Muslim conquest of Persia
The Muslim conquest of Persia, also called the Muslim conquest of Iran, the Arab conquest of Persia, or the Arab conquest of Iran, was a major military campaign undertaken by the Rashidun Caliphate between 632 and 654. As part of the early Muslim conquests, which had begun under Muhammad in 622, it led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the eventual decline of Zoroastrianism, which had been predominant throughout Persia as the nation's official religion. The persecution of Zoroastrians by the early Muslims during and after this conflict prompted many of them to flee eastward to India, where they were granted refuge by various kings.
The assassination of Khosrau II in a manuscript of the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp made by Abd al-Samad c. 1535
Battle of Qadisiyyah from a manuscript of the Shahnameh
A Sasanian army helmet.
The ziggurat of Choqa Zanbil in Khuzestan
The Rashidun Caliphate was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his death in 632 CE. During its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in West Asia and Northeast Africa.
Coin of the Rashidun Caliphate, circa 647–670, imitating Byzantine coins, featuring a Byzantine figure (Constans II) holding a scepter and globus cruciger
Tombs of caliphs: Abu Bakr and Umar (right), Medina, present-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Muhammad's widow, Aisha, battling the fourth caliph Ali in the Battle of the Camel (16th-century miniature from a copy of the Siyer-i Nebi)
Illustration of the Battle of Siffin, from a 14th-century manuscript of the Tarikh-i Bal'ami