Included: China, Mongolia and parts of Siberia
This early empire spanned 14 million square
kilometres. Established in 1636 as Manchuria,
the Qing Dynasty claimed control from the Ming
Dynasty. Under the second Qing emperor, Kangxi,
the empire extended to include Outer Mongolia,
Tibet, Turkistan and Nepal. The empire continued
to do well under the subsequent two rulers,
Yongsheng and Qianlong, and commerce, trade
and science flourished. However, problems relating
to the massive population under the control of
the empire proved a problem, and subsequent
rebellions in the wake of floods and famine
weakened the great powerhouse. The Qing
Dynasty was eventually defeated after the
Xinhai Revolution.
Included: large swaths of the Middle East,
some parts of India, the majority of North
Africa, and Spain
The first Islamic dynasty, the Umayyad Caliphate
ruled from 661 to 750CE. After the First Muslim Civil
War, Muawiyah I was declared the caliph (the
leader) and established his capital in Damascus,
Syria. It’s estimated that the enormous religious
empire governed some 62 million people at its
peak. However, the expansion of this Islamic empire
lead to unrest between dif ferent religious sects, and
rebellions broke out. A rival group, the Abbasids,
over threw the Umayyads, and formed the Abbasid
Caliphate, which then governed the Islamic
territories for hundreds of years.Image © WikicommonsImage © WikicommonsQING
EMPIRE
THE
UMAYYAD
THE
CALIPHATE
No.46 Issue 42121