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.
Subotai was probably the greatest Mongolian general of the period of Mongolian empire and played an important role in its establishment and expansion. He was likely from Uriyangqai, the region lying between the Onon and Kerulen Rivers, and came into the service of the young Mongol chieftain Genghis …
Sufi sm is Islamic mysticism. The word derives from the Arabic tasawwuf meaning “to wear wool” or “to seek purifi cation.” Early Sufi s, or practitioners of Sufi sm, often wore simple wool capes and sought knowledge of the higher being using both their bodies and minds. Sufi …
This short-lived dynasty (581–618) is enormously important in Chinese history because it restored unity to a country that had been divided since the fall of the Han dynasty in 220. For 300 years before its creation China had moreover been divided between the Turkic tribal people called the …
The Sukhothai was an early kingdom in the area around the city of Sukhothai, in north central Thailand. It existed from 1238 to 1438. Thailand was under the Funan and Srivijaya Kingdoms before the migration of Thai people because of pressure from the Mongols. They were compelled to …
Sundiata is remembered as the first of the kings of Mali. A mythic figure in West African history, he is known as the Lion King. He was born to a Mandingo chief, Nara Fe Maghan, and his second wife, Sogolon. After the death of his father, he and …
Sviatoslav ruled over the Rus with the capital in Kiev c. 969–972. He was the son of Kiev’s Prince Igor (r. 912–945) and Princess Olga (who ruled as Sviatoslav’s regent in 945–969 after Igor’s death), known in history as the first Christian princess of Rus. In historical literature …
As a young man, Gerbert of Aurellac became a monk in Gaul and later studied in Spain at Barcelona, and under Islamic teachers at Seville and Córdoba. He was particularly skilled in the natural sciences and arithmetic. After completing his education under Bishop Hatto of Vichy, he traveled …
The Taiho Code went into effect in 702. It symbolized the advances Japan had made since the sixth century in the establishing of a state in the Chinese style. Prince Shotoku Taishi had begun the practice of sending Japanese students to China in the early seventh century, a …
Taika means “great change.” It was adopted as the name of a “year period” in Japanese history (after the Chinese custom of designating the entire period or a portion of a monarch’s reign with a name to signify the intentions of the ruler) starting in 645. The reforms …
The Taira-Minamoto wars, which led to the firm establishment of the shogunate as Japan’s military government, began in the middle of the 12th century. At this time power in Japan was almost evenly divided between two families of feudal nobility, or the daimyo class, the Taira and the …
Tang Taizong (T’ang T’ai-tsung), meaning “Grand Ancestor of the Tang,” is the title of the second ruler and real founder of the Tang (T’ang) dynasty in China (618–909). Born Li Shimin (Li Shih-min), he was the second son of Li Yuan, the duke of Tang, who was an …
Ming Taizu means “Grand Progenitor of the Ming”; this was the posthumous title for Zhu Yuanzhang (Chu Yuan-chang), who founded the Ming dynasty (1368– 1644) in China. He was the second commoner to found a Chinese dynasty, the first being Liu Bang (Liu Pang), founder of the Han …
In 751 a Tang (T’ang) dynasty army commanded by Gao Xianzhi (Kao Hsien-chih), military governor of Anxi (An-hsi) in the Western Regions, met an Arab army in battle at Talas River near Samarkand. The Chinese were defeated. Although this was not a major military confrontation, it had great …
Tamil is a Dravidian language group that originated in southern India and is not linked to the northern Aryan language group. Tamil speakers are found in Tamilnadu, the region surrounded by Kerela, Karnataka, and Pradesh and parts of present-day Sri Lanka. Historically, the two largest and most influential …
The Tang dynasty (618–907) brought three centuries of greatness to China, called the second imperial age, continuing and consolidating the unification of China that the preceding Sui dynasty (581–618) had begun. Its formal founder was Li Yuan, the duke of Tang, a provincial governor under the Sui dynasty. …
The Tarascans, like the Mixtec and Zapotec, were non-Aztec, non-Maya Native Americans who lived in the area of west Mexico in what is now the state of Michoacáan. The Spanish conquistadors referred to the people as Tarascans, which was actually a derogatory term that the indigenous Purépecha used …
The man who later became Emperor Tenchi played a major role in the coup d’etat that ousted the Soga clan from power in Japan in 645. His reign was remarkable for the many steps taken to advance Japan by implementing reforms modeled on China. Three men ruled as …
The Tibetan kingdom was at its height during the seventh and eighth centuries. After 842 a schism in the ruling lineage led to decline, decentralization, and civil wars. The Tibetan kingdom submitted to Genghis Khan in the early 13th century and formally acknowledged Mongol overlordship in 1247. Records …
Timurlane, or Timur the Lame, was the founder of the Timurid dynasty that lasted until 1506. Under the reign of the Timurid dynasty, culture, art, and trade experienced a successful revival and flourished in the region now known as Central Asia. During his military career of about 50 …
Toghon Temur Khan was the last ruler of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). He ascended the throne at age 13 in 1333 and ruled until 1368 when his dynasty collapsed. His Chinese reign name was Shundi (Shun-ti). Kubilai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty, ruled between 1279 and …
