Rashidun conquests

Rashidun Caliphate
اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ
632–661
The Rashidun Caliphate reached its greatest extent under Caliph Uthman, in 654.
Capital		Medina (632–656) Kufa (656–661)
Languages		Arabic, Aramaic/Syriac, Baloch, Berber, Coptic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Middle Persian, Kurdish, Vulgar Latin, Semitic languages, Iranian languages
Religion		Islam
Government		Caliphate
Caliph
•	632–634	Abu Bakr (first)
•	634–644	Umar
•	644–656	Uthman
•	656-661	Ali (last)
		Succeeded by Hasan (661), then Muawiyah I (661-680)
History
•	Established	8 June 632
•	First Fitna (internal conflict) ends	28 July 661
Area
•	655	6,400,000 km2 (2,500,000 sq mi)
Population
•	est.	21,400,000
Currency		Dinar, Dirham
Preceded by Succeeded by Muhammad in Medina Byzantine Empire Sasanian Empire Exarchate of Africa Pre-Islamic Arabia Umayyad Caliphate
Today part of		Afghanistan  Armenia  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Cyprus  Egypt  Georgia  Iran  Iraq  Israel  Jordan  Kuwait  Lebanon  Libya  Oman  Pakistan  Qatar  Saudi Arabia  Sudan  Syria  Tajikistan  Tunisia  Turkey  Turkmenistan  United Arab Emirates  Uzbekistan  Yemen
Amir al-Mu'minin (أمير المؤمنين), Caliph (خليفة)

The Rashidun Caliphate (Arabic: اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ‎ al-Khilāfa-al-Rāshidah) (632–661) was the first of the four major caliphates established after the death of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs (successors) of Muhammad after his death in 632 CE (AH 11). These caliphs are collectively known in Sunni Islam as the Rashidun, or "Rightly Guided" caliphs (اَلْخُلَفَاءُ ٱلرَّاشِدُونَ al-Khulafā’ur-Rāshidūn). This term is not used in Shia Islam as Shia Muslims do not consider the rule of the first three caliphs as legitimate.

The Rashidun Caliphate is characterized by a twenty-five year period of rapid military expansion, followed by a five-year period of internal strife. The Rashidun Army at its peak numbered more than 100,000 men. By the 650s, the caliphate in addition to the Arabian Peninsula had subjugated the Levant, to the Transcaucasus in the north; North Africa from Egypt to present-day Tunisia in the west; and the Iranian plateau to parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the east.