slug: morocco

label: Morocco

description: sovereign state in North Africa

year_label: 42 CE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The territories of the current Algeria and Morocco become a Roman province.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 42

text: End of the Vandal War (439-442): Emperor Valentinian III signs a peace treaty with King Genseric, and recognises the Vandal Kingdom. He grants him sovereignty over most of Africa. Genseric gives back Sicily and Mauretania (Algeria and Morocco). This marks the end of the Vandal migrations; they settle in North Africa, with Carthage as their capital.

title: AD 442

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: A Muslim Arab army led by Uqba ibn Nafi reaches Morocco, before being forced back into Cyrene by the Berbers.

title: 681

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Muslim-Arabs under Musa ibn Nusayr conquer Tangier and Sous, taking control of all Morocco (approximate date).

title: 702

text: An Arab army is invited into Ceuta by its governor, Julian, who is an opponent of Roderick. He encourages them to invade the Iberian Peninsula. Tariq ibn Ziyad is appointed governor of Tangier (Morocco), and establishes a Moorish garrison of 1,700 men.

title: 710

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: The Great Berber Revolt: The Berbers break out in revolt against the Umayyad rulers at Maghreb, in response to the oppressive, (and, by Islamic law, illegal) tax-collection and slave-tribute. The rebellion is led by the chieftain (alleged water-carrier) Maysara al-Matghari. He successfully seizes Tangier, and rapidly captures much of western Morocco. The Berber rebellion which erupts not only undermines caliphal rule and fragments the wilayat or province of Ifriqiya (North Africa), but paves the way for the emergence of autonomous local Arab dynasties.

title: 739

text: Battle of the Nobles: The Berber rebels under chieftain Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati defeat and overwhelm the Umayyad forces of Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri, near Tangier (Northern Morocco), undermining Arab domination in Islamic North Africa. The rebellion spreads in Al-Andalus (Spain), causing governor Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab to withdraw Moorish troops from many garrisons north of the Pyrenees.

title: 740

text: The Great Berber Revolt: Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik appoints Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi as governor (wali) of Ifriqiya (North Africa). A fourth expedition is sent from Syria by the Umayyad Caliphate to crush the rebellion in the Atlas region, but is defeated at the Battle of Bagdoura, in the plain of the Ghrab (modern Morocco). The counter-attack of the Kharijite rebels to the East is successful, but fails to conquer Kairouan from the loyalists. A more radical branch of the Tunisian Kharijites, (the Sufrists) however, manages to take the city soon after.

title: 741

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Salih ibn Tarif proclaims himself a prophet among the Barghawata, a confederation of Berber tribes in modern-day western Morocco.

title: 744

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: The city of Sijilmasa (modern Morocco) is founded by the Miknasa, a Zenata Berber tribe. They adopt Kharijism-Islam, and establish the Emirate of Sijilmasa in the northern Sahara. It becomes a wealthy trading center as the western end-point of the Trans-Saharan trade.

title: AD 757

section: Religion & Belief

text: Emir Idris I, founder of the Idrisid dynasty and kingdom of Morocco, is poisoned on orders of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. He is succeeded by his son Idris II (only just two months old), who is raised by his mother Kenza among the Berbers of Volubilis.

title: 791

text: Idris II, Muslim emir of Morocco (d. 828)

title: 791

text: Sijilmasa (in present-day Morocco) is founded as the departure point for caravans between North Africa and the western Sudan (approximate date).

title: 800

section: Events › Africa

text: Al-Andalus: A grave rebellion breaks out in the suburbs of Cordoba, against the Emirate of Córdoba. Andalucian Arab refugees arrive in Fez (modern Morocco).

title: 818

text: Idriss II, Muslim emir of Morocco (b. 791)

title: 828

text: The University of Al Karaouine is founded in Fes (modern Morocco), by Fatima al-Fihri (recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest still-operating university in the world).

title: 859

text: Ha-Mim proclaims himself a prophet and a messenger of Islam, among the Ghomara Berbers near the city of Tétouan (modern Morocco).

title: 925

text: Fatimid forces fail to seize the Maghreb al-Aqsa (modern Morocco) from the local Berber tribes allied to the Iberia-based Caliphate of Córdoba.

title: 933

date: March 19

text: March 19 – Caliph al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah dies after a severe illness. He is succeeded by his 21-year-old son al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah as ruler of the Fatimid Caliphate. His authority is recognized over most of what later will be Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

title: 953

text: Abul-Aish Ahmad, Idrisid ruler and sultan (Morocco)

title: 954

text: The Fatimid general Abu al-Hasan Jawhar ibn Abd Allah takes Ifgan, the capital of the rebellious Kharijite Banu Ya'la tribe. In the following two years, Jawhar conquers most of the north of modern-day Morocco and Algeria. In particular, he conquers the cities of Tangier, Sijilmasa and Tlemcen.

title: 958

text: The Fatimid general Jawhar al-Siqilli launches a military campaign in the west of the Maghreb. He resumes his expansion, together with the Zirids, and conquers Fez (modern-day Morocco).

title: 967

date: October 16

text: October 16 – Caliph Al-Hakam II dies after a 15-year reign in which he has ended the Fatimid Caliphate in Morocco and made the University of Córdoba the greatest institution in the world. Al-Hakam is succeeded by his 10-year-old son Hisham II as ruler of the Caliphate of Córdoba. His widow Subh becomes regent together with Almanzor the de facto rulers.

title: 976

text: Ziri ibn Atiyya, emir of Morocco

title: 1001

text: Yusuf ibn Tashfin, sultan of Morocco (d. 1106)

title: 1009

text: The Azdâji conquest puts an end to the Kingdom of Nekor, in Morocco.

title: 1019

text: The Almoravids, led by Abdallah ibn Yasin, invade Morocco (approximate date).

title: 1042

section: Events › By place › Islamic world

text: The Almoravids conquer the Barghawata, a group of Berber tribes, who have established an independent state in modern-day Morocco.

title: 1058

text: The Almoravids overrun modern-day Morocco, and establish an intercontinental kingdom, stretching from Spain to Senegal.

title: 1062

text: Catalan mercenary Reverter de La Guardia, the main Almoravid commander in the Maghrid al-Aqsa, dies. His elimination opens the regions to the troops of the Almohads.

title: 1144

text: The Merinids of Maghrib al-Aqsa attempt to resist the Almohads but are forced into the desert areas around the Tafilalt. Oran falls to the Almohads. A Norman raid against the Tripolitania region succeeds.

title: 1145

text: The Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min conquers most of Morocco from the Almoravids.

title: 1146

text: Following the uprising of other cities in the region of Meknes (modern Morocco) under al-Massati, the population of Ceuta rebels against the Almohads.

title: 1148

text: Fes in the Almohad Caliphate (modern Morocco) becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 1170

text: Spain attempts an invasion of Morocco, but the Muslim empire Marinid Sultanate successfully defend against the invasion, and drive out Spanish forces.

title: 1267

section: Events › By place › Asia and North Africa

date: September 8

text: September 8 – Berber forces of the Marinid Sultanate under Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq complete the conquest of Morocco and capture Marrakesh after a long siege, effectively ending the Almohad Caliphate. The last Almohad ruler, Idris al-Wathiq (or Abu Dabbus), is assassinated by a slave. The Marinids become the new masters of the western Maghreb and Abu Yusuf Yaqub takes up the title of "Prince of the Muslims".

title: 1269

text: Spring – The brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi, Italian explorers and merchants from Genoa, embark with two galleys intending to reach India and establish a trade route to Italy. They sail along the coast of present-day Morocco after passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. They may have followed the African coast as far as Cape Non before being lost at sea.

title: 1291

section: Events › By topic › Exploration

date: August 6

text: August 6 – A combined Genoese-Sevillian fleet led by Admiral Benedetto Zaccaria wins a victory over 27 Marinid galleys at Alcácer Seguir –12 galleys are taken and the rest put to flight. The following day, Benedetto drags the captured vessels along the coast in view of Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr, Marinid ruler of Morocco, who, "defeated and dishonored", withdraws his fleet to Fez.

title: 1291

text: Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman, Marinid ruler of Morocco (d. 1351)

title: 1297

date: May 13

text: May 13 – (29 Shawwal 705 AH) A Moorish Nasrid fleet sent by Sultan Sultan Muhammad III of the Emirate of Granada (now part of Spain) makes a surprise attack on Africa and captures Ceuta. Nasrid forces land in Ksar es-Seghir, Larache, and Asilah, occupying these Atlantic ports (→ Battle of the Strait). At the same time, Prince Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula of the Marinid Sultanate, leads a rebellion against Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr. He conquers a mountainous area in northern Morocco and allies himself with Granada.

title: 1306

text: May 13 – Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr, Marinid ruler of Morocco is assassinated.

title: 1307

text: May 13 – Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr, Marinid ruler of Morocco

title: 1307

date: April

text: April – After his ascent to the throne, the Emir Nasr ad-Din Muhammad of Granada sends envoys to the Marinid court at Fez, in Morocco.

title: 1309

text: May 12 – Marinid Sultan Abu al-Rabi Sulayman launches an attack on Ceuta. He concludes an alliance with King James II of Castile, and concedes commercial benefits to Castilian merchants. Abu al-Rabi also sends 1,000 measures of wheat to Aragon. A few months later, Marinid forces, without Castilian support, occupy Ceuta and expel Saracen forces from Morocco.

title: 1309

text: Early in the year – Ibn Battuta returns from his travels at the command of Abu Inan Faris, sultan of Morocco, who appoints a scribe to write an account of the adventures.

title: 1354

text: January 10 – Muhammad II as Said becomes ruler of the Marinid dynasty in modern-day Morocco after the assassination of Abu Inan Faris.

title: 1358

text: January 10 – Abu Inan Faris, Marinid ruler of Morocco (b. 1329)

title: 1358

text: Abu Salim Ali II overthrows Muhammad II as-Said as ruler of the Marinid dynasty, in modern-day Morocco.

title: 1359

text: In the Marinid Empire in modern-day Morocco, Abu Salim Ibrahim is overthrown by Abu Umar, who is in turn overthrown by Abu Zayyan.

title: 1361

text: Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz I of Morocco succeeds assassinated Abu Zayyan as Sultan of the Marinid Empire in Morocco.

title: 1366

text: Princes from the Kingdom of Granada choose Abu al-Abbas Ahmad to succeed Muhammad as-Said, as Sultan of the Marinid Empire in Morocco. The Empire is split into the Kingdom of Fez and the Kingdom of Marrakesh.

title: 1374

text: The Nasrid princes of Al-Andalus replace Abu al-Abbas with Abu Faris Musa ibn Faris, as ruler of the Marinid dynasty in modern-day Morocco.

title: 1384

text: Abu al-Abbas is reinstated as ruler of the Marinid dynasty in modern-day Morocco.

title: 1386

text: Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad al-Mustansir, Sultan of the Marinid dynasty in Morocco

title: 1393

text: Abu Amir succeeds Abdul Aziz II as ruler of the Marinid dynasty, in modern-day Morocco.

title: 1396

text: March 19 – Abu Said Uthman III succeeds his older brother Abdallah ibn Ahmad II as the ruler of the Marinid dynasty in modern-day Morocco, reigning until his death in 1420.

title: 1398

text: September 20 – Led by Prince Henry the Navigator, a poorly-prepared Portuguese attempt to conquer the city of Tangier in the Marinid Sultanate in Morocco begins. Although the Portuguese have more than 6,000 troops, they reach the walled city and find that their scaling ladders are too short to reach the top, and their artillery is too weak to damage the walls.

title: 1437

text: The Kingdom of Fez ruling the modern nation of Morocco, is founded by the Wattasid dynasty with Sultan Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya as its first ruler.

title: 1472

text: May 26 – Columbus and his men complete the rescue of stranded Portuguese soldiers in Morocco, then depart Asilah for a crossing of the Atlantic in 20 days.

title: 1502

text: August 13 – King François of France dispatches Colonel Pierre de Piton to Morocco with a letter addressed to the ruler, Sultan Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad, in order to establish a trade agreement.

title: 1533

text: September 10 – Gibraltar is sacked by the fleet of Barbary pirate Ali Hamet, a Sardinian renegade in the service of the Ottoman Empire, and many of its leading citizens are taken as captives to Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in Morocco. This leads to construction of the defensive Charles V Wall, at this time known as the Muralla de San Benito.

title: 1540

text: September 23 – The Sadians consolidate their power in Morocco, by defeating the last of their enemies.

title: 1553

text: February 18 – The siege of the Portuguese fort of Mazagan begins in Morocco as the Sultanate tries to take back control of the area from the Portuguese occupiers.

title: 1562

text: July 26 – Kılıç Ali Pasha begins construction of an Ottoman fortress on the coastline of Morocco, directly across Andalusia in mainland Spain.

title: 1574

text: August 4 – Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi, King of Morocco

title: 1578

text: The sultanate of Morocco begins to press southward, in search of a greater share of the trans-Saharan trade.

title: 1582

text: October 16 – Saadian invasion of the Songhai Empire: An army of 20,000 troops, led by Judar Pasha is dispatched from Marrakesh in the Saadi Sultanate (now Morocco), on orders of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur. The Saadi Army's objective is to conquer the Songhai Empire, led by the Emperor Askia Ishaq II, in North Africa, corresponding to what is now the Republic of Mali.

title: 1590

text: March 13 – Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, forces sent by the Saadi dynasty ruler of Morocco, Ahmad al-Mansur, and led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.

title: 1591

text: May 30 – Timbuktu is captured by an expedition of Arma people sent by the Saadi ruler of Morocco and led by Judar Pasha.

title: 1591

text: February 26 – After being held captive in Morocco for more than 13 years, popular professor Malian Ahmad Baba is able to return to Timbuktu on 10 Dhu 'l-Qa'da 1016 A.H.

title: 1608

text: November 20 – The cession of Larache, a port in Morocco, takes place as Mohammed esh Sheikh el Mamun, Sultan of Morocco, transfers control of the city to Spain in return for. The Marquis de la Hinojosa accepts on behalf of King Felipe III of Spain in return for Spain's aid to the Sultan's fight against the Sultan's brother, Zidan Abu Maali. Larache remains under Spanish control for the next 79 years until another sultan retakes it.

title: 1610

text: July 20 – In Morocco, the city of Salé is bombarded by French Admiral Isaac de Razilly with a fleet composed of the ships Licorne, Saint-Louis, Griffon, Catherine, Hambourg, Sainte-Anne, Saint-Jean; his forces destroyed three corsair ships

title: 1629

text: June 6 – Moulai al-Rashid is let into Fes by the city's Jews, establishing the power of Morocco's Alawi dynasty, which will continue into the 21st century.

title: 1666

text: August 17 – A joint fleet of warships from England (commanded by Commodore Richard Beach on HMS Hampshire) and from the Dutch Republic (led by Admiral Willem Joseph van Ghent on Spiegel) rescue 250 Christian slaves and then sink six Algerian pirate ships in a battle in the Mediterranean Sea off of the coast of Morocco at Cape Spartel.

title: 1670

text: September 15 – A four month truce between England and Morocco expires and the Alcaid Omar, Viceroy of Morocco, begins a bombardment of the English fort at Tangier.

title: 1680

text: February 7 – Morocco retakes control of the city of Tangier from England, which had controlled the North African port since 1661. During the five months prior to evacuation of the English from the city, the Governor, Lord Dartmouth had ordered the destruction of the wall around the city, its fortifications and port facilities that had been built by the English during the occupation.

title: 1684

text: July 10 – Thomas Pellow of Cornwall finally escapes captivity, 23 years after having been captured by Barbary pirates and held as a slave in Morocco. He arrives in British territory when the ship he is on sails into Gibraltar Bay on July 21, and later recounts his story in the book The Adventures of Thomas Pellow, of Penryn, Mariner: Three and Twenty Years in Captivity Among the Moors.

title: 1738

text: January 24 – Helen Gloag, Scottish-born enslaved Empress of Morocco (d. 1790)

title: 1750

text: November 10 – King Abdallah IV of Morocco dies and is succeeded by his son, who takes the throne as King Mohammed III and reigns until 1790.

title: 1757

text: May 16 – Ahmed al-Ghazzal, the emissary from Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah of Morocco to the Spanish Empire, makes a triumphant return to Marrakesh with almost 300 Muslims who had been held captive in Spain, as well as sacred Islamic manuscripts that had been seized by the Spanish in 1612. The negotiation of the release had started with al-Ghazzal's meeting with Spain's King Carlos III on August 21, 1766.

title: 1767

text: February 27 – The Confederation Congress votes an $80,000 expense to establish diplomatic relations with Morocco.

title: 1785

text: August 14 – Abdelkader El Djezairi is defeated at the Battle of Isly in Morocco; sultan Abd al-Rahman of Morocco soon repudiates his ally.

title: 1844

text: November 26–27 – Morocco: French naval forces bombard the Moroccan city of Salé, in retaliation for looting of a French cargo ship.

title: 1851

text: January 13 – Battle of Tétouan, Morocco: Spanish troops under General Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan defeat the Moroccan Army.

title: 1860

text: February 11 – The French warship Jean Bart sinks off the coast of Morocco.

title: 1907

text: March 3 – Morocco signs accords with France in Paris, permitting the French to occupy Casablanca and Oujda in return for military training, as part of refinancing of loans.

title: 1910

text: October 24 – In the continuing Rif War, the Spanish Army defeats rifkabyl rebels in Morocco.

title: 1921

text: May 26 – The Rif War ends, when Rif rebels surrender in Morocco.

title: 1926

text: Operation Torch: Elements of the Allied expeditionary force (some 105,000 men) under Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower lands simultaneously along the coastline of Morocco and Algeria in French North Africa.

title: 1942

text: August 20 – Hundreds of people are killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.

title: 1955

text: The first interfaith dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims with over 850 participants takes place at the monastery of Toumliline in Azrou, Morocco.

title: 1956

text: March 2 – Morocco declares its independence from France.

title: 1956

text: November 12 – Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.

title: 1956

text: October 29 – Tangier Protocol: The international city Tangier is reintegrated into Morocco.

title: 1956

text: April 1 – The Treaty of Angra de Cintra is signed by Spain and Morocco, ending the Spanish protectorate in Morocco.

title: 1958

text: October 1 – Tunisia and Morocco join the Arab League.

title: 1958

text: February 29 – The 5.7 Agadir Earthquake shakes coastal Morocco with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme), destroying Agadir and leaving 12,000 dead and another 12,000 injured.

title: 1960

text: February 26 – Hassan II is pronounced King of Morocco.

title: 1961

text: January 7 – Following a four-day conference in Casablanca, five African chiefs of state announce plans for a NATO-type African organization to ensure common defense. The Charter of Casablanca involves the Casablanca Group: Morocco, the United Arab Republic, Ghana, Guinea, and Mali.

title: 1961

text: February 28 – The 1969 Portugal earthquake hits Portugal, Spain and Morocco.

title: 1969

text: January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.

title: 1969

text: May 17 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II, to cross the South Atlantic.

title: 1970

text: July 10–11 – Coup attempt in Morocco: 1,400 cadets take over the king's palace for three hours and kill 28 people; 158 rebels die when the king's troops storm the palace (ten high-ranking officers are later executed for involvement).

title: 1971

text: July 14 – Libya severs its diplomatic ties with Morocco.

title: 1971

text: November 6 – The Green March begins: 300,000 unarmed Moroccans converge on the southern city of Tarfaya and wait for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara.

title: 1975

text: November 12 – Western Sahara conflict: Morocco leaves the Organization of African Unity in protest at the admission of Western Sahara as a member.

title: 1984

text: January 30 – Morocco rejoins the African Union.

title: 2017

text: December 17 – Scandinavian tourists Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland are murdered by Islamic terrorists in the foothills of Mount Toubkal near to the village of Imlil in Morocco. At least one victim is beheaded with the murders recorded on video and posted on social media. In a previous video the perpetrators pledge allegiance to ISIS.

title: 2018

text: Western Sahara conflict: fighting erupts between Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic when Moroccan forces launch a military operation to capture the town of Guerguerat, located in a UN-monitored buffer zone.

title: 2020

text: September 8 – 2023 Marrakesh–Safi earthquake: A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Marrakesh–Safi province in western Morocco, killing at least 2,960 people and damaging historic buildings.

title: 2023

text: December 21 – January 18 – The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is held in Morocco, and is won by Senegal.

title: 2025


slug: moscow

label: Moscow

description: capital and most populous city of Russia

text: The first known reference to Moscow as a meeting place of Rurikid princes Yuri Dolgoruky and Sviatoslav Olgovich.

title: 1147

section: Culture & Society

text: Yuri Dolgorukiy, Grand Prince of Kiev, founds and fortifies the town of Moscow and erects a wooden Kremlin within the settlement (approximate date).

title: 1156

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: Moscow is burned down by Gleb I, prince of Ryazan, and its inhabitants are killed.

title: 1177

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Conflict & Security

date: January 15

text: January 15–20 – Siege of Moscow: The Mongols under Batu Khan and Subutai campaign across the northern heartland of the Kievan Rus', committing numerous atrocities across multiple settlements, including the sacking of an insignificant town known as Moscow. According to the Chronicle of Novgorod, Moscow is a fortified village, a trading post "on a crossroads of four rivers". The village is taken by the Mongols after 5 days of siege.

title: 1238

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

text: Alexander Nevsky quarrels with the nobles (boyars) and merchants of Novgorod, probably about peaceful trade with the westerners. He is banished, along with his mother, wife and his druzhina to take up residence in the region around Moscow, a minor town on the western border of the Grand Principality of Vladimir.

title: 1240

text: Moscow attacks Tver, which counter-attacks with the aid of Lithuania and the Blue Horde.

title: 1368

date: December 6

text: December 6 – Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, leads a siege of Moscow itself, the capital of the Grand Principality, and his forces burn and pillage the city as Moscow's Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy retreats to the safety of the Kremlin. Donskoy's allies, his cousin Vladimir the Bold of Serpukhov and Prince Vladimir Dmitrievich Yaroslavich of Pronsk, come to Moscow's aid.

title: 1370

section: Events › October–December

text: Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow raids Estonia.

title: 1379

text: The Sretensky Monastery is founded in Moscow.

title: 1397

date: March 16

text: March 16 – Muscovite War of Succession: Yury of Zvenigorod defeats his nephew, Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow, in a battle at Rostov, about 125 mi from Moscow.

title: 1434

section: Events › January–March

date: March 31

text: March 31 – Yury of Zvenigorod marches into Moscow with his army and plunders Vasily II's treasury.

title: 1434

text: March 19 – Isidore of Kiev, the Russian Orthodox Church Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia, returns to his home in Moscow after having attended the Council of Florence, where he agreed to unify the Russian Church with the Roman Catholic Church. When he arrives, he is arrested on the order of Grand Prince Vasily II and imprisoned under minimum security.

title: 1441

section: Crime & Justice

date: September 15

text: September 15 – The Metropolitan Isidore of Kiev is allowed by Grand Prince Vasily II to escape from imprisonment in Moscow, along with two of his disciples, Gregory the Bulgarian and Afanasy. He flees to Tver and then to Novogrudok and eventually to Rome.

title: 1441

section: Events › July–September

date: July 7

text: July 7 – The Battle of Suzdal takes place 120 mi from Moscow when Ulugh Muhammad of the Khanate of Kazan attacks Nizhny Novgorod, part of the Grand Principality of Moscow. The Grand Prince Vasily II of Moscow is captured in battle as a prisoner of war and held for ransom until the payment of 200,000 rubles is completed in November.

title: 1445

section: Climate & Environment

date: October 10

text: October 10 – An earthquake occurs in Moscow but causes little damage

title: 1446

date: March 26

text: March 26 – Dmitry Shemyaka flees Moscow from the supporters of Vasily II.

title: 1447

date: October 8

text: October 8 – The Great Stand on the Ugra River begins as troops of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, led by the Grand Duke Ivan III and General Ivan Molodoy battle against the invading Mongol armies of the Golden Horde, led by their ruling monarch, Akhmat Khan. The invasion began after Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde. The Theotokos of Vladimir icon is credited with saving Moscow. The standoff between the troops lasts five weeks before Akhmat and the Mongol troops retreat.

title: 1480

date: January 16

text: January 16 – Grand Prince Ivan IV is crowned as Tsar of all Russia at the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow, thereby proclaiming the Tsardom of Russia.

title: 1547

date: February 23

text: February 23– At the Kremlin in Moscow, Tsar Ivan IV and the Metropolitan Macarius, present the proposed code of laws, drafted by the Stoglavy Synod, to the clergy, nobility and principal Russian citizens for their approval.

title: 1551

date: June 16

text: June 16 – Yuri of Uglich, the only brother of the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible, is placed in charge of Russia's domestic affairs as Ivan departs Moscow to lead 150,000 troops in the Russo-Kazan War.

title: 1552

section: Events › April–June

date: August 20

text: August 20 – English merchant Anthony Jenkinson arrives in Moscow on his second expedition to the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

title: 1561

date: March 15

text: March 15 – English merchant Anthony Jenkinson has an audience with Ivan the Terrible in Moscow, before departing the city on April 27 and continuing his second expedition through the Grand Duchy of Moscow to Qazvin, capital of the Safavid dynasty in Persia.

title: 1562

date: December 3

text: December 3 – Ivan the Terrible, Tsar of all the Russias, sends his government a letter of abdication, ostensibly because of embezzlement and treason by the aristocracy and the clergy. Ivan leaves Moscow and moves to the city of Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, taking with him the relics of the palace and most of his royal court, until being persuaded to return in February on the promise that he will have absolute power.

title: 1564

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Moscow is burnt by the Crimean army, under Devlet I Giray.

title: 1571

date: August 9

text: August 9 – The Khan of the Crimean Tatara, Ğazı II Giray, is wounded by the defenders against his siege of Moscow. Gazi's brother, Fetih I Giray, continues the siege, which is finally settled with a peace agreement and payment of 10,000 rubles in 1594.

title: 1591

date: July 13

text: July 13 – A Crimean army, led by the Tatar Khan Ğazı II Giray, begins a siege of Moscow.

title: 1591

date: November

text: November – Persian embassy to Europe (1599–1602): A diplomatic delegation from Safavid Persia, led by Hossein Ali Beg Bayat and his staff after being dispatched by the Shah Abbas the Great, arrives in Moscow as part of a mission to enlist European nations into an alliance against the Ottoman Empire. The Persians are accompanied by English adventurer Anthony Shirley, who had persuaded Shah Abbas to undertake the initiative.

title: 1599

date: September 23

text: September 23 – The siege of the Troitsky monastery by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth begins in Russia north of Moscow, but fails after 16 months.

title: 1608

date: July 4

text: July 4 – (June 24 O.S.); Polish–Russian War – Battle of Klushino: The outnumbered forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth defeat the combined Russian and Swedish armies; Polish troops go on to occupy Moscow.

title: 1610

date: September 21

text: September 21 (September 11 O.S.) – Forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth capture Moscow and begin occupation of the Kremlin for the next two years.

title: 1610

section: Deaths

text: March 19–20 – The Moscow Uprising, an armed rising of the inhabitants of Moscow in the Tsardom of Russia against the military Polish–Lithuanian occupation of Moscow (Fall 1610–Fall 1612), results in the occupying forces starting a major fire in the city and the death of 6–7,000 Muscovites.

title: 1611

date: September 1

text: September 1 – Battle of Moscow (1612): Led by General Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, a relief force from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, whose troops had been occupying Moscow for two years, make an unsuccessful attempt to break the Russian siege of the Kremlin, where General Mikolaj Strus and his troops are trapped. Both the Russians (led by Dmitry Pozharsky) and the Commonwealth troops suffer at least 1,000 deaths, but the Russians prevail. General Chodkiewicz tries a second attack the next day and fails.

title: 1612

date: May 12

text: May 12 – Mikhail Romanov arrives in Moscow to begin his reign as Tsar of Russia, after having been elected on March 3.

title: 1613

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Alexis, Tsar of the Russian Empire orders all English merchants to leave Moscow.

title: 1649

date: December 28

text: December 28 – Fritz Cronman arrives in Moscow as the Swedish Empire's ambassador to the Russian Empire, accompanied by a staff of 35 people.

title: 1668

section: Events › October –December

text: January 16 – A military engineering school is established in Moscow which is to become the A.F. Mozhaysky Military-Space Academy.

title: 1712

text: May 19 – Peter the Great moves the capital of Russia from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.

title: 1712

text: January 9 – The coronation of Peter II as the Tsar of the Russian Empire takes place in Moscow.

title: 1728

text: November 25 – The largest bell in the world, the 22 foot diameter Tsar Kolokol, is successfully cast in Moscow within the Kremlin.

title: 1735

text: June 1 – A fire in Moscow kills 482 people and destroys 5,000 buildings.

title: 1748

text: June 3 – A fire destroys 13,000 houses in Moscow in the Russian Empire, only 11 days after a May 23 fire destroyed 5,000 homes; by June 6, two-thirds of the city has been damaged or destroyed.

title: 1752

text: November 12 – A fire destroys the Emperor's Palace in Moscow.

title: 1753

text: April 4 – The first quarantines are started in Moscow and Saint Petersburg to fight the bubonic plague epidemic. Over the next 12 months, more than 52,000 people die from the plague in Moscow alone.

title: 1771

text: December 14 – Russian government offices reopen at Moscow and Saint Petersburg after being closed for 15 months because of an epidemic of bubonic plague.

title: 1772

text: March 28 – Foundation of the ballet troupe which becomes the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, Russian Empire.

title: 1776

text: August 16–18 – Battle of Smolensk: The Grande Armée (180,000 men) under Emperor Napoleon I defeats the Russian army on the road to Moscow.

title: 1812

text: March 23 – Tchaikovsky’s Manfred symphony premieres in Moscow, Russia.

title: 1886

text: November 9 – Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 is premiered in Moscow with the composer playing the solo part.

title: 1901

text: May 8 – In Moscow, eight priests, two laymen and one woman are sentenced to death for opposition to the Soviet government's confiscation of church property.

title: 1922

text: December 5 – The original Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow (1883) is demolished, by order of Joseph Stalin.

title: 1931

text: December 21 – Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin's 70th Birthday is Held in Moscow.

title: 1949

text: July 31 – Luzhniki Stadium, well known sports venue of Russia and the Soviet Union, officially opens in Moscow.

title: 1956

text: April 20 – British businessman Greville Wynne, imprisoned in Moscow since 1963 for spying, is exchanged for Soviet spy Gordon Lonsdale.

title: 1964

text: June 5 – An international communist conference begins in Moscow.

title: 1969

text: January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.

title: 1977

text: May 9 – The 3rd total Victory Day Parade (the first being in 1945 and the next in 1965) is held on Red Square in Moscow in the Soviet Union. It features T-34-85 tanks, veterans of World War II from Poland, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, and is the first parade to be held during the reign of Mikhail Gorbachev.

title: 1985

text: November 7 – The Soviet Union celebrates the 70th Anniversary of The October Revolution with a Parade on Moscow's Red Square.

title: 1987

text: May 3 – Cold War: Perestroika – The first McDonald's restaurant in the USSR begins construction in Moscow. It will open on January 31, 1990.

title: 1989

text: June 28 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Comecon is dissolved in Moscow, Russia.

title: 1991

text: October 23–26 – Chechen rebels take control of the Nord-Ost theatre in Moscow and hold the audience hostage. At least 170 people are killed following a Russian attempt to subdue the militants.

title: 2002

text: May 12–16 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 takes place in Moscow, Russia, and is won by Norwegian entrant Alexander Rybak with the song "Fairytale".

title: 2009

text: December 8 – Syrian civil war: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flees from Damascus to Moscow after being overthrown, ending his presidency and the Ba'athist Syria regime after a total of 61 years. The Syrian opposition forms the Syrian transitional government as a provisional government.

title: 2024

text: September 20 – Intervision 2025 is held in Moscow, Russia. Vietnamese contestant Đức Phúc wins with the song "Phù Đổng Thiên Vương".

title: 2025


slug: mosul

label: Mosul

description: city in northern Iraq and capital of Nineveh Province

text: Battle of Jalula: Muslim Arabs defeat the Persian forces (20,000 men) under Farrukhzad at the Diyala River. The cities Tikrit and Mosul are captured, completing the conquest of Mesopotamia. The region west of the Zagros Mountains is annexed by the Rashidun Caliphate.

title: 637

section: Events › By place › Persia

date: August 6

text: August 6 – Battle of Khazir in Mosul: Alid forces of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi defeat those of the Umayyad Caliphate.

title: 686

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Syrian forces under Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, governor of Iraq, defeat the Persian Kharijites, who have captured the city of Mosul and occupy large parts of Mesopotamia (approximate date).

title: 697

section: Religion & Belief

text: Azugitin, Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tamid appointed Azugitin as governor of Mosul with deputies.

title: 873

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

text: Spring – Caliph Al-Mu'tadid recognizes Khumarawayh as autonomous emir over Egypt and Syria, in exchange for an annual tribute of 300,000 dinars. The Jazira provinces of Diyar Rabi'a and Diyar Mudar are returned to the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim forces recover direct control of Mosul (modern Iraq) from the Shayban.

title: 893

text: Emir Nasir al-Dawla is deposed and imprisoned at Mosul after a 32-year reign by his son Abu Taghlib, the de facto governor, and supporters. He becomes the new ruler of the Emirate of Mosul.

title: 967

text: Nasir al-Dawla, deposed Hamdanid emir of Mosul

title: 969

text: Summer – 'Adud al-Dawla, ruler (shah) of the Buyid Dynasty, drives the Hamdanids out of Mosul and tries to unify the country. Abu Taghlib is forced to flee to the Byzantine city of Antzitene.

title: 977

section: Births

text: Imad ad-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler of Mosul (approximate date)

title: 1085

date: June 5

text: June 5 – Battle of Antioch: Emir Kerbogha, ruler (atabeg) of Mosul, arrives at Antioch with a Seljuk army (35,000 men) to relieve the city. He lays siege to the Crusaders who have just captured the city themselves (although they do not have full control of it). A Byzantine relief force led by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos turns back after Count Stephen of Blois convinces them that the situation in Antioch is hopeless.

title: 1098

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

date: June

text: June – Kilij Arslan I, sultan of Sultanate of Rum, conquers Mosul (during the Battle of Mosul). But he is defeated and killed by Seljuk forces under Muhammad I Tapar supported by the Ortoqids and Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan.

title: 1107

section: Events › By place › Levant

text: Summer – Jawali Saqawa, Turkish ruler of Mosul, accepts a ransom of 30,000 dinar by Count Joscelin I and releases his cousin Baldwin II, count of Edessa, who is held as prisoner (see 1104).

title: 1108

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Spring – Mawdud ibn Altuntash, Turkic ruler (atabeg) of Mosul, leads an expedition to capture the territories of the Crusaders (belonging to the County of Edessa) east of the river Euphrates. He besieges the fortress city of Edessa, but is forced to retreat when King Baldwin I of Jerusalem (with the support of Armenian forces sent by Kogh Vasil) intervenes with a Crusader relief force.

title: 1110

date: September 13

text: September 13–29 – Battle of Shaizar: Sultan Muhammad I Tapar appoints Mawdud ibn Altuntash, Turkic governor (atabeg) of Mosul, to lead a Seljuk expedition against the Crusaders. The composite force includes Muslim contingents from Damascus, Diyarbakır, Ahlat and some Persian troops, headed by Bursuq ibn Bursuq from Hamadan. The Crusaders (16,000 men), led by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, are cut off from their supplies, and within two weeks (due to constant Seljuk skirmishes) forced to fall back on Afamiya in northern Syria.

title: 1111

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Battle of Al-Sannabra: The Crusaders led by Baldwin I are defeated (due to a feigned flight) by a Seljuk army under Mawdud ibn Altuntash, the Turkic governor (atabeg) of Mosul, at the Jordan River south of the Sea of Galilee. Mawdud sends raiding columns to ravage the countryside and sacks the town of Nablus.

title: 1113

text: Imad ad-Din Zengi, a Turkish military leader, becomes governor (atabeg) of Mosul. He seizes the cities of Nisibin, Sinjar and Harran in the Jazira Region (Northern Mesopotamia).

title: 1127

text: Summer – Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk governor (atabeg) of Aleppo and Mosul, marches on Baghdad (the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate), to add it to his dominions. He is defeated by the forces of Caliph Al-Mustarshid, near Tikrit (modern Iraq). Zengi flees and escapes, with the help of Tikrit's governor Najm ad-Din Ayyub (the father of Saladin), who conveys him across the River Tigris.

title: 1132

text: Spring – Shams al-Mulk Isma'il, Seljuk ruler of Damascus, sends envoys to Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler of Mosul, to seek his protection in exchange of Damascus. Zengi crosses the Euphrates, receiving the surrender of the city of Hama. He besieges Damascus but, due to a shortage of supplies, is forced to abandon the siege. Zengi extricates himself from Damascus, his Seljuk forces capture the fortresses at Ma'arrat and Atharib.

title: 1135

text: Summer – Battle of Ba'rin: A Crusader force led by King Fulk of Jerusalem is scattered and defeated by Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk governor (atabeg) of Mosul. Fulk with a small bodyguard escapes into Montferrand Castle, which is surrounded and besieged by Zengi. After negotiations, Fulk is granted his freedom in exchange for the castle.

title: 1137

text: Spring – King Fulk of Jerusalem confronts Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Mosul, near Dara'a in southern Syria. Turkish forces under Mu'in al-Din (supported by the Crusaders) besiege Banias.

title: 1140

text: Autumn – Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk governor (atabeg) of Mosul, continues his campaign against the Kurds in southeastern Anatolia (since 1141). Byzantine forces under John II fail to take Antioch.

title: 1142

text: Autumn – Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk governor (atabeg) of Mosul, attacks the Artuqid forces led by Kara Arslan – who has made an alliance with Joscelin II, count of Edessa. In support of the alliance Joscelin marches out of Edessa with a Crusader army down to the Euphrates River, to cut off Zengi's communications with Aleppo. Zengi is informed by Muslim observers at Harran of Joscelin's movements. He sends a detachment of Muslims to ambush the Crusaders and reaches Edessa with his main army in late November.

title: 1144

text: Spring – Seljuk forces led by Imad al-Din Zengi capture Saruj, the second great Crusader fortress east of the Euphrates. They advance to Birejik and besiege the city, but the garrison puts up a stiff resistance. Meanwhile, Queen-Regent Melisende of Jerusalem joins forces with Joscelin II, count of Edessa and approaches the city. Zengi raises the siege after hearing rumours of trouble in Mosul. He rushes back with his army to take control. There, Zengi is praised throughout Islam as "defender of the faith" and al-Malik al-Mansur, the "victorious king".

title: 1145

text: Battle of Bosra: A Crusader force under King Baldwin III fights an inconclusive battle against Seljuk forces from Damascus led by Mu'in al-Din aided by Nur al-Din's contingents from Aleppo and Mosul. Baldwin retreats to Jerusalem, while the Seljuk Turks attack his rearguard and stragglers underway back to Palestine.

title: 1147

date: January 12

text: January 12–March 16 – Caliph Al-Muqtafi successfully defends Baghdad against the coalition forces of Sultan Muhammad of Hamadan, and Atabeg Qutb-adin of Mosul.

title: 1157

section: Events

date: September 6

text: September 6 – Qutb al-Din Mawdud, Zangid ruler of Mosul

title: 1170

text: Kilij Arslan II, Seljuk ruler of the Sultanate of Rum, rounds off his conquest of the Danishmend Turks in Eastern Anatolia. He allies with the Zangid rulers against Mosul.

title: 1174

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Saladin intervenes in a conflict between the Zengids of Mosul and the Artuqids. He persuades the Seljuk sultanate of Rum not to become involved and proceeds to raid Cilician Armenia.

title: 1180

date: September

text: September – Saladin invades the Jazira Region, ending the truce between him and the Zangids. After a feint attack on Aleppo, he crosses the Euphrates. The towns of the Jazira fall before him; the cities of Edessa, Saruj and Nisibin are captured in October. Saladin presses on to Mosul, and begins the siege of the city on November 10.

title: 1182

text: Winter – Mongol forces move down from their base at Hamadan, while Baiju Noyan crosses the river Tigris at Mosul with his army. On the left-wing Kitbuqa enters the plain of Iraq, while Mongol forces under Hulagu Khan advance through Kermanshah.

title: 1257

date: November 18

text: November 18 – Simeon Sulaka arrives in Rome from the Middle Eastern city of Mosul and brings a letter asking Pope Julius III to appoint him as the Patriarch of the Church of the East, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

title: 1552

date: April 28

text: April 28 – Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa, leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church in modern-day Iraq, is recognized by Pope Julius III as the Patriarch of Mosul.

title: 1553

date: October 23

text: October 23 – After almost six weeks, Nader Shah of Persia lifts the siege of Mosul.

title: 1743

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: July 10

text: July 10 – Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

title: 2017

section: Events › July

date: June 21

text: June 21 – The Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraq, is destroyed by ISIL.

title: 2017

section: Events › June


slug: mount-everest

label: Mount Everest

description: Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas

section: Science & Discovery

text: The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India officially gives 'Peak XV' (later to be named Mount Everest) the height of 29002 ft m. 'Peak IX' (Kangchenjunga), previously thought to be the world's highest, is confirmed as 28156 ft m.

title: 1856

section: Events › January–March

date: June 8

text: June 8 – British mountaineers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine are last seen "going strong for the top" of Mount Everest by teammate Noel Odell at 12:50 P.M. They are never seen alive again.

title: 1924

date: April 3

text: April 3 – The first flight over Mount Everest is made by the British Houston-Mount Everest Flight Expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston.

title: 1933

section: Events › April

date: May 29

text: May 29 – 1953 British Mount Everest expedition: Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal become the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

title: 1953

section: Events › May

date: May 5

text: May 5 – Shambu Tamang becomes the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.

title: 1973

date: May 16

text: May 16 – Junko Tabei from Japan becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

title: 1975

date: October 4

text: October 4 – Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer become the first Australians to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

title: 1984

section: Events › October

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: May 10

text: May 10 – 1996 Everest disaster: A sudden storm engulfs Mount Everest with several climbing teams high on the mountain, leaving eight people dead. By the end of the month, at least four other climbers die in the worst season of fatalities on the mountain to date.

title: 1996

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Sherpa Temba Tsheri, 15, becomes the youngest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

title: 2001


slug: mount-vesuvius

label: Mount Vesuvius

description: active stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy

year_label: 340 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Roman-Samnite army under consuls Publius Decius Mus and Titus Manlius Torquatus attack and defeat the Latins and Campanians near Mount Vesuvius in the Battle of Vesuvius.

title: 340 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 73 BCE

text: Third Servile War: Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator, escapes with around 70 slave-gladiators from a gladiator school at Capua. They defeat a small Roman force and equip themselves with captured military equipment as well with gladiatorial weapons. Spartacus and his band of gladiators plunder the region surrounding Capua and retire to a defensible position on Mount Vesuvius.

title: 73 BC

year_label: 63 CE

section: Climate & Environment

text: Pompeii, the city at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, builds a new monumental forum, after the town is heavily damaged by a strong earthquake.

title: AD 63

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

year_label: 79 CE

section: Deaths

date: August 24

text: August 24 or c. October 24 – Eruption of Mount Vesuvius: Mount Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis. The Roman navy (based at Misenum), commanded by Pliny the Elder, evacuates refugees. Pliny dies after inhaling volcanic fumes.

title: AD 79

text: Mount Vesuvius erupts. During the volcanic eruption the whole of southern Europe is blanketed by ash.

title: 472

text: King Theodoric the Great grants citizens on Mount Vesuvius exemption from taxes, after a severe eruption in southeastern Italy.

title: 512

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: December 16

text: December 16 – A volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii occurs, for the first time in several centuries.

title: 1631

section: Events › October–December

date: April 13

text: April 13 – The largest volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius since 1631 takes place, with lava flows towards both San Giorgio a Cremano and Torre del Greco, after explosions in the crater that began April 5. Around April 20, ash falls are experienced as far away as Calabria.

title: 1694

section: Events › April–June

date: May 19

text: May 19–23 – Vigorous Strombolian activity from Mount Vesuvius, Italy is recorded.

title: 1704

text: Herculaneum, an ancient town in Ercolano, Campania, Italy and buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, is discovered by accident when attempts to drill a well for a monastery encountered marble and other materials.

title: 1709

section: Events › Date unknown

date: June

text: June–July – Mount Vesuvius erupts in Italy; the town of Torre del Greco is destroyed.

title: 1794

date: October 21

text: October 21 – The volcano Mount Vesuvius near Naples erupts.

title: 1822

date: March 18

text: March 18 – The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26, and causes thousands to flee their homes.

title: 1944

section: Events › March


slug: mozambique

label: Mozambique

description: country in Southeastern Africa; the current form of Mozambique since 1975

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The east coast of Africa is impacted by trade and Arab, Persian and Indian traders mix with the indigenous Bantu. Many of the coastal Bantu adopt Islam, reaching as far south as Sofala (Mozambique).

title: 900

section: Events › By topic › Commerce

date: March 2

text: March 2 – Vasco da Gama visits Quelimane and Mozambique, in southeastern Africa.

title: 1498

date: June 24

text: June 24 – The Portuguese ship São João is wrecked off of the coast of South Africa. While 480 people survive initially, all but 25 of them die during the next 165 days while trying to reach the mouth of the Maputo River in what is now Mozambique.

title: 1552

date: November 22

text: November 22 – Portuguese navigator Manuel de Mesquita Perestrelo departs from Mozambique on a mission for to map the coastline, completing the task on March 13.

title: 1575

date: December 27

text: December 27 – The Dutch East India Company ends an almost 11-year effort of trying to maintain a colony around Delagoa Bay in southern Africa in modern-day Mozambique. The entire population of the settlement, Fort Lydzammheid (near modern-day Maputo) is evacuated by the ships Snuffelaar, Zeepost and Feyenoord and the group returns to Cape Town.

title: 1730

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: December 15

text: December 15 – The railways of the Cape of Good Hope, Colony of Natal, the Orange Free State, the South African Republic and southern Mozambique are all linked at Union Junction near Alberton.

title: 1895

section: Events › December

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Britain annexes Tongaland, between Zululand and Mozambique.

title: 1895

section: Events › June

date: April 18

text: April 18 – , a 5,557-ton Portuguese passenger liner en route from Mozambique to Lisbon, strikes Bellows Rock just off Cape Point and sinks.

title: 1911

date: February 3

text: February 3 – Eduardo Mondlane, leader of the Mozambique nationalist organization FRELIMO (b. 1920)

title: 1969

section: Deaths › February

date: September 16

text: September 16 – Cape Verde, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.

title: 1975

section: Events › September

date: August 9

text: August 9 – The Selous Scouts of the Rhodesian Army conduct a cross-border raid into Nyadzonya, Mozambique in Operation Eland, an action that led to severe political and diplomatic consequences on Rhodesia.

title: 1976

section: Events › August

text: October 4 – The government of Mozambique signs the Rome General Peace Accords with leaders of RENAMO, ending the 16-year-old Mozambican Civil War.

title: 1992

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Torrential rains in Africa led to the worst flooding in Mozambique in 50 years, which lasts until March and kills 800 people.

title: 2000

section: Events › February

date: September 1

text: September 1 – An annular solar eclipse was visible from Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar.

title: 2016

date: March 15

text: March 15 – Cyclone Idai makes landfall on Mozambique, causing at least 1,073 fatalities, as well as mass flooding and power outages in southern Africa.

title: 2019

date: January 23

text: January 23 – Tropical Storm Ana kills 115 people in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique, days after a series of floods killed 11 people in Madagascar.

title: 2022

section: Events › January


slug: muawiyah-i

label: Muawiyah I

section: Births

text: Muawiyah I, founder of the Umayyad Caliphate (d. 680)

title: 602

text: Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, governor of Syria, develops an Arab navy in the Levant and uses it to confront the Byzantine Empire in the Aegean Sea. It is manned by Monophysitise Christian, Coptic and Syrian Christian sailors.

title: 649

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

section: Conflict & Security

text: Emperor Constans II voluntarily surrenders Armenia to the Arabs, following a truce with Muawiyah, governor of Syria. Muawiyah grants the Armenians virtual autonomy, and appoints the nakharar Theodor Rshtuni as ruler of Armenia.

title: 653

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Muawiyah, governor of Syria, stations a large garrison on Cyprus. He conquers the Greek island of Kos in the Dodecanese.

title: 654

section: Events › By place › Arabian Caliphate

section: Religion & Belief

date: January 26

text: January 26 – Assassination of Ali: Ali ibn Abi Talib, first Shia imam and fourth caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, is struck on the head with a poisoned sword by the Khawarij Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, while at prayer at a shrine at Kufa (modern-day), dying two days later. His son, Hasan ibn Ali, is chosen by Muslims to succeed him as the next leader. According to the Umayyads, he is succeeded by Muawiyah I as Caliph, age 59, who moves his seat of government to Damascus, and founds the Umayyad Caliphate, ending the Rashidun Caliphate.

title: 661

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire (Islamic Caliphate)

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Caliph Muawiyah I launches a series of attacks against Byzantine holdings in Africa, Sicily and the East.

title: 667

text: Caliph Muawiyah I receives an invitation from Saborios, Byzantine commander of the troops in Armenia, to help overthrow Constantine IV in Constantinople. He sends a Muslim army under his son Yazid, against the Byzantine Empire.

title: 668

text: Winter – Arab forces under Yazid (son of caliph Muawiyah I) retire to Cyzicus (Turkey). For the next 4 years the Arab fleet installs a loose blockade around Constantinople.

title: 674

text: Summer – Siege of Constantinople: Caliph Muawiyah I sends his son Yazid with Muslim reinforcements to Constantinople. At the same time, the Byzantines have to face a Slavic attack on Thessaloniki and Lombard attacks in Italy.

title: 676

text: Autumn – Siege of Constantinople: Emperor Constantine IV confronts the Arab besiegers in a head-on engagement. The Byzantine fleet, equipped with Greek fire, destroys the Muslim fleet at Sillyon, ending the Arab threat to Europe, and forcing Yazid (a son of caliph Muawiyah I) to lift the siege on land and sea. The victory also frees up forces that are sent to raise the two-year siege of Thessalonica by the local Slavic tribes.

title: 678

section: Deaths

text: Muawiyah I, founder of the Umayyad Caliphate (b. 602)

title: 680


slug: mughal-emperor

label: Mughal Emperor

text: Mughal Emperor Akbar conquers Malwa, and its last Sultan, Baz Bahadur, flees.

title: 1562

section: Events › Date unknown

date: October 27

text: October 27 – Akbar The Great, Mughal emperor (b. 1542)

title: 1605

section: Deaths › October–December

text: October 27 – The 3rd Mughal Emperor, Akbar "the Great", dies of dysentery at Fatehpur Sikri in India.

title: 1605

section: Events › October–December

date: March 22

text: March 22 – Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his sons capture the city of Kandahar from the Safavids.

title: 1638

section: Events › January–March

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Construction begins on the Red Fort in Delhi (India) for Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who is transferring his capital there from Agra.

title: 1638

section: Events › April–June

date: June 8

text: June 8 – Less than three months after proclaiming himself to be the new Emperor of India, Muhammad Azam Shah and his three sons are killed in a battle by his troops led by his half-brother Muhammad Mu'azzam

title: 1707

date: February 28

text: February 28 – Farrukhsiyar, the Mughal Emperor of India since 1713, is deposed by the Sayyid brothers, who install Rafi ud-Darajat in his place. In prison, Farrukhsiyar is strangled by assassins on April 19.

title: 1719

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Muhammad Shah is crowned as the 12th Mughal Emperor of India at Shahjahanabad (modern-day Delhi), 12 days after the death of Shah Jahan II from tuberculosis.

title: 1719

section: Events › July–September

date: July 31

text: July 31 – The Hyderabad State is created in India, as Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah rewards his associate Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan. Qamar-ud-din becomes the first Nizam of Hyderabad. The princely state exists for more than 220 years, coming to an end after India's independence from Britain.

title: 1724

date: December 23

text: December 23 – Ahmad Shah Bahadur, 14th Mughal Emperor (d. 1775)

title: 1725

date: October 22

text: October 22 – Battle of Buxar: The British East India Company defeats the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, the Nawab of Awadh, and Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.

title: 1764


slug: mughal-empire

label: Mughal Empire

description: great Turkic descent empire ruling India (1526–1857)

date: April 21

text: April 21 – Battle of Panipat: Babur becomes Mughal emperor, invades northern India and captures Delhi, creating the Mughal Empire, which lasts until 1857.

title: 1526

date: February 25

text: February 25 – The Battle of Hisar Firoza is fought in what is now the Indian state of Haryana, between the Mughal Empire (whose army is led by Prince Humayun) and the Delhi Sultanate, led by Hamid Khan. Humayun, in his first command, leads the Mughals to victory.

title: 1526

date: December 26

text: December 26 – Humayun starts to rule the Mughal Empire after Babur's death.

title: 1530

text: Mughal Emperor Humayun gives battle to Bahadur Shah of Gujarat.

title: 1535

date: June 26

text: June 26 – Battle of Chausa in modern-day Buxar, India: Sher Shah Suri defeats the Mughal emperor, Humayun (Sher Shah goes on to form the Sur Empire, and take control of nearly all Mughal territory).

title: 1539

date: May 17

text: May 17 – Battle of Kannauj: Sher Shah Suri defeats and deposes Mughal Emperor Humayan, establishing the Sur Empire.

title: 1540

date: January 4

text: January 4 – In India, Maldeo Rathore, King of Marwar (now part of the state of Rajasthan) is tricked by counterintelligence spread by Mughal Emperor and Afghan Shah Sher Shah Suri into departing from Jodhpur. The Battle of Sammel begins shortly afterward and is won by the Afghan and Mughal armies.

title: 1544

date: November 15

text: November 15 – (10 Ramadan 952 AH) Hamida Banu Begum, Empress consort of India's Mughal Empire and wife of the Emperor Humayun, returns to the capital, Agra, after a three-year absence. She is accompanied by an army provided to Humayun by Tahmasp I, Shah of Iran.

title: 1545

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Humayun resumes rule of the Mughal Empire.

title: 1555

date: February 14

text: February 14 – Akbar the Great ascends the throne of the Mughal Empire in India at age 13; he will rule until his death in 1605, by which time most of the north and centre of the Indian subcontinent will be under his control.

title: 1556

date: November 5

text: November 5 – Second Battle of Panipat: Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mughal army defeats the forces of Hemu and recaptures Delhi for the Mughal Empire, guaranteeing Akbar's rule.

title: 1556

date: October 7

text: October 7 – The Battle of Delhi is fought in India, at Tughlaqabad) near Delhi between forces of the Sur Empire (ruled by Muhammad Adil Shah) and the Mughal Empire (ruled by Akbar the Great). General Hemchandra Vikramaditya (Hemu) of the Suris overwhelms the forces commanded by the Mughal Governor of Delhi, Tardi Beg Khan within one day.

title: 1556

date: March

text: March – Bairam Khan, the Vakil or prime minister of India's Mughal Empire, is forced to retire by the Emperor Akbar.

title: 1560

date: January 31

text: January 31 – Mughal Empire General Bairam Khan is assassinated by an Afghan warrior, Mubarak Khan Lohani, while traveling through Gujarat in India.

title: 1561

section: Culture & Society

date: February 6

text: February 6 – In the Mughal Empire in India, the Emperor Akbar marries Mariam-uz-Zamani, daughter of Raja Bharmal, the ruler of the Kingdom of Amber. The marriage takes place in Sambhar in what is now the state of Rajasthan, where Akbar has stopped on his way back to the Mughal capital of Agra.

title: 1562

date: August 6

text: August 6 – In India Akbar, ruler of the Mughal Empire, defeats the rebellious governor of Malwa, Abdullah Khan Uzbeg. The defeat comes the day after the Imperial Army's arrival at Indore, now in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

title: 1564

date: February 23

text: February 23 – Akbar the Great of the Mughal Empire captures the massive Chittor Fort in northern India from the Kingdom of Mewar after the Siege of Chittorgarh that began on October 23, 1567.

title: 1568

date: March 3

text: March 3 – Battle of Tukaroi: The Mughal Empire decisively defeats the Karrani dynasty of Bengal. The battle took place near the village of Tukaroi in present-day Balasore District of Odisha.

title: 1575

date: July 12

text: July 12 – The Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal.

title: 1576

text: February 28 – Three Jesuit priests from Portuguese Goa, including Rodolfo Acquaviva, arrive in Agra on the mainland of India as guests of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great, who is curious about Christianity. The Emperor grants land to the Jesuit fathers for the building of the first Roman Catholic Church in the Mughal Empire.

title: 1580

date: January 11

text: January 11 – Chandrasen Rathore, ruler of the Kingdom of Marwar (now part of the state of Rajasthan in India) dies at the age of 39, leaving a power vacuum that allows the Mughal Empire to take control of the kingdom.

title: 1581

date: November 13

text: November 13 – In India, the city of Allahabad (modern-day Prayagraj in the state of Uttar Pradesh) is founded as a strategic fortress by Akbar, Emperor of the Mughal Empire.Surendra Nath Sinha (1974).

title: 1583

date: December 20

text: December 20 – Enraged by the disrespect shown to him by Yousuf Shah Chak, the Mughal Emperor, Akbar, orders the invasion of Kashmir with 5,000 men.

title: 1585

date: July 18

text: July 18 (6 Shawal 999 AH) – In India, the four-day Battle of Bhuchar Mori ends in the Gujarat state, as General Mirza Aziz Koka leads the Mughal Empire gains a decisive victory over Nawanagar, led by the Sultan Muzaffar Shah III.

title: 1591

date: December 14

text: December 14 – Sultan Murad, 4th son of Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire invades Ahmednagar Sultanate which is defended by Chand Bibi.

title: 1595

date: November 9

text: November 9 – In India, Prince Man Singh I, Maharaja of Amber within the Mughal Empire, becomes the Mughal Governor (subahdar) of Bengal in what is now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. He lays the foundations of a new capital of Bengal, Akbarnagar (now Rajmahal, Jharkhand state).

title: 1595

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, the prime minister for India's Mughal Emperor Akbar, is assassinated at Narwar as part of a plot by Emperor Akbar's son, Prince Salim, who will later succeed Akbar as Emperor Jahangir. Abu'l-Fazl's killer, Vir Singh Bundela, sends the victim's severed head to Prince Salim as proof of the plot's success.

title: 1602

date: January 16

text: January 16 – Shahryar, fifth and youngest son of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (d. 1628)

title: 1605

section: Births › January–March

date: November 3

text: November 3 – Jahangir, the fourth Mughal Emperor, begins his 22-year reign over the Mughal Empire in northern India.

title: 1605

date: December 5

text: December 5 (30 Ramadan 1020 A.H.) – To celebrate the end of the daily fasting of the month of Ramadan, the Mughal Empire Army commander, Mubariz Khan, hosts the celebration banquet and learns that Pashtun rebel leader Khwaja Usman and 250 of his men have evacuated Bokainagar (modern-day Gouripur in Bangladesh) during the Mughal Army's holiday observance.

title: 1611

date: March 12

text: March 12 – At Daulambapur, near Kamalganj in what is now the Sylhet Division in Bangladesh, a battle takes place between 4,500 troops led by General Islam Khan I of India's Mughal Empire, and 12,000 defenders led by the Afghan warlord Khwaja Usman. The Mughals are almost defeated until Usman is struck in the eye by an arrow fired from a crossbow.

title: 1612

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: February 2

text: February 2 – Sir Thomas Roe sets out to become the first ambassador from the court of the King of England to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, departing from Tilbury Hope on the ship Lyon under the command of captain Christopher Newport.

title: 1615

date: November

text: November – The Mughals under Jahangir launch the first offensive against Kajali, a border post of the Ahom kingdom.

title: 1615

section: Science & Discovery

text: Richard Steel and John Crowther complete their journey from Ajmeer in the Mughal Empire to Ispahan in Persia.

title: 1616

text: January 10 – English diplomat Sir Thomas Roe presents his credentials to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, in Ajmer Fort, opening the door to the British presence in India. Roe sailed in the Lyon under the command of captain Christopher Newport, best known for his role in the Virginia colonies.

title: 1616

text: January 6 – Jahangir, ruler of the Mughal Empire in northern India, gives an audience for the first time to a representative of the British East India Company, receiving Sir Thomas Roe at the capital at Ahmedabad.

title: 1618

text: October 9 – Murad Bakhsh, Mughal prince (d. 1661)

title: 1624

text: February 14 – The coronation of Shah Jahan as ruler of the Mughal Empire takes place in Agra.

title: 1628

text: In the Mughal Empire, Shah Jahan's Pearl Mosque at Lahore Fort is consecrated (completed 1635).

title: 1630

text: May 28 – Aurangzeb, Crown Prince of the Mughal Empire in India, narrowly escapes death when an elephant stampedes through his encampment, but is able to defend himself with a lance.

title: 1633

text: In the Mughal Empire, Shah Jahan's Pearl Mosque at Lahore Fort is completed.

title: 1635

text: December 23 – Shah Jahan, Emperor of India's Mughal Empire, issues a decree against Portuguese Jesuits, ordering that the Agra Church be demolished and barring them from attempting to convert Hindus and Muslims to the Christian faith, but allows them to conduct their religious ceremonies in private.

title: 1635

text: March 22 – The Peacock Throne of India's Mughal Empire is inaugurated in a ceremony in Delhi to support the seventh anniversary of Shah Jahan's accession to the throne as Emperor.

title: 1635

text: January 16 – The siege of Nagpur ends in the modern-day Maharashtra state of India, as Kok Shah, the King of Deogarh, surrenders his kingdom to the Mughal Empire.

title: 1637

text: February 22 – The Mughal–Safavid War begins when Shah Abbas II of the Safavid Empire in Persia captures the Afghan city of Kandahar from the Mughal Empire of India after a six-week siege. The Mughals, led by Shah Jahan, fail to recapture Kandahar after three sieges in four years.

title: 1649

text: December 7 – The Moti Masjid, an Islamic mosque made completely of white marble and within the walls of the Agra Fort in what is now the city of Agra in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, is dedicated by the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, on 16 Muharram 1064.

title: 1653

text: September 29 – In India, the third and final attempt by the Mughal Empire, to recapture the city of Kandahar from the Safavid Empire, ends in failure after almost six months despite the presence of 70,000 Mughal soldiers under the command of Prince Dara Shukoh.

title: 1653

text: September – Shah Jahan becomes ill, allowing his son to take control of the Mughal Empire.

title: 1657

text: April 15 – In India, the Battle of Dharmat is fought in the modern-day state of Madhya Pradesh between rival claimants to the throne of the Mughal Empire. Prince Muhi al-Din Muhammad, the son of the Emperor Shah Jahan, leads 30,000 men in a triumph over 22,000 troops led by Jaswant Singh of Marwar and Ratan Singh Rathore. Despite heavy losses, with more than 11,000 casualties, Prince Muhi, who has adopted the name Aurangzeb, continues toward Samugarh and Agra and captures the throne at the end of July.

title: 1658

text: July 31 – After Shah Jahan completes the Taj Mahal, his son Aurangzeb deposes him as ruler of the Mughal Empire.

title: 1658

text: June 10 – Dara Shikoh, at one time the heir apparent for the Mughal Empire, is betrayed by an Afghan chieftain, Junaid Khan Barozai, who had initially given him refuge from pursuit from the new emperor, Aurangzeb. Turned over to Aurangzeb's men, Dara Shikoh is killed on August 30.

title: 1659

text: March 11 – Prince Dara Shikoh, who had been the heir apparent to the throne of the Mughal Empire in India until the overthrow of his father, Shah Jahan, makes a stand near Ajmer to fight the armies sent by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, but loses and is forced to flee.

title: 1659

text: December 14 – Murad Bakhsh, Mughal prince (b. 1624)

title: 1661

text: January 23 – The Treaty of Ghilajharighat is signed in India between representatives of the Mughal Empire and the independent Ahom Kingdom (in what is now the Assam state), with the Mughals ending their occupation of the Ahom capital of Garhgaon, in return for payment by Ahom in silver and gold for costs of the occupation, and King Sutamla of Ahom sending one of his daughters to be part of the harem of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

title: 1663

text: January 5 – Battle of Surat in India: The Maratha leader, Chhatrapati Shivaji, defeats the Mughal Army Captain Inayat Khan, and sacks Surat.

title: 1664

text: June 11 – Shivaji, leader of the Bhonsale clan of the Marathas in India, signs the Treaty of Purandar with the Mughal Empire, giving up 23 of the 35 forts under his control, agreeing to pay reparations to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, and sending his son to stay as a hostage at Agra.

title: 1665

text: January 27 – Mughal conquest of Chittagong: Mughal forces of Emperor Aurangzeb, in alliance with the Portuguese, under Shaista Khan and his son Buzurg Umed Khan, expel the Maghs from the Bengal port city of Chittagong, renaming the city as Islamabad.

title: 1666

text: March – The Tavernier Blue, precursor to the Hope Diamond, is first recorded, when French gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier purchases it from the Kollur Mine in the Mughal Empire in uncut form.

title: 1666

text: May 12 – In India, General Shivaji Bhonsale of the Maratha Empire arrives at the Agra Fort for a meeting with Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire, as part of the terms of peace under the 1665 Treaty of Purandar. After taking offence at the disrespect shown to him, he gets angry and attempts to leave; he and his son Sambhaji are immediately placed under arrest and imprisoned at the fort.

title: 1666

text: After Shivaji's escape, hostilities between the Marathas and the Mughals ebb, with Mughal sardar Jaswant Singh acting as intermediary between Shivaji and Aurangzeb for new peace proposals.

title: 1667

text: December 19 – Emperor Aurangzeb, ruler of the Mughal Empire in India, orders a massive counterattack on Assam's Ahom kingdom after learning that Mughal troops had captured Guwahati. Aurangzeb appoints Raja Ram Singh to command a force of 36,000 infantry, 18,000 cavalry, 2,000 archers and 40 ships to conquer Ahom. The war lasts until the defeat of the Mughals by the smaller Ahom force in March 1671.

title: 1667

text: January 11 – Aurangzeb, monarch of the Mughal Empire, orders the removal of Rao Karan Singh as Maharaja of the Bikaner State (part of the modern-day Rajasthan state of India) because of Karan's dereliction of duty in battle.

title: 1667

text: May 8 – Prince Prithviraj Singh, eldest son of the Maharaja Jaswant Singh of the Kingdom of Marwar (within India's Mughal Empire, part of the modern-day Rajasthan state) dies painfully at the age of 14, supposedly after putting on a khalat (a ceremonial robe) given to him by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. According to the folklore of Marwar, the khalat was actually a garment infused with poison that penetrated the skin.

title: 1667

text: November 2 – In India, Assam troops led by General Lachit Borphukan, dispatched by King Supangmung, captures the Mughal Empire city of Guwahati after a victory in battle at Itakhuli.

title: 1667

text: April 9 – Aurangzeb, the Muslim Emperor of the Mughal Empire in India, issues a firman decree for the protection of all Hindu temples and schools in his kingdom.

title: 1669

text: November 28 – In India, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb learns of a rebellion of Hindu residents of in various parts of the Mathurá where he had given the order for the destruction of non-Muslim temples, with rioting in Mauza' Rewarah, Chandarkah, and Surkhrú. The Emperor's historian, Saqi Mustaid Khan, records Aurangzeb's dispatch of General Hasan 'Ali Khán to attack the rebels, and 300 of them are "sent to perdition" while the Mughals lose "many imperial soldiers". Another 250 surviving rebels are arrested. Kokilá Ját, leader of the rebels, is among the prisoners put to death a month later.

title: 1669

text: February 4 – The Battle of Sinhagad takes place in India (in the modern-day Maharashtra state) as the Maratha Empire army, led by Tanaji Malusare, leads an assault on the Kondhana Fortress that had been captured by the Mughal Empire. Tanaji, called "The Lion" by his followers, captures the fortress by guiding the successful scaling of the walls of the fortress with ladders created from rope, but is killed in the battle. The Maratha emperor Shivaji orders the fortress named Sinhagad, the Marathi language words for "Lion's Fort".

title: 1670

text: January 27 – The Muslim emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire in India issues an order for the destruction of all Hindu temples and schools in the empire, including the Keshvadeva Temple in Mathura.

title: 1670

text: January 5 – The Battle of Salher is fought in India as the first major confrontation between the Maratha Empire and the Mughal Empire, with the Maratha Army of 40,000 infantry and cavalry under the command of General Prataprao Gujar defeating a larger Mughal force led by General Diler Khan.

title: 1671

text: March – In the Battle of Saraighat in India, fought in mid-March, General Lachit Borphukan of the Ahom kingdom, located in what is now the Indian state of Assam defeats a larger force of Mughal Empire troops on the outskirts of what is now Guwahati.

title: 1671

text: May 6 – The Siege of Ponda, an action by the Maratha Empire in southern India against the Sultanate of Bijapur, ends after four weeks when the Mughal Empire fails to send reinforcements. Most of the defenders are massacred after Emperor Shivaji's troops storm the fortress in what is now a small city in the Indian state of Goa.

title: 1675

text: April 3 – Aurangazeb, the Muslim ruler of the Mughal Empire in India, decrees the imposition of the jizya, an annual tax upon non-Muslims under Mughal jurisdiction, primarily Hindus. The tax had been abolished by Aurangazeb's great grandfather, Akbar.

title: 1679

text: February 2 – In India, the Mughal Empire city of Burhanpur (now in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh) is sacked and looted by troops of the Maratha Empire on orders of the Maratha emperor, the Chhatrapati Sambhaji. General Hambirrao Mohite began the pillaging three days earlier.

title: 1681

text: January 1 – Prince Muhammad Akbar, son of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, initiates a civil war in India. With the support of troops from the Rajput states, Akbar declares himself the new Mughal Emperor and prepares to fight his father, but is ultimately defeated.

title: 1681

text: October 27 – Sir John Child of England becomes the new Governor of Bombay province and, unofficially, Governor-General of all of the settlements of the East India Company in India. With the exception of a rebellion by Captain Richard Keigwin during the year 1684, Child expands British control until involving the British in a war with the Mughal Empire.

title: 1681

text: August 20 – Bahadur, son of the Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire in India, is dispatched along with other Mughal nobles on an invasion of Konkan, the area on the southwestern Indian coast under the control of the Maratha Empire.

title: 1683

text: September 22 – The Siege of Golconda, ordered by Emperor Aurangzeb of India's Mughal Empire against the capital of the Golconda sultanate, ends after nine months when a traitor inside the walled city, Sarandaz Khan, opens the first of several entrances into the fortress. The Sultan Abul Hasan Qutb Shah is taken prisoner by General Mir Shahab ud-Din, and Golconda (now part of Hyderabad in the Telangana state).

title: 1687

text: August 24 – In India, the fort and trading settlement of Sutanuti is founded on the Hooghly River by the English East India Company, following the signing of an Anglo-Mughal treaty.

title: 1690

text: February 17 – The Maratha Empire fort at Gingee falls after a siege of almost nine years by the Mughal Empire as King Rajaram escapes to safety. General Swarup Singh Bundela, who led the scaling of the fortress walls and Gingee's capture, is rewarded by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb with command of the area.

title: 1698

text: May 12 – Battle of Sirhind: An army of 70,000 Sikh rebels, led by Banda Singh Bahadur defeat a force of 25,000 Mughal Empire troops commanded by General Wazir Khan, who is killed in the combat. The battle takes place near Sirhind in what is now the Indian state of Punjab.

title: 1710

text: October 11 – The Battle of Rahon is fought between Sikhs and Mughal Empire.

title: 1710

text: January 21 – After being tricked into deserting a battle against India's Mughal Empire by the rebel Sayyid brothers, Prince Azz-ud-din Mirza is blinded on orders of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar as punishment.

title: 1714

text: June 9 – In India, 600 imprisoned members of the failed Sikh Khalsa rebellion against the Mughal Empire are executed on orders of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar. Banda Singh Bahadur, leader of the rebellion, is brutally tortured and mutilated before being killed.

title: 1716

text: Murshid Quli Khan declares himself the first Nawab of the Bengal Subah. The Nawabs of Bengal will effectively function as near-sovereign rulers of Bengal while being nominally loyal to the Mughal Empire.

title: 1717

text: January 7 – In India, Sufi rebel leader Shah Inayat Shaheed from Sindh who had led attacks against the Mughal Empire, is beheaded days after being tricked into meeting with the Mughals to discuss peace.

title: 1718

text: June 19 – At Burhanpur (in the modern-day Indian state of Madhya Pradesh), the Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad survives an attempted ambush by Mughal Empire forces dispatched by the Sayyid brothers (Syed Abdullah Khan and Syed Husain Ali Khan Barha) and goes on to establish a rival state in southern India.

title: 1720

text: February 21 – Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah, the Grand Mogul of north India's Mughal Empire, names Nizam-ul-Mulk as his Grand Vizier. Three years later, the Nizam will rebel against the Grand Mogul and create his own independent nation as the Nizam of Hyderabad, reigning as Asaf Jah.

title: 1722

text: July 1 – In India, Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan becomes the new Nawab of Bengal after the death of his father-in-law, Murshid Quli Khan. At the time, Bengal consists of what is now the nation of Bangladesh and the southeast Indian state of West Bengal and is subservient to the Mughal Empire.

title: 1727

text: November 25 – In India, the Maratha Empire's army invades the Mughal Empire's Malwa province, crossing the Narmada River. On November 29, the two armies clash at the Battle of Amjhira; the Maratha troops, commanded by General Chimaji Appa, overcome the defenders of Malwa (now part of India's Andhra Pradesh state) and Malwa's Governor Girdhar Bahadur is killed.

title: 1728

text: March 28 – The Battle of Delhi takes place between the Maratha Empire and the Mughals.

title: 1737

text: February 24 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nader Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.

title: 1739

text: March 10 – Zakariya Khan Bahadur, the Mughal Empire's viceroy administering Lahore (in what is now Pakistan), orders the massacre of the city's Sikh people.

title: 1746

text: August 3 – The Battle of Ambur is fought in south India as the Second Carnatic War begins between the French-supported troops of Chanda Sahib of the Mughal Empire and the British-supported defenders of the Arcot State, led by its 77-year old Nawab, Anwaruddin Khan. After marching outside of the walls of Arcot to confront Chanda Sahib and Joseph Dupleix's 4,000 troops, Anwaruddin Khan's numerically superior force is routed and he is killed in the battle.

title: 1749

text: August 11 – In the Battle of Delhi, the capital city of the Mughal Empire is retaken by Maratha Empire leader Raghunathrao from Najib ad-Dawlah, who flees to refuge in the royal palace, the Red Fort.

title: 1757

text: December 10 – Shah Jahan III is installed as the puppet ruler of India's Mughal Empire eleven days after the death of Alamgir II, but is removed after a reign of only ten months.

title: 1759

text: November 29 – Alamgir II, the Mughal Emperor of India, is assassinated in a conspiracy orchestrated by his Prime Minister, Imad-ul-Mulk. The Shah Alam II, a grandson of the 17th century Emperor Aurangzeb, is made the new Mughal Emperor.

title: 1759

text: January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: In India, the armies of the Durrani Empire from Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, killing over 100,000 Maratha soldiers and civilians in battle and in a subsequent massacre, regaining territory lost by the Mughal Empire and restoring the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II, to the throne in Delhi as the nominal ruler.

title: 1761

text: August 10 – Emperor Shah Alam II was blinded by a maddened Indo-Afghan commander Ghulam Qadir Rohilla who sought revenge against the Mughal Empire.

title: 1788

text: September 20 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: British forces recapture Delhi, compelling the surrender of Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor.

title: 1857


slug: muhammad-ii-of-granada

label: Muhammad II of Granada

description: 13th-century Emir of Granada

date: January 22

text: January 22 – Sultan Muhammad I (or Ibn al-Ahmar) suffers fatal injuries after falling from his horse near the city of Granada during a minor military expedition. He is succeeded by his son Muhammad II, who becomes ruler of the Emirate of Granada. Muhammad enters negotiations with King Alfonso X ("the Wise") to make peace with Castile, but he refuses to grant a truce to the Banu governors (arraeces) of Málaga and Guadix in Andalusia.

title: 1273

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Marinid forces led by Sultan Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq land in Spain upon a call from Muhammad II, ruler of Granada. With a fleet of 20 ships organized at Ceuta, some 5,000 men are transported from Alcázar Seguir to Tarifa without meeting any significant Christian opposition. The Maranids raid as far as the towns of Vejer de la Frontera and Jerez.

title: 1275

section: Conflict & Security

text: Sultan Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq and Muhammad II, ruler of Granada, agree to a truce with King Alfonso X of Castile ("the Wise") for two years. Before Abu Yusuf leaves, Muhammad's secretary addresses a poem to Abu Yusuf, expressing fear of Castile's power and appealing for Marinid's continued support. Later, Abu Yusuf lands at Alcázar Seguir on January 19. This ending the first Marinid invasion in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 1276

date: June

text: June – Reconquista: Castilian forces led by King Alfonso X ("the Wise") and accompanied by his sons, the Infantes Sancho, Peter and John, invade the lowlands of Granada. Sultan Muhammad II of Granada sends a Moorish army, supported by many archers and cavalry, to repel them. Alfonso defeats the Moors in a battle near Granada's walls on June 25, but after the failure of the negotiations that follow, he leaves Granada.

title: 1281

text: Summer – Sultan Muhammad II drives the rebellious Banu Ashqilula from one stronghold to the next, where they are finally expelled from Granadan territory in Al-Andalus (modern Spain). Meanwhile, Muhammad manages through diplomatic intrigue, to turn the Castilian aristocracy against King Sancho IV. In response, King Alfonso III proclaims the 18-year-old Alfonso de la Cerda as ruler of Castile and León.

title: 1288

text: November–December – The kings Sancho IV of Castile ("the Brave") and James II of Aragon ("the Just") agree to join the war against the Marinids and conclude a treaty of friendship. Muhammad II, Nasrid ruler of Granada, gives his support to Sancho to take Tarifa from the Marinids. In the agreement, Castile and Aragon will respect their own boundaries.

title: 1291

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Castilian forces led by King Sancho IV ("the Brave") begin the siege of Tarifa: eleven newly built engines bombard the city constantly by land and sea. Meanwhile, Muhammad II, Nasrid ruler of Granada, provides the army of Sancho with men, arms and also aids the blockade in the Strait of Gibraltar. Muhammad attacks Marinid outposts and his forces seize Estepona on the coast to the west of Málaga. Sancho conquers Tarifa after a siege of four months, on October 13.

title: 1292

date: September 16

text: September 16 – In Spain, the Emirate of Granada, ruled by Muhammad al-Faqih, and the Crown of Aragon, ruled by Jaime II the Just sign a military agreement to fight against the Kingdom of Castile and to capture the port of Tarifa. "Finalment, el tractat fou signat per Jaume II ale 16 de setembre de 1301, amb contingut practicament igual que la proposta que ja hem comentat del rei de Granada." ("Finally, the treaty was signed by James II on September 16, 1301, with practically the same content as the proposal we have already commented on from the King of Granada.")

title: 1301

section: Events › July– September

date: April 8

text: April 8 (8 Shaban 701 AH) – Sultan Muhammad II dies after a 29-year reign and is succeeded by his son Muhammad III as ruler of Granada. Within two weeks of his accession, he sends a Nasrid army under Hammu ibn Abd al-Haqq to seize Bedmar and other neighboring strongholds from Castile. Nasrid forces also attack Jódar, northeast of Bedmar, and recapture Quesada. Meanwhile, Muhammad contains friendly relations with King James II ("James the Just").

title: 1302