1650s

Significant events and trends

• Cape Town founded by the Dutch East India Company in South Africa.
• Anglo-Dutch Wars begin.
• Oliver Cromwell takes over England during an interregnum
• Massacre of the Waldensians in 1655 by troops of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy prompting John Milton's sonnet "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont".
• 1658: After his father Shah Jahan completes the Taj Mahal, his son Aurangzeb deposes him as ruler of the Mughal Empire.
• Origin of Quakers
• The Northern Wars cement Sweden's rise as a Great Power.

World leaders

• King Louis XIV of France (1643 - 1715).
• King Frederick III of Denmark (1648 - 1670).
• Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland (1653 - 1658).
• Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland (1658 - 1659).
• Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (1637 - 1657).
• Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1658 - 1705).
• King John II of Poland (1649 - 1668).
• King John IV of Portugal (1640 - 1656).
• King Afonso VI of Portugal (1656 - 1667).
• Tsar Aleksey I of Russia (1645 - 1676).
• King Philip IV of Spain (1621 - 1665).
• Queen Christina of Sweden (1632 - 1654).
• King Charles X of Sweden (1654 - 1660).
• Mughal Empire

1. Padshah Shah Jahan(1628-1658)
2. Murad Baksh(1658)
3. Padshah Aurangazeb(1659-1707)