Welcome to

Seshat: Global History Databank

✓ the most current and comprehensive body of knowledge about human history
✓ collects what is currently known about the social and political organization of human societies over time
✓ offers the means to study the past through well-established scientific techniques
✓ founded in 2011 and thriving ever since

Objects

47

Seshat Regions

West Africa (Africa)

Southern Europe (Europe)

East Africa (Africa)

Anatolia-Caucasus (Southwest Asia)

Central Europe (Europe)

Iran (Southwest Asia)

Western Europe (Europe)

Northeast Africa (Africa)

and 39 more... in 10 Macro Regions.

826

Polities

Italian Republic Restoration Period (in: Southern Europe) 1309 CE 1378 CE

Early Qing (in: North China) 1644 CE 1796 CE

Numidia (in: Maghreb) 220 BCE 46 BCE

Yue Kingdom (in: South China) 510 BCE 334 BCE

Japan - Middle Jomon (in: Northeast Asia) 3500 BCE 2500 BCE

Cahokia - Emergent Mississippian II (in: Mississippi Basin) 900 CE 1049 CE

Maitraka Dynasty (in: Somewhere) 470 CE 790 CE

Kachi Plain - Aceramic Neolithic (in: Pakistan) 7500 BCE 5500 BCE

and 818 more... in 47 Seshat Regions.

Seshat

General Variables

26

variables

in categories: Identity and Location, Temporal Bounds, Language, Religion, Supra-cultural relations
8827

datapoints

Alternative Name (Identity and Location)

Polity Peak Years (Temporal Bounds)

Polity Capital (Identity and Location)

Polity Language (Language)

Polity Religion (Religion)

Degree of Centralization (Temporal Bounds)

Succeeding Entity (Supra-cultural relations)

Relationship to Preceding Entity (Supra-cultural relations)

and 18 more... for 524 Polities

Social Complexity Variables

77

variables

in categories: Social Scale, Hierarchical Complexity, Professions, Bureaucracy Characteristics, Law, Specialized Buildings: polity owned, Transport Infrastructure, Special-purpose Sites, Information
20458

datapoints

Polity Territory (Social Scale)

Polity Population (Social Scale)

Settlement Hierarchy (Hierarchical Complexity)

Irrigation System (Specialized Buildings: polity owned)

Merit Promotion (Bureaucracy Characteristics)

Formal Legal Code (Law)

Road (Transport Infrastructure)

Postal Station (Information / Postal System)

and 69 more... for 506 Polities

Warfare Variables

49

variables

in categories: Fortifications, Military use of Metals, Projectiles, Handheld weapons, Animals used in warfare, Armor, Naval technology
17527

datapoints

Bronze (Military use of Metals)

Javelin (Projectiles)

Battle Axe (Handheld Weapons)

Sword (Handheld Weapons)

Horse (Animals used in warfare)

Small Vessels (canoes, etc) (Naval technology)

Shield (Armor)

Wooden Palisade (Fortifications)

and 41 more... for 373 Polities

Human Sacrifice

The deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
357

datapoints

was Absent: 604 CE 711 CE in Sogdiana - City-States Period

was Absent: 763 CE 907 CE in Tang Dynasty II

was Present: 600 BCE 475 BCE in Hallstatt D

was Absent: 1336 CE 1466 CE in Ashikaga Shogunate

was Unknown: 5700 BCE 5101 BCE in Susiana B

was Absent: 3600 BCE 1801 BCE in Latium - Copper Age

was Present: 1126 CE 1205 CE in Early Mongols

was Absent: 285 CE 394 CE in Roman Empire - Dominate

and 349 more... coded for 323 Polities

CrisisDB

Power Transitions

  absent     present     inferred absent     inferred present     suspected unknown     unknown are coded for:
OT Overturn
PA Predecessor Assassination
IE Intra-Elite
MR Military Revolt
PU Popular Uprising
SR Separatist Rebellion
EV External Invasion
EF External Inteference
3093

transitions

1450 CE 1470 CE in Hawaii II: Kalaunuiohua Kuaiwa OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

530 CE 550 CE in Anurādhapura III: Mogallana Kirti Sirimeg'ha OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1953 CE 1964 CE in Soviet Union: Nikita Khrushchev Leonid Brezhnev OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1329 CE 1330 CE in Chagatai Khanate: Duwa Temür Ala-ad-din Tarmashirin OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1835 CE 1848 CE in Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II: Ferdinand I of Austria Franz Joseph I OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

2112 BCE 2063 BCE in Egypt - Period of the Regions: Intef II / Wahankh Intef III / Nakjtnebtepnefer OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

482 CE 511 CE in Early Merovingian: Chlodovech (Clovis) I Childebert I OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1412 CE 1421 CE in Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate III: Al-Muayyad Shaykh Al-Ashraf Barsbay OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

and 3085 more... coded for 241 Polities

Crisis Consequences

Crisis periods are defined as periods of turmoil within a polity duration. We measure this turmoil by:
  1. tracking known destabilizing events such as major revolts, civil violence, and institutional reform; and
  2. following established scholarship which identifies such crisis periods
169

cases

  absent     present     inferred absent     inferred present     suspected unknown     unknown are coded for:
PD Population Decline
PC Population Collapse
EP Epidemic
DM Elite Downward Mobility
EX Elite Extermination
UP Uprising
RV Revolution
SR Successful Revolution
CW Civil War
C+ Lasted a Century +
FR Fragmentation
CL Capital Loss
EC External Conquest
RA Ruler Assassination
RD Ruler Depose
CC Constitution Change
LC Labor Change
UL Unfree Labor Change
SF Suffrage
PG Public Goods Change
RC Religion Change

1819 CE 1820 CE in Kingdom of Hawaii - Kamehameha Period: Contact Period: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1261 CE 1262 CE in Icelandic Commonwealth: Norweigan Conquest of Iceland and the end of the Commonwealth: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1171 CE 1206 CE in Early Mongols: Crisis in Mongolian Confederacy: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

538 CE 668 CE in Asuka: Reform Period: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

700 BCE 500 BCE in Oaxaca - Rosario: Increased violent conflict and social differentiation during Rosario phase: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

306 CE 324 CE in Roman Empire - Dominate: Civil Wars of Tetrarchy: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1467 CE in Ashikaga Shogunate: Transition to Sengoku period: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1618 CE 1648 CE in Austria - Habsburg Dynasty I: Seventeenth Century Crisis, Thirty Years' War: PD PC EP DM EX UP SR CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

and 161 more... coded for 153 Polities

🇺🇸 US Political Violence Database

✓ coded for Date, Type, Subtype(s), Location(s), Fatalities, etc
1903

cases

Jan. 1, 1889 riot (unknown (?)) in Kentucky (KY), Caldwell: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

May 1, 1917 lynching (extralegal) in Tennessee (TN), Memphis: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

Jan. 1, 1996 insurrection (political) in Arkansas (AR), Northwest Arkansas: 3 were killed. Source(s):   The New York Times

Sept. 1, 2014 terrorism (work) in Alabama (AL), Birmingham: 3 were killed. Source(s):   Reuters

Oct. 1, 1784 riot (economic) in Pennsylvania (PA), Ft. Dickinson, Wyoming Valley: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

Jan. 1, 1894 lynching (extralegal) in Ohio (OH), Adams: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

June 1, 2014 terrorism (education) in Washington (WA), Seattle: 1 was killed. Source(s):   WaPo: The Washington Post

April 1, 1916 riot (labor) in Pennsylvania (PA), Pittsburgh: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Hartford Daily Courant Or The Hartford Courant

and 1895 more...

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