Qin Shi Huang
259 BC – 210 BC · 49 years · Xianyang · Asia
Reign: 221 BC – 206 BC (China: dynasties)
Unified China in 221 BC, standardised script, weights and coinage and began the Great Wall; buried with the Terracotta Army.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 3rd century BC
Portrait: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Archimedes — mathematician, physicist and engineer, 28 years older
- Scipio Africanus — Roman general, 23 years younger
- Cato the Elder — Roman statesman and writer, 25 years younger
Africa
- Hannibal — Carthaginian general, 12 years younger
- Eratosthenes — scholar, head of the Library of Alexandria, 17 years older
Asia
- Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han) — founder of the Han dynasty, 3 years younger
- Ashoka — Maurya emperor, 45 years older
- Empress Lü (Lü Zhi) — Han empress and regent, 18 years younger
- Modu Chanyu — chanyu, founder of the Xiongnu empire, 25 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- 221 BC Qin Shi Huang unifies China — aged 38, Asia
- 218 BC Hannibal crosses the Alps — aged 41, Europe
- 216 BC Battle of Cannae — aged 43, Europe
- c. 214 BC Great Wall of China — aged 45, Asia
- 210 BC Terracotta Army — aged 49, Asia