Episode 18: Mu’awiya bin Abi Sufyan

The same skills which propelled Mu’awiya along his relentless rise to the top of the caliphate helped him rule the Arabs unlike any man had managed to until then. Our sources contrast his reign to what came before it sharply, and it is worth reflecting on how they began to recogn ...  Show more

Just because Mu’awiya held supreme power within the caliphate didn’t mean he thought his will was absolute. He had displayed a keen understanding of tribal politics during his rise to power, painstakingly building a strong network of support to challenge for and win the title of ...  Show more

In the 7th century, the world saw the rise of one of the most important religious and political forces in history: Islam. Springing forth from the Arabian Peninsula, within a matter of months, the Islamic Caliphate had become one of the largest empires on Earth. Much of that grow ...  Show more

Ottoman Sultan Ibrahim (1616-1648) believed he was the sort of ruler that came out of legend, so he ordered a massive tax to fund the decoration of his palace in sable fur. He also preferred full-figured women and commissioned his advisers to find for him the largest woman in his ...  Show more

After the Fall of Constantinople, the Ottomans became the most powerful dynasty in existence. But the great empire began to decline, and in the early 20th century, a leader named Talaat and a group of radical nationalists worked to remove the ineffectual sultan and restore the Ot ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Safavid Dynasty, rulers of the Persian empire between the 16th and 18th centuries.In 1501 Shah Ismail, a boy of fifteen, declared himself ruler of Azerbaijan. Within a year he had expanded his territory to include most of Persia, and founde ...  Show more