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The 930s

261 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 10th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

930 CE31 entries

  • January 11 – Sack of Mecca: The Qarmatians, led by Abu Tahir al-Jannabi, sack Mecca, desecrating the Zamzam Well and carrying off the Black Stone to their homeland in Eastern Arabia.
  • October 16 – Emperor Daigo of Japan, being fatally ill, abdicates in favor of his 7-year-old son Suzaku, after a 33-year reign. He enters the Buddhist priesthood, but dies shortly after. Former Emperor Uda (Daigo's father), remains the power behind the Japanese throne (until 931).
  • Mardavij ibn Ziyar is sent by Asfar ibn Shiruya along with his brother Shirzad, to capture the fortress of Shamiran in Tarom (Northern Iran), the capital of the Sallarid ruler Muhammad ibn Musafir. During the siege Mardavij is persuaded to revolt against Asfar, by letters from Makan ibn Kaki. With the help of the sons of the Sallarid, he kills other members of his tribe, including Shirzad. Mardavij founds the Ziyarid Dynasty and becomes the ruler of Asfar's former territories, which include Rey, Qazvin, Zanjan, Abhar, Qom and Karaj.

931 CE31 entries

  • March – Pope Stephen VII dies after a three-year reign. He is succeeded by John XI (at the age of 20) as the 125th pope of the Catholic Church. His mother Marozia is the powerful senatrix and patricia of Rome.
  • Emir Mardavij ibn Ziyar defeats and kills his rival Asfar ibn Shiruya. He conquers in rapid succession the Abbasid cities of Hamadan, Dinavar, and Kashan, and finally the entire region of Isfahan, which becomes his capital. Mardavij appoints his brother Vushmgir as the governor of Amol (modern Iran).
  • Ramiro II expands the border eastwards (nearly to the Pyrenees) and captures Burgos and the surrounding land. This land would soon be known as the County of Castile (approximate date).

932 CE22 entries

  • October 31 – Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir is killed while fighting against the forces of general Mu'nis al-Muzaffar. Al-Muqtadir's brother al-Qahir is chosen to succeed him.
  • Pietro II and Capodistria make a trade agreement without imperial authorization, the self-proclaimed "Marquis" Wintkar forbids repaying any debts to Venice. Pietro begins an economic blockade of Istrian cities.
  • Emir Mardavij ibn Ziyar invades Tabaristan and captures the city of Gorgan. The Daylamite military leader Makan ibn Kaki tries to reclaim his territories, but fails. He seeks refuge among the Samanids and enters the service of their ruler Nasr II. He appoints him as governor of Kirman (modern Iran).

933 CE20 entries

  • March 15 – Battle of Merseburg: King Henry I ("the Fowler") defeats the Magyars near Merseburg after his refusal to pay the annual tribute. During Henry's lifetime they never raid the East Frankish Kingdom again.
  • Fatimid forces fail to seize the Maghreb al-Aqsa (modern Morocco) from the local Berber tribes allied to the Iberia-based Caliphate of Córdoba.
  • Prince Edwin, the youngest son of the late King Edward the Elder, is drowned en route to the West Frankish Kingdom and buried at Saint-Bertin.

934 CE28 entries

  • March 16 – Meng Zhixiang, a military governor (jiedushi), declares himself emperor (formally called "Gaozu") and establishes Later Shu as a new Chinese state, independent of Later Tang. He dies after a short-lived five-month reign and is succeeded by his son Meng Chang.
  • April 24 – Abbasid caliph al-Qahir is deposed and blinded; he is succeeded by his nephew ar-Radi.
  • Battle of W.l.n.d.r: The Hungarians and Pechenegs kill Constantinople's inhabitants, inflict severe damage on the countryside, and defeat both the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria, forcing them to pay tribute. Emperor Romanos I signs a peace treaty with the Hungarians.

935 CE32 entries

  • January – Emir Mardavij, founder of the Ziyarid dynasty, is murdered by his Turkish slaves. He is succeeded by his brother and general Vushmgir, who is crowned as the new Ziyarid ruler in Rey (modern Iran).
  • September 28 (probable year) – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (the subject of the 1853 Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas") is murdered by a group of nobles led by his brother Boleslaus I ("the Cruel"), who succeeds him.
  • November 17 – Wang Yanjun, Emperor Huizong of Min (Ten Kingdoms), is killed in his own palace in an uprising together with his empress consort and several clansmen, and succeeded as second emperor by his son Wang Jipeng.

936 CE25 entries

  • January 3 – Pope Leo VII succeeds John XI (who died the previous year) as the 126th pope of the Catholic Church.
  • July 2 – King Henry I ("the Fowler") dies at his royal palace in Memleben, Thuringia, after a 17-year reign. He is succeeded by his 23-year-old son Otto I, who is married to Eadgyth, a daughter of the late King Edward the Elder. Otto is the first German king to be crowned in Charlemagne's former capital of Aachen.
  • November 28 – Shi Jingtang is enthroned as the first emperor of the Later Jin by Tai Zong, ruler of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty, following a revolt against his rival, emperor Fei of Later Tang.

937 CE30 entries

  • July 11 – King Rudolph II of Burgundy dies after a 25-year reign, and is succeeded by his 12-year-old son Conrad I ("the Peaceful"). His wife, Queen Bertha, takes effective control of unified Burgundy, transferring its capital to Arles (that Burgundian kingdom was later known from the 12th century as the Kingdom of Arles).
  • November 10 – Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Yang Pu. The Wu State is replaced and Li (called "Xu Zhigao") becomes the first emperor of Southern Tang, one of the Ten Kingdoms in southern China.
  • Battle of Brunanburh: King Æthelstan defeats a combined Northern Army under the kings Olaf of Dublin, Constantine II of Scotland and Owain of Strathclyde. Though none of the British monarchs appear to have taken part, the people of Strathclyde were a major contingent under their Scottish king.

938 CE18 entries

  • July – King Otto I besieges the fortress of Eresburg. He defeats his half-brother Thankmar and kills him as he tries to find sanctuary. Eberhard III, duke of Franconia, is banished and replaced by his uncle Berthold.
  • The Sixteen Prefectures, which includes the area around modern-day Beijing, are absorbed in the Khitan Empire.
  • Summer – The Hungarian army invades Northern Italy with the permission of King Hugh of Arles. They cross the Apennines, and sack the Lombard lands in Tuscany, Lazio and Campania. Finally, the Hungarians are defeated at Wolfenbüttel by a Saxon army.

939 CE24 entries

  • July 19 – Battle of Simancas: Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III of Córdoba claims a Jihad ('Holy War') and raises an army of 100,000 men to end the Kingdom of León. He razes the cities of Medina del Campo, Ìscar and Alcazarén (previously abandoned by their population) and finally, reaches the city of Simancas (near modern-day Valladolid), where Christian forces under King Ramiro II wait for him. After three days, Ramiro defeats the Moorish army with an alliance of Castile and Navarre. Abd-al-Rahman orders a retreat along the Duero River, and is almost killed, due, most likely, to treason by Arab elements in the Moorish army.
  • October 2 – Battle of Andernach: Otto I crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard III, duke of Franconia, and other Frankish dukes, in Andernach on the Rhine River. Otto prevails, with support from Odo of Wetterau. Eberhard is killed while Gilbert, duke of Lotharingia (or Lorraine) drowns when trying to escape.
  • October 27 – King Æthelstan dies at Gloucester after a 15-year reign. He is buried at Malmesbury Abbey and succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund I ("the Magnificent"). After Æthelstan's death Olaf Guthfrithson (or his cousin, Anlaf Cuaran) a Viking leader who rules Dublin, is proclaimed king of York (south of Northumbria).