Here you will find a selection of lessons that help with getting the most out of TimeMaps.
Origins The Russian nation began to take shape in the 8th and 9th centuries CE, when Norse traders established settlements along the great rivers of Russia. In the 10th and 11th centuries these gave rise to a state, the Grand Principality of Kiev, which converted to...
European background: Spain and Portugal The Reconquista In Medieval times, Spain and Portugal experienced a quite different history from the rest of Europe, as most of their territory had been conquered by Muslim armies in the early Middle Ages. The centuries-long...
Overview From the early 15th century, Medieval Europe began to morph into early modern Europe. In the later Middle Ages trade had expanded, towns had grown in number and size, and a new, more sophisticated society had emerged. In large parts of western Europe...
Map of Europe in 1960 CE The French Revolution The example of the American Revolution acted as a powerful stimulus to critiques of traditional forms of hereditary monarchical government back in Europe, and, combined with internal problems within France itself, led to...
Map of India in the Classical Age, 500 BCE Iron, farming, trade and writing The use of iron spread into present-day Pakistan and northern India after 800 BCE. Iron tools were much more effective for clearing land than were the old stone and wooden tools, and...
Philosophy The Late Han period and after Confucianism Confucianism had been the official ideology of the Han dynasty, and it retained this status in all the Chinese states which succeeded the Han. It remained the focus of the officials’ educational curriculum and...
Section 1: The end of the Han empire and the period of division A census in 140 CE showed that the Han empire (201 BCE to 220 CE) had a population of some 50 million people. This was down from nearly 60 million at the beginning of the 1st century CE. The large-scale...
Section 1: Bureaucracy The centuries between the end of the Han dynasty in 220 AD and the founding of the Sui dynasty in 589 AD saw China weak, divided, invaded and partially occupied by tribal peoples from beyond its borders. Nevertheless, throughout these chaotic...
Historical overview of Medieval China After the fall of the Han empire, the first great empire in Chinese history (202 BCE to 220 CE), China experienced more than 350 years of disunity (220 to 589 CE). Division and reunification In northern China, these centuries were...
Section 1: Early contacts with Europeans The coming of the Europeans to the Americas was a catastrophe for the Native American peoples. This can be seen in something as basic as population figures. In pre-contact times estimates of total numbers of Native Americans...
The First Nations The first peoples to settle what is modern-day Canada were Paleo-Indians who had crossed the Bering Straits (at that time dry land, with sea levels lower then today during the last Ice Age) from Siberia sometime between 35,000 BCE and 10,500 BCE. ...
The American Revolution Background The Great War for the Empire, 1754-1763 (otherwise known as the French and Indian War, or in Britain as the Seven Years’ War) eliminated French power from North America and extended British power to all territories east of the...
A Historical overview of the Mughal Empire Babur In 1525, a minor Afghan chieftain called Babur, invaded northwest India. The ruler of the Delhi sultanate, the large state which covered much of northern India at that time, moved up to meet him. The two sides met at...
Early colonization The Spanish had long been in control of Mexico, and claimed a huge swathe of territory reaching from high into what is now the USA, by the time the first English colonies were being planted on the eastern seaboard of North America. At the same...
Historical overview The story goes that they were led by a Tyrian princess called Dido, who had to flee the home city as a result of political rivalries amongst the royal family. Early History Carthage was only one amongst several colonies which the Phoenicians...
Historical overview The Satavahana Satavahana was the first large kingdom of central India. It probably came to power at the end of the third or beginning of the second century BCE (it's not known exactly when), as one of the major successor states to the great...
The Gandhara culture of northern India was a fascinating episode in world history. Here was a location in space and time where two civilizations met: Ancient Greek and Ancient Indian. The result was a rich fusion of elements, which went on the have an impact right...
Historical outline Europeans had started coming to India to trade at the end of the 15th century - a generation before the first Mughal emperor had begun to rule. The coming of the Europeans The Portuguese were the first to arrive, in 1498, under their famous...
The history of modern Korea falls into two halves: the first, a period of foreign domination, the second of independence but division. Like both China and Japan, Korea sought to fend off foreign - i.e. Western - influences during the 18th and much of the 19th...
The later stages of the Tokogawa shogunate were times of economic constraint and popular unrest; they also saw a growing awareness amongst some Japanese thinkers that the country needed to open up to the outside world. Then, in 1853 and 1854, an American naval...
