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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.

830

Polities

Hawaii I (in: Polynesia) 1000 CE 1200 CE

Tudor and Early Stuart England (in: Western Europe) 1486 CE 1689 CE

Kingdom of Asturias (in: Southern Europe) 718 CE 924 CE

Adal Sultanate (in: East Africa) 1375 CE 1543 CE

Western Jin (in: North China) 265 CE 317 CE

Proto-Carolingian (in: Western Europe) 687 CE 751 CE

Median Persian Empire (in: Iran) 715 BCE 550 BCE

Middle Merovingian (in: Western Europe) 543 CE 687 CE

and 822 more... in 47 Seshat Regions.

Seshat

General Variables

26

variables

in categories: Identity and Location, Temporal Bounds, Language, Religion, Supra-cultural relations
8829

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 525 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: 900 BCE 701 BCE in Hallstatt B2-3

was Unknown: 5500 BCE 4001 BCE in Kachi Plain - Ceramic Neolithic

was Unknown: 7000 BCE 3001 BCE in Neolithic Crete

was Absent: 1001 CE 1262 CE in Icelandic Commonwealth

was Absent: 1093 CE 1243 CE in Rum Sultanate

was Absent: 1505 CE 1722 CE in Safavid Empire

was Absent: 500 BCE 323 BCE in Classical Crete

was Absent: 1603 CE 1868 CE in Tokugawa Shogunate

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

932 CE 934 CE in Abbasid Caliphate I: Al-Qahir Al-Radi OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1040 CE 1042 CE in Anglo-Saxon England I: Harthacnut Edward ('the Confessor') OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

- in Allada: Tezifon unknown

1235 CE 1270 CE in Hungary Kingdom - Árpád Dynasty: Béla IV Stephen V OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1400 CE 1413 CE in Republic of Venice III: Michele Steno Tommaso Mocenigo OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1327 CE 1353 CE in Late Angkor: Jayavarmaparamesvara Hou-eul-na OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1352 BCE 1336 BCE in Egypt - New Kingdom Thutmosid Period: Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten / Neferkheperurawaenra Neferneferuaten / Smenkhkara OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

361 CE 365 CE in Western Jin: Ai of Jin (Sima Pi, Jìn Aī Dì) Fei of Jin (Sima Yi, Jìn Fèi Dì) 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

604 CE 618 CE in Sui Dynasty: Rebellions and Revolts: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

900 CE 1100 CE in Wari Empire: End of Wari Settlements: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1270 CE 1275 CE in Mali Empire: Palace Intrigue: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1568 CE 1609 CE in Spanish Empire I: Eighty Years' War and plague in Habsburg Spain: PD PC EP DM EX UP SR CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

291 CE 306 CE in Western Jin: Revolts of the Imperial Princes: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1523 CE in Delhi Sultanate: Fragmentation of Delhi Sultanate in fifteenth century, conquest by Mughal emperors in 1522. : PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

11 BCE 9 CE in Western Han Empire: Rebellions and Wang Mang usurpation: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1856 CE 1864 CE in Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II: Reforms of Tsar Alexander II: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV 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

March 1, 1906 lynching (race) in Tennessee (TN), Chattanooga: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

Oct. 24, 2015 terrorism () in Oklahoma (OK), Stillwater: 4 were killed. Source(s):   MKADB: (Mass Killings in America 2006 - present) Data from the AP-USA

May 1, 1964 terrorism () in California (CA): 44 were killed. Source(s):   Wikipedia

March 1, 1971 riot (political) in PR (PR), San Juan: 3 were killed. Source(s):   Hartford Daily Courant Or The Hartford Courant

June 1, 1863 lynching (race) in New York (NY), Newburgh: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

May 1, 1857 riot (unknown (?)) in Vermont (VT), Bakersfield: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

June 1, 1863 riot (political) in Illinois (IL), Chicago: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

Jan. 1, 1900 riot (race) in Texas (TX), Grimes: 3 were killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

and 1895 more...

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