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The concept of the Three Kingdoms of Korea refers to the three kingdoms of Baekje, Silla and Goguryeo, which was later known as Goryeo, from which the name Korea is derived.<br/><br/> The Three Kingdoms period is defined as being from 57 BCE to 668 CE.
The concept of the Three Kingdoms of Korea refers to the three kingdoms of Baekje, Silla and Goguryeo, which was later known as Goryeo, from which the name Korea is derived.<br/><br/> The Three Kingdoms period is defined as being from 57 BCE to 668 CE.
The concept of the Three Kingdoms of Korea refers to the three kingdoms of Baekje, Silla and Goguryeo, which was later known as Goryeo, from which the name Korea is derived.<br/><br/> The Three Kingdoms period is defined as being from 57 BCE to 668 CE.
In 1788 a large Qing army was sent south to restore Lê Mẫn Đế (Lê Chiêu Thống) to the Vietnamese throne. They succeeded in taking Thăng Long (Hà Nội, Hanoi) and putting Emperor Lê Chiêu Thống back on the throne.<br/><br/> This situation did not last long as the Tây Sơn leader, Nguyễn Huệ, launched an attack against the Qing forces while they were celebrating the Chinese New Year festival of the year 1789. The Chinese were completely defeated and Nguyễn Huệ was proclaimed Emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam, although he also agreed to pat tribute to the Qing court to avoid further invasions.<br/><br/> The painting is from the 'Ten Great Campaigns' series produced by Jesuit missionaries at the Qing Court including Giuseppe Castiglione, Jean-Denis Attiret, Ignace Sichelbart and Jean Damascene. The engravings were executed in Paris under the direction of Charles-Nicolas Cochin of the Académie Royal at the Court of Louis XVI and the individual engravers include Le Bas, Aliamet, Prevot, Saint-Aubin, Masquelier, Choffard, and Launay.
Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram Shah Jahan I (1592 –1666), or Shah Jahan, from the Persian meaning ‘king of the world’, was the fifth Mughal ruler in India and a favourite of his legendary grandfather Akbar the Great.<br/><br/> He is best known for commissioning the ‘Phadshahnamah’ as a chronicle of his reign, and for the building of the Taj Mahal in Agra as a tomb for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Under Shah Jahan, the Mughal Empire attained its highest union of strength and magnificence. The opulence of Shah Jahan’s court and his famous Peacock Throne was the wonder of all the European travelers and ambassadors. His political efforts encouraged the emergence of large centers of commerce and crafts—such as Lahore, Delhi, Agra and Ahmedabad—linked by roads and waterways to distant places and ports.<br/><br/> He moved the capital from Agra to Delhi. Under Shah Jahan's rule, the Red Fort and Jama Masjid in Delhi were built, the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore, sections of the Lahore Fort and his father's mausoleum.
Seated to the right of the chessboard, Persian court adviser Buzurgmihr beats a dejected Indian envoy at chess while the Shah looks on. This 14th-century illustration depicts a chess match first recorded three centuries earlier by Persian poet Abu’l-Qasim Firdawsi (Hakim Abu'l-Qasim Firdawsi Tusi), the author of the ‘Shahnameh’, the national epic of the Persian people.
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama (Persian: شاهنامه Šāhnāmeh, 'The Book of Kings') is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Iran and related Perso-Iranian cultures. Consisting of some 60,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells the mythical and to some extent the historical past of Greater Iran from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.<br/><br/> The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Zoroastrian ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest.
Mamluks were originally soldiers or slaves who converted to Islam. A Mamluk army seized control of Egypt and Syria and established the ‘Mamluk Sultanate’ from 1250 to 1517 during which time they defeated or repelled Mongol invaders and Christian crusaders.
Tsumori no Kisa was a Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty Court in 659-661 as representative of the Saimei Empress. This drawing is by the Japanese artist Kikuchi Yosai.
Shāh ‘Abbās the Great (or Shāh ‘Abbās I) (Persian: شاه عباس بزرگ) (January 27, 1571 – January 19, 1629) was Shah (king) of Iran, and generally considered the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son of Shah Mohammad.<br/><br/> Abbas came to the throne during a troubled time for Iran. Under his weak-willed father, the country was riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed Abbas' mother and elder brother. Meanwhile, Iran's enemies, the Ottoman Empire and the Uzbeks, exploited this political chaos to seize territory for themselves.<br/><br/> In 1587, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Qoli Khan, overthrew Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne. But Abbas was no puppet and soon seized power for himself. He reduced the influence of the Qizilbash in the government and the military and reformed the army, enabling him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and reconquer Iran's lost provinces. He also took back land from the Portuguese and the Mughals.
Probably born in Venice around 1254 CE, Marco Polo was raised by his aunt and uncle after his mother died. His father, Niccolo, was a Venetian merchant who left before Marco was born to trade in the Middle East. Niccolo and his brother Maffeo passed through much of Asia and met with Mongol emperor Kublai Khan who reportedly invited them to be ambassadors. In 1269, Niccolo and Maffeo returned to Venice, meeting Marco for the first time.<br/><br/> In 1271, Marco Polo, aged 17, with his father and his uncle, set off for Asia, travelling through Constantinople, Baghdad, Persia, Kashgar, China and Burma. They returned to Venice 24 years and 15,000 miles later with many riches. Upon their return, Venice was at war with Genoa, and Marco Polo was imprisoned. He spent the few months of his imprisonment dictating his adventures to a fellow inmate, Rustichello da Pisa, who incorporated the tales into a book he called 'The Travels of Marco Polo'. The book documented the use of paper money and the burning of coal, and opened European eyes to the wonders of the East.