Top 10 Most Important Empires In History
Being an imperial power doesn’t impress people the way it used to. A
century ago, countries strived to be a dominating world power and were
willing to fight wars to either acquire an Empire, or hold on to the one
they already had. Nowadays, of course, in this “kinder, gentler”
world, imperialism is considered politically incorrect. As a result—and
because maintaining an empire is prohibitively expensive—they are
basically no more, though a few remnants hang on (such as the Falkland
Islands for the British and the Comoro Islands for France).
At one time, however, they were all the rage, with some of them
extending around the globe and a few of them lasting for hundreds and,
in a few cases, even thousands of years.
So which were the largest or most important ones, and which lasted
the longest? I realize that how one defines “important” can be
subjective; I define it to mean its impact upon history or, more
precisely, the ways in which it shaped the geopolitical map we see
today. With that in mind, then, below is my top ten list of the ten
largest, most powerful and important Empires in history.
10. The Mayan Empire (ca. 2000 BCE-1540 CE)
How does the Mayan Empire make it onto the list alongside such
well-known empires like the Roman, British, and Mongol Empires? Easy.
It holds the record for the longest running empire—almost 3500 years!
That’s more than twice as long as the Roman Empire, and 1500 years
longer than the various Chinese dynasties combined! While very little
is known about its first 3,000 years, its demise and brief interaction
with the Spanish in the 16th century is the stuff of legends (see the Mel Gibson-directed film Apocalypto
to get a good idea of what the Mayan Empire looked like at its height).
Today, all we have left of the Mayans is their impressive pyramid-like
structures scattered across the Yucatan peninsula, and a doomsday
calendar that seems to have everybody up in arms nowadays.
9. The French Empire (1534-1962)
Eventually becoming the second-largest empire in history (second only
to the British Empire), at its zenith the French Colonial Empire
extended over 4.9 million square miles, and covered almost 1/10 of the
Earth’s total land area. Its influence made French one of the most
widely-spoken languages in the world for a time, and brought French
architecture, culture, and cuisine to the four corners of the globe.
Alas, like all the great European empires, its collapse came about
incrementally over a long period of time, as it lost territories to
other emerging nations—especially to the British—and it suffered through
two World Wars,
which drained it financially. Though it continued to hold onto to some
of its territories well into the 20th century (and still does to this
day), by 1962, with the granting of independence to rebellious Algeria,
the French Empire was basically no more, bringing a close to a long and
cultured era in human history.
8. The Spanish Empire (1492-1976)
One of the first global empires, at its height it possessed
territories and colonies in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and
Oceania, making it one of the most important political and economic
powers in the world for several hundred years. Its establishment in the
15th century also ushered in the modern global era, and five centuries
of European dominance of global affairs before competition from other
European powers—particularly the French and British—weakened Spain to
the point that, by the end of the 19th century, it was but a shadow of
its former greatness. The end didn’t finally come until the 1970s,
however, when it granted its last colonies in Africa and South America
their independence, spelling finito to 600 years of Spanish colonialism. Its chief contribution came in its discovery of the New World in 1492 and the spread of Christianity
to the western world, both of which was to dramatically change the
geo-political dynamics of the planet and lay the foundation for the
modern western world.
7. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1912)
This was the last ruling dynasty of China before the country became a
Republic, bringing an end to many hundreds of years of imperial rule.
Preceded by the better-known Ming Dynasty, the Qing dynasty was founded
by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro in what is today Manchuria
in 1644. It grew quickly until, by the 18th century, it covered all of
what is today’s modern China, Mongolia, and even parts of Siberia—an
area of over 5.7 million square miles (and making it the 5th largest
empire in history, according to land mass.) The Qing Dynasty was
finally overthrown following the Xinhai Revolution, however, when the
Empress Dowager Longyu abdicated on behalf of the last emperor, Puyi, in
February of 1912, bringing an end to a long line of Emperors stretching
back over 1500 years. Not a bad run by any standards!
6. The Umayyad Caliphate (661-750)
I bet you’ve never heard of this one, but it proved to be one of the
fastest growing—though shortest-lived—Empires in history. Organized in
the aftermath of the death of the venerated prophet Muhammad,
it was the mechanism by which Islam was spread across the Middle East
and into North Africa, sweeping aside everything in its path. Actually,
the Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four Islamic caliphates
established after the death of Muhammad but, at its height, it would
cover more than five million square miles, making it the largest empire
the world had yet seen (modern Arab nationalism regards the period of
the Umayyads as part of the Arab Golden Age of Islam). Though it was
eventually superseded by various other caliphates and empires (including
the Ottoman Empire), it laid the foundation for what was to be a nearly
unbroken string of Muslim control in the region, that continues to this
day.
5. The Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550-330 BCE)
More commonly referred to as the Medo-Persian Empire, this Asian
Empire was the largest one in ancient history which, at its height,
extended from the Indus valley of modern day Pakistan to Libya, and into
the Balkans. Forged by Cyrus the Great, it is best remembered as the
chief foe of the Greek city states during the Greco-Persian Wars, for
emancipating its slaves and releasing the Jews from their Babylonian
captivity, and for instituting the usage of official languages
throughout its territories. It wasn’t very long, however, before it
fell victim to Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE, and was
quickly defeated and absorbed into Alexander’s own vast, but
short-lived, Empire.
Upon his death, it splintered into two smaller Empires, the Ptolemaic
Kingdom and Seleucid Empire, as well as into other minor territories,
many of which gained independence after its collapse. Perhaps its
greatest contribution was in its creation of a centralized
administration that kept it running efficiently and profitably for
centuries, and served as a model for future and modern governments. So
these are the folks that invented bureaucracy, is it?
4. The Ottoman Empire (1299-1922)
The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest lasting empires
in history. During its height (under Suleiman the Magnificent) in the
16th century, it stretched from the southern borders of the Holy Roman
Empire to the Persian Gulf, and from the Caspian Sea to modern day
Algeria, giving it de facto control of much of southeast Europe, Western
Asia and North Africa. At the beginning of the 17th century the empire
contained no fewer than 32 provinces, along with numerous vassal
states, making it one of the truly great empires whose influence
continues to be felt to this day.
As is the case with most large empires, however, ethnic and religious
tensions, and increasing competition from other emerging powers,
whittled away at the Ottoman’s power until it finally began dissolving
in the 19th century. In many ways, the circumstances surrounding the
Ottoman Empire’s fall closely paralleled those surrounding the decline
of the Roman Empire, particularly in regards to the ongoing tensions
between the Empire’s different ethnic groups, and the various
governments’ inability to deal with these tensions. Attempts to improve
cultural rights and civil liberties came too late to reverse its
demise, though it did lay the foundation for secularist governments in
the Muslim world, as exemplified by modern-day Turkey.
3. The Mongol Empire (1206-1368)
Though short-lived as Empires go—it lasted a mere 162 years—while it
was around, few were as frightening, or grew as quickly, as this one.
Under the leadership of Ghengis Khan (1163-1227), it started
small—basically just present-day Mongolia—but within seventy years it
had grown into the largest contiguous land Empire in human history,
eventually stretching from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan. At its
height, it covered an area of 9 million square miles, and held sway over
a population of 100 million.
It would probably have been even larger—and possibly have lasted
longer—had it managed to invade Japan, but its fleet lost bouts with
first-class tsunamis
in 1274 and 1281, ending Kublai Khan’s plans to expand eastward. By
the middle of fourteenth century, the empire began slowly falling apart
through infighting and political instability until it finally folded,
with its far-flung territories breaking away or being absorbed by other
emerging powers. While it existed, however, few Empires had as big an
impact on trade, religion, and culture in Asia as did the Mongols.
2. The British Empire (1603 to 1997)
Though it lasted a mere 400 years, no empire was larger than the one
the comparatively-small island nation of Great Britain was able to
maintain until fairly recently. How big was it? At its zenith in 1922,
the British Empire held sway over nearly half a billion people (a fifth
of the world’s population at the time) and covered more than 13 million
square miles (almost a quarter of the Earth’s total land area)! Not
bad for a country slightly smaller than the state of Oregon. In fact,
at one point the sun never set on the British Empire, not because God
couldn’t trust an Englishman in the dark, but because of its global
reach (with colonies and possessions on every continent—including,
believe it or not, Antarctica).
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and that end came in the
twentieth century, when two World Wars drained England financially,
making it cheaper to dissolve her empire than keep it. Of course, once
they lost India in 1947 it was all over; except for a couple of small
possessions (the aforementioned Falkland Islands and a few islands
scattered around the globe), the sun really has set on the British
Empire. Its most important possession remains Gibraltar, the gateway to
the Mediterranean, and one that is supposed to remain in British hands
as long as its population of Barbary Macaques—a type of obnoxious
monkey—remains on the peninsula.
1. The Roman Empire (27 BCE to 1453)
This is a no-brainer, as absolutely no Empire is as well known and
has been as thoroughly studied as is the one that owned the
Mediterranean and much of Europe for almost 1,500 years. Founded in 27
BCE, when the Roman senate granted Octavian the title of Augustus—thereby
ending the old Roman Republic (which itself had already stood a good
500 years)—it ended nearly 1500 years later when the Ottoman Turks,
under Mehmed II, sacked the last vestiges of the old Empire’s capitol,
Constantinople, in 1453. Of course, by that time it was a mere shadow of
its former glory (and was no longer even ruled from Rome) but, at its
zenith in 117 CE, it was the most powerful nation on the planet, bar
none. While it wasn’t the largest, or even the longest-lasting Empire
in history, its influence on western culture—especially in regards to
architecture, language, literature, art, and science—cannot be
underestimated. In fact, it’s difficult to imagine how the world would
look today if there hadn’t been a Roman Empire those many centuries ago.
Others empires worthy of note: The Assyrian Empire (mentioned prominently in the Bible), the Byzantine Empire (the long-lived successor to the Roman Empire), The Holy Roman Empire (which owned Europe for nearly 900 years), the Egyptian Empire (regional but nearly as famous as the Roman Empire), and the Greek—or, more precisely—the Macedonian Empire (one of the shortest-lived but most powerful empires in the world, under Alexander the Great).
Jeff Danelek is a Denver, Colorado author who writes on many
subjects having to do with history, politics, the paranormal,
spirituality and religion. To see more of his stuff, visit his website
at www.ourcuriousworld.com.