632 AD: The Arab Empire
According to Sunni Muslims, the first caliph was Abu Bakr Siddique, followed by Umar ibn al-Khattāb who was the first caliph to be called Amir al-Mu'minin and the second of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. Uthman ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib also were called by the same title, while the Shi'a consider Ali to have been the first truly legitimate caliph, although they concede that Ali accepted his predecessors, because he eventually sanctioned Abu-Bakr. The rulers preceding these first four did not receive this title by consensus, and as it was turned into a monarchy thereafter.
After the first four caliphs, the Caliphate was claimed by dynasties such as the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Ottomans, and for relatively short periods by other, competing dynasties in al-Andalus, North Africa, and Egypt. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially abolished the last Caliphate, the Ottoman Empire, and founded the Republic of Turkey, in 1924. The Kings of Morocco still label themselves with the title Amir al-Mu'minin for the Moroccans, but lay no claim to the Caliphate.
Read more about this topic: Middle Eastern Empires
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