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Period: 750 to 1258
Abbasid Caliphate - Middle East and North Africa
The Abbasid Caliphate overthrew the Umayyad Caliph to take control of a majority of Dar al-Islam (the Islamic world). -
Period: 960 to 1275
Song Dynasty - Central/East Asia
- Filial piety, Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism.
- Grand Canal expanded.
- Heavy use of champa rice, which was resistant to drought.
- Lots of steel and porcelain exports.
- Used paper money.
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Period: 1095 to 1492
Crusades - Middle East, North Africa and Europe
Starts with the first Crusade from 1096-1099, and ends with the end of the Reconquista in 1492, although what is classified as a crusade is heavily debated. The earliest start date is generally agreed upon as 1095, however the end date can go as late as 1717 with the last Holy League. -
Period: 1206 to 1368
Mongol Empire - Eurasia
The Mongol Khaganate began with the ascension of Genghis Khan and the Mongols eventually built the largest (contiguous) land Empire in history, spanning from China all the way to Eastern Europe and down into the Middle East. -
Period: 1226 to
Mali Empire - Africa
The Mali were a trade Empire that flourished with the explosion of the gold trade in West Africa. Under the famous Mansa Musa, they conquered numerous trade cities like Gao and Timbuktu. It was a primarily Muslim empire but eventually fell into decline from revolts and foreign invaders. -
Feb 10, 1258
Siege of Baghdad and Fall of the Abbasids
Mongol forces sieged and subsequently sacked Baghdad, ending the reign of the Abbasid Caliphate. -
Period: 1279 to 1368
Yuan Dynasty (Mongol Controlled) - Central/East Asia
The Yuan Dynasty of China succeeded the Song and ruled China under the purview of the Mongols. They fell with the dissolution of a unified Mongol Kahnate.
-Practiced religious tolerance.
-Traditional Chinese arts and literature grew -
Period: 1299 to
Ottoman Empire - Middle East, North Africa and Europe
The Ottoman Empire was the longest lasting Islamic Empire. It rose in the chaos after Abbasid dissolution, and survived until the end of WWI. Most notably, they wiped out the last remains of the Eastern Roman Empire with the siege of Constantinople (now Istanbul). With it, they established Muslim Dominance over Asia Minor and the Middle East, and set the stage for the Crusades. -
Period: 1368 to
Ming Dynasty - Central/East Asia
The Ming Dynasty followed the mongol Yuan Dynasty and shaped the perception of China. The Ming Funded Zheng He's Voyages across the globe, they built the forbidden city, and they revived the historic Confucian Civil Service Exam that had been abolished under the Yuan -
Period: 1428 to 1521
Aztec Empire - Mesoamerica
The Aztecs ruled large swaths of the Yucatan peninsula and what is modern day Mexico. They built Chinampas (floating gardens) that acted as agricultural islands in their marshy lands. They practiced Human Sacrifice to appease the gods. They believed it to be a necessary part of the world's natural processes. They had advanced economic, trade and governmental systems, and they had a sort of gender parallelism where both men and women were equally important, just in different roles. -
Period: 1438 to 1533
Inca Empire - Mesoamerica
The Incas were an empire in the South American Andes Mountains. They created a system of knotted cords called quipus in place of writing and numbers. They had an extensive road and communication system to ease travel through the mountains. They practiced Terrace Farming and used the mita system of conscripted labor where every citizen periodically worked in service of the state. The system was later used by Spanish Colonizers. They also had a form of Gender Parallelism just like the Aztecs. -
May 19, 1453
Fall of Constantinople
The dwindling Byzantine Empire came to an end when the Ottomans breached Constantinople’s Theodosian Walls after besieging the city for 55 days. Mehmed II surrounded Constantinople from land and sea while employing cannon to maintain a constant barrage of the city’s formidable walls. The fall of the city removed what was once a powerful defense for Christian Europe against Muslim invasion, allowing for uninterrupted Ottoman expansion into eastern Europe. -
Period: 1464 to
Songhai Empire - Africa
The Songhai Empire was an civilization in west Africa that flourished through the trade routes of the Sahara. Notably they created the 'fabled' city of Timbuktu. As the Mali Empire began to recede, Songhai rulers stepped in to fill the void. The Songhai quickly expanded through West Africa and they ruled the prosperous kingdom until its collapse following the Battle of Tondibi in 1591. Notably, despite beating back the Mali, they did not outlast them. -
1492
Columbus's Voyage
In 1492 Columbus reached the island of Hispañola in the Caribbean. He would claim it for the Spanish Crown, begining a colonial empire that would eventually control a majority of the New World. He also believed it to be Asia, and the island of Cuba to be Japan for the rest of his life. -
Period: 1501 to
Safavid Empire - Middle East
The Safavids created the largest Shia Muslim Empire of its time. They were constantly at odds with the Sunni Ottoman Empire. Both claimed to be the only real Islamic Caliphate and both claimed that they were what Muhammad truly wanted for the nation of Islam. Unlike the Sunni Ottomans, the Shiite Safavids held conservative and traditional views on other religions and women. At the time, their views on women were more liberal than much of the world, however the standards slowly began to slide. -
Period: 1526 to
Mughal Empire - South Asia (India)
The Mughals were a dynasty of Muslim Turks who migrated to northern India and began an Islamic nation around 1526. Their two most notable rulers were Akbar and Aurangzeb. Akbar practiced religious tolerance, inviting people of different religions to debate with him, and removing the jizyah tax. He also supported the arts.
Aurangzeb, on the other hand, persecuted Hindus and Sikhs and heavily contributed to the empire's decline by creating chaos and animosity against the Mughal rulers. -
Period: 1534 to
French Colonial Empire - Europe, Americas, Southeast Asia, Africa
France's colonial empire is second only to the British Empire. It held onto colonial possessions in some form or another for more than 400 hundred years. Most notably, they controlled Vietnam, Haiti, French Guiana, and the majority of West Africa as well as Madagascar. They briefly held the Louisiana Territories before their purchase. Their last colony to gain independence was the Pacific island of Vanuatu in 1980. They still control French Guiana (South America), and a few islands as of 2024.