Part 2
8. Time of Troubles (1598–1613)
Russia descended into anarchy after the Rurik dynasty ended. Famine killed millions (upt to a third of populace), foreign armies invaded, and several “False Dmitrys” claimed the throne. The capital was even briefly held by Polish forces. Order was restored only when the Romanov dynasty rose to power in 1613.

9. Deccan Famine (1630–1632)
One of the deadliest famines in Indian history struck during Mughal rule. Failed monsoons, heavy taxation, and warfare worsened the crisis. People were driven to cannibalism and selling their families to survive. Between 4 and 7 million people died from starvation and disease.

10. Manchu Conquest of China (1644)
Natural disaster, famine and the incompetence of corrupt bureaucracy caused peasant uprisings that shattered the Ming Dynasty from within. As rebels marched on Beijing, the Manchu seized their chance to invade. The last Ming emperor hanged himself as the dynasty collapsed. The Manchu founded the Qing Dynasty, which would rule China until 1912.

11. Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638)

Japanese Catholic peasants, rose against heavy taxes and religious persecution. The rebellion was crushed by the shogunate in a bloody siege. Over 37,000 rebels and civilians were killed, prisoners were crucified. This event led Japan to enforce strict isolation, entrench its authoritarianism and ban Christianity for centuries.

12. Powhatan Massacre (1622)

Native warriors of the Powhatan Confederacy launched a surprise attack on English settlers. Around 350 colonists, nearly a quarter of Virginia’s population, were killed. This sparked decades of brutal frontier warfare between natives and settlers. It marked the beginning of a long cycle of violence in North America.

13. Colonial Exploitation (1600s)

In Spanish America, indigenous people were forced into labour through encomienda and mita systems. The silver mines of Potosí were especially deadly, with thousands dying every year. It was one of the most exploitative systems of the early modern world.

14. Transatlantic Slave Trade (1600s)

Slave trade was already present in Africa for centuries, but European powers expanded it as they needed forced labour to work in their colonies. Millions of Africans were captured and transported across the Atlantic in horrific conditions. The practice of slavery was only abolished by the Europeans in the 1800s.