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[Oliver_Wendell_Ramone]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
I'll give you an empire:

• The Mughal Empire (Persian: سلطنت مغولی هند), self-designation Gurkānī, گوركانى, lasted from the early sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. At its peak, around 1700, it covered most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of what is now Afghanistan. Its population at that time has been estimated as between 100 and 150 million, over a territory of over 3 million square km.[1] After 1720, it declined rapidly. The decline has been variously described as due to wars of succession, agrarian crises fueling local revolts, and the growth of a religious extremism by the Hindu and Sikh population. The last Emperor, whose rule was restricted to the city of Delhi, was imprisoned and exiled by the British after the War of Independence Rebellion of 1857.
  
  The classic period of the Empire starts with the accession of Akbar in 1556 and ends with the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. During this period, the Empire was marked by a strongly centralized administration connecting the different regions of India. All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, date to this period.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal

Ahhh, yes, the accession of Akbar...