The prophet Mohammed, founder of the Islamic religion, was born at Mecca in AD 570. When he died in AD 632 he controlled the Arabian desert and the important cities of Medina and Mecca.
His successor Omar planned to attack the Byzantine and Sassanian (Persian) Empires. After years of conflict both empires were seriously weakened when the Arab armies suddenly burst out of the desert against them.
At Yarmuk in 636, the Arabs, led by Khalid - 'the sword of God' - completely outmanoeuvred the numerically superior Byzantine army. The Levant now lay open to the Arabs.
At Qadisiya in AD 637, the Arabs swept out of the desert on their camels and completely routed the dispirited Sassanian (Persian) army. The Sassanian king, Yazdegerd III, fled across the Zagros mountains.
A steady progression of Sassanian (Persian) cities fell to the Arabs, including Ctesiphon and Mosul. At Nehavend in AD 642, Arab forces again defeated an army under King Yazdegerd, who fled east. More cities were captured.
After the death of Omar in AD 644, his successors completed the conquest of the Sassanian (Persian) Empire and extended Islamic rule further eastwards. Yazdegerd, the last Sassanian king, was murdered in AD 651.
In AD 661, the Umayyad dynasty came to power, ruling from Damascus. They further extended the Islamic Empire, conquering lands as far east as the Indus and through North Africa into Spain.
