Caliphatism

A caliphate (Arabic: خِلافة‎‎ khilāfa) is a territory under the leadership of an Islamic steward known as a caliph (/ˈkælɪf, ˈkeɪ-/, Arabic: خَليفة‎‎ khalīfah, pronunciation ), a person considered a religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad (Muhammad ibn ʿAbdullāh) and a leader of the entire Muslim community. Historically, the caliphates were polities based in Islam which developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires. During the medieval period, three major caliphates existed: the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) and the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258). The fourth major caliphate, the Ottoman Caliphate, established by the Ottoman Empire in 1517, was a manifestation whereby the Ottoman rulers claimed caliphal authority. During the history of Islam, several other Muslim states, almost all of them hereditary monarchies, have claimed to be caliphates.