Base: Peasants in the southern Henan and northern Hubei regions of Xin-dynasty China

Causes: Famine, incompetent bureaucrats

Results: The downfall of the Xin dynasty and the brief restoration of the Han dynasty under the Gengshi Emperor, a minor Han relation who forged an alliance with the peasants and appointed many of their leaders to his government

Base: Peasants, slaves, and deserters in the western areas of the late Roman Empire

Causes: Economic decline, protofeudal reforms, military conscription

Results: A military reprisal that helped build the reputation of Maximian, the first western emperor after Rome’s division, and the increased use of barbarians in the Roman army, which contributed to the Western Roman Empire’s collapse

Base: Peasants in the Bulgarian Empire

Causes: Mongol incursions, civil war, a succession of weak emperors

Results: The defeat of the Mongols, the death of Bulgarian emperor Constantine Tikh, and the short-lived reign of Ivaylo, a former swineherd and rebel leader who married the late emperor’s widow before being ousted by the nobility