WHAP

By MAXYMOOSE
  • Period: 100 to 940

    Axum

    1. They were one of the major naval trading powers at the end of the classic period and connected trade between the Mediterranean and Asia.
    2. They developed Africa's only written script, Ge'ez, and had their own coinage.
  • Period: 330 to 1453

    Byzantine Empire

    1. They are debatably the longest lasting empire in history, from the split of the Roman Empire in 330 to 1453 when they fell to the Ottoman Turks.
    2. It was a Christian Empire and it was here where the Eastern Orthadox split ocurred.
    3. They served as a buffer between Asia and Europe for many, many, many, years and were the most powerful state in the world for a time.
  • Period: 750 to 1258

    Abbasid Caliphate

    1. They rose to power through revolution against the Ummayad Caliphate and controlled much of the Middle east and the Mediterranean.
    2. They created Baghdad and the Baghdad house of wisdom, which was basically just a massive library where a bunch of nerds got together to do nerd stuff. Some of it included, inventing trigonometry, how to write numbers, and other cool stuff like that.
  • Period: 802 to 1431

    Khmer Empire

    1. Angkor Wat was built here in the capitol, a temple originally for Hinduism but later for Buddhism.
    2. They had very impressive water management systems that helped with agriculture.
  • Period: 960 to 1279

    Song Dynasty

    1. This is the Chinese dynasty where foot-binding began and women's roles were diminished.
    2. They were incredibly navy focused and increased trade greatly, especially along the grand canal and in the ocean with their recently refined "Junk" ships.
    3. Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism were all growing during this period in China.
  • Period: 962 to

    Holy Roman Empire

    1. The empire was originally formed by Frankish kings, starting with Charlemange, who had close ties with the church, leading the pope to declare them the emperor of the Romans. The later kings were mostly German and in constant power struggle with the Papal states.
    2. It completely ended during Napoleonic times but was really toast after the 30 years war which ripped apart the remains of the Empire.
  • Period: 1200 to 1533

    Inca Empire

    1. They had these runner guys, who sent messages by running through their impressive road system, (which is how they centralized power), carrying Quipus, which were knotted strings, kind of like writing.
    2. They were the only pre-European state to domesticate animals, domesticating llamas and alpacas.
  • Period: 1206 to 1368

    Mongol Empire

    1. It was the largest ever land only empire in the history of the world, stretching from the Baltics to southern China.
    2. It was started by Genghis Khan, a vicious ruler who slaughtered millions of people and impregnated almost as many. He knew the importance of trade however, and protected traveling merchants.
  • Period: 1235 to

    Mali

    1. Mali was a powerful trading empire that traded gold and salt across the Sahara using camels. One of their kings during his Hajj, gave away so much gold in Cairo that it disrupted the gold markets there for more than a decade.
    2. Timbuktu is located here and it once was a lively city driven by trade.
  • Period: 1299 to

    Ottoman Empire

    1. They were Muslim and even recruited young men from the Balkans to convert and become soldiers, but they were mostly tolerant of other religions but required them to pay Jizya, a religious tax.
    2. They were one of the major gunpowder empires, taking Istanbul in 1453 and a lot of other territory.
  • Period: 1325 to 1521

    Aztec Empire

    1. The Aztec had a very advanced military and forced the states they controlled to pay them a tribute.
    2. They sacrificed and enslaved conquered people as part of their religion.
    3. They had really cool irrigation systems and grew lots of Maize (corn). They had a big city that was really cool too.
  • Period: 1336 to

    Vijayanagara

    1. These two brothers were taken by the Dehli Sultanate to convert to Islam, got sent back to their mini states to fend off invasion, but instead reconverted to Hinduism and made their own empire in the south of India.
    2. They were the main empire in the south when the Europeans first started arriving on India's shores to set up trading cities.
  • Period: 1526 to

    Mughal Empire

    1. It was started by a guy named Babur, who was a descendant of Timur, who was a descendant of Genghis Khan. Mughal literally means Mongol.
    2. It was a powerful Islamic state that used gunpowder to gain control of many regions and made some cool stuff like the Taj Mahal.