Section: Social Complexity
Subsection: Social Scale

Polity Territory

polity territory is coded in squared kilometers.   (See here)
Contributors:

Variable Definition
Polity The Seshat Polity ID
Year(s) The years for which we have the data. [negative = BCE]
Tag [Evidenced, Disputed, Suspected, Inferred, Unknown]
Verified A Seshat Expert has approved this piece of data.

Variable Definition Units
polity_territory_from The lower range of polity territory for a polity. km squared
polity_territory_to The upper range of polity territory for a polity. km squared

# Polity Year(s) Polity Territory from Polity Territory to Description   Edit
421
(Warring States Japan)
Full Year Range of Warring States Japan is assumed.
[1467, 1568]
300000
300000
Combined territories controlled by factions would be around 70-80% of Japan's total area, with an area of approximately 300,000 square kilometers. [Cartwright 0]
422
(Kachi Plain - Ceramic Neolithic)
Full Year Range of Kachi Plain - Ceramic Neolithic is assumed.
[-5500, -4000]
None
None
None
423
(Ancient Khwarazm)
Full Year Range of Ancient Khwarazm is assumed.
[-1000, -521]
None
None
in squared kilometers
"German and Russian scholars have speculated on the existence before 500 BC of a 'Great Khwarazm Empire' extending from the Black Sea eastward to the Tian Shan and south to Herat in Afghanistan." [Starr 2013] "Briefly discussed in E. V. Rtveladaze, ed., Istoriia gosudarstevnnosti Uzbekistana, 3 vols. (Tashkent, 2009), 1:210." [Starr 2013]
424
(Elymais II)
Full Year Range of Elymais II is assumed.
[25, 215]
None
None
in squared kilometers
"rural population densities climbed sharply during the Parthian era, particularly in the first two centuries A.D.". [Wenke 1981, pp. 303-315]
425
(Badarian)
Full Year Range of Badarian is assumed.
[-4400, -3800]
None
None
None
426
(Deccan - Iron Age)
Full Year Range of Deccan - Iron Age is assumed.
[-1200, -300]
None
None
in squared kilometers. This is the combined area of the modern-day Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where "the vast majority of prehistoric megaliths and associated sites are situated" (though there are outliers in Jammu, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh) [Brubaker 2001, pp. 253-302]
427
(Elam - Crisis Period)
Full Year Range of Elam - Crisis Period is assumed.
[-1100, -900]
None
None
in squared kilometers. Unknown. The region was a quasi-polity with a variety of chieftains controlling small territories. No data has been found on the size of a typical polity.
428
(Hmong - Early Chinese)
Full Year Range of Hmong - Early Chinese is assumed.
[1895, 1941]
None
None
None
429
(Elam - Early Sukkalmah)
Full Year Range of Elam - Early Sukkalmah is assumed.
[-1900, -1701]
None
None
in squared kilometers
"The prestige and influence of the sukkalmah during the early second millennium undoubtedly represent the apogee of Elamite political influence in Western Asia. Never before had Elamite political power been projected so far to the west, and it is unlikely that it had ever been projected equally far to the east." [Potts 2016, p. 167] "The Shimashki dynasty of Elam was succceeded by a line of sukkal-mah. The latter controlled the whole of Elam from Susa to Anshan, including the mountainous regions in the north, shifting the political axis of Elam to the east." [Liverani_Tabatabai 2014, pp. 195-196]
430
(Elam - Late Sukkalmah)
Full Year Range of Elam - Late Sukkalmah is assumed.
[-1700, -1500]
None
None
in squared kilometers
2nd millennium BCE: "Some ninety settlements in the Susiana Plain scattered over an area of about 3,700 kilometers have been dated to the early historic periods. Six more of these sites have been identified in the 643 square kilometers of the Deh Luran Plain; seven more lie in the 217 square kilometers of the Ram Hormuz Plain. ... Sumner (1972) found about eighty early historic sites (phases V and VI) scattered over an area of about 1,500 square kilometers at elevations between 1,500 and 1,675 meters." [Schacht_Hole 1987, p. 173] "The Shimashki dynasty of Elam was succceeded by a line of sukkal-mah. The latter controlled the whole of Elam from Susa to Anshan, including the mountainous regions in the north, shifting the political axis of Elam to the east." [Liverani_Tabatabai 2014, pp. 195-196]
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