Gunpowder: Did you mean...?

The Battle of Fort George (27 May 1813) was an important battle in the War of 1812. It saw the United States launch a successful amphibious assault to capture Fort George, the main British outpost on the Niagara frontier...

A replica of a 17th-century matchlock firing mechanism on a musket. Typical equipment for musketeers during the English Civil Wars, this mechanism required a lit fuse to be dropped into a firing pan of priming powder which...

Between 1450 and 1750 CE, rulers across Eurasia built land empires on a scale not seen before, using gunpowder weaponry to conquer and intricate bureaucracies to govern. The Ottomans took Constantinople...

The Mongol Empire (1206-1368) was founded by Genghis Khan (r. 1206-1227), first Great Khan or 'universal ruler' of the Mongol peoples. Genghis forged the empire by uniting nomadic tribes of the Asian steppe and creating a devastatingly...

The Song (aka Sung) dynasty ruled China from 960 to 1279 CE with the reign split into two periods: the Northern Song (960-1125 CE) and Southern Song (1125-1279 CE). The Northern Song ruled a largely united China from their capital...

Genghis Khan (aka Chinggis Khan) was the founder of the Mongol Empire which he ruled from 1206 until his death in 1227. Born Temujin, he acquired the title of Genghis Khan, likely meaning 'universal ruler’, after unifying the Mongol...

The Portuguese Empire was established from the 15th century and eventually stretched from the Americas to Japan. Very often a string of coastal trading centres with defensive fortifications, there were larger territorial colonies...

The Mongols conquered vast swathes of Asia in the 13th and 14th century CE thanks to their fast light cavalry and excellent bowmen, but another significant contribution to their success was the adoption of their enemies' tactics...

The samurai (also bushi) were a class of warriors that arose in the 10th century in Japan and which performed military service until the 19th century. Elite and highly-trained soldiers adept at using both the bow and sword, the samurai...

The medieval period of Japan is considered by most historians to stretch from 1185 to 1603 CE. Stand out features of the period include the replacement of the aristocracy by the samurai class as the most powerful social group...