Early Modern Asian Empires: Key Figures and Turning Points

Early Modern Empire: List of People

The early modern era in Asian history was defined by the rise of powerful, expansive empires. In East Asia, the Ming and Qing dynasties and Japan's Tokugawa shogunate established centralized rule and long-standing regional stability. Across South and West Asia, the Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Empires leveraged military innovations like gunpowder to dominate vast territories. Trade along the Silk Road and maritime routes flourished, even as European encroachment and internal struggles began to reshape the continent's balance of power.

People

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Birth Death Origin Age (Death)

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1311
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1371
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1417
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known

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	List of People
1103	Birth of Yue Fei (Location: Tangyin County, Anyang City, Henan Province, China)
1142	Death of Yue Fei
1311	Birth of Wang Dayuan (Location: Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China)
1328	Birth of Hongwu Emperor (Location: Zhongli County, Haozhou (near present-day Fengyang County, Anhui Province, People's Republic of China))
1350	Death of Wang Dayuan
1360	Birth of Yongle Emperor (Location: Nanjing, China (then Yingtian Prefecture))
1367	Birth of Taejong (Location: Near Hamhung, Hamgyongnam-do, South Korea (Goryeo-era Hamhung Royal Palace Villa))
1371	Birth of Zheng He (Location: Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China)
1378	Birth of Hongxi Emperor (Location: Nanjing, the capital of the Ming dynasty (present-day Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China))
1397	Birth of Sejong (Location: Seoul, South Korea (Hanyang at the time))
1398	Death of Hongwu Emperor
1399	Birth of Xuande Emperor (Location: Beijing, China)
1417	Birth of Sejo (Location: Seoul, South Korea (Hanseong at the time))
1422	Death of Taejong
1424	Death of Yongle Emperor
1425	Death of Hongxi Emperor
1427	Birth of Emperor Yingzong of Ming (Location: Beijing, Ming Dynasty (present-day Beijing, People's Republic of China))
1432	Birth of Mehmed II (Location: Edirne, Republic of Turkey)
1434	Death of Wang Jinghong
1435	Death of Zheng He Death of Xuande Emperor
1448	Birth of Bayezid II (Location: Didymoteicho, Greece (formerly Dimetoka))
1450	Death of Sejong
1457	Birth of Seongjong (Location: Seoul, South Korea (Jaseondang inside Gyeongbokgung Palace, Hanseong at the time))
1464	Death of Emperor Yingzong of Ming
1465	Birth of Piri Reis (Location: Presumed to be Gelibolu (Gallipoli, Turkey). Another theory suggests Karaman.)
1468	Death of Sejo
1470	Birth of Hongzhi Emperor (Location: Beijing, China) Birth of Selim I (Location: Amasya, Republic of Turkey)
1474	Birth of Aruj Reis (Location: Mytilene, Lesbos Island, Hellenic Republic)
1481	Death of Mehmed II
1482	Birth of Jo Gwang-jo (Location: Seoul, South Korea (listed as Hanseong at the time in some sources; some list present-day Yongin, Gyeonggi-do as birth place))
1483	Birth of Hayreddin Pasha (Location: Gera region (around Palaiokipos), Lesbos Island, Hellenic Republic)
1485	Birth of Turgut Reis (Location: Near Bodrum, Muğla Province, Turkey (around the present-day Turgutreis district))
1487	Birth of Shah Ismail I (Location: Ardabil (present-day Iran))
1488	Birth of Jungjong (Location: Seoul, South Korea)
1494	Birth of Suleiman I (Location: Trabzon, Turkey)
1495	Death of Seongjong
1505	Death of Hongzhi Emperor
1512	Death of Bayezid II
1514	Birth of Tahmasp I (Location: Near Isfahan (near Shahabad village, Isfahan Province, present-day Iran))
1518	Death of Aruj Reis
1520	Death of Selim I Death of Jo Gwang-jo
1524	Death of Shah Ismail I Birth of Selim II (Location: Istanbul, Republic of Turkey)
1528	Birth of Qi Jiguang (Location: Luqiao Town, Weishan County, Jining City, Shandong Province, China)
1537	Birth of Ismail II (Location: Qom (present-day Iran))
1539	Birth of Heo Jun (Location: Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (near present-day Gayang-dong))
1542	Birth of Yu Seong-ryong (Location: Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea (near Hahoe Village))
1544	Death of Jungjong
1546	Birth of Murad III (Location: Manisa, Turkey) Death of Hayreddin Pasha
1552	Birth of Matteo Ricci (Location: Macerata, Marche, Italy) Birth of Seonjo (Location: Seoul, South Korea (Hanseong at the time))
1553	Death of Piri Reis
1556	Birth of Jan Joosten (Location: Delft, South Holland, Netherlands)
1559	Birth of Nurhaci (Location: Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province, China (near the former Hetu Ala))
1563	Birth of Wanli Emperor (Location: Shuntian Prefecture (around present-day Beijing, People's Republic of China))
1564	Birth of William Adams (Location: Gillingham, Kent, England)
1565	Birth of Anthony Shirley (Location: Around Wiston, West Sussex, England) Death of Turgut Reis
1566	Birth of Mehmed III (Location: Manisa, Republic of Turkey) Death of Suleiman I
1571	Birth of Abbas I (Location: Herat (present-day Afghanistan))
1574	Death of Selim II
1575	Birth of Gwanghaegun (Location: Seoul, South Korea (Hanseong at the time))
1576	Death of Tahmasp I
1577	Death of Ismail II
1581	Birth of Robert Shirley (Location: Around Wiston, Sussex, England (present-day West Sussex))
1584	Birth of William Baffin (Location: Presumed to be London, England) Birth of Yuan Chonghuan (Location: Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China)
1586	Birth of Pietro della Valle (Location: Rome, Italy)
1588	Death of Qi Jiguang
1590	Birth of Ahmed I (Location: Manisa, Republic of Turkey)
1591	Birth of Johann Adam Schall von Bell (Location: Cologne, Germany, or nearby Lüftelberg (part of present-day Meckenheim))
1592	Birth of Hong Taiji (Location: Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province, China (near the former Hetu Ala))
1595	Death of Murad III Birth of Injo (Location: Haeju, South Korea (present-day South Hwanghae Province; birth place was the residence of Prince Jeongwon at the time))
1603	Death of Mehmed III
1606	Birth of Zhang Xianzhong (Location: The area around Dingbian County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China (believed to be the location of Liushujian at the time)) Birth of Li Zicheng (Location: Near Mizhi County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, China (Lijiachengzhai, belonging to Yan'an Prefecture in the Ming era))
1607	Death of Yu Seong-ryong
1608	Death of Seonjo
1610	Death of Matteo Ricci
1611	Birth of Safi I (Location: Kashan (present-day Iran), according to records) Birth of Chongzhen Emperor (Location: Beijing, China)
1612	Birth of Wu Sangui (Location: Near Suizhong County, Huludao City, Liaoning Province, China (Liaoxi region in the Ming era)) Birth of Murad IV (Location: Istanbul, Turkey) Birth of Dorgon (Location: Yenden (near present-day Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province, China))
1615	Death of Heo Jun
1617	Death of Ahmed I
1620	Death of William Adams Death of Wanli Emperor
1622	Death of William Baffin
1623	Death of Jan Joosten Birth of Ferdinand Verbiest (Location: Pittem, West Flanders, Belgium (near Tielt)) Birth of Zhu Youlang (Location: Beijing, China)
1624	Birth of Zheng Chenggong (Location: Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan)
1626	Death of Nurhaci
1628	Death of Robert Shirley
1629	Death of Abbas I
1630	Death of Yuan Chonghuan
1632	Birth of Abbas II (Location: Qazvin (present-day Iran))
1638	Death of Anthony Shirley Birth of Shunzhi Emperor (Location: Yongfu Palace, Mukden Palace, Shengjing (present-day Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China))
1640	Death of Murad IV
1641	Death of Gwanghaegun
1642	Birth of Mehmed IV (Location: Istanbul, Republic of Turkey) Death of Safi I
1643	Death of Hong Taiji Birth of Jean Chardin (Location: Paris, French Republic)
1644	Death of Chongzhen Emperor
1647	Death of Zhang Xianzhong
1649	Death of Injo
1650	Death of Dorgon
1652	Death of Pietro della Valle
1654	Birth of Kangxi Emperor (Location: Beijing, China)
1661	Death of Shunzhi Emperor Birth of Sukjong (Location: Seoul, South Korea (Hanseong at the time, Gyeonghuigung Palace))
1662	Death of Zhu Youlang Death of Zheng Chenggong
1664	Birth of Mustafa II (Location: Edirne, Turkey)
1666	Death of Johann Adam Schall von Bell Death of Abbas II
1668	Birth of Sultan Hossein (Location: Isfahan (present-day Iran))
1673	Birth of Ahmed III (Location: Dobrich, Republic of Bulgaria (then Hajioğlu Pazarcık))
1674	Death of Li Zicheng
1678	Death of Wu Sangui Birth of Yongzheng Emperor (Location: Yonghe Palace inside the Forbidden City, Beijing, China)
1688	Death of Ferdinand Verbiest
1693	Death of Mehmed IV
1694	Birth of Yeongjo (Location: Seoul, South Korea)
1698	Birth of Nader Shah (Location: Near Dastgerd in northeastern Iran (present-day Khorasan region; details of birth_place have uncertainties))
1703	Death of Mustafa II
1711	Birth of Qianlong Emperor (Location: Beijing, China (then the Residence of Prince Yong, present-day Yonghe Temple))
1713	Death of Jean Chardin
1720	Death of Sukjong
1722	Death of Kangxi Emperor
1727	Death of Sultan Hossein
1735	Death of Yongzheng Emperor
1736	Death of Ahmed III
1747	Death of Nader Shah
1752	Birth of Jeongjo (Location: Seoul, South Korea (Hanseong at the time, Changgyeonggung Palace))
1776	Death of Yeongjo
1799	Death of Qianlong Emperor
1800	Death of Jeongjo
Unknown	Birth of Wang Jinghong (Location: Unknown (said to be from Fujian Province, but the exact birth city cannot be specified))

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