World map in 1715

Border history

The interactive map lets you inspect named territories in 1715 and compare them to earlier or later snapshots on the timeline.

Biographical context

Meet figures alive in, or close to, 1715 and move from political geography to the people connected to the period.

Era-based reading

The related chronicles below provide long-form reading tied closely to the enlightenment period.

1709 – 1876

Kokand Khanate Wars

Kokand Khanate vs Bukhara Emirate, Qing China, Russian Empire

The Kokand Khanate fought to control the Ferghana Valley and key Silk Road cities, warring with Bukhara, Qing China, and finally falling to Russian imperial conquest.

Key battles and events: Kokand-Bukhara wars (1740s-1840s); Siege of Ak-Mechet (1853)

1706 – 1875

Comanche Wars

Comanche Empire (Comanchería) vs Apache, Spanish, Mexican, Texan, United States

The Comanche built the most powerful Indigenous empire on the Great Plains, defeating the Apache, Spanish, and Mexican forces before finally succumbing to the United States Army after 170 years of warfare.

Key battles and events: Comanche defeat of Apache from the plains (1720s); Great Raid of 1840 into Texas

1700 – 1721

Great Northern War

Sweden vs Russia vs Denmark-Norway vs Saxony-Poland

Peter the Great's war to transform Russia into a European power — Sweden's Charles XII won stunning victories before losing everything at Poltava.

Key battles and events: Narva (1700); Poltava (1709)

1689 – 1746

Jacobite Risings

Jacobite supporters of the Stuart dynasty vs British Government (Hanoverians)

A series of uprisings to restore the exiled Stuart kings to the British throne. The final rising in 1745 under Bonnie Prince Charlie came close to success before the devastating defeat at Culloden ended Stuart hopes forever.

Key battles and events: Battle of Killiecrankie (1689); Battle of the Boyne (1690)

1687 – 1757

Dzungar–Qing Wars

Qing Dynasty vs Dzungar Khanate

Seven decades of warfare between the Qing Empire and the last great nomadic power in Central Asia. The Qing's final victory in 1757 resulted in the near-complete destruction of the Dzungar people — one of the 18th century's worst atrocities — and brought Xinjiang and Mongolia under Chinese control.

Key battles and events: Battle of Jao Modo (1696); Battle of Oroi-Jalatu (1756)

1684 – 1834

Rozvi Empire Wars

Rozvi Empire vs Portuguese, Mutapa, Ndebele

The Rozvi Empire expelled the Portuguese from the Zimbabwe Plateau and dominated southern Africa until being destroyed by Ndebele invaders during the Mfecane.

Key battles and events: Expulsion of Portuguese from Mashonaland (1690s); Ndebele destruction of Rozvi (1834)

1674 – 1761

Maratha Empire Expansion

Maratha Empire (Shivaji, Peshwas) vs Mughal Empire, Afghan Durrani Empire

Shivaji founded the Maratha Empire through guerrilla warfare against the Mughals. His successors expanded across India, effectively replacing Mughal power, until the catastrophic Third Battle of Panipat against the Afghans shattered Maratha supremacy.

Key battles and events: Battle of Pratapgad (1659); Battle of Bhopal (1738)

1550 – 1836

Oyo Empire Wars

Oyo Empire vs Dahomey, Nupe, Bariba, Fulani Jihad

The Oyo Empire was the dominant Yoruba military power in West Africa, using cavalry warfare to control trade routes until collapsing during the Fulani jihad and internal revolts.

Key battles and events: Oyo conquest of Dahomey (1726); Battle of Ilorin (c. 1830)

Poland-Lithuania (modern Ukraine)

Baal Shem Tov

c. 1698 – 1760

Founding of Hasidism, mystical devotion, joyful prayer, elevation of the common Jew

Boston / Philadelphia / Paris

Benjamin Franklin

1706 – 1790

Founding Father, diplomat, scientist, inventor, printer, author of Poor Richard's Almanack

England

Isaac Newton

1643 – 1727

Laws of motion, universal gravitation, calculus, optics, Principia Mathematica

Germany

Johann Sebastian Bach

1685 – 1750

Baroque composer, organist, master of counterpoint, creator of the Brandenburg Concertos, the Well-Tempered Clavier, and the St. Matthew Passion

France

Louis XIV

1638 – 1715

Absolute monarch, builder of Versailles, longest reign in European history

Russia

Peter the Great

1672 – 1725

Tsar of Russia, founder of St. Petersburg, moderniser, military reformer, Great Northern War victor

Built 1709 · North America

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Most-visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, in Mexico City

Built 1692 · North America

Mission San Xavier del Bac

White Dove of the Desert, a Spanish colonial mission near Tucson, Arizona

Built 1692 · Asia

Taktsang Palphug Monastery

Sacred Buddhist monastery clinging to a cliff face 3,120 m above the Paro Valley in Bhutan

Built 1690 · Asia

Calcutta (Kolkata)

Founded as a British East India Company trading post, grew into the commercial capital of British India and gateway to Bengal's wealth

Built 1675 · Europe

Portuguese Synagogue (Esnoga)

Grand Sephardic synagogue built by Portuguese Jews who fled the Inquisition, still lit by candles and in active use

Built 1673 · Asia

Badshahi Mosque

Mughal-era mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, one of the largest and most beautiful in the world

Poland-Lithuania (modern Ukraine) · Philosopher

Baal Shem Tov

The Master of the Good Name

The orphaned clay digger who became the most transformative Jewish mystic since the Kabbalists — founding Hasidism through joy, story, and the radical claim that every soul can reach God.

Boston / Philadelphia / Paris · Thinker

Benjamin Franklin

The First American

The self-taught printer who tamed lightning, charmed the court of Versailles, and helped forge a nation — the most versatile genius of the American founding.

England · Scientist

Isaac Newton

The Last Magician

The life of the man who unlocked the laws of the universe — from a fatherless childhood in Lincolnshire to the presidency of the Royal Society. A first-person ePub told in Newton’s own voice.

Germany · Artist

Johann Sebastian Bach

The Fifth Evangelist

The life of the greatest composer in Western history — organist, cantor, and genius of counterpoint who wrote over a thousand works, fathered twenty children, and died in near-obscurity before the world understood what it had lost.