The Rashidun Caliphate (Arabic: الخلافة الراشدة‎‎ al-Khilāfah ar-Rāshidah) was the Islamic caliphate in the earliest period of Islam, comprising the first four caliphs—the "Rightly Guided" or Rashidun caliphs (Arabic: الخلفاء الراشدون‎‎ al-Khulafā’ ar-Rāshidūn). It was founded after Muhammad's death in 632 (year 11 AH in the Islamic calendar). At its height, the Caliphate controlled an empire from the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, to the Caucasus in the north, North Africa from Egypt to present-day Tunisia in the west, and the Iranian plateau to Central Asia in the east.