Major Empires through time (Post-Classic - Early Modern)

By toastytom
  • Period: 330 to 1453

    Byzantine Empire

    • Eastern orthodox christianity
    • Capital of constanstinople (Was the cause for the collapse of the empire in 1453 spearheaded by the Ottoman Empire.)
    • Served a major role in the preservation of Roman and Greek culture, art, and literature.
  • Period: 618 to 907

    Tang Dynasty

    • Taoism was widely practiced
    • Centralized, autocratic monarchy
    • Fostered religious diversity among its people
    • Developed gunpowder
  • Period: 661 to 1258

    Islamic Caliphate

    (Umayyad and Abbasid)
    - During its golden age, it saw the advancement of several topics like science,math, and medicine.
    - Established the "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad
    - The Umayyad rule strived for power and expansion through militaristic means, whilst the Abbasid, after overthrowing the umayyad rule. Strived for power through trade.
  • Period: 960 to 1279

    Song Dynasty

    • First state to utilize gunpowder for militaristic means.
    • Created the concept of paper money and adopted the concept of banking
    • This golden age in Chinese history resulted in highly influential discoveries and innovations that ultimately allowed for mass economic prosperity. Innovations like the press print, shipbuilding, and the magnetic compass were highly influential.
  • Period: 1206 to 1368

    Mongol Empire

    • Largest continuous empire ever
    • Promoted trade across the region via Pax Mongolia
    • The Mongols were highly reliant upon militaristic conquest for maintaining and gaining power
  • Period: 1299 to

    Ottoman Empire

    • Ended the Byzantine empire with the seizure of Constantinople
    • Had a structured and organized legal system and bureaucracy.
    • The empire fell after the end of WW1 when its borders were divided, resulting in the creation of new countries: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine.
  • Period: 1415 to

    Portuguese Empire

    • Marked the "age of exploration" that encompassed the success that the empire would later benefit from through the colonization of regions in Africa, Latin America, and India.
    • Portuguese explorers greatly helped in establishing early global trade
    • Played a crucial role in the establishment of transatlantic slave trade
    • Greatly contributed to the spread of Christianity
  • Period: 1492 to

    Spanish Empire

    • Conquered the Americas through conquest, namely defeating the indigenous groups; the Aztec, Inca, and Mayans.
    • Established the Columbian exchange, bringing about new food sources and culture to afro-eurasia.
    • Played a great role in the spread of Christianity and Spanish language in Latin America that is still present in modern day Latin America.
  • Period: 1526 to

    Mughal Empire

    • Experienced its cultural and architectural golden age during the period of ~1526-1707.
    • Became leading producers of textiles, spices, and luxury goods which cemented an extended period of economic prosperity(~1600-1700)
  • Period: 1547 to

    Russian Empire

    • Experienced mass Westernization under the rule of Peter The Great. This led to major reforms in military, education, governance, and society.
    • The Russian revolution led to a massive change of governance spearheaded by the Bolshevik family taking power with adoption of Marxist-Communist ideals as opposed to the Absolute Monarchy of past.
    • Abolition of Serfdom; freed millions of peasants. This created social unrest and was a huge social shift across Russia.
  • Period: to

    British Empire

    • Established Parliamentary institutions paving the way for later Democratic systems
    • Responsible for the advancement and utilization of steam engines
    • Amassed widespread land control through means of mass colonization and imperialistic ideals. (At its peak it claimed several regions across Africa, North America, The Caribbean, Asia and some parts of the Pacific).
  • Period: to

    French Colonial Empire

    • Played an important role in the promotion of global trade specifically with its trade of valuable resources like: sugar, coffee, fur, and rubber.
    • Contributed majorly to the exploitation of African states and resources through means of forced labor, violence, and through with other imperialistic efforts.
    • Inspired revolutionary movements globally like with its own colony Haiti who began an uprising with hopes of reaching French Revolution ideals, namely: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.
  • Period: to

    Qing Dynasty

    • Last imperial dynasty of China
    • Experienced the biggest boom in Chinese history, this was due to several factors, Mainly being brought about by the economic prosperity of this period coupled with the mass empire expansion throughout the dynasty's existence.
    • This dynasty laid the foundation for what would become the modern day borders of China
    • This dynasty collapsed primarily due to the Xinhai revolution in 1911, and the formation of the Republic of China(ROC).