1. The office of a caliph
   "The caliphate was a powerful institution in early Islamic history"
    
2. The territorial jurisdiction of a caliph
   "The Umayyad Caliphate once stretched from Spain to India"

1. The era of Islam's ascendancy from the death of Mohammed until the 13th century; some Muslims still maintain that the Muslim world must always have a calif as head of the community
   "their goal was to reestablish the Caliphate"

Derived forms: caliphates

Type of: berth, epoch, era, jurisdiction, office, place, position, post, situation

Encyclopedia: Caliphate