‘Civilizations’ Archives
Harappan (Indus) Civilization
Harappan (Indus) Civilization Historians of science in India record that the foundations of scientific thought were laid down as early as the Harappan civilization, also known as the Indus civilization, which lasted from roughly 3100 to 1900 BCE. Facts supplied by archaeologists support this thesis. Covering a little less than half a million [...]
Mamluks
Mamluks Mamluks, also spelled Mamelukes, purchased slaves converted to Islam who advanced themselves to high military posts in Egypt. From this class sprang two ruling dynasties, the Bahri (1250-1382), made up of Turks and Mongols, and the Burji (1382-1517), made up of Circassians; both were named for places where the troops who seized power [...]
Civilization
Civilization A term whose literal meaning is the emergence and evolution of cities, although it is frequently applied approvingly to the kinds of cultural evolution facilitated by city life, especially their moral and aesthetic components. Cities are manifestations of technological advance, their evolution mapped out in the development of [...]
Kingdom of Dahomey
Kingdom of Dahomey West African state (17th-19th century) in what is now the southern part of Benin; its capital was Abomey. Founded in the early 17th century, it gradually extended its dominations over most of the region. King Agaja, who in the early 18th century established a corps of women soldiers (known to the Europeans as Amazons), seized [...]
Kassites
Kassites Kassites (Akkadian Kashshū; Greek Cossaioi or Cissioi), people of ancient southwestern Asia. Early in the 17th century BC they invaded and settled much of the northern regions of Babylonia. About 1600 or 1595 BC the Hittites attacked Babylonia, weakening its military power. Subsequently, the Kassites captured Babylon and established a [...]
Aztec Slavery
Aztec Slavery The Aztec culture arose in the valley of Mexico in the 13th century. In time it became the most powerful empire in Mesoamerica. Aztec society identified the tlacotin as a distinct social class. These were slaves who were not captives in war. In many respects, slavery under the Aztec was similar to slavery as it was practiced in [...]
Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) Also known as the Ch’ing or Manchu dynasty, the Qing Dynasty comprised a succession of emperors from Manchuria who ruled China from 1644 until 1912. The foreign Qing gained acceptance by adopting Chinese language, culture, and institutions and by ensuring a period of peace and prosperity lasting until the late [...]
Toltecs
Toltecs Toltecs is the name given to a group of people who were considered by the aztecs and most of their contemporaries to have represented “the golden age” in Mesoamerican history. The name “Toltec” means “people of the place of reeds,” and Tollan (Tula), “the place of reeds,” figures in the origin myths of many Mesoamerican [...]
Cheikh Anta Diop
Cheikh Anta Diop Diop, Cheikh Anta (1923-1986), historian, Egyptologist, physicist, linguist, and physical and cultural anthropologist. Diop is regarded as one of the greatest scholars of the 20th century. A central figure in African-centered scholarship, his intellectual range and work spanned many disciplines. At the 1966 World Festival of [...]
William Leo Hansberry
William Leo Hansberry Hansberry, William Leo (1894-1965), African American historian and pioneer Africanist. The son of Eldon Hayes and Harriet Pauline (Bailey) Hansberry, William Hansberry was born in Gloster, Mississippi, where his father was professor of history at Alcorn College. Hansberry attended Atlanta University in Georgia from 1914 to [...]
