By era
Imperial Frontiers: places of Islamic history
Every researched 360° place from the Imperial Frontiers era of Islamic history, each with its date, location, and Sunni-sourced background.
65 places
Ottoman
The Rise of the House of Osman
c. 699 AH / 1299 CE
Sogut, Bithynia, northwestern Anatolia
Mali
Mansa Musa's Caravan Halts at Cairo
724 AH / 1324 CE
Outskirts of Cairo, on the Nile
Mali
The Great Mosque of Djenne
730 AH / c. 1330 CE
Djenne, inland Niger delta
Mali
The Court of Mali
753 AH / c. 1352-1353 CE
The capital of Mali, on the upper Niger (near Niani)
Timurid
The Aq-Saray of Shahrisabz
782-808 AH / c. 1380-1405 CE
Shahrisabz, south of Samarkand, in Transoxiana
Ottoman
The Field of Blackbirds
791 AH / 1389 CE
Kosovo Polje, the Field of Blackbirds, in the Balkans
Timurid
Timur's Sack of Delhi
801 AH / 1398 CE
Delhi, after the sack by Timur, northern India
Timurid
The Building of the Bibi-Khanym Mosque
801 AH / 1399 CE
Samarqand, capital of the Timurid empire in Transoxiana
Malacca Sultanate
The Rise of Malacca
803 AH / c. 1400 CE
Malacca (Melaka), on the strait, in the Malay peninsula
Ottoman
The Battle of Ankara
804 AH / 1402 CE
The plain of Cubuk, near Ankara, central Anatolia
Timurid
Ulugh Beg's Observatory
834 AH / c. 1430 CE
The observatory of Ulugh Beg, Samarqand, Transoxiana
Ottoman
Conquest of Constantinople
857 AH / 1453 CE
Mesoteichion section of the Theodosian land walls, Constantinople
Ottoman
Hagia Sophia, Mid-Conversion to a Mosque
857 AH / 1453 CE
Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul)
Songhai
The Sankore Mosque and Scholars of Timbuktu
c. 905 AH / 1500 CE
Sankore Mosque, Timbuktu
Safavid
The Safavid Turn of Iran
c. 907 AH / 1501 CE
The shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din at Ardabil, north-western Iran
Malacca Sultanate
The Portuguese Take Malacca
917 AH / 1511 CE
Malacca (Melaka), on the strait, in the Malay peninsula
Ottoman
The Chart of Piri Reis
919 AH / 1513 CE
Gallipoli (Gelibolu), on the Dardanelles
Ottoman
The Battle of Chaldiran
Rajab 920 AH / 1514 CE
The Chaldiran plain, eastern Anatolia
Mughal
The First Battle of Panipat
932 AH / 1526 CE
Battlefield of Panipat, north of Delhi
Ottoman
The First Siege of Vienna
936 AH / 1529 CE
Vienna, on the Danube in Central Europe
Ottoman
The Battle of Preveza
945 AH / 1538 CE
Off Preveza, at the mouth of the Gulf of Arta, western Greece
Safavid
The Royal Book Atelier
c. 957 AH / 1550 CE
A royal kitabkhana at the Safavid court, Tabriz, Persia (representative)
Ottoman
The Suleymaniye Mosque Rising over Istanbul
957-964 AH / 1550-1557 CE
Suleymaniye Mosque, Third Hill, Istanbul
Kazan Khanate
The Fall of Kazan
959 AH / 1552 CE
Kazan, on the middle Volga (modern Tatarstan)
Deccan Sultanates
The Battle of Talikota
972 AH / 1565 CE
Battlefield of Talikota (Rakkasa-Tangadi), on the Krishna, in the Deccan
Ottoman
The Selimiye Mosque at Edirne
976-982 AH / 1568-1574 CE
Selimiye Mosque, Edirne
Ottoman
The Battle of Lepanto
979 AH / 1571 CE
Gulf of Patras, off Lepanto (Naupaktos), western Greece
Mughal
Akbar's House of Worship at Fatehpur Sikri
c. 983 AH / 1575 CE
Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra
Songhai
The Battle of Tondibi
999 AH / 1591 CE
Tondibi, on the Niger north of Gao, in the Songhai heartland (Mali)
Crimean Khanate
The Khan's Palace at Bakhchysarai
16th-17th c. CE
Bakhchysarai, the Khan's Palace, Crimea
Deccan Sultanates
The Fortress of Golconda
1009 AH / c. 1600 CE
Golconda fortress, near Hyderabad, the Deccan, Telangana
Ottoman
Ottoman Tile Workshop
c. 1600 CE
Istanbul, Turkey
Ottoman
Qur'an Illumination Detail Room
c. 1600 CE
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Safavid
Naqsh-e Jahan Square Rising in Isfahan
1011 AH / c. 1602 CE
Naqsh-e Jahan Square (Maydan-e Shah), Isfahan
Aceh Sultanate
The Sultanate of Aceh
1029 AH / c. 1620 CE
Banda Aceh, northern Sumatra
Mughal
The Taj Mahal under Construction
1041-1063 AH / 1632-1653 CE
Taj Mahal, on the Yamuna at Agra
Sulu Sultanate
The Sultanates of the Sulu Sea
1060 AH / c. 1650 CE
The Sulu and Mindanao sultanates, the southern Philippine archipelago
Deccan Sultanates
The Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur
1066 AH / c. 1656 CE
Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur (Vijayapura), the Deccan, northern Karnataka
Mughal
The Badshahi Mosque and the Fatawa-i Alamgiri
1084 AH / 1673 CE
Badshahi Mosque, Lahore
Ottoman
The Abandoned Camp before Vienna
1094 AH / 1683 CE
Ottoman siege lines outside Vienna, below the Kahlenberg
Ottoman
The Treaty of Karlowitz
1110 AH / 1699 CE
Karlowitz (Sremski Karlovci), on the Danube
Ottoman
The Hajj Caravan
c. 1112 AH / 1700 CE
The pilgrimage road (Darb al-Hajj) across the desert to the Hijaz
Ottoman
Ottoman Sahn Madrasa
c. 1700 CE
Istanbul, Turkey
Ottoman
Ottoman Imaret Kitchen
c. 1700 CE
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Safavid
Persianate Manuscript Workshop
c. 1700 CE
Muslim world
Ottoman
The First Ottoman Printing Press
1141 AH / 1729 CE
Istanbul, by the Bosphorus
Afsharid
Nader Shah's Sack of Delhi
1152 AH / 1739 CE
Delhi, after the sack by Nader Shah, northern India
Diriyyah
The Pact at Diriyyah
1157 AH / 1744 CE
Diriyyah, Wadi Hanifa, Najd
Ottoman
Damascus Caravanserai Waqf
c. 1750 CE
Damascus, Ottoman Syria
Durrani
The Third Battle of Panipat
1174 AH / 1761 CE
The plain of Panipat, north of Delhi, northern India
Ottoman
The Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca
1188 AH / 1774 CE
Kucuk Kaynarca, near the lower Danube (modern north-eastern Bulgaria)
Ottoman
The Battle of the Pyramids
1213 AH / 1798 CE
Embabeh, the Giza plain near Cairo
Ottoman
The French Savants and al-Azhar
c. 1214 AH / 1799 CE
al-Azhar and the French Institut, Cairo
Ottoman
Cairo Sabil Kuttab Charity
c. 1800 CE
Cairo, Ottoman Egypt
Ottoman
Ottoman Ashura Distribution
c. 1800 CE
Istanbul, Turkey
Ottoman
Ottoman Butcher Guild Qurban
c. 1800 CE
Istanbul, Turkey
Ottoman
Ottoman Calligraphy Studio
c. 1800 CE
Istanbul, Turkey
Ottoman
Ottoman Cemetery Janazah
c. 1800 CE
Istanbul, Turkey
Sokoto
The Founding of the Sokoto Caliphate
1219 AH / 1804 CE
Hausaland, the Gudu and Sokoto country (northern Nigeria)
Sokoto
The Sokoto Caliphate Consolidated
c. 1230 AH / 1815 CE
Sokoto, Hausaland (northern Nigeria)
Diriyyah
The Fall of Diriyyah
1233 AH / 1818 CE
at-Turaif, Diriyyah, Wadi Hanifa, Najd
Ottoman
The Edict of Gulhane
1255 AH / 1839 CE
Gulhane, by the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
Ottoman
Abdulhamid II and the Wired Palace
1313 AH / c. 1895 CE
Yildiz Palace, Istanbul
Ottoman
Turkish Coffee After Prayer
c. 1900 CE
Turkey
Ottoman
The Hejaz Railway
1326 AH / 1908 CE
A desert station on the Hejaz Railway, northern Arabia