A caliphate or khilāfah (Arabic: خِلَافَة‎, Arabic pronunciation: [xi'laːfat]) is an Islamic state under the leadership of an Islamic ruler with the title of caliph (/ˈkælɪf, ˈkeɪ-/; Arabic: خَلِيفَة‎ Arabic pronunciation: [xæ'liː'fæt], ), a person considered a politico-religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim world (ummah). Historically, the caliphates were polities based on Islam which developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires. During the medieval period, three major caliphates succeeded each other: the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), and the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1517). In the fourth major caliphate, the Ottoman Caliphate, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire claimed caliphal authority from 1517. Throughou