emerged as the leader of a small Turkic-Muslim principality in Anatolia. Osman and his descendants fought the Byzantine Empire and conquered territories in Anatolia and the Balkans, creating the Ottoman Empire. In 1453, it conquered Constantinople, in a move that ended a thousand years of Byzantine rule, and is sometimes considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages. Constantinople, later Istanbul, became the new Turkish capital. The Ottoman sultan Selim the Grim tripled the size of the empire, making use of newly invented gunpowder technologies. In 1517, he captured Cairo and executed the last Mamluk sultan. Terminating the Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo, Selim declared himself Caliph - the new leader of Sunni Islam. The Ottoman Empire spread over vast territories - in the Middle East, North Africa, and South-Eastern Europe. In the 16th century, two empires formed to its east - the Shia Safavid Empire, which is considered the foundation of modern Iran, and the Mughal Empire, that ruled India. These three Islamic powers, known as the "Gunpowder Empires", were strong and stable in the early modern period. The Ottoman Empire, the last Caliphate in the history of Islam, survived for 600 years, and fell only in the 20th century, following the First World War.