List of empires

This is an alphabetical list of empires that stretched far beyond their geographical and cultural limits to govern other parts of the world. The list includes empires that may only have had cultural and economic influences. Some historians may consider some of the empires listed below as dynasties instead.

A

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Demise	Note
Abbasid	Iraq	Baghdad	750	1517		See also Umayyad Empire
Achaemenid	Persia (Iran)	Anshan	550 BC	330 BC		Second Persian Empire,The largest in Classical Antiquity,Founded by Cyrus the great
Afsharid empire	Persia	Mashhad	1736	1796		see Persian empire
Akkadian	Sumer	Akkad	2350 BC	2150 BC
Almohad	Morocco	Marrakech and later on Seville, Spain	1147	1262		See also Almoravids
Almoravid	Morocco	Marrakech	1073	1147		See also Almohads
American Empire	The United States of America	Washington D.C.	1898	Present		Not a de jure empire. It referred to economic and cultural influence
Armenian	modern day Armenia	Tigranakert	95 BC	60 BC		Tigranes was named as the king of kings.
Assyrian	Mesopotamia	Assur, then Nineveh	1920 BC	609 BC		Exact origin at Upper Tigris river
Athenian	Ancient Greece	Delos island	477 BC	431 BC		Also known as Delian League. It was an association of Greek city-states
Austrian	Modern day Austria	Vienna	1804	1867		Replaced the Holy Roman Empire
Austro-Hungarian	Central Europe	Vienna	1867	1918		Replaced the Austrian Empire
Axumite	Ethiopia	Axum	c. 100	c. 950		Succeeded by Ethiopian Empire
Aztec	Mesoamerica	Tenochtitlan	1375	1521	Destroyed by invasion of Spanish Empire	The capital of Mexico, Mexico City, is built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

B

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Demise	Note
Babylonian	Mesopotamia	Babylon	1900 BC	1600 BC		See also Neo-Babylonian Empire
Balhae	Northern part of Korean Peninsula, Manchuria	Sanggyeong	698	926		See also Balhae
Belgian	Belgium	Brussels	1901	1962		overseas possessions were referred to as "the colonies" rather than as an empire
Brazilian	Brazil	Rio de Janeiro	1822	1889		Established by the Portuguese royal family went into exile in Brazil after Napoleonic occupation of Portugal
British	Britain	London	1607	Present		It refers to economic and cultural influence, and is listed as to present because it holds many overseas territories. Largest Empire in world history
First Bulgarian Empire	Danube delta	Pliska, Preslav, Ohrid	681	1018		Founded by the Bulgar ruler Asparukh. Under Tsar Simeon I became the first powerful Slavic Empire. Falls to the Byzantine Empire under Basil the Bulgar-Slayer
Second Bulgarian Empire	Veliko Tarnovo	Veliko Tarnovo	1185	1422	Destroyed by invasion of Ottoman Empire	Successor of the First Bulgarian Empire. Under the Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II became the most powerful state on the Balkans
Byzantine	Greece	Constantinople	330	1453	Destroyed by invasion of Ottoman Empire	Term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages

C

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Central African	Central African Republic	Bangui	1977	1979	Jean-Bédel Bokassa declared himself Emperor Bokassa in 1977
Chalukya	India	Vatapi	600	1200	see Chalukya dynasty
Chera	Southern India	Vanchi Muthur	300 B.C.	300 A.D.	A Tamil empire
Chinese Empire	China	Various, including Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Luoyang, Xi'an, Kaifeng, Zhengzhou	221 BC	1912	Weakened by Western Empires, and the court reluctance for reform, China became a republic in 1912, but continues to occupy most of the area ocuppied by the Qing dynasty
Chola	Southern India	Thanjavur and later Gangaikonda Cholapuram	850	1279	A Tamil empire
Gran Colombian	South America	Bogotá	1819	1831	see Gran Colombia

D

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Dutch	Netherlands	Amsterdam	1620	-	See also Dutch East India Company

DaVe aRchAnGeL

E

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Elamite	Ilam Province, Persia (Iran), Anshan (Persia or Iran) and Susa, (Khuzestan)		2700 BC	539 BC
Ethiopian	Ethiopia	varied over time	1270	1975
Egyptian Empire	Egypt, Africa	Memphis	1570 BC	1270 BC

F

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Fatimid	Egypt	Cairo	910	1171
First French Empire	France	Paris	1804	1814
First Colonial French	France	Paris	1605	1803
Second French Empire	France	Paris	1852	1870
Second Colonial French	France	Paris	1830	Present
Frankish	Gaul	Aachen, (Aix-la-Chapelle)	5th century	10th century

G

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Gallic	Rhineland-Palatinate	Augusta Treverorum	260	274	In Latin, Imperium Galliarum
German	Germany	Berlin	1871	1918
Ghanian	West of Sahel, Africa	Koumbi Saleh	750	1068	The Empire became known in Europe and Arabia as the "Ghana Empire" by the title of its ruler (meaning "Warrior King")
Ghaznavid Empire	Greater Iran	Ghazni	963	1187	See also Persian Empire
Goryeo	Korea	Gaegyeong	918	1392
Goguryeo	Part of Korean Peninsula, Manchuria	Pyeongyang	37 BC	668	"Conquered much of Manchuria, defeated the armies of China's Sui and Tang Empires and became a major regional power"
Golden Horde	Central Asia	Sarai	1378	1502	Break-away state of the Mongol Empire
Great Moravia	Mitteleuropa/Central Europe	Morava	833	900	The word "Moravia" did not refer only to present-day Moravia
Gupta Empire	Indian subcontinent	Ujjain	240	55

H

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Haitian	North America	Port-au-Prince	1804	1806	Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared himself Emperor
Han Empire	China	Chang'an	206 BC	220 AD
Harsha	India	Kannauj	606	647
Hebrew	Israel	Jerusalem	1050 BC	920 BC	aka "United Kingdom of Israel and Judah" later divided to Kingdom of Israel until 720 BC and Kingdom of Judah until 586 BC.
Hittite	Anatolia	Hattusa, now named Boğazkale, Turkey	1460 BC	1180 BC	See also Neo-Hittite
Hoysala	India	Belur	1000	1400
Hungarian	Central Europe		1000	1918

I

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Incan Empire (Tawantinsuyo)	Andes (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, parts of Chile, Argentina and Colombia)	Cusco	1438	1533	The largest empire in pre-Columbian America.
Indus Valley	spread over present India,Pakistan,Afghanistan	Mohenjo-Daro,Harappa,Lothal	3300 BC	1700 BC	See Indus Valley Civilisation
Irish	Ireland	Armagh	1005	1014
Italian	Modern day Italy	Rome	1885	1941

J

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Japanese	Japan	Tokyo	660BC	present	See also Meiji Era, Taisho Era and Showa Era
Joseon	Korea	Hanseong	1897	1910	Joseon was known as the Korean Empire from 1897-1910, but the dynasty remained as the kingdom since 1392.

K

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Khmer	Cambodia	Angkor	802	1462	seceded from the kingdom of Chenla
Kongo	Southwest Africa	Mbanza Kongo	1400	1888	BaKongo kingdom that dominated West Central Africa and included parts of modern day Angola, Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Korean	Korean Peninsula	Seoul	1897	1910	See also Korean Empire
Khwar	Persia		11th Century	1220

L

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Latin	Asia Minor	Constantinople	1204	1261	See also Crusader states

M

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Macedonian	Greece	Pella	338 BC	309 BC	Founded by Alexander the Great
Magadhan	Ancient India	Rajagriha (modern Rajgir)	684 BC	26 BC	See also Mahajanapadas and Maurya Empire
Mali	West Africa	Niani	1235	1610	A Mandinka empire founded by Sundiata Keita
Majapahit	Malay Archipelago	Majapahit, Wilwatikta	1293	1527
Maratha	Indian subcontinent	Satara	1674	1818	Also known as the Maratha Confederacy.
Mauryan	Ancient India	Pataliputra	321 BC	185 BC	Founded by Chandragupta Maurya. Ashoka the Great transformed it into the first Buddhist empire
Mayan	Yucatan Peninsula	Tikal	250	900	Many other major sites: Chichén Itzá, Mayapán, Uxmal
Median Empire	Persia	Ecbatana	728 BC	559 BC	First Persian empire,Founded by Deioces
First Mexican Empire	Modern-day Mexico		1822	1823	Preceded the Second Mexican Empire which was short lived (1864-1867). See also Mexican Imperial Orders
Second Mexican Empire	Modern-day Mexico		1864	1867	Succeeded the First Mexican Empire which was short lived (1822-1823). See also Mexican Imperial Orders
Micronesian Empire	Micronesia, Pacific Ocean	Yap	unknown	unknown
Ming	China	Beijing	1368	1644
Mitanni	Southern Asia	Taite and Washshukanni (Khabur River)	c. 1500 BC	c. 1200 BC	Founded by Indo-Aryans
Moche	Coast of Peru	Moche	100	750
Mongol	Mongolia	Karakorum	1206	1368	split into four parts (Yuan Dynasty, Il-Khanate, Chagatai Khanate and Golden Horde)
Mughal	India,Pakistan	Agra and Delhi	1526	1857	Founded by Babur. "Mughal" is a Persian word for the Mongols

N

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Nicaean	Greece/Anatolia	Nicaea	1204	1261

O

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Ottoman	Anatolia	Depends on the period	1299	1922	Capitals were Söğüt, Bursa, Edirne and lastly Istanbul
Olmec	Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico	San Lorenzo	1200BC	400BC

P

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Pala	Bengal	Pataliputra	750	1174
Palmyrene	Syria (Roman province)	Palmyra	260	273	broke off the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century
Pandyan	India	Madurai	1st century AD	14th century	Considered by contemporary historians as being the richest country in the world
Parthian	Persia	Ctesiphon	200 BC	224	Third Persian Empire,Founded by Arsaces I
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth	Poland	Kraków, Warsaw	1569	1795
Portuguese	Portugal	Lisbon	1415	1999	Was the earliest and longest lived of the colonial Western European empires

Q

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Qing	China	Beijing	1636	1912	Last dynasty of the Imperial Period

R

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Rashidun	Saudi Arabia	Medina (later went to Kufa, Iraq)	632	661
Holy Roman	Central Europe	None	843	1806	Also known as The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. See also Roman Empire
Roman	Modern Italy	Rome	509BC/27 BC	476(West)/1453(East)	See also Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Roman Republic and Imperium
Russian	Russia	Saint Petersburg	1721	1917	formed from the powerful medieval state of Muscovy

S

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Sassanid	Persia (Iran)	Ctesiphon	224	642	Fourth Persian Empire
Satavahana	India	Paithan(Pune)	230 BC	199	Indian Middle Kingdoms Middle kingdoms of India
Seleucid	Persia (Iran)	Seleucia, then Antioch	323 BC	60 BC
Seljuk	Aral Sea, Asia Minor	Ray, Iran and later on Isfahan	1037	1194	Fifth Persian empire
Serbian	Serbian Kingdom	Skopje	1345	1371	fell into feudal disarray
Serbian	Modern-day northern Vojvodina, Serbia	Subotica	1526	1527	state of a mercenary, Jovan Nenad
Siam	Thailand	Ayutthaya ,Thonburi and Bangkok	1345	1909
Sikh	Punjab region	Amritsar	1799	1849	Preceded the British Empire in the Indian subcontinent
Song	China	Hangzhou	960	1279
Songhai	West Africa	Gao	1375	1591	Former vassal of the Mali Empire which became one of the largest African empires in history.
Soviet	Russia	Moscow	1922	1991	Not a de jure empire. It referred to economic and cultural influence
Spanish	Iberian peninsula	Madrid	1492	Present	Was one of the first global empires
Srivijaya	Malay Archipelago	Palembang, Jambi	3rd century	14th century
Swedish	Scandinavia	Stockholm	1611	1721	Was Northern Europe's most powerful state, and the continental leader of Protestantism.

T

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Demise	Note
Tang	China	Chang'an	618	907
Tay Son Dynasty	Vietnam	Thanglong (Hanoi)	1778	1802	Destroyed by Civil wars for the power after Emp.Quang Trung's Death	The empire is the glory of Emperor Quang Trung
Teotihuacano	Mesoamerica	Teotihuacán	300 BC	600/700 BC	Presumably destroyed itself.	Teotihuacán translated as "city where men become gods"
Third Reich	Germany	Berlin	1933	1945	Destroyed by invasion of Allied forces in WWII	Nazi Germany signed a treaty (Tripartite Pact) with the Japanese and Italian Empires
Tibetan	Tibet	Lhasa	7th century	11th century
Timurid	Persia and Central Asia	Samarkand and later on Herat	1401	1505		Persianized form of the Mongolian word kürügän,Sixth Persian empire
Trebizond	Black Sea	Trebizond - modern name Trabzon	1204	1461		Successor state of the Byzantine Empire
Tu'i Tongan	Tonga, Pacific Ocean	Mu'a	950 AD	1500 AD		See History of Tonga

U

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Umayyad	Syria	Damascus and later on Cordoba, Spain	661	1492	Descendants of Prophet Muhammad
Ur III	Sumer	Ur	2100 BC	2000 BC	The dynasty/empire is also known as the Sumerian Renaissance

V

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Vedic	India	Various over many dynasties	600 BC	1200	See Kingdoms of ancient India and Mahajanapadas
Venetian	Northeast Italy	Venice	9th century	1797	More a republic than an empire. Also known as The Most Serene Republic of Venice
Vijayanagara	South India	Deccan	1336	1646	The founding of the original kingdom was based on the principality of Anegondi

W

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Wari	Peru, Bolivia	Huari/Tiwanaku	700	1100	It's a discussion if it was a real organized state that can be called empire (if it really was it would be consider as the first empire the Americas).

X

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note

Y

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note

Z

Empire	Origin	Capital	From	To	Note
Zulu	West Zimbabwe and South Africa	Kwa Buluwayo	1817	1879
Zapotecs	Oaxaca Valley	Monte Albán	500BC	1502

See also

• List of extinct states
• List of largest empires
• List of longest empires

References

• Hunt, L. et al. (1995). Challenge of the West: Peoples & Cultures from the Stone Age to the Global Age. D. C. Heath and Company: Lexington, MA.
• Black, J. et al. (2004). World History Atlas: Mapping the Human Journey. Dorling Kindersley: New York, NY.