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Empire Swim Lanes

Run the Empire Swim Lanes MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

Empire Swim Lanes is a timeline of South Asia from 600 to 1800 CE drawn as ten horizontal lanes, one for each major power or group of powers: the Cholas, the Sri Lankan kingdoms, the Delhi Sultanate, the Bengal Sultanate, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Deccan sultanates, the Mughal Empire, the Maratha Empire, the Durrani Empire, and the European trading companies. Each colored bar shows roughly when a power existed. Bars with an arrow at the right end continued after 1800.

An orange year line moves with the slider. Bars that are active in the chosen year light up, and the panel below lists every power active in that year. Click or tap a bar to read its dates, its capital and one key fact.

The lanes are a selection. Many other kingdoms, such as the Rajput kingdoms, the Ahom kingdom in Assam, the kingdoms of Nepal and the Sikh kingdom of Punjab, are not shown. Dates are approximate, and the sources are listed in the chapter's fact log.

How to Use

  1. Read the panel at the starting year, 1600. Count how many powers were active.
  2. Drag the year slider to 1000, then to 1450, then to 1750. Count the active powers each time.
  3. Press Play to sweep the year line from 600 to 1800. Press Pause to stop at any year.
  4. Click or tap any bar to read its dates, capital and one key fact. Click an empty spot in a lane to go back to the year summary.
  5. Look for years when new powers appeared while older ones were still active.

Learning Objective

Students will be able to compare the dates of major South Asian powers between 600 and 1800 CE and explain, with examples, that many powers coexisted and overlapped rather than replacing each other one at a time.

Bloom level: Analyze (compare, explain).

Iframe Embed Code

<iframe src="https://aaryavvatts-lab.github.io/south-asian-culture-textbook/sims/ch03-empire-timeline/main.html" height="802px" width="100%" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade level: 9-12 (world history, ethnic studies, or a South Asian student club meeting)

Duration: 20 minutes

Activity:

  1. (3 min) Before opening the sim, students write down how many empires they think ruled South Asia between 600 and 1800, and whether they think those empires came one after another.
  2. (7 min) Students set the slider to 1000, 1450, 1600 and 1750 and record the powers active in each year in a table.
  3. (5 min) Students click three bars from different lanes and write one fact about each, including its capital.
  4. (5 min) Pairs discuss: Was any year ruled by only one power? What does the picture suggest about the idea of one empire "replacing" another?

Assessment questions:

  1. Name two powers that existed in South Asia at the same time as the early Mughal Empire.
  2. Which lane shows two kingdoms existing at the same time on one island? Name them.
  3. In which year on the timeline did the Delhi Sultanate end, and which power began that same year?
  4. Which power in the sim continued after 1800, and how can you tell?
  5. Explain, using two examples from the sim, why "one empire replaced another" is a misleading way to describe this period.

Chapter 3: Empires and Encounters