The Crusades For a long time the city of Jerusalem was under the control of the Turkish Muslims. Close to the end of the 11th century A.D. the Pope asked the Christians to recapture the holy city from the Turkish Muslims. This was the beginning of the holy wars called the Crusades. In 1096 a large number of European people, including Kings, Princes, Knights, Peasants and Pilgrims left Europe towards the...

Christianity   The followers of Jesus Christ are known as Christians. Jesus Christ lived about 2000 years ago in the land which is now called Israel. He was a prophet and a teacher. Christians believe that he was the son of God who had come to Earth to save people from sinning. Jesus was killed by his enemies but his followers believe that he was resurrected and he joined his father...

The Mongol Empire In the early part of the twelfth century there were many small nomadic tribes scattered all over Central Asia. In the later part of this century, one of the most powerful chiefs’ of these tribes called Gengis Khan brought all the other tribes under his control and and laid the foundation of the Mongol empire. The Mongolians were tough fighters and in battle they mostly rode on horseback...

The North American Indians More than 20,000 years ago the first inhabitants of North America arrived there from Asia these people were called The North American Indians. The Indians mostly led a nomadic life, they hunted animals and used the meat for food. They lived in tents, called Tepees, which were made from buffalo skins stretched over wooden poles. There were various Indian tribes which included Comanche, Apache, Cheyenne, Sioux etc....

The Incas and Aztecs The Incas were American Indians who settled in the Cuzco valley, on the western coast of South America. By the year 1525 their empire extended for more than 3000 km along the western coast. The population lived off farming on terraces built on the mountain sides. The Incas were expert builders and they built the famous city of Machu Pichu. They were also good weavers and wove...

The Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire was founded by Turkish tribes which settled in modern day Turkey. The empire was named after the first Sultan called Osman. The Ottomans were basically muslims but they allowed other religions to flourish in their empire. One of their most famous rulers was Suleiman-I, during his reign he reformed the legal and educational system and the empire reached its peak. The empire extended all along...

The Byzantine Empire Around 300 A.D. began the decline of the Roman empire, and the Roman emperor Constantine moved his capital to Constantinople, now called Istanbul. It was here that he began establishing the Byzantine Empire, Scholars came from all over Europe to study in Constantinople. Later, after the collapse of the remaining Roman empire, the Byzantine empire began to expand. Emperor Justinian-I regained most of the Roman empire and brought...

The Roman Empire Around 750 B.C. the first Roman settlements were established in Europe. By the year 500 B.C. the Estruscans were driven out of Rome and the Roman republic was established. The Romans were the first to unite most of the Middle East, North Africa and Western Europe into a single empire. The empire saw stability during the reign of its first great emperor Augustus who ruled it with the...