History of Every EARLY MEDIEVAL Empire, i guess... 

I do posts on Mesoamerican (Aztec, Maya, etc) history, so like for first video in the series, I wanted to chime in with additional or possible empires that weren't mentioned (the Zapotec state of Monte Alban, the larger Maya dynasties, etc), extra information about what is already in the video (about Teotihuacan, which is SO cool and deserves to get talked about in more depth), and with some corrections (about the Toltecs, who not only may not have had a large empire, but may not have existed at all!). If that sounds cool, click "Read more!" Just to repeat some info from the comment in that first video: you first start to see cities, writing, rulership, etc in Mesoamerica during the Preclassic or Formative period (2000BC-100AD, though those traits really start to pop up around 1400-900BC) but depending on how you define full bureaucratic state governments, the first true states may not pop up till 500BC (though I think probably earlier in some cases). The Zapotec city of Monte Alban was, within that narrow/strict definition, that initial "first state", and it remained a key political center in the Zapotec civilization for over a millennia, only declining around 600-700AD. While i'm unsure how much of an "empire" it would have been right at 500BC, Monte Alban is absolutely a contender here for the early Medieval period, having influence over much of Oaxaca. As mentioned in the last video, something that does make defining an "empire" tough in Mesoamerica is that directly managed "imperial" political systems were rare due to the lack of draft animals and the terrain being mostly valleys/mountain ranges or jungles/swamps , but there's archeological evidence Monte Alban did actually directly meddle with local economics some and founded colonies, probably more then the Aztec did. The only caveat IMO is in terms of size, it may be more of a large kingdom then a small Empire, which is a debate we'll see further down with other contenders. Next, Teotihuacan was mentioned in the vid, but I think it deserves even more coverage, because it's truly one of the coolest cities in human history. It started out one os the second largest site in the Valley of Mexico (later the Aztec political core and modern day Mexico City) after Cuicuilco, during the tail end of the Preclassic period around 300-100BC. Early Classic period Volcanic eruption(s) displaced people who then migrated into Teotihuacan, causing it to grow: By it's peak around 400-500AD, Teotihuacan had ~100,000 denizens (in the top 15 cities in the world at the time!), covered a massive 37 square kilometers, ~20sqkm of which was a giant planned urban grid of large temples and palace compounds. Almost the entire population lived in the latter, akin to Roman villas or elite homes in other Mesoamerican cities, with dozens of rooms, open courtyards, painted frescos, and even plumbing systems and toilets (Though most plumbing seems to be for storing or draining rainwater? It's a little unclear). On the note of water management, there were also rivers converted into channels recoursed through the grid layout, and some plazas could even be flooded like the Roman Colosseum for ceremonies. It may have been democracy or a republic given it's housing equality and wide access to elite goods, and the lack of royal tombs or iconography(+ it's mult-ethnic makeup, see below, and just weird urban design trends in general). So, did Teotihuacan lead an empire? It undoubtedly had heavy influence over the rest of it's valley, and over cities and towns outside of the valley in other parts of Central Mexico such as in Morelos, where it may have even exerted direct control/administration. Like with Monte Alban, by Eurasian standards maybe that's not big enough to be considered an empire, but in Mesoamerica where there's less space and logistical constraints on expansion, it's a major state. Also, as I said, a lot of large Mesoamerican kingdoms or empires are really more hegemonic and indirect without hands on administration or imposing culture, so it's possible there's even more cities, towns, etc across Central Mexico (or beyond...) that Teotihuacan had political influence over but just didn't directly mess with enough to leave hard evidence to prove it for sure. And there IS evidence of widespread cultural influence, even if it's hard to say if it indicates political dominance: It's Talud-Tablero architectural style spread all over Mesoamerica, and Teotihuacano style ceramics are found all the way down in Guatemala. It also controlled key obsidian deposits and was likely an economic powerhouse, and the city even had ethnic neighborhoods with Maya, Zapotec, Gulf Coast, and Michoacán communities, with signs that it had diplomatic contact with Monte Alban and key Maya cities like Tikal. In fact, Maya inscriptions say Teotihuacan outright conquered Tikal and other large Maya cities and installed rulers onto them, which would be very impressive since these were over 1000 miles away. There's some research which disputes if Teotihuacan really conquered those Maya cities, but they probably at least had direct diplomatic contact. In general, I highly recommend the Science article "Astounding new finds suggest ancient empire may be hiding in plain sight" and some subsequent ones they did about a potential teotihuacan-tikal embassies and spider monkey gifts on the topic. I also helped the channel "Ancient Americas" out with his video on Teotihuacan (plus others on the channel). That brings us to the Maya. There was no unified singular Classic Maya "Empire", but if we call the Aztec Empire an empire even though it's more a network of independent states, so couldn't one talk about the larger Classic Maya political networks as "empires"? To be sure, there is more centralization with the Aztec Empire (which was also just much bigger), since all states within it paid taxes to or politically toed the line to it's triple alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan; Wheras for say the Maya Snake/Kaan dynasty (headed by Calakmul) or the Hairknot/Mutal dyansty (headed by Tikal), it was more of each city-state having it's own web of connections to every other city-state, and alliances and political subservience just tended to align with dynastic connections. But Maya dynasties also did things like directly install/appoint rulers more then the Mexica of Tenochtitlan tended to when it conquered things into the Aztec Empire. I think you could argue that the actual dynasties themselves were sort of akin to small empires or large kingdoms (At least by Mesoamerican standards) even if there weren't a formal political entity as such. But I admit Central Mexico is more my expertise, so I could be wrong! Finally, the Toltecs, who are maybe the biggest can of worms in all of Mesoamerican history. Much of what is talked about as "The Toltec Empire" comes from Nahua (the actual broader "Aztec culture"; Aztec vs Mexica vs Nahua etc as terms is a mess for next video's comment!) historical annals recorded by Spanish priests or Nahua nobles in the early colonial period. In them, the Toltec are presented as a utopian civilization between~800-1100AD, who established the arts and sciences (But as I said, complex civilization in Mesoamerica vastly predates the Toltecs!) from their capital of Tollan, until (a series) of kings or priests fall to moral temptations, leads to the (cyclical) collapse of Toltec society. These accounts are clearly at least somewhat mythical, with gods and magic. Nonetheless, it was thought that they were still mostly also referencing real historical events, and researchers linked Ce Acatl Toplitzin, a Toltec figure tied to Quetzalcoatl, allegedly leaving to the east, to increasing Central Mexican influence in the Maya region at the time and the rise of Feathered Serpent cults there, and to perceived similarities between Tula, an archeological site in Central Mexico identified in some sources as Tollan, with Chichen Itza in the Yucatan... ...However, there is now much more skepticism towards all of this. Very few researchers these days think Tula directly conquered the Yucatan or even most of Central Mexico, and if the architectural similarities between Tula and Chichen Itza even represents indirect political or economic ties is disputed: Some researchers argue that the similarities between the two sites (and the Feathered serpent cults in the Yucatan) is entirely coincidental, may actually be MAYA influence spreading to Central Mexico, or just points to general indirect cultural transmission and in-vogue styles at the time. Hell, if Tula is even the Toltec Tollan isn't clear: "Tollan" seems to have been more a label or a concept for an important political and religious center in general which was also applied to Teotihuacan, Cholula, Tenochtitlan, etc. It's quite possible the Nahua accounts about the Toltecs are just entirely mythological. Regardless of if Tula is the Toltec Tollan, Tula itself probably just headed a medium sized kingdom. You could perhaps compare it to Teotihuacan in the sense that there's only direct archeological evidence of it ruling over a medium-large kingdom, and both have debated ties to far off cities, but Teotihuacan's wider cultural influence, even if that's indirect, is much less disputed. Certainly, the concept of the "Toltecs" left a MASSIVE influence across Central Mexico, with states of the Aztec period trying to claim Toltec ancestry, but it's possible Tula just got associated with the "Toltecs" retroactively. I think that is less a diss on Tula though (it was one of the region's biggest cities after Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan) and more just that other medium to large cities and states in Mesoamerica deserve more recognition, like Xochicalcao, Cantona, Cholula, etc all of which were also medium to big players in Central Mexico during the "Toltec" period, or in some sources are even said to be or are associated with the "Toltec.

Scenario Idea: What if the Kingdom of Semien (also known as the Kingdom of Beta Israel) through gradual conquest, taken over Ethiopia?

My favorite part of the video was when Charlemagne conquered India. Most people usually forget about that

If anyone's into hard-core Early-High Medieval historical expertise on these very powers I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series

Charlemagne's conquest of India... ah yes my favorite part in history

If I can remember, the Avar's successes are contributed in large part to the integration of the Slavic populace. Mostly acting as the main infantry force (both melee & ranged), while the Avars maintained the nomadic horsemanship

This tells us a lot about modern society like how Hinduism was invented by the Franks in the Middle Ages after Charlemagne conquered the peninsula and spread his beliefs to the people there

19:13 "He would go on to conquer India"damn,that escalated quick lol...

Loving the video. I always thought that the empires featured here were really interesting, and thinking about the possible scenarios or futures that could have emerged had they taken a different course or even survived is a nice exercise in creativity.

7:16 even the original Chad still looked like a Chad absolutely amazing

9:50 I’m curious how they interacted with the people of North Sentinel Island considering those people likely entered the island during the ice age and they never got anymore advanced after that. so it would be interesting to see how the interaction between people who we consider ancient and sort of primitive in comparison to us interacted with people even more so would they think of the North Sentinel’s how we do of them their empire?

Tibetan Empire is extremely underrated ngl

I like this channel. A lot of actually innovative ideas for videos about history, a topic so over-explored by so many channels

What is the Industrial Revolution, and it’s consequences? But more importantly, how often do you think about the Roman Empire?

Please do a “What is everything went perfect for the Ottoman Empire?” It would probably be about their history post 1500s because it kind of went perfect up to that point.

I love this series, Really tells me alot of information and helps me in school.

Its very interesting how the Umayyad Caliphate interacted with the Tang Dynasty of China since they actually fought some localized conflicts in Central Asia.

Jesus, I love this series! It is so cool seeing thr borders change over time, I love it! :)

Really interesting video; however, I’d like to mention that there is actually some historical debate as to the historical veracity of a “toltec empire.” Ancient Americas has a fascinating video called “The Trouble With Toltecs” that dives into this discussion. Again, great video overall!

That's a glowing review of the Song Dynasty. Most people look at landmass to see how impressive an empire was, but the Song were well known for their technological and cultural advances.

Now I want the historical fanfiction of Charlmagne conquering India

Scenario Idea: What if China ended up like Rome and was a few different countries?

YES! Its back! Love this series man!🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤

I love this series so far!

Thanks for this informative video! Love your content!

Love your content im still learning

I really like these videos!! Good explanation of world empires ❤️

Your channel is the best❤

Hello, love your videos, they are so realistic and instructive in a fun way. I was wondering if you could release the scripts for the videos like you did with the What if the Soviets Won the Cold War scenario, I would much apreciate it. Have a nice one.

I was wondering if you had a bibliography for this video? I’d like to read about Chinese productivity, as I’ve heard they and India were the productive centers of the world for much of history and I’d like to read more.

Any chance you could add a second heat map at the end that instead of showing how many empires each region had, shows how long each region was part of an empire? I think this would better show where the core parts of the empires were

Minor nitpick, 'Huari' is pronounced more like 'Wari;. Spanish doesn't use the letter 'w" natively, so for foreign words that use a 'w' sound, it is usually written with an 'hu' (the 'h' is silent).

Scenario Ideas: What if Everything went perfect for Western Rome? What if Everything went perfect for Eastern Rome/Byzantine Empire? What if Charlemagne had married Empress Irene? What if Everything went perfect for the Papal States/Vatican city? What if Everything Went Perfect for Mexico?

I'm interested to see the next episode. I'm wondering whether you're going to count the North Sea Empire or the Kalmar Union, given their relatively ephemeral natures.

For the over layed maps, I suggest that you should also combine the map from the previous videos and the new one.

10:45 let’s goooo I’ve been excitedly waiting for this what everything went perfect for napoleon interesting on the change of word everything to history is that because he’s a person and not a nation? Or is it because his reign isn’t around anymore in recent history?

I can’t wait to see the final map!

Love seeing a video in my recommended that I want to see from 13 seconds ago

The Roman Empire is truely impressive as their decline lasts longer than most other empires even exist.

Great alt history scenario: What if Charlemagne conquered India? 19:15

nice video

Interesting idea I though of (might try making a map of it). But what if China had an Alexander the Great sort of Leader who not only unified China as Qin Shi Huang did, but also expanded to the same degree as the Macedonians AND around the same time period as each other. Perhaps it’s a totally new warring state that does this, perhaps a different ruler other than Qin Shi Huang, the idea is still interesting for me.

You should make a video on the Vikings, because they were not an actual unified country but just groups of people from Scandinavia but it’s an interesting topic, either it be history or alt history

I honestly think of these empires are more similar to groups of similar people agreeing to spread their culture but not their boarders into eachother, like the Greek city states but in the Asian steps

i absolutely enjoy your videos. However, I would've preferred if the slicer was the regions instead of time-period. I would be cool to know that this historical figure was alive at the same time as this other historical figure from the other side of the world.

Scenario Idea: What if the Seleucid’s survived?

Greatest series ever!!! When are we going to see earth 2.0?

will there be a supercut of this, like how there was for all russian wars once the series is finished?

Oh dude. I couldn't invent better insult against the Rus than giving them the Tryzub as an emblem and calling them an empire thus calling them betrayals towards the Byzantine Empire. :D It's like painting HRE with WWII swastika. Hilarious :D GG, WP.

Can you make video about fantasy or sci fi nation & kingdom & empire like the The Nilfgaardian Empire or Galactic Empire I am big fan of fantasy and sci fi nation seeing worlds with cultures and history as own

You should make a what if from the pov of a what if scenario. Something like what if the ountant won ww1

Yo Possible History Please Do What If Joseph Stalin Lived Much Longer?

When will the alternate WW1 peace deal video be done?

1:21 Small correction : the rashidoon khalifate didn't take over Tunisia and the northern part of Algeria , they've just won against the independent rule of Gregory after the battle of sufetula , and agreed to leave after a large tribute of gold .

9:16 Should've mentioned Eastern Chalukyas too who I think came before the Western Chalukyas. Also the decline of Western Chalukyas after their war with the Cholas resulted in the birth of Seuna Dynasty (aka Yadavas of Devagiri) & Hoysala Dynasty. Over the centuries the land controlled by Seuna Dynasty became the modern day Maharashtra & land controlled by Hoysala Dynasty became the modern day Karnataka. Main territory of Cholas is where modern day Tamil Nadu is & of Eastern Chalukyas is Andhra. 13:40 Goryeo (거려) doesn't have a 2nd "g", so it's not pronounced as "gor-gyo" but as "ghor-yaw" or "gho-riyaw". 17:20 The "j" in Srivijaya is neither pronounced like the Spanish "j" where it sounds like "h" nor the Dutch "j" where it sounds like "y". The "j" in Srivijaya sounds the same as in English.

A part you should’ve mentioned is how the ummayads got Iberia The Abbasids after they overthrew the ummayads they were killing the remaining living members a lot fled and alot got killed And one of them that fled was abdulrahman the falcon of quraysh who actually managed to go into hiding to his mothers tribe in Morocco and sent one of his servants to gather support and once he had enough support with the help of his mothers tribe and the one who joined forces with him they managed to conquer Iberia

Video idea. What if everything went perfect for Sweden?

Nice

TIbet is so forgotten thanks for covering this :)

Finally someone pronouncing "Rus" correctly

Man I really need your playlist of Russian-style music, there’s some real bangers in the background there

Scenario Idea: What if Chechnya somehow managed to win The Second Chechen War?

A slight correction - the Bulgarians: their first empire is in nowadays Ukraine for about 200 years, built in constant clashes with the Avars and the Khazars.

Video suggestion: What if revolutions of 1848 (hungary, germany, italy, etc) had succeded.

the final video needs a heat map of every empire in history overlayed

Will you include Kalmar Union in the next video?

Great video, thank you very much , note to self(nts) watched all in it 8:39

Video idea:what if constadinople didn't fell

can i ask what about the last poll you did on the versailles peace treaty it's was couple of weeks already?

Love you from Bulgaria

bro really put modern Ukraine flag over ancient Kievan Rus

you forgot to mention Old Great Bulgaria which was also in status a empire, they managed to overthrow Avar domination, extending Onogur influence among the Bulgars in Pannonia in what became known as Hungary.

Bro got me confuse at 19:13 when I was just chillingT-T

Would you do a “5 RU-vidrs tear apart Europe in CK3”? Recreate Chola empire in India for an easy W

Pretty nice video once more, I'm not exactly the most educated on this topic but it is nice to learn about more empires outside of Europe. Must say, as a Bulgarian you did display our first empire sorta well even if short, which is understandable don't get me wrong. Although it is debetable which lands Bulgaria lost to the Magyars and overall most seem to agree that Transylvania was actually kept with Pannonia being lost. Must also say, the FBE also technically was at its peak during Simeon The Great in that period of southward expansion of the state. Kinda sad that you didn't mention Tsar Samuel's resistence atleast as it is also a noteable period of brief recovery for the FBE before total annexation (the recovery couldn't he permanent as even though a lot of lands were reconquered, they were also still ravaged). Also a sidenote, but to call Justinians reign the "Final Peak" of Byzantium is kinda unfair to Basil II who got Byzantium to a pretty good state and arguably to its final peak in a way.

"What if Charlemagne conquered India" would actually be a nice idea for one of your less serious videos

Note that in "Joseon" and "Srivijaya", the j in both cases sounds like 'j' in (j)ump.

I think that you forgot the Great Moravia it was the first real west slavic empire and very influential even though it was short lived PS: sorry for any bad English

hes really edging us with the seljuks

Yay it’s becoming a series ☺️

Where was the Tang conquest of Central Asia?

The song playing tall

For the next video: Remember to include the Ife empire and the Oyo empire from southern Nigeria Ife was even included on the Catalan Atlas as "Organa" on the very bottom of the map

I’m amazed you didn’t mention Urartu and Armenian Empire in these videos!? They were big and influential.

11:56, hmm, disastrous campaigns in Vietnam and Korea you say? that reminds me of something.

I think you should have also included the Burmese ruled Pagan Empire as i think including obscure empires would be much better

As good as always!

Scenario idea: what if France won the Franco-Prussian war

If you guys had to choose an empire to live in what would it be

What happend to the ww1 voting?

The chola dynasty have buildings standing till this day all the way in Cambodia known as the Angkor Wat temple and was part of the empire at its height

Why is the title Early Modern instead of Early Medieval?

Where'd you find the tang empire expanding into irkustk? That's a ridiculous push north...

21:22 is that that one Finnish polka about the winter war? I can’t spell it

Can't wait for the late Medieval Empires Age of Discovery Portuguese Empire, Spanish Empire, Dutch Colonial Empire , Angevin Empire/English overseas possessions,First French colonial empire, Mongol Empire

took 8 months but worth it!!!

It’s back

do map based on years

A map of kingdoms would be fun.

Last video China had 20 something empires, now it's India's turn