This period also sees the spread of iron-using technology, which will have a decisive impact by allowing agricultural productivity to greatly increase. Originating in the Middle East, in the course of time all regions of the Eastern Hemisphere will be affected by this. Indo-Europeans

World in 500 BCE.png - Wikimedia Commons File:World in 500 BCE.png - Wikimedia Commons

Trade links are being extended in West Africa, where Berber traders are pioneering the trans-Saharan trade routes, with the vital aid of camels. Europeans have already embarked on their long-distance ocean voyages. Unlike their Chinese counterparts, these will not be abandoned. They will end some centuries hence only with the European nations dominating all the seas of the world. From this much else will flow.In South East Asia, a maritime power now dominates many of the coasts and islands of the region. This is the Srivijaya empire. Since finding complete world history maps has always proven to be a daunting task, we decided to start drawing some world history maps and share this content for free. Our atlas of the World History Maps includes a series of historical maps, divided into five eras: prehistoric, primeval, ancient, medieval, and modern history maps. Prehistoric Maps​

A History of the World in 500 Maps | Stanfords

The Han dynasty has given almost two centuries of peace and stability to China – one of the more enduring periods of peace in global history for a significant portion of the world’s population. For the Chinese, it has been a time of prosperity and expansion. Commercial expansion There has been no such tranquility further west. The power of Rome has grown to take in the entire Mediterranean region, a process accompanied by brutal wars of conquest, and by bitter civil wars and fierce political in-fighting. However, the young politician, Octavian, has just defeated his rivals, Antony and Cleopatra, at the battle of Actium. This victory makes Octavian the sole master of the Roman world and brings to a close the civil wars. He will soon take the title “Augustus”, and rule as the first of the Roman emperors. The steppes of Asia No such European empire can be found in East Asia, but westerners are a troubling presence in the region. In fact, many of them are little better than drug smugglers on a grand scale. The rulers of the China, Japan and Korea are determined to keep them out. Indo-European-speaking, horse-breeding peoples have spread over a huge area – across central Asia, towards China in the east, into central and southern Europe in the west and northern India to the south. The past few centuries have seen the ancient civilizations of the Middle East and the Aegean experience steep decline – in some cases, such as the the Hittites, complete collapse, and others, such as Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia, significant weakening.Some of the Uygurs also migrated west to the Transoxus region, to form the Uzbek kingdoms; and a group of Khitans have founded the powerful Karakhitai khanate. In Europe, Crete, Greece and the Aegean are home to literate cultures, whilst in China a sophisticated civilization has emerged, capable of fashioning some of the most beautiful bronze artifacts ever produced in history. On the Indian sub-continent, however, the many cities of the Indus valley have all vanished, for reasons modern scholars can only guess at. Most of North America remains home to hunter-gatherer societies, but the early farming cultures of the Mogollon and Hopewell flourish in very different environments. An urban civilization has also appeared on the Indian sub-continent, in the Indus valley. This shows advanced features such as town planning and effective drainage systems. East Asia In 2500 BCE much of the world is still populated by hunter-gatherers. But farming and pastoral populations are continuing to encroach on their lands, and in many parts of the world the rise of civilization is astonishing. The Middle East and Egypt