Hi Lada,
Originally posted by lada
Would you be so kind and write some exact years of those events ?
Here are some of the more important events in the military history of Islam, up to the advent of Wahabbi Islam, arranged on a timeline (all events are AD) I've drawn from several sources. Please note the events PRIOR to the first Crusades, such as the fact that Muslims sacked Rome hundreds of years prior to the Christian reconquest of Jerusalem in 1099:
570 Birth of Muhammad.
610 Muhammad claims to have received first vision in a cave near Mecca.
610-22 Muhammad preaches in Mecca.
622 Hijira - Muhammad and followers flee to Medina.
624 Muslims successfully attack Meccan caravans at Badr.
625 Muslims are defeated by Meccans at Uhud.
630 Muslims capture Mecca. Ka'ba is cleansed (360 gods reduced to one god - Allah), pilgrimage rites are Islamicized, tribes of Arabia vow allegiance to Muhammad
632 Death of Muhammad. Abu Bakr (Muhammad's Uncle) chosen as caliph.
632-33 Wars of ridda (apostasy) restore allegiance to Islam
633 Muslim conquests (Futuhat / Jihad) outside Arabia begin.633 Muslims conquer Syria and Iraq.
634 - 0644 Umar (c. 0591 - 0644) reigns as the second caliph.
635 Muslims begin the conquest of Persia and Syria.
635 Arab Muslims capture the city of Damascus from the Byzantines.
637 The Arabs occupy the Persian capital of Ctesiphon. By 651, the entire Persian realm would come under the rule of Islam as it continued its westward expansion.
637 Syria is conquered by Muslim forces.
637 Jerusalem falls to invading Muslim forces.639 Muslims conquer Egypt and Persia.
641 Under the leadership of Abd-al-Rahman, Muslims conquer southern areas of Azerbaijan, Daghestan, Georgia, and Armenia.
644 Muslim leader Umar dies and is succeeded by Caliph Uthman, a member of the Umayyad family that had rejected Muhammad's prophesies. Rallies arise to support Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, as caliph. Uthman launches invasions to the west into North Africa.
649 Muawiya I, a member of the Umayyad family, leads a raid against Cyprus, sacking the capital
650 Caliph Uthman has the Qur'an written down.
652 Sicily is attacked by Muslims from Tunis
653 Muawiya I leads a raid against Rhodes
654 Muawiya I conquers Cyprus and stations a large garrison there
656 Uthman is murdered; Ali becomes fourth caliph.
657 Battle of Siffin. Mu'awiya, governor of Syria, claims the caliphate.
659 Arbitration at Adruh is opposed by Ali's supporters.
661 Ali is murdered; Mu'awiya becomes caliph. Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate (661-750).
668 First Siege of Constantinople
669 The Muslim conquest reaches to Morocco in North Africa
672 Muslims under Mauwiya I capture the island of Rhodes.
674 Arab Muslim conquests reach the Indus River
680 Death of Husayn marks beginning of the Shi'at Ali ("party of Ali") or Shi'a Muslim movement.
685-705 Reign of Abd al-Malik. Centralization of administration - Arabic becomes official written language (instead of Greek and Persian) and Arab coinage is established.
698 Muslims capture Carthage in North Africa.
711 - Beginning of the Muslim Conquest of Spain711 Tariq ibn Malik, a Berber officer, crosses the strait separating Africa and Europe with a group of Muslims and enters Spain.
711 With the further conquest of Egypt, Spain and North Africa, Islam included all of the Persian empire and most of the old Roman world under Islamic rule. Muslims began the conquest of Sindh in Afghanistan
715 By this year just about all of Spain is in Muslim hands. The Muslim conquest of Spain only took around three years but the Christian reconquest would require around 460 years.716 Lisbon is captured by Muslims.
717 Second Siege of Constantinople
719 Muslims attack Septimania in southern France
724 Muslim forces raid southern France and capture the cities of Carcassone and Nimes
730 Muslim forces occupy the French cities of Narbonne and Avignon.
732 Battle of Tours: With perhaps 1,500 soldiers, Charles Martel halts a Muslim force of around 40,000 to 60,000 cavalry under Abd el-Rahman Al Ghafiqi from moving farther into Europe. 732 Muslim empire reaches its furthest extent.
755 Abd ar-Rahman founds an Umayyad Dynasty in Cordoba, Spain.
800s Written collections of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) are compiled. Sicily comes under Muslim rule.
813-33 Reign of Ma'mun. Theological controversy over whether the Qur'an is created or uncreated and eternal. Center for translation of texts from Greek to Arabic founded in Baghdad.
813 Muslims attack the Civi Vecchia near Rome.
831 Muslim invaders capture the Sicilian city of Palermo and make it their capital.
838 Muslim raiders sack Marseille.
846 Muslim raiders sail a fleet of ships from Africa up the Tiber river and attack outlying areas around Ostia and Rome. Some manage to enter Rome and damage the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul. Not until Pope Leo IV promises a yearly tribute of 25,000 silver coins do the raiders leave. The Leonine Wall is built in order to fend off further attacks such as this.859 Muslim invaders capture the Sicilian city of Castrogiovanni
869 Arabs capture the island of Malta
870 After a month-long siege, the Sicilian city of Syracuse is captured by Muslim invaders.
876 Muslims pillage Campagna in Italy.
884 Muslims invading Italy burn the monastery of Monte Cassino to the ground.
902 The Muslim conquest of Sicily is completed. Muslim rule of Sicily would last for 264 years
911 Muslims control all the passes in the Alps between France and Italy, cutting off passage between the two countries.
920 Muslim forces cross the Pyrenees, enter Gascony, and reach as far as the gates of Toulouse.
928 Umayyad Abd ar-Rahman III declares himself caliph in Cordoba.
939 Madrid is recaptured from Muslim forces.
969 Fatimids gain power in Egypt and attack Palestine, Syria, and Arabia.
985 Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir sacks Barcelona
994 The monastery of Monte Cassino is destroyed a second time by Arabs.
996-1021 Reign of Fatimid al-Hakim. Hamza ibn Ali forms basis of esoteric Druze religion.
1004 Arab raiders sack the Italian city of Pisa
1009 The Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is destroyed by Muslim armies.
1012 Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, founder of the Druze sect and sixth Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, orders the destruction of all Christian and Jewish houses of worship in his lands.
1012 Berber forces capture Cordova and order that half the population be executed.
1015 Arab Muslim forces conquer Sardinia.
1030 Umayyad caliphate in Cordoba defeated by the Christian Reconquista.
1042 The rise of the Seljuk Turks begins.
1055 Seljuk Turks take Baghdad
1064 The Seljuk Turks conquer Christian Armenia.
1071 Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert.
1071 - 1085 Seljuk Turks conquer most of Syria and Palestine.
1073 Seljuk Turks conquer Ankara.
1088 Patzinak Turks begin forming settlements between the Danube and the Balkans.
1096 FIRST CRUSADE1099 Christian Crusaders take Jerusalem.
1100-1200s Sufi orders (turuq) are founded.
1171 Fatimid power ends in Egypt with the conquests of Saladin.
1174 Saladin declares himself sultan of Egypt and Syria.
1193 Death of Saladin; most of Crusader states have returned to Islam.
1221 Genghis Khan and the Mongols enter Persia.
1241 Mongols take the Punjab.
1258 Mongols capture Baghdad; city is sacked and caliph is killed. End of Abbasid caliphate.
1281-1324 Reign of Uthman (Osman), who founds the Ottoman Empire. Muslim merchants and missionary Sufis settle in SE Asia.
mid-1300s Ottomans capture Bursa and Iznik and move into Europe.
late 1300s Ottomas take control of the Balkans.1400s Islam reaches the Philippines.
1453 Mehmet Fatih (rules 1451-81) conquers Constantinople.
1492 Reconquista ends. All Muslims (and Jews) expelled from Spain.
1516 Ottomans conquer Syria and Egypt.
1517 Ottomans control Mecca and Medina.
1520-66 Reign of Suleyman the Magnificent; Ottoman Empire reaches its zenith. Hungary and coastlands of Algeria and Tunisia come under Ottoman rule.
1526 Babur (Mongolian) seizes the Delhi sultanate and takes control of northern India.
1556 Akbar founds the Mughal (Muslim) dynasty in northern India.
1625 Java comes under rule of Muslim kingdom of Mataram.
1699 Treaty of Karlowitz confirms first substantial losses of Ottoman Empire in Europe.
1700s Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab (Founder of Wahhabism) rejects Sufism and all innovation (bid'a). Founds what becomes the Saudi Arabian kingdom. Hindus regain power from Mughals in northern India.
The following site, while pro-Islamic and pro-Arab has a fairly good summary of the history of Islam:
mid-east web
