Images

A map illustrating the rise and expansion of the Sassanid Empire (also known as Erānshahr, "the Domain of the Iranians/Aryans" or Neo-Persian Empire.) Named after the House of Sasan, it was the longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty, enduring...

A portrait of Shah Shuja, King of the Afghan Empire from 1803 to 1809 and the proposed candidate to rule Afghanistan of the British East India Company during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838-42). (National Army Museum, London)

A portrait of Major-General William Elphinstone (1782-1842) who commanded the army of the British East India Company in its infamous retreat from Kabul in January 1842 during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838-42). (National Portrait Gallery...

An illustration showing the British East India Company's successful attack on the Afghan fortress of Ghazni in July 1839. The attack was during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838-42). (National Army Museum, London)

An illustration by Lieutenant James Rattray of a 19th-century Afghan soldier carrying a jezail musket. (British Library, London)

Portrait of Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1737-1815), commander of Austrian forces during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). Painting by William Essex, 1848, based on an earlier work by Ferdinand Jagemann. Essex's painting...

French General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (1762-1833), marshal of the Empire under the reign of Napoleon I. Oil on canvas portrait initiated by Julie Volpelière but finished by Horace Vernet in 1834. Palace of Versailles.

French minister of war Lazare Carnot leads a victorious French Republican army during the Battle of Wattignies (15-16 October 1793), a significant engagement in the War of the First Coalition (1792-1797). Although Carnot played a vital role...

Battle of Wattignies, 15-16 October 1793 during the War of the First Coalition (1792-1797). The battle was fought between an army of the First French Republic led by General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, and a Coalition army led by Prince Josias...

King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem toppling an enemy at the Battle of Montgisard, illustration from MS 45 f. 198r. Estoire d'Eracles (Bk XXI, 27), late 13th century. Bibliothèque municipale, Épinal.