Best 10 Greatest Empires in the History of World

An empire involves the extension of a state’s sovereignty over external territories. the greatness of an empire is based on the extent, population, economy, duration and many other factors such as type of rule and government, satisfaction by its people etc. The calculation of the land area of a particular empire is controversial. In general, the sequence in list centers on all the aspects that make an empire mighty, strong and progressive and all the factors as mentioned that make a kingdom great.

10. Akkadian Empire (2300 BC–2200 BC)

• It was the first empire to manifest on the earth.
• It reached record breaking size of its time and is considered the largest empire of dark ancient era – 0.8 million km² (2250 BC)

9. Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC)

• It was the largest empire in ancient history. At the height of its power, the empire encompassed approximately 8 million km²
• In universal history the role of the Persian empire founded by Cyrus the Great lies in their very successful model for centralized administration and a government working to the advantage and profit of all.

8. Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 476/1453)

• The powers of an emperor existed, in theory at least, by virtue of his “tribunician powers” and his “proconsular powers” In theory, the tribunician powers made the emperor’s person and office sacrosanct, and gave the emperor authority over Rome’s civil government, including the power to preside over and to control the Senate. The proconsular powers gave him authority over the Roman army.
• Roman Empire achieved great territorial gains in both the East and the West. It had one of the strongest armies recorded.
• The enduring Roman influence is reflected pervasively in contemporary language, literature, legal codes, government, architecture, engineering, medicine, sports, arts, etc. Much of it is so deeply inbedded that we barely notice our debt to ancient Rome. Consider language, for example. Fewer and fewer people today claim to know Latin — and yet, go back to the first sentence in this paragraph. If we removed all the words drawn directly from Latin, that sentence would read; “The.”

7. Umayyad Caliphate (661–750)

• Ummayads had the best administration system the world had yet seen. To assist the Caliph in administration there were six Boards at the Centre: Diwan al-Kharaj (the Board of Revenue), Diwan al-Rasa’il (the Board of Correspondence), Diwan al-Khatam (the Board of Signet), Diwan al-Barid (the Board of Posts), Diwan al-Qudat (Board of Justice) and Diwan al-Jund (the Military Board).
• Fifth largest contiguous empire to ever exist.
• Modern Arab nationalism regards the period of the Umayyads as part of the Arab Golden Age.

6. Qing Dynasty (1890–1912)

• During its reign the Qing Dynasty became highly integrated with Chinese culture.
• The dynasty reached its height in the 18th century, during which both territory and population were increased.
• It covered an immense area of 14.7 million km² (1790) making it the 5th largest according to land mass.
• It had the 4th largest %age of world’s GDP i.e 32.9% ($228.6 billion out of $694.4 billion in 1820)

5. Russian Empire (1721–1917)

• It was the second largest contiguous empire the world has ever seen, surpassed only by the Mongol Empire, and the third largest empire the world has ever seen, surpassed only by the British Empire and the Mongol Empire .
• The household servants or dependents attached to the personal service were merely set free, while the landed peasants received their houses and orchards, and allotments of arable land.

4. Mongol Empire (1206–1368)

• It is the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world, and the second largest empire in history, after the British Empire.
• Under the Mongols new technologies, various commodities and ideologies were disseminated and exchanged across Eurasia.

3. Mughal Empire (1526–1858)

• The Empire was marked by a highly centralized administration connecting the different regions.
• All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, date to this period which was characterised by the expansion of Persian cultural influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic and architectural results. A major Mughal contribution to the Indian Subcontinent was their unique architecture. Many monuments were built by the Muslim emperors, especially Shahjahan, during the Mughal era including the UNESCO World Heritage Site Taj Mahal, which is known to be one of the finer examples of Mughal architecture.
• The Indian economy remained as prosperous under the Mughals as it was, because of the creation of a road system and a uniform currency, together with the unification of the country. Manufactured goods and peasant-grown cash crops were sold throughout the world.
• n the Mughal Empire, the 16th and 17th centuries saw a synthesis of Muslim scientists who are the pioneers of modern science.
• It remained strong for longest duration above other empires and 4th largest population as compared to all other kingdoms – 175.0 million in 1700.

2. British Empire

• It was the largest empire by landmass covering 33.7 million km² (1922)
• It was the largest empire by population.
• It had the second largest GDP size of $683.3 billion (in 1938) after the US in 1945
• It had the largest percent of world GDP 35.9% ($399 billion out of $1,111 billion in 1870)
• It had the largest military of all times.
• During the rule, people were quite unsatisfactory with the government and many disputes arose therefore the empire was soon brought done like house of cards as soon as it emerged, therefore although being largest, it is on second number.

1. Ottoman Empire (1299–1923)

• It existed at the globe for the longest period of time for 7 centuries.
• The Ottoman legal system accepted the religious law over its subjects. The Ottoman Empire was always organized around a system of local jurisprudence.
• The Ottoman Empire was, in principle, tolerant towards Christians and Jews.
• Numerous traditions and cultural traits of this previous empire (in fields such as architecture, cuisine, music, leisure and government) were adopted by the Ottomans, who elaborated them into new forms and blended them with the characteristics of the ethnic and religious groups living within the Ottoman territories, which resulted in a new and distinctively Ottoman cultural identity.
• By developing commercial centres and routes, encouraging people to extend the area of cultivated land in the country and international trade through its dominions, the state performed basic economic functions in the Empire.
• The empire was at the centre of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for seven centuries.

Via:Smashing Lists