Important Figures in History #1

Islamic Chinese admiral; Led voyages throughout the Indian Ocean to establish trade routes with other nations

Student of Socrates; Ancient Greek philosopher and playwrite

A Sumerian king; Considered legend in Mesopotamian mythology; Had an epic written about

Considered the father of the three main monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Founder of the first Persian empire; Also called the Achaemenid Empire

Lit himself on fire to protest Buddhist persecution in India; Was a Buddhist monk himself

Tried to make Buddhism the state religion of India during the Mauryan dyansty (Hint!)

Mesopotamian King; Created a famous code of laws that emphasized harsh but fair punishment; "Eye for an eye"

Founder of possibly the oldest monotheistic religion in history; The religion is dubbed after his namesake

The Buddha's real identity; Founder of Buddhism

Founder of Islam; The first caliph of the series of Islamic caliphates

Father of Christianity; Considered the "Son of God"

Led the Mesopotamian city-state of Ur; Founded one of the oldest recorded law codes in history

Founder of Taoism; Emphasized individualism

Founder of the main state religion in China; Dubbed after his namesake; Emphasized respecting elders and strict familial roles; Filial piety

Founder of the Benedictine monks (Hint!) ; Helped spread Christianity; One of the patron saints of Catholicism

After the division of the Roman Empire, this person took control of the Eastern portion; Made the capital what is now Istanbul

First Holy Roman Emperor; Frankish

Leader of the Abbasid caliphate during its golden age; Replaced the Ummayad caliphate

Leader and general of the largest land based empire in history; After he died his empire split into four khanates

Leader of the Yuan (Mongolian) dynasty in China; Son of the above person

Author of "The Tale of Genji" one of the earliest written novels in history

A Venetian who travelled the Silk Road to Yuan China; Wrote about the courts in his log

Founder of the Incan empire from the kingdom of Cusco

A Macedonian general that formed one of the largest land-based empires of its time; Named a lot of cities after him; Spread Hellenism across the Middle East and North Africa

Helped solidify Buddhism in China; Travelled to India to reconnect with Buddhist origins and wrote a book

A Muslim scholar that travelled the Islamic world, documenting the places and the people that he travelled to

One of, if not the richest man ever to live; A Mali king

Considered the first Chinese emperor; United the Warring States of China; Started the Great Wall; Endorsed legalism