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Portuguese Malacca
The Portuguese colonised Malacca (modern Melaka) on the southwest coast of the Malay peninsula from 1511 and kept it until 1641 when the Dutch took over. The port controlled the Malay Straits which lead from the Indian Ocean (the Andaman...
Definition
Acropolis
An acropolis is any citadel or complex built on a high hill. The name derives from the Greek akro, "high" or "extreme/extremity" or "edge", and polis, "city", translated as "high city", "city on the edge" or "city in the air", the most famous...
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Map of the Hanseatic League Trade Network, c. 1400
The Hanseatic League (c. 13th–17th centuries) was a powerful network of merchant guilds and cities that dominated trade across northern Europe for centuries. Emerging in the late Middle Ages, the League united towns from Lübeck, Hamburg...
Definition
Ancient Persian Culture
Ancient Persian culture flourished between the reign of Cyrus II (The Great, r. c. 550-530 BCE), founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, and the fall of the Sassanian Empire in 651 CE. Even so, the foundations of Persian culture were already...
Article
The Roman Empire in West Africa
At its fullest extent, the Roman Empire stretched from around modern-day Aswan, Egypt at its southernmost point to Great Britain in the north but the influence of the Roman Empire went far beyond even the borders of its provinces as a result...
Article
Naval Warfare in Ancient India
The navy in ancient India carried out three roles: it was used to transport troops to distant battlefields, participate in actual warfare, and was primarily meant for protecting the kingdom's trade on sea and navigable rivers and the maritime...
Definition
John Hawkins
Sir John Hawkins (1532-1595 CE) was an Elizabethan mariner, merchant and naval administrator who has the inglorious (if not wholly accurate) record of being England's first slave trader. In the 1560s CE Hawkins trafficked slaves from West...
Definition
Greek Colonization
From around 800 BCE, ancient Greek city-states, most of which were maritime powers, began to look beyond Greece for land and resources. As a consequence, they founded colonies across the Mediterranean. Trade was usually the first step in...
Video
The Roles, Rights and Lives of Women in Ancient Greece
The roles, rights and lives of women in Ancient Greece varied depending on which city-state you were from, your social class and your wealth. Women in Ancient Greece had very few rights compared to men and, due to our lack of specific information...
Video
Ancient and Medieval Gold Trade in West Africa
Did you know that the Ghana king would automatically keep any gold nugget extracted that weighed between 25 grams and half a kilo? This video is all about the lucrative gold trade of ancient and medieval West Africa. West Africa was...