Category: History Essay Examples
See our collection of history essay examples. These example essays are to help you understanding how to write a history essay. History is a fascinating puzzle with both personal and cultural significance. The past informs our lives, ideas, and expectations. Historians study the past to figure out what happened and how specific events and cultural developments affected individuals and societies. Also, see our list of history essay topics to find the one that interests you.
Mehmed I came to the Ottoman Turkish throne at perhaps the most desperate time in the dynasty’s history. Up until the reign of his father, Bayezid I, the Ottoman rise to power had been meteoric. His grandfather, Sultan Murad I, had defeated the Serbian King Lazar at Kosovo …
In the 12th and 13th centuries Italy was a loose collection of cities, each with its own government and rules. Society was divided sharply between people with money and power (the majores) and those who lived as indentured servants (the minores). Cities fought against each other for domination. …
The Merovingian dynasty emerged as the Roman Empire was declining. The name Merovingian was derived from the name Merovius, the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, who was the powerful leader of a group of Franks known to the Romans as Salians from 448 to 457. Because of their …
Postclassic Mesoamerica (900–1500 c.e.) encompassed four principal geographic regions: the Maya zones to the south and east; the central highlands, centered on the Basin of Mexico; the Zapotecs of the Oaxaca Valley; and the Mixtec polities in the region north and west of Oaxaca. Sometimes called “The Time …
Southeastern Mesoamerica has been so little understood that even the two Mayan sites in the area, Copán and Quirigua, which flowered from the fifth to the ninth centuries, were thought of as the creations of itinerant Mayans rather than having been created by the Mayans indigenous to the …
The Ming dynasty, which spanned 1368–1644, can be divided into two segments. The first part, between 1368 and c. 1450, was a period of great achievement, growth, stability, and prosperity; the latter part, from c. 1450 to 1644, was characterized by weak and unstable rulers, corruption, and abuse …
The Zapotec and Mixtec were groups of Mesoamerican people who inhabited land at different times in the valley of Oaxaca in Mexico. This area lay south of today’s Mexico City on the west coast of the country and was rich in natural and cultural resources. Monte Albán was …
The Mon may have been the first human inhabitants of Myanmar, better known as Burma. The Mon are also known as the Taliang people. They migrated, perhaps pursued by enemies, to South Burma, where they lived near the Salween River, which empties into the Bay of Bengal, not …
Mongke Khan was the eldest son of Tului Khan (fourth son of Genghis Khan) and Sorghaghtani Beki and fourth khaghan or grand khan of the Mongol empire. He was a famous warrior and commander and was also noted for his devotion to the Mongol way of life. He …
Kubilai Khan, Mongol ruler and founder of the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) in China, twice attempted to invade Japan, in 1274 and 1281, with huge armadas launched from Korea and China. He failed both times mainly because of weather. Japan thus never suffered under Mongol rule. The Japanese attributed …
The almost 250-year Mongol rule over Russia was precipitated by two separate invasions. Following a successful invasion of the Caucasus in 1221, the Mongols invaded a small part of Russia in 1222. Although a small contingent of the Mongol army succeeded against the ruling princes, they did not …
Moravia was an independent Slavic kingdom that ruled the middle Danube in the ninth century c.e.. Very few historical records exist to document its history, and the precise origin and territorial extent of the kingdom of Moravia are not known. Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos in his political …
The civilization and culture of the Byzantine Empire with its capital of “New Rome” (Constantinople) greatly influenced the development of Russia. Christian missionaries were sent from the Christian empire to Russia in the ninth century. Their work bore fruit when, in 988, Prince Vladimir I (Vladimir the Great) …
Muhammad was born in Mecca to the Hashim branch of the major Qureish tribe. He was raised in a poor household by his grandfather and as a young man married Khadija, a wealthy widow who was also a successful businesswoman. Working with Khadija, Muhammad earned a reputation for …
The victory of Muhammad of Ghur over the Rajput king, Prithviraj Chauhan III (r. 1178–92), was a turning point in the history of South Asia. Islam began to pervade the northern portion of the Indian subcontinent, in present-day India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. It was Muhammad of Ghur who …
Murasaki Shikibu was a noblewoman of the dominant Fujiwara clan in Japan. Fujiwara women had a monopoly of being wives and concubines of the emperors, while the men ruled in the sovereigns’ names. She was lady in waiting to the empress and author of a novel titled Tale …
In 711 the Muslims had conquered the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula. By 714 following the decline of the Visigoths, the Muslims had gained a strong grip on virtually the entire Iberian Peninsula. The parts in southern Spain that were under Muslim rule were called al-Andalus. The …
Nalanda was the most renowned center of Buddhist learning in India in the fourth–12th centuries. A Buddhist monastic center and major university were located at Nalanda, which is in Baragaon, Bihar state, in east central India, about 90 miles southeast of the state capital of Patna. The village’s …
Nanjing means “southern capital” in Chinese. The city that is currently named Nanjing has had several names through history, and several other cities in China have also had that name. It is located on the southern bank of the Yangzi (Yangtze) River in a rich agricultural plain, close …
According to myth the city of Parthenope was established in 1000–900 b.c.e., with the city of Neapolis (New City) created three centuries later nearby. The climate and beautiful location of the city had long attracted attention, with the Roman emperor Tiberius retreating to the nearby island of Capri …
