Rulers sometimes pass power down a family line for generations. A dynasty is a sequence of monarchs or leaders drawn from the same kinship group, often legitimized by blood descent and hereditary succession.

Chinese history is conventionally divided into dynastic periods; Egyptian pharaohs, European royal houses, and many other traditions followed similar patterns. Dynastic continuity could provide stability, yet succession disputes, minority reigns, and the quality of individual rulers also generated crisis.

Dynasties end through conquest, revolution, or the failure of heirs. Historians use dynastic frameworks to organize political narrative while remaining alert to social and economic changes that cut across reigns. Family politics and state politics frequently intertwined under dynastic rule.

• Sequence of rulers from one family
• Based on hereditary succession
• Common in monarchical systems worldwide
• Can provide continuity or provoke succession crises