-
Period: 224 to Apr 8, 651
Sasanid Empire
Iranian empire, established in 226, with a capital in Ctesiphon, Mesopotamia. The Sasanid emperors established Zoroastrianism as the state religion. Islamic Arab armies overthrew the empire -
Period: 250 to
Maya Civilization
Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar. -
Period: 330 to Apr 8, 1453
Byzantine Empire
Historians’ name for the eastern portion of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onward, taken from “Byzantion,” an early name for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city. The empire fell to the Ottomans in 1453. -
Period: 330 to Apr 8, 1453
Constantinople
was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest[1] and wealthiest city. -
Apr 8, 610
Foundation of islam
beginning at age 40 in 610 CE, Muhammad started receiving revelations from God. The content of these revelations, known as the Qur'an, was memorized and recorded by his companions.[84] During this time, Muhammad preached to the people of Mecca, imploring them to abandon polytheism. Although some converted to Islam, Muhammad and his followers were persecuted by the leading Meccan authorities. After 12 years of preaching, Muhammad and the Muslims performed the Hijra ("emigration") to the city of M -
Apr 8, 632
Split between Sunni and shi'ite
The split between the two main branches of Islam is nearly 1,400 years old, and started with a fight over who should lead the faithful after the prophet Muhammad's death in 632. -
Period: Apr 8, 661 to Apr 8, 750
Umayyad Caliphate
First hereditary dynasty of Muslim caliphs (661 to 750). From their capital at Damascus, the Umayyads ruled an empire that extended from Spain to India. Overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate. -
Period: Apr 8, 711 to
Muslims conquer Spain
-
Period: Apr 8, 750 to Apr 8, 1258
Abbasid Caliphate
Descendants of the Prophet Muham- mad’s uncle, al-Abbas, the Abbasids overthrew the UmayyadCaliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from their capital inBaghdad (founded 762) from 750 to 1258. -
Period: Apr 8, 1037 to Apr 8, 1194
Seljuk Turks
The Seljuks (Selçuklular) were a Turkish tribe from Central Asia. They poured into Persia (1037) and established their first powerful state, called by historians the Empire of the Great Seljuks. -
Period: Apr 8, 1095 to Apr 8, 1291
Crusades
Armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Christians determined to recover Jerusalem from Muslim rule. The Crusades brought an end to western Europe’s centuries of intellectual and cultural isola-tion. -
Period: Apr 8, 1174 to Apr 8, 1193
Saladin
-
Period: Apr 25, 1174 to Apr 25, 1193
Saladin
Saladin better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant. -
Period: Apr 8, 1200 to Apr 8, 1573
Inca Civilization
Largest and most powerful Andean empire. Controlled the Pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Chile from its capital of Cuzco. -
Period: Apr 8, 1206 to Apr 8, 1227
Genghis Khan
The title of Temüjin when heruled the Mongols (1206–1227). It means the “oceanic” or “universal” leader. Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire. -
Period: Apr 8, 1206 to Apr 8, 1527
Delhi Sultanate
Centralized Indian empire of varying extent, created by Muslim invaders. -
Period: Apr 8, 1206 to Apr 8, 1324
Mongol Invasions
Mongol invasions progressed throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire which covered much of Asia and Eastern Europe by 1300.
The Mongol Empire emerged in the course of the 13th century by a series of conquests and invasions throughout Central and Western Asia, reaching Eastern Europe by the 1240s. The speed and extent of territorial expansion parallels the Hunnic/Turkic conquests of the Migration period (the 6th century Turkic Khaganate). -
Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. It was preceded and directly influenced by the 1100 Charter of Liberties, when King Henry I had specified particular areas where his powers would be limited. -
Period: Apr 8, 1230 to
Mali Kingdom
Empire created by indigenous Muslims in western Sudan of West Africa from the thirteenth to fifteenth century. It was famous for its role in the trans-Saharan gold trade. (See also Mansa Kankan Musa and Timbuktu.) -
Period: Apr 8, 1250 to Apr 8, 1517
Mamluks
Under the Islamic system of military slavery,Turkic military slaves who formed an important part of the armed forces of the Abbasid Caliphate of the ninth and tenth centuries. Mamluks eventually founded their own state, ruling Egypt and Syria (1250–1517). -
Period: Apr 8, 1300 to
Renaissance
A period of intense artistic and intellectual activity, said to be a “rebirth” of Greco-Roman culture. Usually divided into an Italian Renaissance, from roughly the mid-fourteenth to mid-fifteenth century, and a Northern (trans-Alpine) Renaissance, from roughly the early fifteenth to early seventeenth century. -
Period: Apr 8, 1325 to Apr 8, 1521
Aztec Civilization
Also known as Mexica, the Aztecs created a powerful empire in central Mexico (1325–1521 C.E.). They forced de- feated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax. -
Period: Apr 8, 1337 to Apr 8, 1453
Hundred Years War
Series of campaigns overcontrol of the throne of France, involving English andFrench royal families and French noble families. -
Period: Apr 8, 1340 to
Songhai Kingdom
A people, language, kingdom, and empire in west- ern Sudan in West Africa. At its height in the sixteenth cen- tury, the Muslim Songhai Empire stretched from the Atlantic to the land of the Hausa and was a major player in the trans- Saharan trade. -
Period: Apr 8, 1368 to
Ming Empire
following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", The Ming also saw the construction of a large navy and an army of one million troops. -
Period: Apr 8, 1370 to Apr 8, 1405
Timur
Member of a prominent family of the Mongols’ Jagadai Khanate, Timur through conquest gained control over much of Central Asia and Iran. He consolidated the status of Sunni Islam as orthodox, and his descendants, the Timurids, maintained his empire for nearly a century and founded the Mughal Empire in India. -
Period: Apr 8, 1405 to Apr 8, 1433
Zheng He
A chinese explorer who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa. He discovered many valuable things and brought them back to China where they destroyed everything he brought back because it was Chinese tradition. -
Apr 8, 1440
Gutenberg Press
The Gutenberg press was invented in 1439 by Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg. A German goldsmith, Gutenberg discovered the concept of movable type printing which facilitated the printing press itself. His first published project was the Gutenberg Bible, a beautiful book and also one of the most important ever printed. -
Period: Apr 8, 1462 to Apr 8, 1505
Ivan III
also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and "Grand Prince of all Rus" (Великий князь всея Руси). Sometimes referred to as the "gatherer of the Russian lands", he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde over the Rus, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. He was one of the longest-reigning Russian rulers in history. -
Establishment of Holy Roman Empire
The holy roman empire was a realm that existed for about a millennium in Central Europe, ruled by a Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes. In its last centuries, its character became quite close to a union of territories. -
Period: to
Sui Empire
The Sui Empire was founded by Emperor Wen of Sui, the Sui Dynasty capital was at Luoyang. His reign saw the reunification of Southern and Northern China and the construction of the Grand Canal. -
Period: to
Tang Empire
The Tang Empire is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization. The Tang Dynasty was largely a period of progress and stability, except during the An Shi Rebellion and the decline of central authority in the latter half of the dynasty. -
Period: to Apr 8, 1279
Song Empire
The Song Dynasty is divided into two distinct periods: the Northern Song and Southern Song. In 1234, the Jin Dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song.
The spread of literature and knowledge occurred during the Song Empire. -
Period: to Apr 8, 1235
Ghana Kingdom
Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BCE, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 CE.The introduction of the camel, which preceded Muslims and Islam by several centuries, brought about a gradual change in trade, and for the first time, the extensive gold, ivory trade, and salt resources of the region -
Period: to Apr 8, 1349
Kievan Russia
State established at Kiev in Ukraine ca. 879 by42 43 44 45 4648 49 50 51 52 R 53 LScandinavian adventurers asserting authority over a mostly Slavic farming population. -
Period: to
Charlemagne
King of the Franks (r. 768–814); 14emperor (r. 800–814). Through a series of military conquests he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy. Though illiterate himself, he sponsored a brief intellectual revival.