So you think the most famous empire, Roman Empire would be the biggest? It’s not even on the list! (It almost made it, though!) Here, time to lean some historical facts and be amazed! These facts are based on Wikipedia and put together for the historical nerd in you. So the fact credits go to Wikipedia and its contributors.
The Maurya Empire, also known as the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Maurya dynasty from 322–185 BCE. Originating from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (modern Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh) in the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent, the empire had its capital city at Pataliputra (modern Patna).
The Ottoman Empire, also known as the Turkish Empire, Ottoman Turkey or Turkey, was an empire founded in 1299 by Oghuz Turks under Osman I in northwestern Anatolia. After conquests in the Balkans by Murad I between 1362 and 1389, the Ottoman sultanate was transformed into a transcontinental empire and claimant to the caliphate. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror.
The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by the Lǐ family (李), who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire. The dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty (690–705) and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant.
The Timurid Empire, was a Persianate empire comprising modern-day Iran, the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, as well as parts of contemporary Pakistan, Syria, India, Anatolia. It was founded by the warlord Timur (also known as Tamerlane) of Turco-Mongol lineage, who established the empire between 1370 and his death in 1405.
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire after 1259 it became a functionally separate khanate. It is also known as the Kipchak Khanate or as the Ulus of Jochi.
The Turkic Khanate or Göktürk Khanate was a khanate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia. Under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, the Ashina succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main power in the Mongolian Plateau and established a stronger empire, which rapidly expanded to rule huge territories in Central Asia. This khaganate interacted extensively with various dynasties based in North China, and for significant periods exercised considerable control over the lucrative Silk Road trade.
The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered a golden age in Chinese history. To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the 'Han people' and the Chinese script is referred to as 'Han characters”. It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han, and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) of the former regent Wang Mang.
The Ming dynasty, or the Great Ming, also called the Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming, described by some as 'one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history,' was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese.
The Sasanian Empire, also known as Sassanian, Sasanid, Sassanid or Neo-Persian Empire), known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr in Middle Persian language, was the last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam, ruled by and named after the Sasanian dynasty from 224 to 651. The Sasanian Empire, which succeeded the Parthian Empire, was recognized as one of the leading world powers alongside its neighboring arch rival the Roman-Byzantine Empire, for a period of more than 400 years.
The Empire of Japan was the historical Japanese nation-state that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan.
Imperial Japan's rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei (富國強兵\, 'Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed forces') led to its emergence as a world power and the establishment of a colonial empire. At the height of its power in 1942, the Empire ruled over a land area spanning 7,400,000 square kilometres (2,857,000 sq mi), making it one of the largest maritime empires in history.
The French colonial empire, constituted the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 17th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the 'First colonial empire', that existed until 1814, by which time most of it had been lost, and the 'Second colonial empire', which began with the conquest of Algiers in 1830. The second empire came to an end after the loss of bitter wars in Vietnam (1955) and Algeria (1962), and peaceful decolonization elsewhere after 1960.
The Rashidun Caliphate is the collective term comprising the first four caliphs—the 'Rightly Guided' or Rashidun caliphs—in Islamic history and was founded after Muhammad's death in 632 (year 11 AH in the Islamic calendar). At its height, the Caliphate controlled a vast empire from the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant, to the Caucasus in the north, North Africa from Egypt to present-day Tunisia in the west, and the Iranian plateau to Central Asia in the east. It was the largest empire in history by land area up until that point.
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pedro I and his son Dom Pedro II. A colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese colonial Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese Prince regent, later King Dom João VI, fled from Napoleon's invasion of Portugal and established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
The Achaemenid from the Persian: 'Hakhamanesh'; c. 550–330 BC), also called the First Persian Empire, was an empire based in Western Asia, founded by Cyrus the Great, notable for including various civilizations and becoming the largest empire of ancient history, spanning at its maximum extent from the Balkans and Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east. It is equally notable for its successful model of a centralized, bureaucratic administration.
Macedonia or was an ancient kingdom on the northern periphery of Classical Greece and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. It was ruled during most of its existence initially by the founding dynasty of the Argeads, the intermittent Antipatrids and finally the Antigonids. Home to the Macedonians, the earliest kingdom was centered on the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south.
The Portuguese, also known as the Portuguese Overseas (Ultramar Português), was the first global empire in history. In addition, it was the longest-lived of the modern European colonial empires, spanning almost six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau in 1999 or the grant of sovereignty to East Timor in 2002. The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories that are now parts of 60 different sovereign states.
The Abbasid was the third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Abbasid dynasty descended from Muhammad's youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. They ruled as caliphs, for most of their period from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after assuming authority over the Muslim empire from the Umayyads in 750 CE (132 AH).
The French colonial empire, constituted the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 17th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the 'First colonial empire', that existed until 1814, by which time most of it had been lost, and the 'Second colonial empire', which began with the conquest of Algiers in 1830. The second empire came to an end after the loss of bitter wars in Vietnam (1955) and Algeria (1962), and peaceful decolonization elsewhere after 1960.
The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing (Chinese: 大清; pinyin: Dà Qīng), also called the Empire of the Great Qing, or the Manchu dynasty, was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for the modern Chinese state.
The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan (Chinese: 大元; pinyin: Dà Yuán; Mongolian: Yehe Yuan Ulus), was the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. Although the Mongols had ruled territories including today's North China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Chinese style. His realm was, by this point, isolated from the other khanates and controlled most of present-day China and its surrounding areas, including modern Mongolia and Korea. It was the first foreign dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368, after which its Genghisid rulers returned to their Mongolian homeland and continued to rule the Northern Yuan dynasty.
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centered on the Umayyad, hailing from Mecca. The Umayyad family had first come to power under the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan (r. 644–656), but the Umayyad regime was founded by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, long-time governor of Syria, after the end of the First Muslim Civil War in 661 CE/41 AH.
The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in world history and one of the first of global extent. It reached the peak of its military, political and economic power under the Spanish Habsburgs through most of the 16th and 17th centuries, and its greatest territorial extent under the Bourbons in the 18th century when it was the largest empire in the world. The Spanish Empire became the foremost global power of its time, and was the first to be called the empire on which the sun never sets.
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until overthrown by the short-lived liberal February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in world history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring rival powers: the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia and the Ottoman Empire. It played a major role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleon's ambitions to control Europe, and expanded to the west and south
The Mongol Empire existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in the steppes of Central Asia, the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan, extending northwards into Siberia, eastwards and southwards into the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and the Iranian plateau, and westwards as far as the Levant and Arabia
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 13,000,000 sq mi (33,670,000 km2), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area.