Early Muslim Conquests

After the consolidation of Muslim rule in Arabia, armies serving the Rashidun caliphs moved into Byzantine Syria and Egypt and the territories of the Sasanian Empire. Victories such as Yarmouk and al-Qadisiyyah opened major provinces to conquest and settlement.

The Sasanian monarchy collapsed, while the Byzantine Empire lost most of the Levant, Egypt and North Africa but retained Anatolia and Constantinople. Under the Umayyads, expansion continued across North Africa, into Iberia and towards Central Asia.

The conquests created new political, linguistic and religious networks and reshaped trade, taxation and urban life across the Mediterranean and Middle East.