How does empire affect the route to successor sovereign state systems and the features of the sovereignty of these systems? This unique systematic comparison of empires and of their consequences for sovereignty in the Middle East and Central Asia brings theory on empire and sovereignty to bear on empirical variation across the two regions. The novel approach to understanding the political structures of states in two significant areas of the non-European world offers an important comparative discussion of post-imperial development and sovereignty. It raises a clear set of research questions about variations of imperial practice and puts forward an attractive and persuasive case that imperial legacy has been an important variable in the post-independence period.