Mamluk Sultanate: Did you mean...?

Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon) is one of the oldest cities in the world, dating back over 4,000 years, during which it has been inhabited almost continuously. It was one of the most important, and at times the dominant, city of Phoenicia, whose...

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a state created in 1099 CE by Crusaders and western settlers after the First Crusade (1095-1102 CE). With Jerusalem as its capital, the kingdom was the most important of the four Crusader States in the Middle...

Mongke Khan was ruler of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE) from 1251 to 1259 CE. As the third Great Khan or 'universal ruler' of the Mongols, Mongke would oversee administrative reforms that continued to centralise government and ensure he...

Goa, located on the west coast of India, was a Portuguese colony from 1510 to 1961. The small coastal area was conquered by Afonso de Albuquerque (c. 1453-1515) and became an important trade hub for the Eastern spice trade. Goa was the capital...

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...

A map tracing the extraordinary journeys of Ibn Battuta (1304–c.1368), a 14th-century Maghrebi explorer and Islamic scholar born in Tangier. Over nearly three decades, he traveled 75,000 miles (120,000 km) across the Islamic world and beyond...

A map showing the various states of the Levant c. 1263 CE. Light Blue: Mamluk Sultanate Dark Blue: Latin East

Pepper has long been the king of spices and for almost 2,000 years dominated world trade. Originating in India, it was known in Greece by the 4th century BCE and was an integral part of the Roman diet by 30 BCE. It remained a force in Europe...

The crusades of the 11th to 15th century CE have become one of the defining events of the Middle Ages in both Europe and the Middle East. The campaigns brought significant consequences wherever they occurred but also pushed changes within...

Following the conquest of North Africa by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE, Islam spread throughout West Africa via merchants, traders, scholars, and missionaries, that is largely through peaceful means whereby African rulers either tolerated...