The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (Hậu Lê triều, chữ Hán: 後黎朝 or nhà Hậu Lê, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Great Việt (Đại Việt; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, having ruled from 1428 to 1789, with an interregnum between 1527 and 1533.
The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (阮氏, Nguyễn thị), were the rulers of southern Đại Việt during the Revival Lê dynasty and ancestors of Nguyễn dynasty's emperors. The territory they ruled was known contemporarily as Đàng Trong (Inner Realm) and by Europeans as Cochinchina, in opposition to the Trịnh lords ruling northern Đại Việt, known then as Đàng Ngoài (Outer Realm). Both Nguyễn and Trịnh lords were de jure subordinates of the Lê dynasty.
The history of Asia can be seen as the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions such as East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe. See History of the Middle East and History of the Indian Subcontinent for further details on those regions. The coastal periphery was the home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations and religions, with each of three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys.
The Trịnh lords (Chúa Trịnh; Chữ Nôm: 主鄭; 1545–1787), formally titled as Viceroy of Trịnh (Trịnh vương; 鄭王), also known as the House of Trịnh or the Trịnh clan (Trịnh thị; 鄭氏), were a noble feudal clan that ruled Northern Vietnam (referred to then as Tonkin), during the Later Lê dynasty, Đại Việt. The Trịnh clan and their rivals, the Nguyễn clan, were both referred to by their subjects as "Chúa" (Lord) and controlled Đại Việt while the Later Lê emperors were reduced to only a titular position.
Huế (hwě) is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. Huế (Thuận Hóa) was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and administrative capital for the Nguyễn dynasty and later functioned as the administrative capital of the protectorate of Annam during the French Indochina period. It contains a UNESCO-designated site, the Complex of Huế Monuments, which is a popular tourist attraction.
The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which was preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruled the unified Vietnamese state independently from 1802 to 1883 before being under French protectorate. During its existence, the empire expanded into modern-day southern Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos through a continuation of the centuries-long Nam tiến and Siamese–Vietnamese wars.
Cochinchina or Cochin-China (ˌkoʊtʃɪnˈtʃaɪnə, UKalsoˌkɒtʃ-; Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century), Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); Cochinchine) is a historical exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer to the region south of the Gianh River. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was divided between the Trịnh lords to the north and the Nguyễn lords to the south.
Hanoi (Hà Nội haː˨˩ noj˧˨ʔ) is the capital and second-most populous city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. It is located within the Red River Delta of Northern Vietnam. Hanoi's history goes back to the third century BCE, when a portion of the modern-day city served as the capital of the historic Vietnamese nation of Âu Lạc. Following the collapse of Âu Lạc, the city was part of Han China.
Vietnam (Việt Nam, vîət nāːm), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's fifteenth-most populous country. Vietnam shares land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. It shares maritime borders with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia through the South China Sea.