By era
Sultans & Realms: places of Islamic history
Every researched 360° place from the Sultans & Realms era of Islamic history — each with its date, location, and Sunni-sourced background.
80 places
Aghlabid
The Great Mosque of Kairouan Renewed
Aghlabid renewal (221-248 AH / 836-862 CE)
Kairouan, Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia)
Aghlabid
The Aghlabid Basins of Kairouan
246 AH / c. 860 CE
Kairouan, in Ifriqiya (Tunisia)
Samanid
The Samanid Mausoleum at Bukhara
c. 300 AH / c. 914 CE
Bukhara, Transoxiana (modern Uzbekistan)
Buyid
The Buyids Take Power in Baghdad
Jumada I 334 AH / 945 CE
Baghdad, a palace terrace on the Tigris
Ghaznavid
Mahmud of Ghazna's Indian Campaigns
Ghaznavid campaigns (388-421 AH / 998-1030 CE)
The upper Punjab, on the route of the Ghaznavid campaigns into India
Ghaznavid
Ghazni and the Road to India
417 AH / c. 1026 CE
Ghazni, the Ghaznavid capital, in the highlands of present-day Afghanistan
Seljuk
The Seljuks Enter Baghdad
Ramadan 447 AH / 1055 CE
Baghdad, a gate on the Tigris
Seljuk
The Nizamiyya College of Baghdad
459 AH / 1067 CE
Baghdad, the Nizamiyya madrasa
Seljuk
The Battle of Manzikert
Dhul Qa'da 463 AH / 1071 CE
Manzikert (Malazgirt), near Lake Van, eastern Anatolia
Reconquista
The Fall of Toledo
478 AH / 1085 CE
Toledo, on the Tagus, in central Iberia
Seljuk
The Fortress of Alamut
483 AH / 1090 CE
Alamut, the Elburz mountains of northern Iran
Seljuk
The Loss of Antioch
491 AH / 1098 CE
Antioch (Antakiya), on the Orontes, in northern Syria
Seljuk
The Massacre at Ma'arra
492 AH / December 1098 CE
Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, in northern Syria
Artuqid
The Field of Blood
513 AH / 1119 CE
Near Sarmada, between Aleppo and Antioch, in Syria
Banu Munqidh
Shaizar of the Banu Munqidh
c. 530 AH / 1135 CE
Shaizar, on the Orontes, in Syria
Norman Sicily
The Arab-Norman Art of Palermo
524-590 AH / c. 1130-1194 CE
Palermo, in Sicily
Zengid
Zengi Recovers Edessa
Jumada II 539 AH / 1144 CE
Edessa (al-Ruha, modern Sanliurfa), upper Mesopotamia
Reconquista
The Translators of Toledo
c. 545 AH / 1150 CE
Toledo, on the Tagus, in central Iberia
Norman Sicily
Al-Idrisi's Map of the World
549 AH / 1154 CE
Palermo, in Sicily
Almohad
The Koutoubia of Marrakesh
c. 550s-590s AH / 1150s-1190s CE
Marrakesh, in the Maghrib, below the Atlas
Ayyubid
The Sunni Restoration in Cairo
Muharram 567 AH / 1171 CE
Cairo, the mosque of al-Azhar
Ayyubid
The Citadel of Cairo
c. 572-579 AH / 1176-1183 CE
Cairo, on the Muqattam spur, in Egypt
Ayyubid
The Siege of Kerak
579-580 AH / 1183 and 1184 CE
Kerak (al-Karak), east of the Dead Sea, in Transjordan
Almohad
The Kutubiyya Minaret of Marrakesh
Almohad (581-595 AH / 1185-1199 CE)
Marrakesh, the Almohad capital in Morocco
Ayyubid
Saladin's Army Enters Jerusalem
583 AH / 1187 CE
Bab al-Khalil (Jaffa Gate), Jerusalem
Ayyubid
The Great Siege of Acre
585-587 AH / 1189-1191 CE
Acre (Akka), on the coast of the Levant
Delhi Sultanate
The Qutb Complex of Early Delhi
587-602 AH / 1191-1206 CE
Mehrauli, Delhi, northern India
Ghurid
The Battle of Tarain
588 AH / 1192 CE
Tarain (Taraori), on the plain north of Delhi toward Thanesar
Ghurid
The Minaret of Jam
c. 590 AH / 1190s CE
Jam, in the mountains of Ghor, in central Afghanistan
Seljuk
The Gevher Nesibe Hospital
602 AH / c. 1206 CE
Kayseri, in central Anatolia
Artuqid
Al-Jazari's Ingenious Devices
602 AH / 1206 CE
Diyarbakir (Amid), the Artuqid court, on the upper Tigris
Almohad
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
Safar 609 AH / 1212 CE
Las Navas de Tolosa, the Sierra Morena, southern Iberia
Ayyubid
The Siege of Damietta
615 & 647 AH / 1218-1219 & 1249 CE
Damietta (Dumyat), at the mouth of the Nile, in Egypt
Seljuk
The Alaeddin Mosque of Konya
617 AH / c. 1220 CE
The Alaeddin Hill, Konya, in central Anatolia
Mongol
The Mongol Storm at Bukhara
617 AH / 1220 CE
Bukhara, in Transoxiana (modern Uzbekistan)
Mongol
After the Mongol Storm at Nishapur
618 AH / 1221 CE
Nishapur, Khurasan (modern northeastern Iran)
Mengujekid
The Great Mosque of Divrigi
626 AH / c. 1228-1229 CE
Divrigi, in the eastern Anatolian highlands
Ayyubid
The Cession of Jerusalem by Treaty
626 AH / 1229 CE
Jerusalem (al-Quds), in Palestine
Ayyubid
The Castle of Subayba
c. 625-628 AH / 1228-1230 CE
Qal'at al-Subayba, below Mount Hermon, above Banyas
Hafsid
The Zaytuna of Tunis
628 AH / c. 1230 CE
Tunis, in Ifriqiya
Reconquista
The Fall of Cordoba and Seville
633-646 AH / 1236-1248 CE
Cordoba, on the Guadalquivir, al-Andalus
Delhi Sultanate
The Court of Razia Sultan
c. 1236-1240 CE
The court of the Delhi Sultanate, Delhi, northern India
Ayyubid
Ibn al-Nafis and the Lesser Circulation
640 AH / c. 1242 CE
Damascus, in Syria
Seljuk
The Battle of Kose Dag
641 AH / 1243 CE
Kose Dag, east of Sivas, in Anatolia
Ayyubid
The Battle of al-Mansura
648 AH / 1250 CE
Al-Mansura, in the Nile Delta, in Egypt
Seljuk
A Seljuk Caravanserai
c. 648 AH / 1250 CE
A Seljuk han on the Anatolian plateau (representative)
Seljuk
The Karatay Madrasa
c. 650 AH / 1252 CE
Konya, in central Anatolia
Mamluk
The Shadow Caliphate at Cairo
659 AH / 1261 CE
The Citadel of Cairo
Mamluk
The Fall of Hisn al-Akrad
669 AH / 1271 CE
Hisn al-Akrad (Crac des Chevaliers), in Syria
Mamluk
The Fall of Crusader Acre
690 AH / 1291 CE
Acre (Akka), on the coast of the Levant
Ilkhanid
The Conversion of Ghazan Khan
694 AH / 1295 CE
Tabriz, the Ilkhanid capital in northwestern Iran
Seljuk
The Mevlevi Sema at Konya
c. 700 AH / c. 1300 CE
Konya, the Mevlevi lodge, central Anatolia
Delhi Sultanate
The Khilji Reach into the Deccan
707 AH / c. 1307 CE
Devagiri (later Daulatabad), in the Deccan, northern Maharashtra
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde Turns to Islam
713 AH / c. 1313 CE
Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde, on the lower Volga
Delhi Sultanate
The Migration to Daulatabad
727 AH / c. 1327 CE
The plain below Daulatabad (Devagiri), the Deccan
Nasrid
The Generalife Garden
731 AH / c. 1330 CE
The Generalife, above the Alhambra, Granada, al-Andalus
Kilwa Sultanate
The Stone Town of Kilwa
c. 731 AH / 1331 CE
Kilwa Kisiwani, an island of the East African coast
Golden Horde
Ibn Battuta in Constantinople
733 AH / c. 1332 CE
Constantinople (al-Qustantiniyya), on the Bosphorus
Mogadishu Sultanate
The Port of Mogadishu
c. 741 AH / 1340 CE
Mogadishu (Maqdishu), on the coast of the Horn of Africa
Indian Ocean Trade
The Pepper Port of Calicut
743 AH / c. 1342 CE
Calicut (Kozhikode), on the Malabar coast of India
Maldive Sultanate
The Sultanate of the Maldives
744 AH / c. 1343-1344 CE
The Maldive Islands, in the Indian Ocean
Ceylon
The Pilgrimage to Adam's Peak
745 AH / c. 1344 CE
Adam's Peak (Sarandib), in Ceylon
Yuan China
The Muslims of Zaytun
746 AH / c. 1345 CE
Zaytun (Quanzhou), on the coast of southern China
Samudra Pasai Sultanate
The Sultanate of Samudra Pasai
c. 746 AH / 1345-1346 CE
Samudra Pasai, on the north coast of Sumatra
Delhi Sultanate
The Coming of Islam to Sylhet
747 AH / c. 1346 CE
Sylhet, in the wetlands of eastern Bengal
Trans-Saharan Trade
The Salt Mines of Taghaza
c. 753 AH / 1352 CE
Taghaza, in the Sahara, north of the Niger lands
Marinid
The Bou Inania Madrasa, Fez
c. 756 AH / 1355 CE
The Bou Inania Madrasa, Fez, Morocco
Mamluk
The Madrasa of Sultan Hasan
c. 762 AH / 1361 CE
Cairo, opposite the Citadel, al-Madrasa al-Sultaniyya al-Hasaniyya
Swahili Coast
The Stone Town of Lamu
c. 772 AH / 1370 CE
Lamu, an island town of the East African coast
Nasrid
The Alhambra of Nasrid Granada
c. 772 AH / c. 1370 CE
The Alhambra, Granada, al-Andalus
Coming of Islam to the Philippines
The First Mosque of the Philippines
c. 782 AH / 1380 CE
Simunul island, in the Sulu archipelago
Ming China
The Great Mosque of Xi'an
786 AH / c. 1384 CE
Xi'an, in central China
Mamluk
Cairo Caravanserai During a Plague Wave
c. 791 AH / c. 1389 CE
Khan al-Khalili, Fatimid-era quarter of Cairo
Mamluk
An Embassy at the Citadel of Cairo
c. 854 AH / 1450 CE
Citadel of Cairo (Qal'at al-Jabal), Mamluk capital of Egypt
Bengal Sultanate
The Sixty Dome Mosque of Bagerhat
c. 846-863 AH / 1442-1459 CE
Bagerhat, in the south of the Bengal delta
Demak Sultanate
The Great Mosque of Demak
884 AH / c. 1479 CE
Demak, on the north coast of Java
Adal Sultanate
Harar, City of the Adal Sultanate
957 AH / c. 1550 CE
Harar, in the highlands of the Horn of Africa (modern eastern Ethiopia)
Banten Sultanate
The Great Mosque of Banten
974 AH / c. 1566 CE
Banten, on the north-west coast of Java
Saadian
The Battle of the Three Kings
986 AH / 1578 CE
Wadi al-Makhazin, near Ksar el-Kebir, northern Morocco
Reconquista
The Expulsion of the Moriscos
1018-1023 AH / 1609-1614 CE
A Mediterranean port of eastern Spain