Here you will find a selection of lessons that help with getting the most out of TimeMaps.
The reunification of China After the fall of the Han empire, the first great empire in Chinese history (202 BCE to 220 CE), China had experienced more than 350 years of disunity. In northern China, these centuries had been characterized by barbarian invasions and...
The Late Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty reached its height in the late 18th century, at which time the government of China controlled a larger portion of the Earth’s surface than ever before or since. The Opium Wars By the end of that century, however, trouble was...
Lying between India and China, Tibet has developed a distinctive civilization which exhibits both Indian and Chinese features, but within a distinctively Tibetan context. Tibet is the highest country in the world. This gives it a cold, harsh climate. Its land is...
Traditional Korean civilization owed a huge debt to the civilization of its giant neighbor, China. This is unsurprising, given that the cradles of urban, literate civilization in East Asia lay in the great river valleys of China. Also, lying further west than Korea,...
The Two Heartlands of Pre-Columbian civilization Two regions in particular of America developed great Pre-Columbian civilizations. Central America produced several major Pre-Columbian civilizations, including the Olmec (fl. c. 1500-500 BCE), the Maya (c. 100-1000 CE)...
Overview Babylonia was the name by which southern Mesopotamia had become known after the time of Hammurabi, the great king who had reigned in the eighteenth century BCE. It was he who had made ancient Babylon one of the greatest cities of Antiquity. The late...
Introduction Of course it has been a “Global civilization”, in one sense, for centuries, ever since it started to span with planet with its trade networks and colonial offshoots. What has been new, since the Second World War, is that non-Western countries around the...
Timeline 509 BCE - traditional date for the founding of the Roman Republic 494 BCE - 1he 1st Secession of the Plebs 451-449 BCE - The writing of the 12 Tables of Laws 396 BCE - the Romans take the important Etruscan city of Veii 390 BCE - traditional date for the sack...
Maps of Medieval India Historical Overview of Medieval India The first fince centuries of India's medieval history is so complex that it is best dealt with on a region-by-region basis. Northern India The Gupta aftermath The early 6th century saw the rapid...
Geographical and historical background Japan consists of the four large islands off the east coast of Asia, and a hist of smaller islands. These are Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu and Hokkaido. The smaller islands stretch to both north and south of these main ones. The...
history map and timeline of The Mauryan Empire in Ancient Indian History Origins of The Mauryan Empire Prior to the rise of the Maurya, numerous states, large and small, covered northern India. This was the classical age of the history of ancient India, a time...
The Roots of Western Civilization For the purposes of this article, the “West” is that civilization which grew up in western Europe after the end of the Roman Empire. Its roots lay in the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome (which themselves built on foundations...
Map of the Hellenistic period Introduction The Greeks referred to themselves as the “Hellenes”, and classical Greek civilization is therefore sometimes labelled “Hellenic”. Modern scholars distinguish the phase of Greek civilization which followed Alexander's...
Introduction The Arab word caliph or khalifah) means “successor”. This refers to the fact that, after the death of Muhammad, the rulers of the Islamic community were the "successors of the Prophet”. They presided over dramatic conquests which brought into being one of...
History Time Maps of the Phoenician Civilization Overview Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean....
The Rise of the Celts The Celts had developed a distinct culture by the 9th century BCE, in their original homeland of present-day Austria, Switzerland and southern Germany. They then expanded westwards into what is now France from the 8th century, having adopted the...
The Origins of the Qin dynasty Qin was one of the leading states in the Warring States period of Ancient China. Its origins can be traced back to the beginnings of the Eastern Zhou, to 771 BCE. At that date one of the great catastrophes of Chinese history had just...
Timeline 31 BCE - the Battle of Actium leaves Octavian as the master of the Roman world 27 BCE - Augustus establishes himself as the first of the Roman emperors 6 CE - a Roman army is destroyed at the Battle of the Teutenborg Forest 14 - Tiberius succeeds Augustus as...
The origins and expansion of the Inca state Historical Background to Inca origins The Inca (sometimes written Inka) civilization was heir to a long line of cultures which had thrived in Peru for at least two millennia. On the coast, the Moche and Chimor had been built...
History map of the Maya civilization Overview The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. The...
