Early Medieval dynasties (601–1000)

Khosroid

Iberia (Caucasus) · 580 – 786

11 figures

Tang Dynasty

Imperial China · 618 – 907

Often cited as the greatest imperial dynasty in ancient Chinese history, marking a golden age of cosmopolitan culture, poetry, military expansion, and the booming Silk Road trade.

5 figures

Khazar

Caspian Steppe / Eurasia · 650 – 969

1 figure

Umayyad Caliphate

Syria / Damascus / Spain · 661 – 750

The first hereditary Islamic dynasty, responsible for the rapid expansion of Arab rule from Spain to India.

2 figures

Abbasid Caliphate

Middle East / Mesopotamia · 750 – 1258

The second great Islamic dynasty, which oversaw the "Golden Age of Islam" from their capital in Baghdad.

6 figures

Carolingian

Frankish Empire / Holy Roman Empire · 751 – 987

The dynasty that ended Merovingian rule of the Franks in 751, built under Charlemagne the largest empire in western Europe since Rome, and held the imperial throne for the next two centuries. The Treaty of Verdun in 843 split the empire among Charlemagne's three grandsons into kernels of modern France, Germany, and the Low Countries. The senior West Frankish line ended with the death of Louis V in 987, when the magnates elected the Robertian Hugh Capet king — opening the Capetian century.

13 figures

Bagrationi

Georgia (Caucasus) · 780 – 1810

The Bagrationi dynasty was the royal house of Georgia, ruling the medieval Kingdom of Georgia from its unification in 1008 until the Russian annexation in 1801. Tracing its origins to the 8th century, it produced some of the most consequential monarchs of the Caucasus, including David IV the Builder and Tamar the Great, under whom Georgia entered its Golden Age.

85 figures

Abkhazia

Georgia / Caucasus · 786 – 1008

16 figures

Ossetia

North Caucasus · 800 – 1239

7 figures

Arcruni

Armenia / Caucasus · 830 – 1021

2 figures

Chola Dynasty

South India / Coromandel Coast · 848 – 1279

A Tamil maritime empire that projected naval power across Southeast Asia and was known for its colossal temple architecture.

2 figures

Rurikid

Russia / Eastern Europe · 862 – 1610

2 figures

Argyros

Byzantium / Anatolia · 870 – 1056

1 figure

Shavliani

Georgia / Caucasus · 870 – 960

1 figure

Capetian

France · 987 – 1328

The royal house that ruled France for 341 years, from Hugh Capet's election in 987 to the death of Charles IV in 1328. Beginning as a minor dynasty controlling little more than the Île-de-France, the Capetians transformed by patient inheritance, marriage, and conquest into the most powerful royal line in medieval Europe. The senior line ended when three brothers died sonless in succession, and the resulting disputed succession ignited the Hundred Years' War.

18 figures

Qipchaq

Pontic Steppe · 1000 – 1241

2 figures