Political History: Did you mean...?

Winning battles and forging empires was not just about numbers but also the quality of the troops at any commander's disposal. The best-trained, best-equipped and most experienced fighters could be moulded into devastating units that could...

Buddhism began in the region of modern-day India, founded by Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha, l. c. 563-c. 483 BCE), and developed between c. 400-383 BCE before it spread to other regions through the efforts of the Mauryan king Ashoka the...

The British East India Company (EIC) was founded as a trading company in 1600. Run by a board of directors in London, the company employed a private army, first to protect the trade it conducted in the Indian subcontinent and then to expand...

Many of the drinks we enjoy today such as wine, beer and tea have a very long history indeed and this collection examines some of those beverages and their cultural importance not just in daily life but also in rituals, ceremonies and trade...

Coins have been in use since their creation in ancient Lydia in the early 6th century BCE. Stamped by the state to guarantee value and be recognisable as genuine, coins allowed goods and services to be bought without the necessity of barter...

In this collection of resources we look at the origins of Christmas and the story of the Nativity, the pagan traditions that have influenced how the holiday has been celebrated ever since, and how different eras have found new ways to add...

Ancient Chinese literature developed following the evolution of script which evolved from divination practices of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE). The pictographs made on oracle bones by diviners became the script known as Jiaguwen (c...

Plagues have swept through humanity ever since communities have gathered together in concentrated groups. In this collection of resources, we look at just some of the pandemics that raged throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, from the...

Senator Daniel Webster delivers his famous reply to Senator Robert Y. Hayne on 27 January 1830, at the climax of the Webster-Hayne debate, illustration from 363 of The political history of the United States by James Penny Boyd, 1888. Library...

Title page of Two Treatises of Government by the English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), first published in 1689.