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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

Seshat

General Variables

26

variables

in categories: Identity and Location, Temporal Bounds, Language, Religion, Supra-cultural relations
8864

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 532 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
24853

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 615 Polities

Warfare Variables

49

variables

in categories: Fortifications, Military use of Metals, Projectiles, Handheld weapons, Animals used in warfare, Armor, Naval technology
17533

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 375 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 Present: 250 CE 537 CE in Kansai - Kofun Period

was Present: 1450 BCE 1301 BCE in Monopalatial Crete

was Absent: 543 CE 686 CE in Middle Merovingian

was Present: 5000 BCE 3501 BCE in Yangshao

was Unknown: 7000 BCE 3001 BCE in Neolithic Crete

was Absent: 538 CE 710 CE in Asuka

was Absent: 1421 CE 1516 CE in Ottoman Empire I

was Present: 1350 CE 1580 CE in Hawaii II

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
3449

transitions

1803 CE 1804 CE in Ashanti Empire: Opoku Fofie Osei Tutu Kwame Asiba OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1704 CE 1731 CE in Nayaks of Madurai: Vijaya Ranga Chokkanatha Nayak Queen Meenakshi OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1833 CE in Imamate of Futa Toro: Mamudu Sire Dia Yusuf

1565 CE in Hausa bakwai: Yakufu Dauda Abasama OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1713 CE 1719 CE in Mughal Empire: Farrukh Siyar Rafi ul Darjat OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

705 BCE 681 BCE in Neo-Assyrian Empire: Sennacherib Esarhaddon OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1174 CE 1175 CE in Kievan Rus: Vsevolod III the Big Nest Roman I OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

1745 CE 1750 CE in Zungharian Empire: Tsewang Dorji Namjal Lama Dorji OV PA IE MR PU SR EV EF

and 3441 more... coded for 259 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

1850 CE 1864 CE in Late Qing: Taiping Rebellion: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV SR CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

232 BCE 187 BCE in Magadha - Maurya Empire: Fall of Mauryan Empire: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1917 CE 1923 CE in Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II: Russian Revolution and Civil War: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV SR CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

540 CE 554 CE in East Roman Empire: Sixth Century Crisis & Justinian Plague: PD PC EP DM EX UP SR CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

1250 CE 1279 CE in Southern Song: Fall of the Song Dynasty: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

67 BCE 63 BCE in Yehuda: Hasmonean Civil Wars: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

30 BCE in Ptolemaic Kingdom II: Roman conquest of Egypt: PD PC EP DM EX UP RV CW C+ FR CL EC RA RD CC LC UL SF PG RC

500 CE 600 CE in Classic Basin of Mexico: Crisis at Teotihuacan: 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

Aug. 20, 2021 terrorism (race) in Michigan (MI), South Haven, Van Buren: 2 were killed. Source(s):   ACLED: The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data

March 1, 1886 riot (race) in Mississippi (MS), Carrollton: 20 were killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

Aug. 1, 1856 riot (section) in Kansas (KS): 3 were killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

Oct. 1, 2014 terrorism (school) in Washington (WA), Seattle: 3 were killed. Source(s):   Reuters

Aug. 1, 1917 riot (labor) in Ohio (OH), Lima: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Hartford Daily Courant Or The Hartford Courant

Sept. 1, 1988 terrorism (education) in South Carolina (SC), Greenwood: 2 were killed. Source(s):   The New York Times

Nov. 1, 1897 lynching (extralegal) in North Dakota (ND), Williamsport: 3 were killed. Source(s):   The New York Times

Jan. 1, 1850 lynching (race) in Virginia (VA), Culpeper, Culpeper: 1 was killed. Source(s):   Paul A. Gilje, Riots In The United States

and 1895 more...

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