Qing Dynasty

State · 1645–1911 CE · at its largest around 1794 CE

The Manchu Qing presided over a long era of prosperity under the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors, when China's population boomed and porcelain, tea and silk fed world trade. Its later decades brought the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion and humiliation by foreign powers that fueled revolution.

On its lands while it lasted

Joseon (1392–1897 CE): Dynasty founded by Yi Seong-gye with its capital at Hanseong (Seoul); it ruled Korea for five centuries.
Mughal Empire founded (1526–1857 CE): Empire founded by Babur that at its height ruled most of the Indian subcontinent, famed for its wealth, administration and architecture.
Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868 CE): Military government based at Edo that brought over two centuries of peace to Japan.
Aurangzeb (1618 CE – 1707 CE): Sixth Mughal emperor under whom the empire reached its greatest extent; his long Deccan wars strained its resources.
Shivaji (1630 CE – 1680 CE): Founder of the Maratha state who fought the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughals and was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad in 1674.
Qing dynasty (1636–1912 CE): Hong Taiji proclaimed the Qing dynasty at Mukden; the Manchu dynasty ruled China from 1644 until 1912.
Maratha Empire (1674–1818 CE): Maratha state founded by Shivaji's coronation in 1674, which became the dominant power in India in the 18th century before defeat by the British.
Battle of Plassey (1757 CE): East India Company forces under Robert Clive defeated the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, beginning Company rule in Bengal.
First Opium War (1839–1842 CE): Britain defeated Qing China in a war over trade and the opium traffic, beginning China's "century of humiliation".
Indian Rebellion of 1857 (1857–1858 CE): Uprising that began with a mutiny of sepoys at Meerut and spread across northern India, leading to the end of East India Company rule.
British Raj (1858–1947 CE): After the 1857 rebellion the British Crown took direct rule of India from the East India Company, governing until independence in 1947.
Meiji Restoration (1868 CE): Imperial rule was restored under Emperor Meiji, launching Japan's rapid modernisation.
Ho Chi Minh (1890 CE – 1969 CE): Vietnamese revolutionary who led the Viet Minh independence movement, declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and led North Vietnam until his death.
Mao Zedong (1893 CE – 1976 CE): Communist revolutionary who founded the People's Republic of China and led it until his death.
1911 Revolution (1911–1912 CE): Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China, ending over two thousand years of imperial rule.