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The Swahili Coast
Season 2
City-states on the east coast of Africa grew in size and prosperity as they took advantage of wind patterns to participate in Indian Ocean trade. The…
2 years, 6 months ago
The Songhai Empire
Season 2
The basis of the Songhai Empire’s wealth was much the same as for the kingdoms that preceded it: salt, cloth, and gold. Sunni Ali’s program of annexa…
2 years, 7 months ago
The Roots of African Trade
Season 2
Until the sixteenth century, caravans routinely plied the sands of the Sahara, moving goods, especially gold, from distant West Africa to centers of …
2 years, 7 months ago
Exchange in East Asia
Season 2
East Asia was drawn into the network of global maritime trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Portuguese and Spanish arrived in Japan…
2 years, 7 months ago
The Malacca Sultanate
Season 2
The Malaccan Sultanate was established around 1400 by Parameswara, the last king of Singapura. The city’s location on both sides of the Malaccan Stra…
2 years, 7 months ago
India and International Connections
Season 2
Although Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, a Muslim who founded the Mughal Empire, made little effort to assimilate to Indian culture, his grandson Akbar …
2 years, 7 months ago
A Summary of our Journey into Human History so far
Season 1
Knowing the past, the human story, has long been considered a mark of civilization, and its study has never been more important. The study of world h…
2 years, 7 months ago
Gunpowder and Nomads in a Transitional Age
Early forms of guns were difficult to use and often inaccurate, but as they improved, rulers began to replace cavalry with infantry armed with guns. …
2 years, 7 months ago
From the Mamluks to Ming China
Season 1
The Abbasids, Ayyubids, and Ottomans all depended on enslaved or formerly enslaved people to staff their armies and run their administrations. Christ…
2 years, 7 months ago
The Ottomans and the Mongols
Season 1
Following the sack of Constantinople by crusaders and the Mongols’ defeat of the Seljuk Turks, the Ottomans emerged as a power in northwestern Anatol…
2 years, 7 months ago