The Rashidun Caliphate (اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ‎‎) was the Islamic caliphate in the earliest period of Islam, comprising the first five caliphs - the "Rightly Guided" or Rashidun caliphs. It was founded after Muhammad's death in 632 CE (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.