Arab

Unified by Islam after the death of Muhammad in 632, the Arabs embarked on an aggressive campaign of expansion out of Arabia. Within a decade they held sway over much of North Africa and the Middle East, and within a century the Islamic Caliphate stretched from Spain to India, through North Africa, the Levant and Persia. It would remain one of the largest empires the world had ever seen for centuries to come. The Arab Muslim armies originally consisted of Berber tribal archers, skirmishers, and light cavalry to disrupt the enemy, with the heavier Arab lancers deployed to land the finishing blow. In time they would incorporate other conquered and converted peoples into their armies as well, often as slave soldiers such as the fearsome Sudanese Ghulams.