Supplemental: Qianlong's 1758 Dzungar Vi...

The Qing conquest of Dzungaria did not begin with any kind of cannon-fire or musketry. Instead, it began like many wars end: with a funeral. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

As his era of rule over Great Qing drows to a close, the Yongzheng Emperor spares neither expense nor detail to reform the empire he inherited and modernize it for the one who will inherit it from him. But this is no idle fancy - he has a definite purpose. Though no great warrior ... Show More

The Yongzheng Emperor seeks to capitalize on his father's greatness abroad - but cautiously. He wants to exterminate the barbarians... but delicately. He wants to build better worlds... no matter how many he has to destroy in the process. He's riding for a fall. Time Period Cover ... Show More

In the third century BC, China was a land fractured by war - a patchwork of rival kingdoms struggling for dominance. Out of this chaos rose a single, extraordinary figure who would reshape the course of history: Chin Shrr Hwong, the First Emperor of China. His achievements were m ... Show More

The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s only ever woman Emperor. Raised by pious Buddhist parents, Wu Zetian left a trail of bodies in her wake as she charted a path to absolute power. From a lowly ranked co ... Show More

“To wander from mountain to mountain, hopeless and homeless, has nothing to recommend it” - Babur Before he became the father of the Mughal dynasty, and the author of one of the most important memoirs in world history, Babur was a provincial young prince in modern-day Uzbekistan. ... Show More

After victory in China, Genghis Khan goes west and takes on the Khwarezmians, surprising his enemy with a daring assault. He conquers all in his path and now controls the biggest empire the world has ever seen. But whose shoulders are broad enough to become his successor? Listen ... Show More

Empress Wu Zetian rose from royal concubine to become the only female ruler in China’s 2,000 years of imperial history. Today she is seen as ruthless, tyrannical and willing to murder her own family to hold onto the throne. However this female leader has suffered from a millenniu ... Show More

With their father in very bad health and rumours of his death swirling around the empire, Shah Jahan’s four sons decide it is their time to take his place. Only one has been chosen by Shah Jahan… The accomplished oldest son Dara Shukoh. However the war of succession has begun, an ... Show More

The leader brings reforms to his newly unified Mongol nation. The man formerly known as Temüjin will now conquer an empire bigger than any before in recorded history. But what are the innovations that underpin his supremacy? And how will history judge him - as a cruel tyrant, or ... Show More

We're in the Mongol lands of Central Asia in the late 1100s. This is a place of nomadic warriors, a region divided between tribes. But one man will emerge to unite them. Armed with the greatest military mind of his age, he will lead the Mongol peoples far beyond their own borders ... Show More

“And from that moment on, he was addressed as emperor and Augustus!” The coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800 AD, is one of the landmark moments in all world history. More than three centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the emperors had returned onc ... Show More