Dynasties of Asia

Xia

Imperial China · -2070 – -1600

3 figures

Zhou

Imperial China · -1046 – -256

4 figures

Mauryan Empire

South Asia / India · -322 – -185

The first empire to unify the majority of the Indian subcontinent, known for its highly organized administration and Ashoka's conversion to pacifism.

2 figures

Qin

Imperial China · -221 – -206

4 figures

Han

Imperial China · -206 – 220

2 figures

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

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

Argyros

Byzantium / Anatolia · 870 – 1056

1 figure

Shavliani

Georgia / Caucasus · 870 – 960

1 figure

Qipchaq

Pontic Steppe · 1000 – 1241

2 figures

Mongol Empire

Mongol Empire / Eurasian Steppe · 1206 – 1368

The largest contiguous land empire in human history, built in a single generation by Genghis Khan and his sons. At its 1279 peak it spanned from the Pacific to the Black Sea, ruling perhaps a hundred million people across China, Central Asia, Persia, Mesopotamia, and the Russian steppe. Within a century of its founding it had fragmented into four major khanates — the Yuan dynasty in China, the Ilkhanate in Persia, the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, and the Golden Horde over Russia — each ruled by descendants of Genghis.

14 figures

Yuan

China / East Asia · 1271 – 1368

The Mongol-founded dynasty that ruled all of China for nearly a century — the first time in Chinese history that the entire country was governed by a non-Han people. Established by Kublai Khan in 1271, the Yuan completed the conquest of the Southern Song in 1279 and made Khanbaliq (Beijing) its capital, hosting Marco Polo and binding the Pacific to the Mediterranean by Mongol post-roads. The dynasty collapsed under famine, plague, and Han rebellion in 1368, retreating to the steppe as the Northern Yuan.

8 figures

Ottoman Empire

Anatolia / Balkans / Middle East · 1299 – 1922

One of history's most powerful states, bridging Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa for over 600 years.

3 figures

Ming

Imperial China · 1368 – 1644

5 figures

Joseon Dynasty

Korean Peninsula · 1392 – 1897

The final and longest-lived imperial dynasty of Korea, known for its strong Neo-Confucian ideology and high cultural achievement.

3 figures

Mughal Empire

South Asia / North India · 1526 – 1857

A Turco-Mongol dynasty that synthesized Persian and Indian cultures, overseeing an era of unparalleled artistic and economic prosperity.

3 figures

Tokugawa Shogunate

Japan · 1603 – 1868

A centralized military dictatorship that brought 250 years of stability and isolation to Japan during the Edo period.

2 figures