632 Muhammad is succeeded by Abu Bakr
The death of Muhammad at Medina is followed by the election of the first caliph, Abu Bakr, a father-in-law of the prophet

634 Omar elected second caliph
Omar, another father-in-law of Muhammad, is elected as the second Muslim caliph (the word means 'sucessor to the Messenger of God')

644 Othman elected third caliph
After the assassination of Omar, Othman is elected as the third Muslim caliph

650 The Qur'an takes its final form
Under the caliph Othman, the revelations made to Muhammad are collected in their definitive form as the Qur'an

656 Ali defeats Aisha
Othman is assassinated, and Ali wins power as the fourth Muslim caliph - defeating Muhammad's widow Aisha at the 'battle of the camel' near Basra

661 Umayyad dynasty
Ali is assassinated and Mu'awiya becomes the fifth Muslim caliph, establishing the Umayyad dynasty

670 Arabs rule from Damascus
With the entire middle east under their control, the Arabs make Damascus the capital of the Umayyad caliphate

750 Umayyads massacred by Abbasids
The Abbasids massacre the Umayyads in Damascus and establish a new caliphate

762 Baghdad and the caliphs
The Abbasid caliphs create Baghdad as a new capital city on the Tigris

800 Thousand and One Nights
The luxury of Baghdad, under the caliph Harun al-Rashid, is evident in the Thousand and One Nights

850 Mamelukes employed in Baghdad
The caliphs in Baghdad begin to employ Turkish slaves, or Mamelukes, in their armies

1055 Togrul Beg enters Baghdad
Togrul Beg enters Baghdad and is granted by the caliph the title of sultan, which becomes hereditary in his Seljuk dynasty

1171 Saladin rules in Egypt
Saladin deposes the Fatimid caliph and brings Egypt back to orthodoxy, acknowledging the rule of the Sunni caliph in Baghdad

1258 Mongols sack Baghdad
When Hulagu and his Mongol army reach Baghdad, in 1258, it is said that 800,000 of the inhabitants are killed - and the caliph is kicked to death

1517 Caliph removed to Istanbul
The last Abbasid caliph, captured by the Ottoman Turks, is taken as a prisoner to Istanbul - ending the authentic line of 'successors' to Muhammad

from 1517 Ottomans achieve new empire for Islam
From Bosnia to Egypt and Arabia, the Ottoman Turks now rule the largest Muslim empire since the early caliphate - and will frequently use the title of caliph to assert their authority within Sunni Islam