Unification Through Conquest: How Empires Became Nation States (Consolidation)

The world as we see it today is made up of many states that were once parts of large empires. Some, such as Canada and Australia, were conquered slowly by the suppression of native peoples. Others, though, were formed through conquest and consolidation of smaller, or sometimes larger, political entities that fought hard to create their own state only to be conquered by another. Today, we get to discuss a few of these once-large empires that formed the basis of modern states through their subsequent conquest and rearrangement. This should be fun...

Mughal Empire of India

Babur, First Mughal EmperorFew empires went through such a large empire-building stage only to decline just as quickly. The Mughal Empire, ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan Tamerlane, has perhaps one of the most tragic tales to tell. The empire actually failed twice, once immediately after its start, and a second time many years later. It was founded by a regional warlord of the Tamerlane line called Babur, who ruled Afghanistan for a short time before being pushed out and forced into Pakistan. Of course in those days, Pakistan was just a part of the Indian subcontinent, and there had not been an empire that ruled all of India since around the time of Jesus. But the year was 1526 when Babur stormed into old Delhi and conquered the capital from the old sultans. Babur quickly took over the surrounding regions and, by the time of his death, he controlled much of northern India and all of Pakistan. His son, Humayun, was an utter failure. He tried to expand but was forced out of not just his new conquests, but out of India entirely. From 1540, the Mughal Empire ceased to exist and Humayun was living in Persia.

So began the second Mughal Empire. With the death of his conqueror around 1555, Humayun and a large army of Persian mercenaries stormed back into India, retook most of his father's empire, and started the empire anew. He died just before things were set in stone. Enter Akbar the Great, the son of Humayun who turned the fledgling upstart empire into an Indian powerhouse that soon would rule most of Hindustan. He decided that non-Muslims were okay and that won him a lot of support. With the enemies of Humayun defeated, Akbar led campaigns south and east to take over the unconquered regions of India. His greatness was followed by that of his son, Jahangir, and his grandson, Jahan. The three of them turned the small Mughal Empire into a regional power that challenged China, the Ottomans, and Persia. Under the reign of Aurangzeb, most of modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were under the control of the Mughals. This was 1700. Britain, Portugal, and France already had small settlements around the empire, but the Mughals were not ready for colonialism to take full effect.

The Mughal Empire, c. 1700

Internal problems, of course, proved to be the empire's undoing. Persia and Afghanistan invaded India multiple times and both sacked Delhi. Britain became a powerhouse in this time, taking the internal problems and using them to expand their own physical presence and political influence. The empire itself began to fall apart when kingdoms formed and splintered off, even though most recognized the titular leadership of the Mughals. By 1804, the Mughal emperor was blind and requested the protection of the British. The British began to refer to the emperor as the "King of Delhi" rather than the "Mughal Emperor" and the army of the Mughals was disbanded by the British in 1805. For all intent and purposes, the Mughal Empire had died in all but name by this time. For fifty years, the emperors ruled little more than their palace in Delhi, with the British ruling most of the country.

Bahadur Zafar, Last Mughal EmperorThen, the Sepoy Rebellion erupted. The Indians, searching hard for a person to lead them to independence from the British, proclaimed Emperor Bahadur Shah II as the Emperor of India! The British would have none of it. Within two years, the British had stopped the rebellion and deposed Bahadur II. The Mughal Empire was finished, and Britain had just conquered it. The best part for them was that they realized the Indian people would support an "Emperor of India" as a binding force among them. Thus, twenty years later, the British Parliament declared Queen Victoria Empress of India, and so the title was restored within the British royal family until India declared its full independence in 1948. Britain used the prestige of the title that the Mughal Emperors had spent the better part of 300 years to make to take over an empire in both an official and regnal capacity. Poor India, your unity betrayed you in the end.

The Rise and Fall of the Inca Empire

The Inca Empire was a relatively new empire in the Andes when Francisco Pizarro conquered them in 1533. It began as a small regional kingdom in the mid-12th century centered around Cuzco. In the mid-1400s, it began to expand outward, conquering most of the neighboring states until the Inca Empire was quite large. Inca Roca founded the Second Inca Dynasty and it was his dynasty that led the expansionist effort. The fourth emperor in his line, Pachacuti, was the first great conqueror, and during his reign, he took over most of modern-day Peru and Ecuador. He centralized the Inca government into four provinces led by strong regional leaders loyal to the Inca Emperor. Machu Picchu is traditionally thought to have been built during his reign as a summer retreat, although it is possible it was a simple agricultural station. Pachacuti sent out spies to all the surrounding regions, infiltrating local governments and returning to the emperor with information that could be useful in their conquest.

The Inca Empire with expansions

During the reign of Pachacuti's son, Túpac, the empire stretched toward the Isthmus of Panama and into the wilds of Bolivia. His son, Huayna Cápac, took the empire to its greatest extent by the late 1400s, conquering much of northern Chile. The deserts of Argentina provided a logical southern border of the empire, while thick jungles surrounded the east and north. The Inca Empire was a multicultural, multilingual behemoth, united under the emperor at Cuzco. Then the Spanish came.

Pizarro had scouted the region out in 1526 and, when he returned to Spain, he received permission to subdue the Inca Empire. When he returned in 1532, Huayna Cápac's two sons were in the midst of a civil war for the throne and smallpox ravaged the land. With fewer than 200 men, 27 horses, and a single cannon, Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire. Okay, that's not entirely true. Pizarro had enlisted the help of thousands of local natives who no longer wanted to be ruled by the Inca. Pizarro won his first battle in July 1532 and established the first Spanish city in what would become New Castile. Meanwhile, Atahualpa had won his civil war with his brother and claimed the throne, with an army of 80,000 troops resting near the capital.

Oddly, a Franciscan friar kidnapped the emperor while trying to convert him, and the emperor paid a huge ransom of gold and silver to be let free. Pizarro, though, did not free him. Atahualpa's brother was placed on the throne but the emperor had him assassinated while in prison. Pizarro, angry at the emperor, had him killed in August 1533. Another brother, Manco, was then installed by Pizarro, escaped, reconquered Cuzco, and then fled into the jungle. He and his successors fought against the Spanish for another 36 years, but to no avail. The Spanish used the Inca Empire as their base of operations in western South America for centuries. Although no modern state resembles the Empire of the Inca, the Spanish wasted no time using the conquests of another people to build their own empire.

The Unification of Burma

The country known today as either Burma or Myanmar was unified in the 16th century. The small kingdom of Taungoo led by King Tabinshwehti made a push for power around 1540 and conquered the region of Lower Burma from the previous Mon kingdom. His successor, Bayinnaung, conquered the neighboring Shah States for Burma, enlarging the empire to a size that matched the Bagan Empire of three centuries prior. Burma became a major force in Indochina during this time. Bayinnaung went on to conquer Siam (Thailand), Manipur and Lan Xang (Cambodia), creating the largest empire to ever rule in Southeast Asia. But the empire fell apart quickly around 1599. A few decades later, the empire reemerged at a slightly smaller level under the rule of Nyaungyan and Anaukpetlun. This state resembled much of modern-day Myanmar. But even that empire fell apart. The problem of "palace rulers", rulers who did little but dwell in their harems, destroyed the dynasty, and it became the object of invasion from neighbors and vassal states. The capital city of Ava was finally conquered by an upstart vassal in 1752 and the Taungoo Dynasty was ended not 300 years after its inception.

The Toungoo Empire, c. 1752

Out of the ashes, though, a new dynasty emerged in the very year that the Taungoo were overthrown. The Konbaung Dynasty was founded by a regional chieftan, Alaungpaya, who thought it fun to challenge the Hanthawaddy king who had just destroyed the Taungoo Empire. By 1759, Alaungpaya had defeated the Hanthawaddy king and pushed out all Europeans. The next year, Alaungpaya began a war with Siam that would last for a century. By 1770, Siam and Laos were subdued and the Konbaung dynasty had reunited most of the Burmese Empire of the late Taungoo dynasty. But war with China made it difficult to hold on to recent conquests. Siam and Laos were released from vassalage and China finally left Burma alone. Conquests in the northwest brought Burma into conflict with Bengal, which was controlled by the British. In 1824, Britain declared war on Burma and took a large chunk of northern Burma from them. In 1852, Britain conquered Lower Burma. Then, in 1885, Britain conquered the remaining part of Burma in fear that France might do it first.

The Konbaung Empire, c. 1824

Through barely more than 100 years of rule, the Konbaung dynasty had united Burma only to make it easier for Britain to break off chunks at their beck and call. Despite years of war and empire building, they were no match for the British machine which had already conquered all of India. Burma became a part of India for a short time before becoming its own entity again, ruled by the British Crown. The later state that formed was just as much a result of British state-building as the Burmese independence movement, but both were the direct result of the consolidation and wars fought by the Taungoo and Konbaung dynasties.

Conclusion

So there we have it: three upstart empires that formed out of nothing into regional powers only to be conquered by Europeans. The lesson: creating an empire can be all fun and good, but make sure to teach your kids about moderation and statecraft. Also, make sure you've set up a good system of succession that leaves no question as to who the heir is. The Mughal and Inca empires fell partly because of succession crises, and the Mughal and Burmese empires fell partly because of "palace rulers" who had no interest in statecraft. If you look at other former kingdoms across the world, those two reasons are often behind the fall of a dynasty or monarchy.

The Dark Continent: Africa and Its More Notable Dynasties (Africa)

Much like the Dark Ages of Medieval Europe, sub-Saharan Africa has always been shrouded in the illusion of darkness. Western studies of history rarely creep there, despite the rich heritage the continent provides. And so, also, it provides a rich source of dynasties, some of which claim descent from long-established Western founders. Not surprisingly, none of the descendants of these African dynasties found their way back into European royal families, and most stuck to regional marriage alliances rather than distant ones. Here are some of the more notable African empires and their dynasties

The Empire of Ghana

The history of one of the oldest sub-Saharan African Empires is uncertain, mostly because its history was written by Muslims many centuries later. The founding dynasty of the Ghana Empire was actually not black, rather he was probably of Arab or even Persian descent. The kingdom (but not the location) was founded by a man named Dinga, who tradition states killed a goblin and then was forced to marry the goblin's daughters, which explains the origins of the regional tribes. When he died, his two sons fought for the kingship, and Dyabe won, founding the kingdom of Ghana.

The Empire of Ghana

The capital of the empire was at Koumbi Saleh on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert (and now mostly reclaimed by it). Ghana was a trade empire, with a central kingdom and many vassal states surrounding it. The king acted as mediator and chief of trade, and would often determine whether traders from certain countries could conduct trade in Ghana. The country eventually fell as the Almoravid movement (which took Spain in the same time) took root and converted the entire kingdom to Islam during the late 1000s. It continued to rule the region for many more centuries, but its power had waned and it was eventually enveloped into the larger Mali Empire around 1340. Very little is known about the empire or the dynasty that ruled during much of its history.

The Mali Empire

The Mali Empire is the most famous of the western African empires. It began as a loose confederation of successor states to the Ghana Empire but seen centralized around a powerful Mali emperor. The Keita Dynasty ruled during most of Mali's history, and the dynasty traces its lineage back to Bilal, an Ethiopian slave of Muhammad who became the first muezzin (person who calls to prayer the Muslims). Indeed, there are complete genealogies, however dubious, of every Mali Emperor's descent from Bilal.

The first true ruler of the Mali Empire was a man named Sundiata Keita, the result of the marriage between two rival principalities of the Ghana Empire. After years of exile and army building, Sundiata returned around 1235 and overthrew the ruling dynasty of the Kaniaga Kingdom and established what would become the central state of the Mali Empire. Mari Djata I, as his royal name became, quickly established alliances with the two neighboring city-states and the twelve outlying villages. They swore fealty to the Keita Dynasty and the Mali Empire was formally established, with Mari Djata I as its head.

In all, there were probably around 25 Emperors (Mansas) of the Mali Empire. Over the centuries, the emperors would expand the borders of the empire, conquering numerous other peoples of non-Mali origin. After a fifteen year reign of his son, Ouali I, two rival sons of Mari Djata I fought and destroyed much of the wealth that the first two emperors had brought to Mali. From 1275 until 1300, the Keita Dynasty was pushed to the side by court politicians close to the family. They helped restore the empire after the damage done by Mari Djata's sons.

The Empire of Mali

 The dynasty continued through a sister of Mari Djata, Kolonkan, but has been considered a continuation of the root dynasty. During this era, Mali flourished in wealth from traders crossing Africa with goods from the Middle East and with gold from mines in the south. A semi-feudal system was established where each clan had to send a certain percentage of their men to join the professional, full-time standing army. During the Golden Age of Mali, emperors maintained huge armies but rarely used them except to ensure order in the provinces. It is possible that the Kolonkan line died out because the last emperor and a large army disappeared at sea, exploring the Atlantic Coast of Africa.

Musa I, Emperor of Mali (shown holding a gold nugget)An off-branch of the Kolonkan line, the Laye Branch, produced Mali's most famous emperor: Mansa Musa I. He adopted Islam for the nobility, although he allowed the common people to maintain their traditional religions. He could read and write Arabic, and was so interested in academics that he conquered the scholarly city of Timbuktu in 1324. He established a university and went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324. Indeed, he brought so much wealth with him to Cairo during his pilgrimage that the Egyptian dinar deflated 600%! Mansa Musa was the one that put Mali on the map of the Christian world. Its wealth became renown and people across the western world talked about Africa's wealth for centuries after.

When the Laye branch died out in 1389, Mali began its slow decline. A number of obscure branches of the Keita dynasty ruled over the next few centuries. Ouali II was the first emperor to come into contact with Europeans – the Portuguese to be exact. Even while Mali's power and influence in the west stayed strong (and impressed the Portuguese), it was losing ground to the Songhai Empire in the east. Mahmud II tried to form an alliance against Songhai with Portugal, but they decide to stay out of regional politics. Mahmud III failed to stop the Songhai advance and, in 1559, decided to flee the capital and establish a new capital further north. But it is all for naught. By 1599, firearms, brought in by Moroccans, destroy the Mali heartland and the empire crumbles. Mali is splintered into dozens of small provinces, with Mali just being one of them. Perhaps the empire's only joy is watching Songhai fall a few years before. Mahmud IV died in 1610 and the empire never had a single ruler again, although rival branches of the Keita dynasty continued to claim the title for many more centuries.

The Songhai Empire

The political entity that became the Songhai developed many centuries before even the Mali Empire. However, it was quickly subjugated beneath the Mali might early on, and only became politically independent again in the turbulent years of the mid-1300s, following the reign of Mansa Musa I. The Dia dynasty was the founding and most prominent dynasty in Songhai history, but it failed to ever achieve independence from its neighbors. Thus, it was the Sonni dynasty that became the most successful, although it was short-lived.

The first person who could claim the title of emperor was Sonni Ali, a Muslim and one of the last monarchs of the Sonni dynasty. He ruled from 1464 until 1493 and expanded the borders of Songhai outward, eventually turning the Mali Empire into a vassal state. At the height of his reign, his empire encompassed more land that the whole of Europe and it was the largest empire sub-Saharan Africa ever witnessed. Ali conquered Timbuktu in 1468 but began a long period of repression against the academics there.

The Songhai Empire

His successor was Askia the Great, a devout Muslim who nevertheless permitted indigenous religions in the Songhai Empire. He was not of the Sonni dynasty, rather he founded his own rival Askia dynasty, but he succeeded in expanding the borders outward still further, as well as strengthening those borders established by his predecessor. In the style of Mansa Musa I, he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and brought with him great amounts of gold, sufficient to raise the eye of Europeans who were just beginning to reach around Africa to India and voyage beyond the Atlantic.

As Askia aged, his sons deposed him and claimed the title of emperor. Numerous sons reigned and fought over the empire, which quickly disintegrated under their misrule. Despite Songhai's large standing army, the army never modernized and so, when the Almoravids invaded in 1591, their firearms destroyed the Songhai Empire. Timbuktu declined in importance soon after. Following the conquest by and subsequent withdraw of the Almoravids, the remnants of the Songhai empire and Askia dynasty founded the Dendi kingdom, which lasted until the beginning of the 20th century.

The Sokoto Caliphate of the Fulani Empire

The Fulani people of Nigeria were originally nomads, but over the generations many of them established considerable wealth and settled in towns. The Fulani were Muslims and during the 17th and 18th centuries, they became angry at their overlords and began uprisings against them. In the state of Gobir, a successor state to the Songhai Empire, the rulers were especially despotic toward the Fulani. When the Gobir sultanate turned against a prominent Muslim scholar and religious leader, Usman dan Fodio, Usman rose up in rebellion and declared a jihad against the Gobir government. The Fulani joined in the jihad and the government was quickly overthrown. They declared Usman dan Fodio the caliph of the new Fulani Empire in 1808.

Soon after conquering the Gobir sultanate and numerous smaller nearby states, Usman retired, leaving the empire in the hands of his brother and son. The two lines continued, with the line of Usman's son always having seniority over the line of his brother, who ruled what became the Gwandu Emirate. The empire became a center for learning in west Africa and, despite the Fulani origins of the empire, another culture, the Hausa, became the dominant one throughout the empire. Eventually, the state became centralized and known as Hausaland to Europeans, and it remained as a region of safety from the otherwise dangerous Saharan nomads.

As expected in this time of hardship, the Sokoto Caliphate suffered under pressure from Europe. The French disrupted traditional trade patterns and armed rival states, including vassal emirates. The wars eventually ended in a dynastic conflict that saw both the capital, Sokoto, and another important city, Kano, sacked by rival armies. The empire, in disarray, was quickly conquered by the French and British, who divided it between them. The British did not dissolve the Nigerian government completely, but allowed it to remain in charge of local affairs. Even today, the Nigerian Muslims maintain a Sultan of Sokoto, a descendant of Usman dan Fodio, as their religious leader.

The Solomonid Dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire

Perhaps no dynasty or empire in Africa is as mysterious and famous as the Ethiopian Empire. The only African state to avoid outright take-over by Europeans during the 19th century (it was briefly conquered by Italy in the 20th), Ethiopia has held a place in the minds of Europeans since ancient times.

The Ethiopian Empire

The great Solomonid Dynasty of Ethiopia began in 1270 when it overthrew the Zagwe dynasty. The Zagwe had usurped the throne from the older Aksumite dynasty, from whom the Solomonids claim descent. During the dynasty's long reign in Ethiopia, it conquered the whole of modern Ethiopia, much of south-eastern Sudan, all of Eritrea, Djibouti, and much of Somalia. The dynasty takes its name from King Solomon of Israel. It is said that Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who is traditionally said to come from Ethiopia, had a son, Menelik I, who became the first king of Ethiopia. Traditional genealogies continue a male line of descent from Solomon all the way to Menelik II, who ruled Ethiopia until 1913. After that point, the emperors continued through a female line, although other males lines did exist. Ethiopian emperors have always been connected to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the oldest of the African churches still extant. 

Haile Selassie, Last Emperor of EthiopiaThe most famous member of the dynasty is also the last ruling Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, who was deposed in 1974. The despotic government of Ethiopia overthrew the monarchy and kept all members of the family imprisoned until the late 1980s. The current government has allowed the return from exile of many members, and some eagerly live in the country to this day. Haile himself has been the subject of interesting propaganda. In the 1930s, Haile became associated with the Rastafari movement and has since been declared the Messiah of Biblical proclamations. While Haile himself remained a devout Ethiopian Orthodox Christian throughout his life, many saw him as a sign of hope for Caribbean Africans who wished for a return to the Promised Land.

The Kingdom of Kongo

The Congo holds a place of mystery in the minds of many Europeans. But throughout much of its history, it was a small but powerful regional kingdom on the Atlantic coast of Africa.

The first ruling house of Kongo was founded around 1400 under the leadership of Lukeni Iua Nimi. He founded the kingdom at his capital city of Mbanza Kongo, which was atop the largest mountain in the region. His family ruled for almost three centuries. They were called the Kilukeni kanda ("ruling house") and were a wide-ranging family that often would give important posts to distant relatives. The people of Kongo centralized around the capital city, with only sparsely populated villages outside of it. Indeed, it had around half a million residents by the time the Portuguese discovered it around ninety years after its founding. Kongo became the center of trade for ivory, copper, metals, pottery and cloth, all items available further in the interior.

The Kingdom of Kongo

The Kongo kingdom was first discovered by Europeans in 1483, and Kongo nobles went to Portugal and returned in 1485, whereafter the Kongo king converted to Christianity. Christian missionaries began coming to Kongo and spreading out among the populace, while the next Kongese king named himself João I in honor of the Portuguese monarch. The next king, Afonso I, established Christianity as the official state religion and began to assemble an infrastructure that could support the faith. Afonso's son, Henrique, went to Portugal and joined the clergy, and died just before he was ready to set out for the Council of Trent in 1531.

The Kongo also became a major source of people for the slave trade. Rivalries between royal heirs made it easy for Europeans to take slaves and also kept the government unstable just enough to get their way. After many years of infighting, the ruling dynasty was deposed and a step-son of the king was enthroned, beginning the Kwilu dynasty.

To ensure order, the Kwilu king, Álvaro, established close ties with the Portuguese. Álvaro tried to westernize the state even while giving lands in the south to Portugual directly. The next king, Álvaro II, succeeded in getting the Kongo its own bishop, but the Pope demanded that Portugal be in charge of naming that bishop. Colonial tensions began to rise. The bishops refused to elevate more people to the clergy, leaving the church to the laity, even as the government was struggling to defeat encroaching states in the south. The Portuguese governor of Angola, to the south, used his position to take pieces away from Kongo, eventually attempting to place a new king on the throne. The Kongese prevailed, but a new dynasty, the Nsundi, were installed.

War between the Portuguese and Kongese proved inevitable. The Kongese were victorious in their campaign against Angola, and they forced out the Portuguese governor. Despite a decrease in hostilities after the war, the Kongese began contracting the Dutch to help in removing the Portuguese presence from Angola permanently. But the king died, and the new king decided against fighting other Catholics using Protestants. Dynastic conflict dominated the 17th century, as heirs of both Nsundi and Kwilu fought for dominance. Both ended up losing to the House of Kinlaza.

War with Portugal continued to dominate Kongo history. The Dutch invaded Angola but failed to completely remove Portugal. Portugal became more aggressive and began taking vassal states from Kongo. Portugal was eventually successful in killing the Kongo king in 1665. With no clear successor, Kongo fell into civil war. Millions of slaves were taken and sold in the Americas during the war, and Portugal used the conflict to influence rival factions. At the dawn of the 18th century, many of the vassal states were de facto independent, even though the monarchy had been re-centralized. Dynastic conflicts continued into the 18th and 19th centuries, piecing apart the Kingdom of Kongo until little was left. Portugal finally left in 1866 citing expenses. However, at the Conference of Berlin which divided most of Africa between European countries, Portugal claimed the whole of Kongo. The kings for a while longer were fine with the arrangement, but a revolt against the Portuguese in 1914 caused the Portuguese republic to abolish the title King of Kongo. The pretenders continued to claim the title until 1964, when another succession dispute erupted.

Conclusion

It is unfortunate that I don't have more time to discuss these great empires. Many of them proved to be larger than Europe itself, but European historians have discounted them through the centuries due to their placement in Africa. But Africa, too, has a rich dynastic heritage that should not be questioned. While their families may never integrate with those of Europe and Asia, that does not make them any less a topic of dynastology.

From Empire to Empire: Chinese Dynasties from 2000 BCE to 1911 (China)

Dynasties have been a part of Chinese history since ancient times. Little parts of China were ruled by regional dynasties, some of which eventually rose up to take over the entire country. These times of disorder have many names, but the states are generally called kingdoms. The periods where the country is united are referred to as empires. In both cases, it is dynasties that formed the heart of the states or state and only until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1912 did China finally end its dynastic history.

Xia Dynasty (c. 2205 – 1766 BCE)

Traditionally, the Xia was the first dynasty in Chinese history, although there is little evidence that any such dynasty existed. However, there is mounting evidence thatsomething existed before the Shang dynasty, so many are speculating that the Xia did exist, just not in the traditional form. As with most cultures' earliest history, the Xia are shrouded in mythology and mystic.

The myth is that the Xia was founded by a descendant of one of the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Yu the Great. Seventeen Xia emperors ruled under the Chinese Mandate of Heaven—a concept that only one dynasty could rule under the will of the Gods—eventually being beaten and suppressed by the Shang dynasty. Historians are still out on whether this dynasty truly existed, but archaeologists have been finding enough evidence to prove that China was active, at least in the Yellow River region, during the 23rd century BCE.

The Xia Dynasty

Shang or Yin Dynasty (1766 – 1122 BCE)

The Shang dynasty spread out from the Yellow River basin in all directions, reaching inland and to the sea. Much more archaeological evidence exists for this dynasty, especially their turtle-backed oracle bones that depict the first-known instances of Chinese script. But their dynastic history is still rather vague.  

Tradition states that the rebel king Tang defeated the last of the Xia rulers at the Battle of Mingtiao. Throughout the subsequent centuries, Shang culture thrived and the capital of the empire moved to many places before finally settling at Yin. The last emperor, Zhou, was defeated in the battle of Muye against the Zhou Dynasty, but his son was allowed to retain his kingly title as a vassal. However, a decade later, King Wugeng Lufu joined in a rebellion against the Zhou Dynasty but was defeated. The last remnant of the dynasty died with him. In all, thirty-one Shang emperors are thought to have ruled China. 

The Shang Dynasty

Zhou Dynasty (1122 – 256 BCE)

The Zhou dynasty is one of the most famous of the many Chinese dynasties. It, in effect, established the original Chinese state and culture. Historically, Zhou is separated intoWestern Zhou and Eastern Zhou periods. The Western period was when the Zhou thrived, while the Eastern period is when it fell into utter decline, culminating in the Spring & Autumn period and the Warring states period of Chinese history.

Western Zhou was more centralized than its later successor, but the Zhou dynasty was always destined for failure. Soon after the conquest of Shang, the Zhou emperors divided up the empire into small kingdoms and gave them to his relatives. Over time, these kingdoms grew more distant from the emperor and became largely independent. There truly was no "golden age" for the Zhou dynasty. The dynasty was always at war with itself. It feel to pieces and was forced to change locations of its capital in 722 BCE, prompting the start of the Eastern Zhou period.

By 722 BCe, the Eastern Zhou had become mere figureheads in the political schemes of the powerful nobility. The Spring and Autumn period dates until 481 BCE and includes the time when the infighting states sought power from intellect and the studies of Daoism, Confucianism, Legalism, and Mohism developed. Even today, all these schools of thought have resonance in modern Chinese culture. The Warring States period that followed saw the utter collapse of the Zhou state. The figureheads went often unrecognized and the size of the actual Zhou state was centralized around its capital on the Yellow River. When the last Zhou emperor died in 256 BCE, his sons did not claim the title. Zhou dissolved and the Mandate of Heaven fell to the strongest competitor. Eventually, that person was Qin Shi who founded the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE. Thirty-nine Zhou emperors ruled China. 

The scattered Zhou Dynasty

 Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BCE)

Briefly mentioned in the Dynastology 145, the Qin Dynasty was the first "True" imperial dynasty in China. Prior to the reign of Shi Huangdi, the Mandate of Heaven fell on a "king" who ruled above vassal kings. Shi took the title a step further and made the emperor the Emperor (capital E). Unfortunately, his heirs were unable to do much with the title. Not long after his death, the Han rebelled and took over the leadership of China. Only three Qin rulers ruled China. 

The Qin Dynasty

Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE)

For information on the Han Dynasty, check Dynasty 145. It eventually fell into disarray, leading to the... 

The Han Dynasty

Three Kingdoms Period (220 – 280)

Poor management and palace plots led the Han into decline. A branch of it survived as the Shu Han, but it was in the minority. Two new kingdoms were on the rise during the Three Kingdoms period: Wei and Wu. All three kingdoms claimed to be the successor to the Han Dynasty, and therefore claimed the Mandate of Heaven. None of the states survived the century, though. Wei conquered Shu Han but was then conquered by the Jin, a rival clan that began as a vassal of Wei. Wu was conquered by Jin not long after. 

The Three Kingdoms

Jin Dynasty (265 – 420) & the Sixteen Kingdoms Period (316 – 420)

The Jin Dynasty ruled all of China for only a decade, but had a strong influence on its politics for two centuries. Strong internal fighting occupied the majority of Jin's history. At first it was just unsatisfied nobles, but when northern invaders crossed the Great Wall, the Jin dynasty headed for the south. Sixteen rival kingdoms sprang up over a short period. Most of them proved to be nothing more than a nuissance to the Jin, but others remained constant threats. Eventually, two rose up and conquered the rest, ending Jin's titular leadership of China. Seventeen Jin emperors ruled China. 

The Eastern Jin Dynasty

Southern & Northern Dynasties (420 – 589)

Those winners were the Northern Wei and the Southern Song dynasties. During this time, Mahayana Buddhism and Daoism spread throughout China. Han immigrants moved south and began their millennia-long migrational take-over of China. Chinese became the language of many aboriginal groups in the south, as well, beginning a long process of sinicization that would see the expansion of Chinese culture to throughout China, Korea, Mongolia and Indo-China.

The Southern Song dynasty was founded by Wu of Liu Song, who deposed the last Jin emperor and claimed the title for himself. The dynasty was short-lived, though, and the title of emperor was taken by the ruler of Southern Qi, then Liang, and finally Chen. In the north, the Northern Wei were half-steppe people and half-Chinese. Chinese influence quickly was forced into the steppe regions of Mongolia but the Wei dynasty didn't last long. The north became divided between Northern Qi and Northern Zhou. Zhou defeated Qi in 577 but another foe conquered Zhou three years later. That foe was a southern empire administrator named Yang Jian, who soon overthrew the Chen dynasty in the south. With the north and south subdued, he proclaimed himself Emperor Wen of Sui and began a new period of Chinese unification.

The Southern & Northern Dynasties

Sui Dynasty (589 – 618)

The Sui dynasty was the first period of Chinese unity since before 220. The Sui established their capital at Luoyang, the traditional capital of China. To combat problems from previous periods, the Sui centralized the government and established social programs to buy loyalty to the crown. A bureaucracy was created to manage everything, with the emperor overseeing it all. But loyalty proved to expensive to buy, as taxation and forced labor on the Great Wall and other large-scale projects caused resentment to grow. Ultimately, it was northern invaders who defeated the Sui, but the people had already largely lost faith in them. Pro-Han politics and the spread of Confucianism relegated nomadic tribes to second-class status, causing anger to grow. Seeing the changing tides, an eager aristocrat in the north proclaimed himself emperor, and few opposed his declaration. Sui had a scant four emperors before being overthrown by the Tang.

The Sui Dynasty

Tang Dynasty (618 – 907)

The Tang dynasty were an ambitious lot. They literally nabbed the thrown away from the emperor while he was incapacitated in southern wars. They moved the capital to its first location, Chang'an. They became one of the highest cultural points in Chinese history. Most of the famous Chinese poets and artists herald from this period. And heck! The Tang even produced the only female monarch to rule in China's long history. Indeed, the Tang Dynasty was important to Chinese history. Most of the shape of modern-day China was achieved during this dynasty, minus Manchuria and Tibet. Much of its success was due to maintaining the good systems of the previous dynasty, while better moderating the bad policies.

The most interesting part of the Tang Dynasty, though, is probably its one aside: the Later Zhou dynasty, also known as the reign of Wu Zetian, China's only female monarch. Wu began as a lowly consort before using court intrigue to raise her to the highest position in the harem. When her son, the Crown Prince, began asserting his authority, he died mysteriously. Another son was forcibly exiled and later committed suicide. When the Emperor Gaozong died in 683, Wu saw her chance. She had her elder son deposed in favor of a younger one who became Emperor Ruizong. Wu took over the reigns of government in his stead. When a group of Tang princes rebelled against the queen regent, she deposed her son and took over the empire directly. She ruled for fifteen years with her son remaining her designated heir. She accomplished little in her reign, as most of her ideas were rejected by her successor, who was not Ruizong but rather her elder son, Zhongzong. Wu died a few months after her forced abdication in 705.

Rebellions plagued the last years of the Tang dynasty. Turks both invaded and were called in to defend China. But once they moved in, they were unwilling to move out without receiving excessive payments. Inflation went haywire and the empire went broke. The empire finally fell in 907 when a military governor named Zhu Wen deposed the last Tang emperor established the Later Liang dynasty, one of the many dynasties of the following period. There were twenty-four rulers of China during the Tang dynasty if you count Wu Zetian as one of them.

The Tang Dynasty

Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms, Two More Dynasties, and Some Other Stuff (907 – 1279)

Until the Yuan Dynasty came and forced China to unify, China remained divided for three hundred years after the Tang dynasty fell. It is sub-divided into different periods depending on geography and time. The Five Dynasties were a serious of dynasties that ruled in the north in rapid succession of one another—Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou. For the most part, they claimed descent from but were separate from any previous dynasties of the same name. in the south, numerous kingdoms developed, although Ten Kingdoms are historically named—Wu, Wuyue, Min, Chu, Southern Han, Former Shu, Later Shu, Jingnan, Southern Tang, Northern Han. All of these were conquered and/or centralized under the Northern Song dynasty around 960.

The Song dynasty were the first to develop gunpowder as an offensive weapon. They used it against first the Manchurian Jin dynasty and later the Mongols. They had quickly conquered and centralized China but were unable to conquer it all. They restored many of the facets of the Tang dynasty and promoted science and education. Song was forced to relocate south when they were defeated in the north by the Jin dynasty. But that did not stop their progress. The majority of the Chinese population had migrated south, and while the Jin controlled the Yellow River valley, the Song ruled the Chinese people.

In the north, prior to the Jin dynasty, the Liao dynasty had developed in the region of Manchuria and Mongolia. They were foreign and, therefore, feared by the Chinese, but they adopted Chinese codes of law and became, in many instances, another Chinese successor state of the Tang. They were eventually taken over by the Jin, who were subsequently taken over by the Mongols.

The Song Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty (1271 – 1368)

The Mongols have been discussed before, but the deserve a brief mention here. They appeared out of nowhere and very quickly conquered the Jin dynasty of northern China. Their progress was halted by the Song for a while, but Kublai Khan finally succeeded in conquering the entire region. In the end, the Yuan dynasty in China—which descended from Ghengis Khan—ruled the largest empire China had ever, and has ever since, achieved. It matched very closely the modern borders of China today, but ventured much farther into the north, encompassing Mongolia and southern Siberia. And while the Mongols ruled China for less than a century, it was they who invited Marco Polo into their courts, thereby making China accessible to Europeans for the first time ever.

The later Mongols were poor Chinese rulers and people began to rebel against them. Eventually, Zhu Yuanzhang won a decisive victory against the Yuan dynasty and they went into exile. Zhu proclaimed the Ming dynasty while the Yuan retreated to Mongolia where their dynasty would continue until the 20th century.

The Yuan Dynasty

Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644)

The penultimate dynasty of Chinese history, the Ming began as a rebellion against the Mongols and became one of the most infamous dynasties of all. It was the last Han dynasty of China (that is, it was ruled by the Han people). It is highly possible that the Ming found North America before the Renaissance Europeans, but, like the Vikings, settlement was not something they were interested in. Still, the Ming created one of the largest armies and navies known in history. Many Chinese landmarks such as the Great Wall, the Great Canal, and the Forbidden City of Beijing were improved or came into existence during this dynasty.

To Europeans, this period of Chinese history marks the start of the centuries of trade between Europe and China. Both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn routes were discovered and exploited during this time, and so Chinese goods proliferated Europe. "Ming" is still often associated with porcelain china rather than a Chinese dynasty today. But the trade brought inflation to the country due to a sudden influx in silver. That, mixed with decades of poor crops caused by the Little Ice Age, made the people lose their respect for the Ming. The Ming attempted to isolate the problem by isolating the country, cutting off trade except in specific cities. But that failed and eventually rebels started to challenge Ming authority, eventually overthrowing it.

The Ming Dynasty

Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912)

Perhaps oddly, the last dynasty of China was not of Han-descent (it was Manchurian) and it did not conquer the throne (a Chinese rebel did). Instead, it was a band of nomads who had formed a small state in Manchuria and decided to conquer China while the Ming were distracted with rebels. The last Ming emperor had even hanged himself rather than be caught by the rebels. Small movements to restore the Ming continued until 1912 when the empire was finally dissolved.

The Qing, or Manchu, Dynasty quickly adopted Chinese culture and society. It reopened trade with the west and established a wealthy, albeit indebted, empire. The modern borders of China almost identically reflect the state of Qing China around 1800. Many factors led to the decline of the empire, but the ultimate reason was simple: China was still using systems that had been put in place by the Han and Tang dynasties over a thousand years earlier. They could not cope with the increase in population, the effects of the Little Ice Age, or the requirements of international trade. Like so many dynasties before it, the Qing dynasty faced little rebellions springing up everywhere. The new rebellions, though, were armed with modern weapons supplied by the west, while the Qing were still struggling to get any such weapons. Even when all the rebellions ended with European aide, China was left with little. Successive child monarchs under regents weakened the government until the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 ended the Empire of China for good. Within months, the emperor was asked to step down and the Republic of China was declared.

The Qing Dynasty

And so ends a very brief (yet soo long) summary of the dynasties of China. Unlike European dynasties, most Chinese dynasties produced many children who continued to maintain separate lines of descent. Most Chinese today should have some trace of Shang, Zhou, Han, and other dynastic blood in their veins. Many of the reborn dynasties probably did have a good genealogical claim to the titles they took, and many descendants of the last three dynasties still know their ancestry today. And if either the People's Republic or the Republic of China ever decided to reinstate a monarchy, the Qing already have candidates lined up in the dozens.

Creating an Empire: The Han of China

As the West grew in power from the fall of Alexander in Babylon to the rise of Augustus in Rome, China was thriving in its first Golden Age. The Han Dynasty, descended from the peasant rebel Liu Bang in 206 BCE, grew in strength and power in the aftermath of the Qin Dynasty, the first imperial family of China and the namesake of the empire. But today, while the country may be known as China (Qin-a), the people are predominantly known as the Han, after the dynasty that came to be China's most successful.

Liu Bang, First Emperor of Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty is divided into three periods, and has one short break in it. Like most Chinese Imperial Dynasties, the Han Dynasty is first and foremost a family, all descended from the founder, Liu Bang. As the controlling power of China, the Han Dynasty ruled for around 400 years, from 206 BCE until 220 CE. It was interrupted briefly by the Xin Dynasty, from 9 CE until 23 CE. However, that dynasty was founded by a regent of a Han emperor and is often considered a tangent from the Han Dynasty rather than an independent dynasty. In 25 CE, the senior line of the family—the Western Han—died out, and the Eastern Han succeeded to the throne. Finally, in 220 CE, the Han finally lost control of China and the empire dissolved into the Three Kingdom Period, although the Shu Han continued to rule as one of the three kingdoms.

In a rather common twist in Chinese history, the founder of the Han Dynasty never reigned over all of China. In the rebellion against the Qin, Liu Bang took on the title of Huangdi (Emperor) but it was his descendants that fully unified China. Liu Bang moved the capital of China to Chang'an (modern: Xi'an), a place that remained the Chinese capital for many centuries. The Western Han maintained direct control of western China, while they held the eastern portions as tributary kingdoms, ruled by regional vassal kings. Within 50 years, all the vassal kings of the east were Han family members, put in place to maintain order while ensuring loyalty to the Han throne. Still, the Han relatives rivaled each other for the imperial throne, forcing the Han dynasty to centralize power further by reducing the size of vassal kingdoms and by taking direct control of those kingdoms' governmental functions. Ultimately, the kingdoms became little more than revenue-producing fiefs, with control held directly by the Han emperor, although the kingdoms system was never entirely abolished by the Han.

The Han Empire of China, c. 87 BCE

The early part of Han history is dominated by nomadic invaders and court intrigue. The Xiongnu had unified the lands north of the Great Wall and had begun using Han weapons against China directly. Despite marriage alliances and trade agreements—not to mention payments of tribute—the Xiongnu continued to invade China. In 119 BCE, after numerous defeats and setbacks, Emperor Wu defeated the Xiongnu and sent them fleeing into the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. China gained access to valuable lands just north of the Great Wall while also protecting its northern border. This opened up new trade routes to the West, including Greek, Indian, and African ports. The Han Empire flourished with this new influx of wealth and trade, setting it up as the first true Golden Age of China. At the turn of the millennium, China's population was approaching 60 million.

Wang Mang, only Emperor of Xin Dynasty

Things started to go badly when the wife of Emperor Yuan, Wang Zhengjun, started her own short-lived dynasty of emperor wannabes. Wang Mang, her nephew, served as regent for Emperor Ping and Liu Ying, but he eventually grew power-hungry and overthrew the young Liu Ying in 9 CE. Wang became the founder of the short-lived Xin Dynasty, but he accomplished very little during his reign. Oddly, a natural disaster ruined everything for him. Silt pile-up in the Yellow River caused it to branch and flood nearby farmlands, causing thousands of peasants to be displaced. They joined together and rebelled against Wang Mang, eventually breaking into his palace and killing him. A Han representative, Gengshi, attempted to reclaim the throne for the Han in 23, but he was deposed and assassinated, being replaced by another relative, Liu Penzi, who served as puppet emperor for a few months. Emperor Guangwu, another Han relative, was a distinguished war hero and was urged to take the imperial throne, reestablishing the Han dynasty, although it was from thence known as the Eastern Han.

Guangwu moved the capital to Luoyang and fought for another decade to establish his rule in China. During the Xin Dynasty and its aftermath, the Xiongnu had reconquered lands in the north, causing the early Eastern Han dynasty to parallel the early Western Han in many ways. The Xiongnu were defeated a second time in 81 CE, whereafter they fled into the hills and ceased pestering China. Han China, meanwhile, had shifted its focus on to reclaiming lost lands in the West. After fighting with the large Kushan Empire that sat between China and the Parthian Empire, the Han Dynasty finally incorporated the Tarim Basin into their empire. The Silk Road route was reestablished, and it is thought that traders from Rome made it all the way to China. Emissaries to Rome seem to have been unsuccessful, although the true extent of Rome-China trade is still uncertain.

The Han Dynasty reached its height during the reign of Emperor Zhang (75 – 88 CE). Its fall began soon after. Eunuchs, the common sterile officials of the imperial palace, were prone to intrigue, and often in Asian history one hears of a eunuch leading the overthrow of a dynasty. And so it was with the Han of China. One hundred years of intrigue between young and naive emperors, queen mother-regents, and ambitious eunuchs caused the Han family to become quarrelsome and untrustworthy. Emperor Ling, who ruled in the 170s and 180s, left the entire government to his eunuchs, spending his free time playing with his concubines and participating in military parades. The Han Dynasty had reached its ultimate low in decadence and decay.

In the last decades of the second century CE, student armies had risen up against Han politics. While the rebellions were subdued, smaller groups continued to grumble and cause trouble. More seriously, though, the militias that the Han emperors had used to subdue the riots remained active, and ambitious generals began to use their new armies to fight against the Han, rather than with them. The generals convinced the emperors that the eunuchs were plotting against them, and in 199 CE, 2,000 eunuchs were killed when some generals invaded the imperial palace. The generals became emperor-makers, deposing the emperor in favor of his brother. They burned Luoyang to the ground and returned the Chinese capital to Chang'an. The last Eastern Han Emperor, Xian, had no true power outside of his generals. One such warlord, Cao Cao of Wei, took the emperor under his wing and fought to covertly take over the empire. He died in 220, but his son, Cao Pi, convinced Xian to renounce the throne in favor of him and retire. The empire fell into disarray, with Cao Pi of Wei taking one portion, the Wu taking another, and a scion of the Han taking a third. The Han dynasty, as imperial rulers of China, came to an inglorious end.

The Shu Han Empire, during the Three Kingdoms period of China, c. 250 CE

The short-lived Shu Han Dynasty ruled just in the western-most portion of China during the Three Kingdoms period. It survived primarily because of its rugged location in the hills, mountains, and jungles of southwest China. The family was a distant scion of the senior line and technically had a better claim than the Eastern Han, though they never pushed that claim until the fall of Xian. The Shu Han lasted only 43 years. In 263 CE, the Wei dynasty, which ruled east of them, conquered and defeated the second and last Shu Han emperor. The Han Dynasty at last came to an ultimate end, although many descendants surely survived the conquest. Today, the people are all "Han", and it is very likely that most also descend from the Han Dynasty. Thus, the Han became the first imperial blood to flow freely throughout China.

It seems strange that one of the greatest and best-known Chinese dynasties was so fraught with corruption and intrigue, but so it is with many great empires. Somehow, out of this disorder and confusion, China became a world power worth reckoning. It is because of the Han that it became known to the West and became something to desire 1300 years later by explorers and treasure-hunters. China's place as a dynastic entity is without question, and the Han dynasty is one important link in a long chain of ruling houses. But most importantly, China's Han Dynasty proves that a dynasty provides impetus for centralization, even when the members of the dynasty are not all that decent of people.