Evolution of the Idea of Empire

Present study elaborates on the evolution of the concept Empire in the historical process. The concept has hitherto been handled as an agent of inter-state struggle by the international relations discipline and as an analytical tool to examine political and social structures by the historical sociology discipline. The present article seeks to work out the third pillar of the said field, that is to say its conceptual framework, and thus to examine, from the perspective of historical sociology, how and why the concept Empire has evolved in the historical process.