Umayyad dynasty
(Merchant family of the Quraysh tribe from Mecca)

661 - 750

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Arabia, Persia, northern Africa, Spain; capital Damascus.

Abbasid dynasty
(another branch of the Quraysh tribe)

750 - 945,
as religious heads until 1258

Deposed and succeeded the Umayyads; capital Baghdad.

Buyid (Buwayhid) dynasty
(Shiite dynasty of Iranian origin)

945 - 1055

Recognized the Abbasids as religious figureheads; capital Baghdad.

Fatimid dynasty
(Shiite dynasty from northern Africa)

909 - 1171

Refused to recognize the Abbasids, ruled from Morocco to Egypt, later also parts of Arabia and Syria; capital Cairo.

Seljuq (Seljuk) dynasty
(Turkish dynasty)

1055 - 1243

Deposed the Buyids, ruled Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, most of Iran; capital Damascus.

Ayyubid dynasty
(Sunnite dynasty established by a Kurdish mercenary)

1173 - 1250

Deposed the Fatimids, ruled Egypt, much of Iraq, Syria and Yemen; capital Cairo.

Mamluk dynasty
(established by slave generals)

1250 - 1517

Ruled from Egypt to Syria; continued in Egypt until 1798 under Ottoman occupation; capital Cairo.

Safavid dynasty
(Shiite dynasty from Iran)

1502 - 1736

Ruled Iran, Azerbaijan and Iraqi provinces including Baghdad.

Ottoman dynasty
(Turkish dynasty from Anatolia)

1300 - 1922

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Originally Anatolia, defeated the Byzantine empire, expanded into the Balkans, Arabia, Egypt and northern Africa; capital Constantinople (Istanbul).

Mughal (Mogul) dynasty
(Turkish dynasty of Mongol descent)

1526 - 1857

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Ruled India including today's Pakistan and Bangla Desh; capitals Agra, Delhi and Fatehpur Sikri.