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Asia and the Americas before 1500

Asia and the Americas before 1500: a chapter of the Turning Points of History Book, with the moments, people and dates that shaped the world.

11 cards · History

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Each Zap teaches up to 5 new cards, so you learn the chapter a few at a time.

Checked by the Brain Zap team · reviewed 27 Oct 2026

Sources: World history (Encyclopaedia Britannica), World History Encyclopedia

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  • Dynasty that built most of the Great Wall we see today

    Show answer: Dynasty that built most of the Great Wall we see today

    Ming

    Learn more: Earlier walls were mostly earth; the Ming rebuilt it in brick and stone to keep out Mongol raiders.

  • Indian emperor who turned to Buddhism after a war

    Show answer: Indian emperor who turned to Buddhism after a war

    Ashoka

    Learn more: After the slaughter at Kalinga around 261 BC, he spread Buddhist ideas of non-violence across his empire.

  • Trade routes linking China to the Mediterranean

    Show answer: Trade routes linking China to the Mediterranean

    The Silk Road

    Learn more: Merchants carried silk, spices, ideas and religions along it for over 1,500 years.

  • Invention China gave the world around 105 AD

    Show answer: Invention China gave the world around 105 AD

    Paper

    Learn more: Cheaper than silk or bamboo strips, it spread along trade routes and reached Europe about 1,000 years later.

  • Largest religious monument in the world, in Cambodia

    Show answer: Largest religious monument in the world, in Cambodia

    Angkor Wat

    Learn more: Built in the 1100s as a Hindu temple, it later became Buddhist; it appears on Cambodia's flag.

About this topic

While Europe was in its Middle Ages, great civilisations rose far away. China built the Great Wall in stone, invented paper and sent treasure fleets to Africa. India's emperor Ashoka spread Buddhism, and the Silk Road carried goods and ideas across Asia. Across the ocean, the Maya wrote their history in glyphs, the Aztecs built a city on a lake, and the Inca ruled the Andes with knotted cords instead of writing.

This is a chapter of the Turning Points of History Book. Each card asks one question, with a hint before you answer and a short reason after. Once you know most of this chapter, the next one starts arriving in your Daily Zap.

All 11 cards

  1. Dynasty that built most of the Great Wall we see today

    Ming

    Learn more: Earlier walls were mostly earth; the Ming rebuilt it in brick and stone to keep out Mongol raiders.

  2. Indian emperor who turned to Buddhism after a war

    Ashoka

    Learn more: After the slaughter at Kalinga around 261 BC, he spread Buddhist ideas of non-violence across his empire.

  3. Trade routes linking China to the Mediterranean

    The Silk Road

    Learn more: Merchants carried silk, spices, ideas and religions along it for over 1,500 years.

  4. Invention China gave the world around 105 AD

    Paper

    Learn more: Cheaper than silk or bamboo strips, it spread along trade routes and reached Europe about 1,000 years later.

  5. Largest religious monument in the world, in Cambodia

    Angkor Wat

    Learn more: Built in the 1100s as a Hindu temple, it later became Buddhist; it appears on Cambodia's flag.

  6. People of Central America with a full writing system

    The Maya

    Learn more: Their glyphs recorded kings, wars and a precise calendar; most of it was read again only in the 1900s.

  7. Aztec capital built on a lake

    Tenochtitlan

    Learn more: Founded around 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco, it was larger than most European cities when the Spanish came.

  8. Knotted cords the Inca used to keep records

    Quipu

    Learn more: The Inca ran a huge empire without writing as we know it; officials stored numbers in knotted strings.

  9. Inca estate high in the Andes, built around 1450

    Machu Picchu

    Learn more: Hidden on a ridge above the Urubamba river, it escaped the Spanish and is now Peru's most visited site.

  10. Chinese admiral whose fleets sailed to Africa

    Zheng He

    Learn more: His treasure fleets, far larger than Columbus's ships, reached Arabia and the coast of East Africa.

  11. Japan's warrior class, loyal to their lords

    Samurai

    Learn more: From the 1100s they ruled Japan through the shoguns, until their class was abolished in the 1870s.

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