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Period: 224 to Apr 11, 651
Sasanid Empire
Iranian empire with a capital in Ctesiphon, Mesopotamia. The Sasanid emperors established Zoroastrianism as the state religion and it was overthrown by Islamic Arab armies. -
Period: 250 to
Maya Civilization
Concentrated in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar. -
Period: 330 to Apr 11, 1453
Byzantine Empire
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. -
Period: 330 to Apr 11, 1453
Constantinople
The imperial capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, it was Europe's largest and wealthiest city. -
Apr 11, 610
Foundation of Islam
Started with Prophet Muhammed when he declared that God is one and there are no other gods. He said that God sets high ethical standards of truth, purity, generosity, and justice. -
Apr 11, 632
Split Between Sunni and Shi'ite
Occured when Prophet Muhammad's followers wanted the community of Muslims to determine who would succeed him. Shi'ites thought someone from the family should succeed him, but Sunnis thought they should choose who succeeeds him. -
Period: Apr 11, 661 to Apr 11, 750
Umayyad Caliphate
Dynasty of Muslim caliphs. Ruled an empire that extended from Spain to India. It was overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate. -
Apr 11, 711
Muslims Conquer Spain
The conquest began with an invasion by an army who headed northward. After a decisive battle, the Visigothic kingdom collapsed and over the following decade most of the Iberian Peninsula was brought under Muslim occupation -
Period: Apr 11, 750 to Apr 11, 1513
Abbasid Caliphate
overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from capital in Baghdad -
Period: Apr 11, 1037 to Apr 11, 1194
Seljuk Turks
Remembered as great patrons of Persian culture, art, literature, and language. -
Period: Apr 11, 1095 to Apr 11, 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 isolation. -
Period: Apr 11, 1174 to Apr 11, 1193
Saladin
Sultan of Egypt and Syria. Led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European crusaders in the Levant and recaptured Palestine. -
Period: Apr 11, 1200 to Apr 11, 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 11, 1206 to Apr 11, 1324
Mongol Invasions
Resulted in Mongol Empire which covered much os Asia and Eastern Europe by the 1300s. -
Period: Apr 11, 1206 to Apr 11, 1227
Genghis Khan
Founder of Mongol Empire and leader of Mongol Invasions that conquered most of Euroasia. -
Period: Apr 11, 1206 to Apr 11, 1526
Delhi Sultanate
Term used to cover five short lived Islamic kingdoms in medieval India; Mamluk Dynasty, Khilji Dynasty, Tughlaq Dynasty, Sayyid Dynasty, and Lodi Dynasty. -
Apr 11, 1215
Magna Carta
The first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges -
Period: Apr 11, 1230 to
Mali Kingdom
Empire created by muslims in western Sudan of West Africa. Famous for its role in the trans-Saharan gold trade. -
Period: Apr 11, 1250 to Apr 11, 1517
Mamluks
Military slaves who formed an important part of the armed forces of the Abbasid Caliphate. Eventually founded their own state, ruling Egypt and Syria -
Period: Apr 11, 1300 to
Renaissance
period of intense artistic and intellectual activity, said to be a "rebirth". Usually divided into an Italian Renaissance, from roughly the mid-fourteenth to mid-fifteenth century, and a Northern Renaissance, from roughly the early fifteenth to early seventeenth century. -
Period: Apr 11, 1312 to Apr 11, 1337
Mansa Musa
Ruler of Mali whos pilgrimage through Egypt to Mecc established the empire's reputation for wealth in the Mediterranean world. -
Period: Apr 11, 1325 to Apr 11, 1521
Aztec Civilization
The Aztecs created a powerful empire in central Mexico. They forced defeated peoples to provide goods and labor as a tax. -
Period: Apr 11, 1337 to Apr 11, 1453
Hundred Years War
Series of campaigns over control of the throne of France, involving English and French royal families and French noble families. -
Period: Apr 11, 1340 to
Songhai Kingdom
Stretched from the Atlantic to the land of the Hausa and was a major player in the trans-Saharan trade. -
Period: Apr 11, 1368 to
Ming Empire
Empire based in China whos emperor sponsored the building of the Forbidden City and the voyages of Zheng He. -
Period: Apr 11, 1370 to Apr 11, 1405
Timur
Member of a prominent family of the Mongols' Jagadai Khanate. Through conquest gained control over much of Central Asia and Iran. He consolidated the status of Sunni Islam as orthodox, and his descendants maintained his empire for nearly a century and founded the Mughal Empire in India -
Period: Apr 11, 1405 to Apr 11, 1433
Zheng He
A muslim, entrusted by the Ming emperor with state voyages that took his ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa. -
Apr 11, 1440
Gutenberg Press
critical for producing durable type that produced high-quality printed books and proved to be much better suited for printing than all other known materials -
Period: Apr 11, 1462 to Apr 11, 1505
Ivan III
Grand Prince of Moscow. 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. One of the longest-reigning Russian rulers in history. -
Establishment of Holy Roman Empire
After the death of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperors got weaker and weaker, but in 962 a German king named Otto got the Pope to name him Holy Roman Emperor thus creating the Hoy Roman Empire. -
Period: to Apr 11, 1279
Song Empire
Empire in central and southern China. Distinguished for its advances in technology, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. -
Period: to Apr 11, 1235
Ghana Kingdom
First known kingdom in sub-Saharan West Africa. Also the modern West African country once known as the Gold Coast -
Period: to Apr 11, 1349
Kievan Russia
State established at Kiev in Ukraine by Scandinavian adventurers asserting authority over a mostly Slavic farming population. -
Period: to
Charlemagne
King of the Franks; emperor. 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. -
Period: to
Sui Empire
Unified China in the 6th century and constructed the Grand Canal. Disintegrated by popular revolts, disloyalty and assassination. -
Period: to
Tang Empire
The empire unifying China and part of Central Asia. Emperors presided over a court at their capital, Chang'an. With its large population base it was able to raise professional armies to contend with nomadic powers in dominating Inner Asia and trade routes along the Silk Road