The Mali Empire and Mansa Musa's Golden Pilgrimage

Genghis Khan united the warring nomadic tribes of the Mongolian steppe to forge the largest contiguous land empire in history, stretching from the Pacific to the Danube.

The Inca Empire, the largest in the Americas, stretched 4,000 kilometres along the Andes and governed 12 million people through an extraordinary system of roads, storehouses, and administrative centres.

At its peak in 1920, the British Empire covered a quarter of the world's land surface and governed a quarter of its population, becoming the largest empire in history and reshaping every continent it touched.

The Kingdom of Kush ruled from the Nile's fourth cataract and at its height conquered Egypt itself, producing the 25th Pharaonic Dynasty.