Southwestern Asia 622-700 (The Ruins of Mecca)

Rise of Islam
, according to its believers, was founded by the prophet Muhammed after the angel Gabriel recited to the Quran. However, preaching early on caused a lot of hostility with Meccan tribes. He and his followers attempted to flee to Medina in 622 AD. However, hostile Meccan tribes murdered Muhammed in 622. His followers in Medina regrouped and, after nine years of warfare, in a nearly uncontested battle, took Mecca and destroyed its pagan idols and unintentionally destroyed the Kaaba. By 634 AD, the Arab peninsula was unified under Islam. However, the Ummah was split over who should become the caliph of Islam. The people who believed that should become caliph became known as  and the people who believed  should become caliph became known as. For ten years, a devastating civil war raged in Arabia until Abu Bakr became leader of the and the first of the. The civil war weakened the caliphate a lot.

Caliphate Raids
The Bakrites, in an attempt to gain what they saw as their "chosen territory," raided their neighbours' territory. However, the Arab world was too weak and even the Levant was outside their reach.

Breakup of the Sassanid Empire
Shahanshah came to power when he was only eight. The Sassanid Empire was extremely weak. It was no surprise that he was killed by assassins from the mortal enemy of the Sassanids, the Byzantine Empire in 654. His son, Peroz III, was too young to rule. Aristocrats of the empire ruled. However, it was not long until hinterlands, which were effectively satrapies, declared independence. Peroz III was killed by notable aristocrat in 661. Araxava was the ruler of a Persia with much of its Mesopotamian lands and Transoxiana having declared independence. The was a new low for Persia.

Rise of the Syriac Empire
In the Levant, the Syriac Empire gained power after the weakening of the Byzantines. A vast region of the Silk Road was under their control and the Syrians were getting rich. Converted to Monophysite Christianity, the empire was rich as Indian, Chinese, and Italian traders all met at the region. Ideas were being transferred. However, it was not long until Arab tribes began to declare war on the rich region. In an effort to avoid conquest, the leaders of the region converted to Islam in 665. Raids ceased while Monophysite Christians in Syria proper declared the. The Islamic part became the.