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Period: 330 to Jan 1, 1453
Byzantine Empire (Europe)
-"The Second Rome".
-Strategic trade center with its capital at Constantinople.
-Main empire during religious controversies such as Iconoclasm and the Eastern Orthodox/Roman Catholic Church schism. -
Period: 400 to Jan 1, 1200
Ghana Empire (Africa)
-Had control on gold mines which gave it a monopoly for trade.
-Conversion to Islam spread throughout Ghana by the 11th century. -
Period: Jan 1, 606 to Jan 1, 647
Harsha's Kingdom (South Asia)
-Very brief restoration of unified rule in northern India.
-Started by the King Harsha who conquered the region at age 16. -
Period: Jan 1, 750 to Jan 1, 1258
Abbasid Caliphate (Middle East/Southeast Asia)
-Moved their capital to Baghdad in Iraq in 762 to better centralize their empire.
-Experienced a boom in trade, specifically at sea.
-Brought down by the Mongols led by Hulagu Khan in 1258. -
Period: Jan 1, 1110 to Jan 1, 1525
Aztec Empire (Mesoamerica)
-Area founded where an eagle was eating a snake perched on a cactus, just as Mexica legend foretold.
-Brought human sacrifice to a whole new level.
-Brought down b Spanish conquest led by Hernan Cortes, much due to disease. -
Period: Jan 1, 1206 to Jan 1, 1368
Mongol Empire (East Asia/Central Asia)
-Largest contiguous land empire in human history.
-Led by Ghengis Khan.
-The vast transcontinental empire which connected east and west with an enforced Pax Mongolica allowed trade technologies, commodities, and ideologies to be exchanged across Eurasia. -
Period: Jan 1, 1230 to
Mali Empire (Africa)
-Empire covered 3 gold fields in West Africa compared to Ghana's one.
-Trade flourished in the city of Timbuktu.
-Famous king Mansa Musa took the hajj and brought many riches in all forms along with him. -
Period: Jan 1, 1438 to Jan 1, 1533
Inca Empire (Mesoamerica)
-Largest empire in Pre-Columbian America.
-Led by their sun-god king, Sapa Inca, they conquered what is now Peru, and created their society there.
-Created magnificent cities such as Maxhu Picchu and Cusco. -
Period: to Jan 1, 1267
Chola Kingdom (South Asia)
-At high point they conquered Ceylon and parts of South East Asia.
-Not a tightly centralized state.
-Local autonomy was strong. -
Period: to Jan 1, 1369
Khmer Empire (Middle East/Southeast Asia)
-Capital was Angkor.
-Highest cultural achievement in the region.
-Temple at Angkor Wat celebrated king as incarnation of Hindu god, Vishnu. -
Period: to
Holy Roman Empire (Europe)
-Multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe, with the largest being the Kingdom of Germany, which was also the core of the empire.
-Emperor was crowned by the Pope. -
Period: to Jan 1, 1279
Song Dynasty (East Asia/Central Asia)
-The Song dynasty lost territories in the north and could not defeat on of the nomadic tribes there-the Liao dynasty.
-Wang Anshi attempted economic reform in the 1070s which improved the Song dynasty.
-After his rule there was new ruling based on Neo-Confucianism, which back-tracked much of Anshi's work.