Map of the Mongolian Empire However, the ‘greatness’ of an empire is not an easily quantifiable aspect, as several factors are to be considered. In that case here are the top 10 largest empires in history by area: This book really filled me into what I did not know about the empire and went into detail about what I did know. To the south of the Mediterranean, the Umayyad Caliphate became one of the greatest empires ever formed. The Umayyad family had first come to power under the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan ( 644–656 C.E), 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. It rose from a collection of nomadic tribes in central Asia and at its height extended from Central Asia to Central Europe and to the Sea of Japan. This, as well as the growing unrest among its colonies eventually led to the fall of this empire. The Ottoman dynasty lasted for 623 years until the monarchy was abolished in 1922 and covered parts of Asia, Europe and Africa. Also known as the Turkish Empire or Turkey, the Ottoman state became an empire with the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II in 1453. It was the first foreign dynasty to rule all of China and lasted from 1271–1368 C.E. This empire began when Mohammad died in 632 AD and his followers scrambled to acquire his empire while the great prophets family prepared for his funeral. Discovery The 10 Greatest Empires In The History Of The World 1) The British Empire was the largest empire the world has ever seen 2) The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire the world has ever seen Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. By share of population, the largest empire was the Achaemenid Empire, better known as the Persian Empire, which accounted for approximately 49.4 million of the world’s 112.4 million people in around 480 BC – an astonishing 44%. The empire was able to grow swiftly under the leadership of Genghis Khan. Subscribe to List25. Precursor to the modern Commonwealth of Nations. This unit has been influenced and uses sources from a range of scholarship including (amongst others): The Anarchy by William Dalrymple, The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan, The English and their History by Robert Toombs and The Writing Revolution by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler. The British Empire was the largest empire in the history of humanity, as it was present on all the continents: In Asia, it ruled the territories of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia, Borneo, and Hong Kong. At its height, between the 16th and 17th centuries CE, the Islamic empire of Süleyman the Magnificent covered portions of three continents: Southeastern Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. By the 1280s the Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in the history of humankind covering an area of 9.27 million square miles. Many of the territories it colonized have since gained independence, though several remain part of what is known as the Commonwealth of Nations today. The Antikythera mechanism was discovered inside a shipwreck, 50 meters under water near the Greek Island of Antikythera. At its greatest extent, in 1895, the Russian Empire reached 8.9 million square miles. It became the largest empire in history. Lasting from 1206–1368 C.E. The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas, was one of the largest and longest-lived empires in world history and the first colonial empire of the Renaissance. In the period of 16th and 17th century, it reached up to the peak of armed forces, political and economical powerful under the rule of Spanish Habsburgs. Because of its size and influence, the empire had played an integral role in halting Napoleon’s conquest of Europe. This empire was introduced to the Europeans by an Italian traveller named Marco Polo. 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