Mapped: How Long Different Regions Were Ruled by Muslims
Muhammad received his first revelation in 610 while he was alone in a cave near Mecca. By the time he died twenty-two years later, most of the Arabian Peninsula had accepted his message. His successors weren’t finished. Within a century, Muslim armies held ground stretching from the Atlantic coast of Spain to the Indus River in modern Pakistan. That empire, the Umayyad Caliphate, ended up bigger than Rome ever managed, close to three times the size at its largest.
Holding that much ground and keeping it are two different things. Some of it stayed under Muslim rulers for over a thousand years without a single interruption. Some of it changed hands within a couple of lifetimes.
Several regions have experienced Muslim rule for over 1,000 years. The conquests began with the western Sasanian territories (modern Iraq), where Muslim forces defeated the Sasanian army at al-Qadisiyyah and captured the capital, Ctesiphon, in 637 CE. Egypt followed four years later in 641 CE, concluding with the negotiated surrender of Byzantine Alexandria. Persia proper resisted slightly longer. Its final Sasanian emperor, Yazdegerd III, spent a decade fleeing eastward after his forces crumbled, until a local governor assassinated him in 651 CE.
Corrected Data Table
| Region | Muslim Rule Began | Muslim Rule Ended | Total Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabian Peninsula | c. 630 CE | Ongoing | 1,396 |
| Iraq | c. 637 CE | Ongoing | 1,389 |
| Egypt | c. 641 CE | Ongoing | 1,385 |
| Iran | c. 651 CE | Ongoing | 1,375 |
| Granada, southern Spain | 711 CE | 1492 CE | 781 |
| Delhi & the Gangetic Plain | 1206 CE | 1858 CE | 652 |
| Aceh, Sumatra | 1267 CE | 1903 CE | 636 |
| Toledo, central Spain | 711 CE | 1085 CE | 374 |
| Crimean Khanate | 1441 CE | 1783 CE | 342 |
| Sicily | 827 CE | 1091 CE | 264 |
| Ottoman Hungary | 1541 CE | 1699 CE | 158 |
The animated map below shows the changing extent of Muslim rule from 1650 to 2023.
Muslim rule in Delhi began in 1206 with the Delhi Sultanate, followed later by the Mughal Empire. Though different dynasties rose and fell, Delhi remained a central seat of power until 1858, when the British exiled the last Mughal emperor. This 652-year history is shaded green on the map above.
In contrast, Islam reached Indonesia without military conquest. Its first sultanate, Samudera Pasai, was established in 1267 on the northern tip of Sumatra, founded through trade and religious missions. Islamic governance in the Aceh region lasted until 1903. This peaceful, six-century legacy laid the foundation for Indonesia to become the world’s most populous Muslim nation today, home to over 240 million Muslims.
To learn more about Islamic history, explore these books available on Amazon:
- Islam Explained: A Short Introduction to History, Teachings, and Culture
- In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire
