slug: babylonia

label: Babylonia

description: historical country

text: c. 1792 BC – 1750 BC: (middle chronology) – Hammurabi rules Babylonia and has to deal with Mari, which he conquers late in his career.

title: 18th century BC

text: 1770 BC: Babylon, capital of Babylonia becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Thebes, capital of Egypt.

title: 18th century BC

text: 1749 BC: Samsu-iluna succeeds Hammurabi as king of Babylon. However, his rule is not very effective, and Mesopotamia endures turmoil during his reign.

title: 18th century BC

text: c. 1740 BC: Akkadian-Assyrian governor Puzur-Sin drives the Babylonians and Amorites into the north, out of the land of Assyria.

title: 18th century BC

text: 1736 BC: According to the ultra-long chronology of the ancient Near East, this is the year the sack of Babylon occurred.

title: 18th century BC

year_label: 727 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: 727 BC: Babylonia makes itself independent of Assyria.

title: 8th century BC

section: Events › 720s BC

year_label: 699 BCE

text: 699 BC—Sennacherib carries out his fifth military campaign in Babylonia, a series of raids against the villages around the foot of Mount Judi, located to the northeast of Nineveh.

title: 690s BC

year_label: 693 BCE

section: Deaths

text: 693 BC—Death of Nergal-ushezib, king of Babylonia

title: 690s BC

year_label: 675 BCE

text: The Elamite king Urtaku comes to power; during his reign, relations between Elam and Babylonia worsen.

title: 675 BC

year_label: 665 BCE

section: Science & Discovery

text: Elamite king Urtak launches a surprise attack against Babylonia but is successfully driven back

title: 665 BC

year_label: 648 BCE

text: Shamash-shum-ukin, Assyrian king of Babylonia.

title: 648 BC

year_label: 614 BCE

text: The Medes and Babylonians sack Assur.

title: 614 BC

year_label: 609 BCE

text: The Medes and the Babylonians defeat the Assyrians under Ashur-uballit II and capture Harran. Ashur-uballit II, the last king of Assyria, disappears from history.

title: 609 BC

year_label: 605 BCE

text: Nebuchadnezzar II succeeds his father Nabopolassar as king of Babylonia.

title: 605 BC

year_label: 601 BCE

text: The Jewish–Babylonian war begins between the Kingdom of Judah and Babylonia. It ends in 586 BC.

title: 601 BC

year_label: 401 BCE

text: Cyrus the Younger uses a quarrel with Tissaphernes over the Ionian cities as a pretext for gathering a large army and also pretends to prepare an expedition to Pisidia, in the Taurus Mountains. Cyrus starts out with about 15,220 men, of whom 10,400 are Greek mercenaries. When he reaches the Euphrates River at Thapsacus, he announces that he is marching against Artaxerxes II. He advances unopposed into Babylonia; but Artaxerxes, warned at the last moment by Tissaphernes, hastily gathers an army. The two forces meet in the Battle of Cunaxa, north of Babylon, where Cyrus is slain.

title: 401 BC

year_label: 383 BCE

text: The 19 year lunar cycle is introduced into the Babylonian calendar.

title: 383 BC

section: Events › By topic › Astronomy

text: Archon of Pella controls Babylonia; and

title: 323 BC

title: 320 BC

year_label: 311 BCE

text: Seleucus reestablishes himself as satrap of Babylonia and asserts control over Media and Susiana (Elam).

title: 311 BC

title: 311 BC

text: Upon entering Mesopotamia Seleucus manages to persuade some of the Macedonian veterans settled at Carrhae to join his cause. He then marches on to his old satrapy (province) of Babylonia gathering additional force along the way.

title: 311 BC

year_label: 310 BCE

text: Antigonus orders Nicanor, one of his generals, to invade Babylonia from the east and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes to attack it from the west. Nicanor assembles a large force but is surprised and defeated by Seleucus at the river Tigris, and his troops are either cut to pieces or defect to the enemy. Similarly, Demetrius Poliorcetes fails to oust Seleucus.

title: 310 BC

section: Events › By place › Babylonia

year_label: 308 BCE

text: Antigonus marches his main army east to confront Seleucus. The Antigonid and Seleucid armies meet somewhere in southern Mesopotamia or northern Babylonia and a battle is fought to a draw. The next morning Seleucus launches a surprise attack on Antigonus' camp and wins a simple victory. After his defeat Antigonus gives up on his ambitions to reconquer the eastern provinces.

title: 308 BC

section: Events › By place › Mesopotamia/Babylonia

year_label: 302 BCE

text: Following their agreement to work together to defeat Antigonus, Seleucus invades Asia Minor from Babylonia, while Ptolemy attacks Syria and Lysimachus moves into the western part of Asia Minor.

title: 302 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor

year_label: 187 BCE

text: The Seleucid king, Antiochus III, attempts to collect tribute from a temple near Susa, Persia, where he was killed. He is succeeded by his son, Seleucus IV, who inherits an empire consisting of Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, western Iran.

title: 187 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire

year_label: 161 BCE

text: The rebel Seleucid general and ruler of Media, Timarchus, who has distinguished himself by defending Media against the emergent Parthians, treats Demetrius I's violent accession to the Seleucid throne as the excuse to declare himself an independent king and extend his realm from Media into Babylonia.

title: 161 BC

section: Events › by side › Seleucid Empire

year_label: 160 BCE

text: Demetrius I defeats and kills the rebel general Timarchus and is recognized as king of the Seleucid empire by the Roman Senate. Demetrius acquires his surname of Soter (meaning Saviour) from the Babylonians, for delivering them from the tyranny of Timarchus. The Seleucid empire is temporarily united again.

title: 160 BC

year_label: 50 CE

text: Gamaliel the Elder, Jewish ruler (Nasi) in Babylonia (approximate date)

title: 50s

section: Deaths › 50 AD


slug: bactria

label: Bactria

description: historical region in Central Asia

year_label: 331 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

date: October 1

text: October 1 – Alexander is victorious in the Battle of Gaugamela (near ancient Ninevah) over the Persian King Darius III. Alexander pursues the defeated Persian forces to Arbela, Darius moves his Bactrian cavalry and Greek mercenaries into Media.

title: 331 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonia

year_label: 330 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Before continuing his pursuit of Darius III, who has retreated into Bactria, Alexander assembles all the Persian treasure and entrusts it to Harpalus, who is to hold it at Ecbatana as chief treasurer. Parmenion is also left behind in Media to manage communications between Alexander and the rest of his rapidly growing lands.

title: 330 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonian Empire

text: Darius III, king of Persia, was killed in Bactria (b. c. 380 BC)

title: 330 BC

section: Crime & Justice

date: July 17

text: July 17 – King Darius III is deposed and killed by Bessus, the satrap of Bactria. Bessus assumes the kingship as Artaxerxes V.

title: 330 BC

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

year_label: 329 BCE

text: In Bactria, Bessus raises a national revolt in the eastern satrapies using the title of King Artaxerxes V of Persia.

title: 329 BC

section: Religion & Belief

text: Marching west to Bactra (Zariaspa), Alexander appoints Artabazus of Phrygia as the satrap of Bactria.

title: 329 BC

year_label: 328 BCE

text: Understanding now the danger represented by his enemy, Alexander moves personally to relieve Maracanda, only to learn that Spitamenes has left Sogdiana. Spitamenes then attacks Bactra, from where he is repulsed with great difficulty by the satrap of Bactria, Artabazus of Phrygia.

title: 328 BC

year_label: 323 BCE

section: Health & Medicine

text: Philip controls Bactria and Sogdiana;

title: 323 BC

year_label: 255 BCE

text: Diodotus I, Seleucid satrap of Bactria, rebels against Antiochus II and becomes the founder of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

title: 255 BC

section: Events › By place › Bactria

year_label: 246 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: In order to secure the Bactrian King Diodotus' friendship, Seleucus II Callinicus arranges the marriage of one of his sisters to King Diodotus.

title: 246 BC

year_label: 244 BCE

text: The war in Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea intensifies as the Achaean League allies itself to Ptolemy III Euergetes of Egypt, while Seleucus II secures two allies in the Black Sea region. Ptolemy III's armies reach as far as Bactria and the borders of India in their attacks on the Seleucid Empire.

title: 244 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 223 BCE

text: King Diodotus II of Bactria is killed by a usurper, Euthydemus I, founder of the Greco-Bactrian Euthydemid dynasty.

title: 223 BC

text: Diodotus II, King of Bactria, the son and successor of Diodotus I (approximate date) (b. c. 252 BC)

title: 223 BC

year_label: 208 BCE

text: Antiochus III advances into Bactria, which is ruled by the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus I, and defeats Euthydemus at the Battle of the Arius. After resisting a siege of his capital Bactra (Balkh) by the Seleucids, Euthydemus obtains an honourable peace by which Antiochus promises Euthydemus' son Demetrius the hand of one of his daughters.

title: 208 BC

year_label: 206 BCE

text: Arsaces II, king of the Parthians, loses territory in battles with Euthydemus I, ruler of Bactria.

title: 206 BC

section: Events › By place › Persia

year_label: 205 BCE

text: Antiochus III returns from his eastern campaigns, after having defeated the Bactrians and subjugated the Parthians and thus being able to partly restore Seleucid power in these provinces by crushing the revolting governors of Media, Persia and Anatolia. Having established a system of vassal states in the East, Antiochus now adopts the ancient Achaemenid title of "great king", and the Greeks, comparing him to Alexander the Great, surname him "the Great", that is to say Antiochus III Megas.

title: 205 BC

year_label: 170 BCE

text: Around this time, Eucratides, who is either a rebellious Bactrian official or a cousin of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, captures the throne of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom by toppling the Euthydemid dynasty's king Antimachus I.

title: 170 BC

year_label: 167 BCE

text: The Parthians capture the key central Asian city of Herat. This victory effectively chokes off the movement of trade along the Silk Road to China and means that the Hellenic kingdom of Bactria is doomed.

title: 167 BC

section: Events › By place › Parthia

text: The king of Bactria, Eucratides I, is considered to have killed Apollodotus I, an Indo-Greek king who rules the western and southern parts of the Indo-Greek kingdom, when he invades the western territories of that kingdom.

title: 160 BC

year_label: 159 BCE

text: While Eucratides I is in north west India to claim possession of the previous Bactrian King Demetrius I's territory there, the Parthians, under Mithradates I, annex two Bactrian provinces. Returning from India to reconquer them, Eucratides is murdered by his son.

title: 159 BC

section: Events › Greece › Bactria

text: Eucratides I, king of Bactria, who has reigned since around 170 BC.

title: 159 BC

year_label: 155 BCE

text: Menander I (known as Milinda in Sanskrit and Pali) begins his reign as king of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. His territories cover the eastern dominions of the divided Greek empire of Bactria (Panjshir and Kapisa) and extend to the modern Pakistani province of Punjab, most of the Indian states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the Jammu region. His capital is considered to have been Sagala, a prosperous city in northern Punjab believed to be modern Sialkot.

title: 155 BC

year_label: 141 BCE

text: Yuezhi refugees appear on the borders of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom.

title: 141 BC

year_label: 129 BCE

text: The Han diplomat Zhang Qian escapes Xiongnu custody and resumes his mission of forming an anti-Xiongnu alliance with the Yuezhi. He reaches the State of Dayuan in the Ferghana Valley, whose trade with the Han had been prevented by the Xiongnu and who supply Zhang with guides. Zhang then travels to the states of Kangju, Greater Yuezhi and Daxia (Bactria). He also learns of the Parthian Empire, Daqin, the Caspian Sea and the source of the Yellow River.

title: 129 BC

section: Events › By place › China

year_label: 128 BCE

text: The Greco-Bactrian kingdom is overrun by the Tokhari.

title: 128 BC

year_label: 126 BCE

text: To avoid the Xiongnu and Qiang of the north-west and west respectively, Emperor Wu begins a policy of exploring a possible route of contact with Daxia (Bactria) via India, sending envoys to establish diplomatic relations with and movement through the Dian Kingdom. Wu wishes to receive the submission of Daxia and other states in western Eurasia.

title: 126 BC

year_label: 12 BCE

text: King Azes II dies. The rule of the Indo-Scythians crumbles as the Kushans, one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi who live in Bactria expand into India to create a Kushan Empire.

title: 12 BC

section: Events › By place › India

year_label: 10 CE

text: The Euthydemid dynasty, a Greek dynasty in Bactria, is brought to an end.

title: 10s

section: Events › 10 AD › Central Asia

text: The Hephthalites (White Huns) move south from the Altai Mountains region into Transoxiana, Bactria, Khorasan and eastern Persia.

title: 440

text: Nazaktar Khan, a Turk Shahi prince in alliance with the Tibetan Empire, captures Bactria from the Umayyads.

title: 708

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: After two years of failed efforts, Qutayba ibn Muslim captures Bukhara (Uzbekistan) for the Umayyad Caliphate. The Hephthalite princes of Tokharistan rebel against the Arabs, but are swiftly subdued by Qutayba.

title: 709

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire


slug: baekje

label: Baekje

year_label: 18 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Onjo becomes the first ruler of the Korean kingdom of Baekje (traditional date).

title: 18 BC

year_label: 28 CE

section: Conflict & Security

text: King Daru of Baekje succeeds to the throne of Baekje in the Korean peninsula.

title: 20s

section: Events › 28 AD › Korea

year_label: 66 CE

text: Baekje invades Silla in the Korean Peninsula, and captures Castle Ugok.

title: AD 66

year_label: 77 CE

text: King Giru of Baekje succeeds to the throne of Baekje in the Korean Peninsula.

title: AD 77

year_label: 85 CE

text: Baekje invades the outskirts of Silla in the Korean peninsula. The war continues until the peace treaty of 105.

title: AD 85

text: A peace treaty is signed between Baekje and Silla in the Korean peninsula (the war started in AD 85).

title: AD 105

text: King Gaeru of Baekje succeeds to the throne of Baekje in the Korean peninsula (until 166).

title: AD 128

text: King Chogo of Baekje succeeds to the throne of Baekje, in the Korean peninsula.

title: AD 166

text: The Korean kingdom of Baekje attacks the Mohe tribes.

title: 214

section: Events › By place › Korea

text: Saban becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje. He is succeeded by Goi of Baekje later in the same year.

title: 234

text: Baekje Kingdom under King Goi of Baekje attacks the Chinese commandery of Daifang.

title: 246

text: Chaekgye becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 286

text: Bunseo becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 298

text: Biryu becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 304

section: Deaths

text: c. October? – Bunseo of Baekje, king of Baekje (Korea) (assassinated)

title: 304

text: Gye becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 344

text: Biryu of Baekje, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)

title: 344

section: Deaths › Date unknown

text: Geunchogo becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 346

text: The first Korean envoy arrives in Japan, emissary of the government of Kudara.

title: 367

text: Goguryeo invades Baekje (approximate date).

title: 369

text: Baekje forces sack the city of P'yongyang in Goguryeo.

title: 371

text: The first diplomatic ties are established between the Korean kingdom of Baekje and the Chinese court of the Jin Dynasty.

title: 372

text: Geungusu becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 375

text: Geunchogo (or Chogo II), Korean ruler of Baekje

title: 375

text: King Chimnyu ascends to the throne of Baekje (Korea); he welcomes the Indian Buddhist monk Marananta into his palace, and later declares Buddhism the official religion.

title: 384

text: Geungusu, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 384

text: Jinsa of Baekje becomes the 16th king of the ancient Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 385

text: Chimnyu, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 385

text: Asin becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 392

text: Jeonji becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 405

text: Guisin becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: AD 420

text: Biyu becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 427

text: Guisin, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 427

text: Gaero becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 455

text: Biyu of Baekje, king of Baekje

title: 455

section: Births

text: Muryeong, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 462

text: Gongju becomes the capital of Baekje, and is threatened by Goguryeo, who conquers the Han River valley (Korea).

title: 475

text: Samgeun becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 477

text: Dongseong becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 479

text: Samgeun, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 479

text: Jangsu of Goguryeo invades Silla with the Mohe. Baekje and Gaya come to Silla's aid and defeats the Goguryeo troops.

title: 481

text: Muryeong becomes king of Baekje (one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea). During his reign, the kingdom remains allied with Silla and expands its relationships with China and Japan.

title: 501

text: Dongseong, king of Baekje (Korea)

title: 501

text: Seong becomes king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

title: 523

text: Muryeong, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)

title: 523

text: Wideok, king of Baekje (Three Kingdoms of Korea)

title: 525

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: King Seong of Paekche (Korea) moves the capital from Ungjin (present-day Gongju) further south to Sabi (present-day Buyeo County), on the Geum River. He sends a diplomatic mission that formally introduces Buddhism to the Japanese imperial court (see also 552).

title: 538

text: King Seong of Baekje attacks the kingdoms of Goguryeo and Silla. However, under a secret agreement, Silla troops attack the exhausted Baekje army, and take possession of the entire Han River valley.

title: 553

text: Baekje and the Gaya Confederacy wage war upon Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, but are defeated.

title: 554

text: Wideok becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 554

text: Hye becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 598

text: Wideok, king of Baekje (Korea) (b. 525)

title: 598

text: Beop becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 599

text: Mu becomes king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 600

text: Buyeo Yung, prince of Baekje (d. 682)

title: 615

text: Uija becomes the last king of the Korean kingdom of Baekje.

title: 641

text: Mu, king of Baekje (one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea)

title: 641

text: Gyebaek, general of Baekje (Korea)

title: 660

text: July 9 – Battle of Hwangsanbeol: Sillan forces (50,000 men) led by general Kim Yu-shin defeat the army of Baekje at Nonsan. During the fighting general Gyebaek dies at the hand of the Sillan invaders.

title: 660

text: July 24 – Emperor Tenji ascends to the throne of Japan after his mother Empress Saimei’s death. He sends an expeditionary force under Abe no Hirafu to Korea, to help the allied kingdom of Baekje.

title: 661

text: Battle of Baekgang: Korean Baekje forces and their Japanese allies are defeated in a naval battle, by a joint Silla–Tang coalition.

title: 663

text: Gwisil Boksin, Korean general of Baekje (Korea)

title: 663

text: Silla seizes control of the former Baekje capital of Sabi from the Tang Protectorate General to Pacify the East.

title: 671

text: Buyeo Yung, prince of Baekje (in exile in Luoyang)

title: 682

text: Former Silla general Kyŏn Hwŏn seizes the cities of Wansanju and Mujinju, taking over the territory of Baekje. He wins the support of the people, and declares himself king.

title: 892


slug: baghdad

label: Baghdad

description: capital city of Iraq

section: Culture & Society

text: c. 2300 BC – 2200 BC: "Head of a man from Nineveh" (modern Kuyunjik, Iraq) is made. It is now in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

title: 23rd century BC

section: Events

section: Religion & Belief

date: July 30

text: July 30 – Caliph al-Mansur moves the seat of the Abbasid Caliphate from Kufa to the new capital of Baghdad.

title: 762

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

text: Baghdad nears completion as up to 100,000 labourers create a circular city about 1 or 2 km in diameter (depending on the source). In the center of the "Round City" is a palace built for Caliph al-Mansur. The capital is ringed by three lines of walls (approximate date).

title: 766

text: The number 0 is introduced to the city of Baghdad, which will be developed in the Middle East by Arabian mathematicians, who will base their numbers on the Indian system (long after the Maya culture developed the concept, cf. Maya numerals).

title: 773

text: Caliph al-Mansur (r. 754–775) dies after a 21-year reign, in which he has made Baghdad the residence of the Abbasid Caliphate. He is succeeded by his son al-Mahdi.

title: 775

section: Events › By place › Arab Caliphate

date: September 14

text: September 14 – Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, upon the death of his brother Al-Hadi. He appoints Salim Yunisi as governor of Sindh and the Indus Valley.

title: 786

section: Crime & Justice

text: Arab traders make Baghdad a financial center of the Silk Road between China and Europe. Caravans carry little or no money on their long journeys; Chinese traders use what they call fei qian (zh) ("flying money") to avoid robbery. The Arabs have adopted a similar banking system known as hawala to transmit funds (approximate date).

title: 793

section: Events › By topic › Commerce

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: A paper mill begins production at Baghdad during the Abbasid era, as the Arabs spread the techniques developed by Chinese papermakers. Baghdad becomes a great seat of learning, with Christian and Jewish scholars as well as Muslims, while Europe remains largely unlettered. The Arabs will become the world's most proficient papermakers.

title: 794

section: Events › By topic › Communication

text: Yahya ibn Khalid, Persian vizier of Bagdad

title: 806

text: Fourth Fitna: Forces loyal to al-Ma'mun, led by Tahir ibn Husayn, blockade Baghdad, which is loyal to al-Ma'mun's brother, Caliph al-Amin, and begin the year-long Siege of Baghdad.

title: 812

text: Autumn – Siege of Baghdad: Caliph al-Amin surrenders Baghdad, after al-Ma'mun's General Tahir accepts his peace terms, but he is captured and executed. His brother al-Ma'mun becomes undisputed ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 813

text: Caliph al Ma’mun founds a school in Baghdad called the House of Wisdom. In this school scholars translated Greek philosophy classics into Arabic.

title: 813

date: August 11

text: August 11 – Caliph Al-Ma'mun returns to Baghdad, securing the city's place as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 819

text: Driven by tensions between his favoured Turkish guard and the populace of Baghdad, Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim moves his residence to the new city of Samarra, 130 km north of Baghdad. With brief interruptions, the city will remain the seat of the Abbasid caliphs until 892.

title: 836

date: June 21

text: June 21 – Caliph Al-Muhtadi is deposed and killed by the Turks, after a brief reign. He is succeeded by Al-Mu'tamid (son of the late Al-Mutawakkil) as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate, who moves his court to Baghdad. End of the Anarchy at Samarra.

title: 870

text: The Samanid Dynasty establishes a court at Bukhara (modern Uzbekistan), which becomes a rival city to Baghdad on the strategic Silk Road.

title: 875

date: April 8

text: April 8 – Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul: Abbasid forces, led by Al-Muwaffaq, halt a Saffarid invasion on the River Tigris. Emir Ya'qub ibn al-Layth tries to capture the Abbasid Caliphate's capital of Baghdad, but he is forced, with his army, to retreat.

title: 876

date: June 2

text: June 2 – Al-Muwaffaq, an Abbasid prince and Commander-in-chief, dies at the capital of Baghdad. His son Al-Mu'tadid is recognized as regent, and second heir of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 891

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

date: April

text: April – Al-Mu'tadid, the de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate, removes his cousin Al-Mufawwad from succession. He becomes caliph himself, after the death of Al-Mu'tamid, returning the capital from Samarra to Baghdad.

title: 892

text: Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are victorious at Balkh (Northern Afghanistan) over Amr ibn al-Layth; the latter is captured and sent to Caliph Al-Mu'tadid in Baghdad. The Samanid Dynasty rules over Khorasan, as well as Transoxiana. A few months later, the Samanids conquer the Zaydid emirate of Tabaristan. This victory marks the beginning of the dispersion of the local Shi'ites by the new Sunni power.

title: 900

date: February 18

text: February 18 – Thābit ibn Qurra dies at Baghdad, having served as court astronomer to the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutadid. He has spent his life translating and teaching the works of Greek mathematicians, and of his own.

title: 901

date: April 5

text: April 5 – Caliph Al-Mu'tadid dies in Baghdad after a 10-year reign. Possibly poisoned in a palace intrigue, he is succeeded by his eldest son Al-Muktafi as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 902

date: December 17

text: December 17 – Husayn ibn Hamdan leads a revolt to depose the newly-appointed Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir in Baghdad. He installs his uncle Abdallah ibn al-Mu'tazz and kills vizier Al-Abbas ibn al-Hasan al-Jarjara'i, but fails to murder Al-Muqtadir. This leads, finally, to the coup's collapse.

title: 908

section: Climate & Environment

text: Muslim chroniclers in Baghdad record an unusually cold summer.

title: 920

section: Events › By topic › Climate

text: June 21 – A diplomatic delegation is sent from Baghdad to establish trade routes between the Abbasid Caliphate towards Bukhara (modern Uzbekistan). Ahmad ibn Fadlan, an Arab diplomat and traveller, makes contact with Almış, the İltäbär (vassal-king under the Khazars) of Volga Bulgaria, on behalf of Caliph al-Muqtadir.

title: 921

date: March 26

text: March 26 – Mansur al-Hallaj, a Persian mystic writer, is sentenced to death for heresy after a long trial at Baghdad. Having supported reform in the Abbasid Caliphate, he has been seen as a rabble-rouser, and is flogged, mutilated and executed (by beheading).

title: 922

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: March

text: March – A group of 1,800 warriors of the Qarmatians of Bahrayn attack and destroy the returning Hajj caravans at al-Habir. Some of the more prominent pilgrims, who were returning to Baghdad from Mecca, are taken to Al-Ahsa Oasis to be held for ransom. The event leads to the downfall and execution of the Abbasid Caliphate's vizier, Ibn al-Furat.

title: 924

section: Events › January—March

date: November

text: November — In Baghdad (now in Iraq), Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Khaqani is dismissed from his position as the Grand Vizier of the Abbasid Caliphate upon the insistence of the Abbasid commander Mu'nis al-Muzaffar.

title: 925

section: Events › By date › July – December

text: al-Ta'i', Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (d. 1003)

title: 929

text: Córdoba, capital of Al-Andalus, becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 935

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Summer – Ibn Muqla, an Abbasid official and vizier, is disgraced after his failed campaign against Muhammad ibn Ra'iq, the rebellious governor of Wasit. He is arrested and imprisoned in Baghdad.

title: 936

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: March 9

text: March 9 – The famed Green Dome of the Palace of the Golden Gate at Baghdad collapses, amidst heavy rainfall.

title: 941

section: Events › By place › Middle East

text: Winter – Muslim forces under Nasir al-Dawla capture Baghdad and restore Caliph Al-Muttaqi to power again. Al-Dawla establishes himself as amir al-umara, or de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 945

text: Al-Qadir, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (d. 1031)

title: 947

text: King Ashot III of Armenia (the Merciful) moves his capital from Kars eastward to Ani (modern Turkey). Located on a major east-west caravan route, Ani will become larger than any European city, with a population of about 100,000 that will rival Baghdad, Cairo, and Constantinople. Ani also becomes the site of the royal mausoleum of the Bagratuni kings.

title: 961

section: Events › By place › Armenia

section: Health & Medicine

text: 'Adud al-Dawla, emir (king of kings) of the Buyid Dynasty, concludes a 10-year peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire. He establishes what will soon become the most important hospital of Baghdad.

title: 982

date: November 22

text: November 22: The beginning of the reign of al-Qadir, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, under the tutelage of the Buyids and following the deposition of al-Ta'i.

title: 991

date: August 3

text: August 3 – At-Ta'i, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (b. 929)

title: 1003

text: Hammad ibn Buluggin adopts Sunni Islam and declares his independence from the Zirid dynasty (modern Algeria). He recognizes the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad as being the rightful caliphs and becomes the first ruler of the Hammadid dynasty (until 1028).

title: 1014

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: March – Musharrif al-Dawla, ruler of Iraq, comes to Baghdad to see the Abbasid Caliph al-Qadir, and attempts to defy the caliphate.

title: 1023

section: Events › January–March

text: May – Ishoyahb IV, the unpopular Nicene Christian Patriarch of the Church of the East, dies in Baghdad after a five-year reign, leaving a vacancy that will not be filled until 1028.

title: 1025

text: November 29 – Al-Qadir, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (b. 947)

title: 1031

text: Winter – The Seljuk Turks led by Sultan Tughril capture Baghdad and enter the city in a Roman-styled triumph. Al-Malik al-Rahim, the last Buyid emir in Iraq, is taken prisoner.

title: 1055

text: The Abu Hanifa Mosque is established in Baghdad, when the Grand Vizier of the Seljuk Empire, Abu Saad al-Khwarizmi or al-Mustawfi, builds a shrine for Abu Hanifa near his tomb.

title: 1066

text: April 2 – Al-Qa'im, Abbasid caliph in Baghdad (b. 1001)

title: 1075

text: April/May – Al-Mustazhir, Abbasid caliph in Baghdad (d. 1118)

title: 1078

text: February 3 – Caliph of Baghdad al-Muqtadi dies and is succeeded by his nominated heir Ahmad (al-Mustazhir).

title: 1094

section: Events › By place › Eastern Islamic world

text: January – The Seljuk ruler Muhammad Tapar is expelled from Baghdad by his brother Barkiyaruq, but Muhammad manages to retake the city during his spring offensive.

title: 1100

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: Abdul Qadir Jilani becomes principal of the Hanbali school in Baghdad.

title: 1134

text: August 29 – Caliph Al-Mustarshid is assassinated at Baghdad after a 17-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Al-Rashid Billah as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate (until 1138).

title: 1135

text: August 18 – Seljuk sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud appoints al-Rashid Billah's uncle Al-Muqtafi as new caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.

title: 1136

text: June 6 – Al-Rashid Billah (deposed caliph of Baghdad), having fled to Isfahan, is killed there by a team of four Nizari Ismailis (Assassins). This is celebrated in Alamut for a week by Shias.

title: 1138

text: April 18 – Nur al-Din, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Aleppo, encamps before Damascus and overthrows Mujir al-Din by force with support of the Jewish citizens, who open the eastern gate to the bulk of his army. Mujir flees to the citadel, but capitulates after only a few hours. He is offered his life and the Emirate of Homs. A few weeks later Mujir is suspected of plotting with old friends in Damascus and is exiled to Baghdad. Damascus is annexed to Zangid territory and all of Syria is unified under the authority of Nur al-Din, from Edessa in the north to the Hauran to the south.

title: 1154

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

text: October 5 – Caliph Al-Nasir dies from dysentery at Baghdad after a 45-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Al-Zahir as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 1225

text: July 10 – In Baghdad, Al-Mānsūr al-Mustansir bi-llah (known as Al-Mustansir I) becomes the new Caliph of the adherents of Islam (and the 36th of the Abbasid dyansty), succeeding his father, al-Zahir bi-Amr Allah, who died only nine months after succeeding to the Caliphate.

title: 1226

text: April – Egyptian forces under As-Salih Ayyub besiege the city of Damascus. After six months, As-Salih Ismail, ruler of Damascus, surrenders to Ayyub in return for a vassal-principality, consisting of Baalbek and the Hauran. Ayyub is awarded the title of sultan by Caliph Al-Musta'sim in Baghdad.

title: 1245

text: August 24 – Güyük Khan, eldest son of Ögedei Khan, is enthroned as the 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (which is witnessed by a papal mission under Giovanni da Pian del Carpine) at Karakorum. Güyük reverses several edicts of his mother, Töregene Khatun, and orders Eljigidei, Mongol viceroy of Persia, to advance into Syria and prepare an attack on Baghdad.

title: 1246

text: Spring – Mongol forces (some 80,000 men), under Hulagu Khan, cross the Oxus River, and begin their campaign to destroy the remaining Muslim states in southwestern Asia – with the first objectives being the Nizari Ismaili strongholds and Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. The roads across Turkestan and Persia are repaired, and bridges built. Carts are requisitioned to bring siege machines from China.

title: 1256

text: February 20 – Al-Musta'sim, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad

title: 1258

text: June 13 – Al-Mustansir II becomes the first Abbasid ruler in Cairo (after his escape during the Siege of Baghdad). He is sent with an army by Sultan Baibars to recover Baghdad, but is killed in a Mongol ambush near Anbar (modern Iraq), on November 28. The Abbasid caliphs continue as religious figureheads for the Mamluks in Egypt until the 16th century.

title: 1261

text: May 19 – The governor of Baghdad, Oirat 'Ali Padsah, defeats Arpa Ke'un near Maraga, contributing to the disintegration of the Ilkhanate.

title: 1336

text: July 9 – (27 Dhu al-Qadah 803 A.H.) Timur raids the city of Baghdad, in the Jalayirid Empire, then carries out a massacre of its inhabitants, including women and children, as punishment for resisting his rule. According to accounts later, "90,000 human heads were piled up on the public places of the town." The only persons spared death are "theologians, shaikhs and dervishes", and the only buildings not demolished are "mosques, universities and hostels."

title: 1401

text: April 9 – Ispend bin Yusuf deposes Shah Muhammad of Qara Qoyunlu as Governor of Baghdad.

title: 1433

text: March 8 – The Amir Isfahan of Baghdad (born Ispend bin Yusuf) dies after a reign of 12 years and is succeeded by Fulad Mirza. The ruler of the adjacent Qara Qoyunlu Empire, Jahan Shah, then mobilizes an army at Tabriz to invade and take control of Baghdad.

title: 1445

text: June 8 – After a siege of seven months, Baghdad is captured by the Sultan Jahan Shah of Qara Qoyunlu, whose forces move into what is now Iraq.

title: 1446

text: December 4 – The Ottoman army under Suleiman the Magnificent captures the city of Baghdad from the Safavids without a struggle, beginning almost 400 years of Ottoman rule of what is now Iraq.

title: 1534

text: December – In the Middle East, traveller Pietro Della Valle marries Jowaya, daughter of a Nestorian Christian father and an Armenian mother, in Baghdad. The couple then sets off (1617) to find the Shah in Isfahan.

title: 1616

text: January 14 – After 90 years of Ottoman occupation, Baghdad is recaptured by the Safavid Empire.

title: 1624

text: July 4 – The Ottoman Army halts its attempt to retake Baghdad from the Persians, after having lost it in 1624.

title: 1626

text: August 27 – Tayyar Mehmed Pasha becomes the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire after Bayram Pasha dies while fighting in Baghdad.

title: 1638

text: December 19 – Unsuccessful in capturing Baghdad from the Ottoman Empire, Persia's ruler Nader Shah signs the Treaty of Baghdad with the Ottoman Governor, Ahmad Khan Pasha, with the Turks and the Iranians agreeing to restore the boundary between the two empires to the lines before the 1732 Ottoman invasion of Iran.

title: 1733

text: August 23 – King Faisal I of Iraq is crowned in Baghdad.

title: 1921

text: January 27 – Fourteen men, 9 of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel.

title: 1969

text: January 19 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM inspectors to use its own aircraft to fly into Iraq and begins military operations in the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait, and the northern Iraqi no-fly zones. U.S. forces fire approximately 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Baghdad factories linked to Iraq's illegal nuclear weapons program (→ January 1993 airstrikes on Iraq). Iraq then informs UNSCOM that it will be able to resume its flights.

title: 1993

text: June 27 – U.S. President Bill Clinton orders a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in the Al-Mansur District of Baghdad, in response to an Iraqi plot to assassinate former U.S. President George H. W. Bush during his visit to Kuwait in mid-April.

title: 1993

text: December 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi scuba divers, under the direction of the United Nations Special Commission, dredge the Tigris near Baghdad. The divers find over 200 prohibited Russian-made missile instruments and components.

title: 1995

text: February 20 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein negotiates a deal with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, allowing weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad, preventing military action by the United States and United Kingdom.

title: 1998

text: August 31 – The Al-Aimmah bridge disaster in Baghdad, Iraq kills 953 Shia Muslim pilgrims who were celebrating a religious festival.

title: 2005

text: November 23 – A series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Sadr City, Baghdad, kills at least 215 people and injure 257 other people.

title: 2006

text: April 18 – 18 April 2007 Baghdad bombings: A series of attacks take place across Baghdad, Iraq, killing nearly 200 people.

title: 2007

text: February 3 – A truck bomb explodes in Baghdad, Iraq, killing at least 135 people and injures 339 others.

title: 2007

text: December 8 – A series of attacks in Baghdad, Iraq kill at least 127 people and injure at least 448 more.

title: 2009

text: October 25 – Two suicide attacks in Baghdad, Iraq, kill 155 people and injure at least 721 people.

title: 2009

text: June 5 – A Sunni militant group now calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) begins an offensive through northern Iraq, aiming to capture the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and overthrow the Shiite government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

title: 2014


slug: bago-myanmar

label: Bago, Myanmar

description: capital city of Bago Region, Myanmar

section: Conflict & Security

date: October 28

text: October 28 – (3rd waxing of Nadaw, 745 ME) With the rainy season over in Burma, Queen Maha Dewi of Hanthawaddy dispatches armies from Pegu, Martaban and Myaungmya to attack her rebel nephew, Binnya Nwe, at Dagon.

title: 1383

section: Events › October–December

date: January 2

text: January 2 (10th waxing of Tabodwe, 745 ME) – King Binnya U of Burma's Hanthawaddy kingdom is killed in a rebellion at the capital, Bago. His 16-year-old son, Pasoom-Paing-Cek, is installed by the rebels as King Razadarit.

title: 1384

date: January 5

text: January 5 – In what is now Myanmar, peace negotiations begin between King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy at his capital Pegu, with the emissaries of Minkhaung I, ruler of the Kingdom of Ava, 10 days after the Ava forces defeated Razadarit's army at the Battle of Nawin.

title: 1403

section: Deaths

date: April 2

text: April 2 – (10th waxing of Vaishakha 857 ME The two-day coronation of King Binnya Ran II as ruler of the Hanthawaddy kingdom, in what is now southern Myanmar, begins at the Shwemawdaw Pagoda at the capital, Pegu (now Bago in Myanmar). Binnya Ran had succeeded to the throne in 1492 upon the death of his father, King Dhammazedi.

title: 1495

section: Events › April–June

section: Religion & Belief

date: November 17

text: November 17 (13th waxing of Natdaw 915 ME) – Bayinnaung, King of Burma, commissions the building of the Kanbawzathadi Palace in his capital, Pegu (modern-day Bago in Myanmar). The palace is completed in 1556 but is burned down in 1599.

title: 1553

section: Culture & Society

date: January 12

text: January 12 (10th waxing of Tabodwe 915 ME) – Bayinnaung is crowned king of the Burmese Taungoo Dynasty at his new capital at Pegu, after a previous coronation on January 11, 1551, and takes the regnal name of Thiri Thudhamma Yaza.

title: 1554

date: April 18

text: April 18 – Bayinnaung, King of Burma, returns to his capital at Pegu from Vientiane after installing Voravongsa I as the Burmese-appointed monarch of the Kingdom of Lan Xang (now Laos).

title: 1575

date: November 10

text: November 10 (11th waxing of Tazaungmon 960 ME) – In what is now the Rakhine State of Myanmar, King Min Razagyi of Arakan and the rebel leader Minye Thihathu begin their assault on Pegu, the remaining portion of the Toungoo Empire in southern Burma.

title: 1598

date: May 14

text: May 14 – The city of Hanthawaddy (now Bago) is restored as the capital of Burma by King Anaukpetlun, who relocates the government from Ava (now Inwa).

title: 1613


slug: bagrationi-dynasty

label: Bagrationi dynasty

description: former Georgian ruling dynasty

text: Harun al-Rashid appoints Ashot Msaker ("the Carnivorous") as the new presiding prince of Armenia. The Bagratids emerge as one of the country's two most powerful noble families. Harun recognizes another Bagratid branch, under Ashot I Curopalates, as princes of Caucasian Iberia.

title: 806

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Ashot I ("the Great") becomes the first Georgian Bagratid prince of Iberia, under Byzantine protection.

title: 813

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Guaram Mampali, Georgian Bagratid prince

title: 882

section: Births

text: Bagrat IV, Georgian king of the Bagrationi dynasty (d. 1072)

title: 1018

date: August 16

text: August 16 – George I, king of Georgia (House of Bagrationi)

title: 1027

date: March 27

text: March 27 – George III, king of Georgia (House of Bagrationi)

title: 1184

text: David VIII, king of Georgia (House of Bagrationi) (d. 1311)

title: 1273

text: Vakhtang III, king of Georgia (House of Bagrationi) (d. 1308)

title: 1276

text: March 26 – Vakhtang VI, king of the Kingdom of Kartli under the Bagrationi dynasty (b. 1675)

title: 1737


slug: bahrain

label: Bahrain

description: country in the Persian Gulf

text: King Ardashir I annexes his new empire from the east to the northwest. He conquers, with his army, the provinces of Chorasmia, Sistan and the island Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. The kings of the Kushan Empire and Turan recognize Ardashir as their overlord.

title: 227

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Qarmatians, led by Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi, capture Bahrain's capital of Hajr and Al-Hasa (Eastern Arabia). Abu Sa'id makes it his residence and establishes a religious utopian republic.

title: 899

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

date: November 6

text: November 6 – The Ottoman Empire ends its attempt to wrest control of the island of Bahrain from Portuguese control, after a siege of Manama Castle that began on July 2.

title: 1559

text: The Portuguese are expelled from Bahrain.

title: 1602

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Khalid bin Saud Al Suad usurps the throne from Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud, who assumed power of Nejd in 1834, and is sent to Cairo as prisoner. Omar bin Ofaysan, the Amir Faisal's governor in the Eastern Province seeks asylum in Bahrain, but Khalid the pretender demands his surrender and the surrender of the fort at Dammam; then under the control of the Al Khalifa of Bahrain.

title: 1839

date: March 6

text: March 6–8 – Exclusive Agreement: Rulers of six Trucial States (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al-Quwain) and Bahrain sign an agreement, by which they become de facto British protectorates.

title: 1892

section: Events › March

date: May 25

text: May 25 – In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created among Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

title: 1981

section: Events › May

date: February 14

text: February 14 – The Day of Rage in Bahrain begins, which marks the first day of the 2011 Bahraini uprising.

title: 2011

section: Events › February

date: June 5

text: June 5 – The Qatar diplomatic crisis of 2017–18 starts, as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries block Qatari access to their seas and air.

title: 2017

section: Events › June

date: September 4

text: September 4 – Bahrain and Israel agree to normalise relations, marking the fourth Israel–Arab peace deal.

title: 2020

section: Events › September


slug: bai-qi

label: Bai Qi

description: Chinese Qin state military general ( c. 332 BC – 257 BC)

year_label: 294 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: General Bai Qi of the State of Qin launches a surprise attack on the State of Han and captures the city of Xincheng.

title: 294 BC

section: Events › By place › China

year_label: 293 BCE

text: The State of Qin, led by commander Bai Qi, wins a decisive victory over the States of Wei and Han in the Battle of Yique. He then captures territories in Han before invading and capturing further territories in Wei.

title: 293 BC

year_label: 292 BCE

text: General Bai Qi of the State of Qin defeats the State of Wei in a major battle and captures cities in Wei. Wei cedes control of 61 towns and cities.

title: 292 BC

year_label: 291 BCE

text: Generals Sima Cuo and Bai Qi of the State of Qin attack the State of Wei and capture the city of Yuan. Next, Sima Cuo captures the cities of Zhi and Deng.

title: 291 BC

year_label: 280 BCE

text: General Bai Qi of Qin attacks the State of Zhou and captures the city of Guanglang.

title: 280 BC

year_label: 279 BCE

text: General Bai Qi of the State of Qin attacks the State of Chu and captures the cities of Yan and Deng.

title: 279 BC

year_label: 278 BCE

text: The heartland of the State of Chu in the modern Hubei province is overrun by the powerful state of Qin from the west under Bai Qi's leadership. Sailing down the Han river from Bashu, Bai Qi captures Ying - the capital of Chu - as well as Yiling, and his army reaches as far as Jingling. Bai Qi is honoured as Lord Wu'an (武安君; literally: Lord of Martial Peace). The Chu government moves to the east, occupying various temporary capitals until settling in Shouchun in 241 BC.

title: 278 BC

year_label: 276 BCE

text: General Bai Qi of the State of Qin attacks the State of Wei and captures two cities.

title: 276 BC

year_label: 275 BCE

text: General Bai Qi of the State of Qin brings order to the rebellious provinces of Wu and Qianzhong, which had been formed from the territories conquered from the State of Chu between 280 and 278 BC.

title: 275 BC

year_label: 273 BCE

text: General Bai Qi of the State of Qin attacks the State of Wei and State of Zhou. He captures the city of Huyang and wins three battles, defeating the army of the Zhao general Jia Yan.

title: 273 BC

year_label: 264 BCE

text: General Bai Qi of the State of Qin attacks the State of Han and captures the city of Jing, defeating its large garrison. He then captures various other towns and cities.

title: 264 BC

year_label: 263 BCE

text: General Bai Qi of the State of Qin captures the Han province of Nan, thereby cutting off Shangdang Commandery from the rest of the Han state. This commandery subsequently surrenders itself to the State of Zhao rather than transfer to Qin control, which will set up the climactic Battle of Changping in 260 BC.

title: 263 BC

year_label: 257 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Bai Qi, Chinese general of the Qin State (Warring States Period)

title: 257 BC


slug: baibars

label: Baibars

text: Baibars, Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria (d. 1277)

title: 1223

date: April 8

text: April 8 – Battle of Fariskur: Louis IX (the Saint) is captured by Baibars' Egyptian Mamluk army while he is in Egypt conducting the Seventh Crusade; he later has to ransom himself.

title: 1250

section: Events › By place › Africa

date: October 24

text: October 24 – Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seizes power for himself.

title: 1260

date: June 13

text: June 13 – Al-Mustansir II becomes the first Abbasid ruler in Cairo (after his escape during the Siege of Baghdad). He is sent with an army by Sultan Baibars to recover Baghdad, but is killed in a Mongol ambush near Anbar (modern Iraq), on November 28. The Abbasid caliphs continue as religious figureheads for the Mamluks in Egypt until the 16th century.

title: 1261

section: Events › By place › Levant

text: Berke–Hulagu war: Mongol forces under Berke Khan, ruler of the Golden Horde, raid territory in the Caucasus belonging to his cousin Hulagu Khan, ruler of the Ilkhanate. Berke supports the Georgian rebels and allies with the Mamluks. He defeats the Ilkhanate forces on the Terek River, together with the Mamluk army led by Baibars (or Abu al-Futuh), saving Palestine and Arabia from Ilkhanate occupation.

title: 1262

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

section: Religion & Belief

text: Al-Hakim I, a member of the Abbasid dynasty, travels to Egypt and is proclaimed as caliph of Cairo in succession to his former rival Al-Mustansir II. After his arrival, he is imprisoned at the Citadel of Cairo by orders of Sultan Baibars but released in 1296 by Sultan Lajin.

title: 1262

date: April 4

text: April 4 – Egyptian forces led by Sultan Baibars (or Abu al-Futuh) attack Acre; there is severe fighting outside the walls, in which the seneschal, Geoffrey of Sergines, is badly wounded. Baibars is not yet ready to besiege the city and begins a major campaign to eliminate the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem, the county of Tripoli and the principality of Antioch.

title: 1263

date: July 23

text: July 23 – Siege of Safed: Mamluk forces capture the castle of Safed, defended by a garrison of 1,700 men (including some 500 Knights Templar), after a 6-week siege. Sultan Baibars promises safe conduct but when the Christians and Templars are on their way towards Acre, they are seized and beheaded.

title: 1266

date: May 18

text: May 18 – Battle of Antioch: The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars; his destruction of the city of Antioch is so great, as to permanently negate the city's importance.

title: 1268

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: The ancient city of Ascalon is captured from the Crusader States, and utterly destroyed by the Mamluk sultan Baibars, who goes so far as to fill in its important harbor, leaving the site desolate, and the city never to be rebuilt.

title: 1270

section: Events › Asia

text: Before August – King Louis IX of France launches the Eighth Crusade, in an attempt to recapture the Crusader States from the Mamluk sultan Baibars; the opening engagement is a siege of Tunis.

title: 1270

section: Events › Africa › The Eighth Crusade

date: February

text: February – Mamluk forces led by Sultan Baibars continue their territorial expansion in western Syria and appear before Safita Castle (called the White Castle) built by the Knights Templar. After a heroic defense, the small garrison is advised by Grand Master Thomas Bérard to surrender. The survivors are allowed to withdraw to Tortosa.

title: 1271

date: May 22

text: May 22 – King Hugh III of Cyprus ("the Great") signs a peace with Sultan Baibars, Mamluk ruler of Egypt, at Caesarea. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is guaranteed for 10 years the possession of its present lands, which consists mainly of the narrow coastal plain from Acre to Sidon, together with the right to use without hindrance the pilgrim-road to Nazareth. The County of Tripoli is safeguarded by the peace treaty.

title: 1272

date: July

text: July – Mamluk forces under Baibars capture the last remaining stronghold of the Order of Assassins (Hashashin) sect, Al-Kahf Castle.

title: 1273

section: Events › By place › Middle East

text: Battle of Dongola: Mamluk forces led by Sultan Baibars gain a decisive victory against the Kingdom of Makuria. They capture the Makurian capital of Dongola and force King David of Makuria to flee upstream on the Nile. He seeks refuge in the Kingdom of Al-Abwab, but is handed over to Baibars, who has him executed. Later, Baibars conquers Al-Maris (Lower Nubia), previously a part of Makuria, and annexes it into Egypt.

title: 1276

date: April 15

text: April 15 – Battle of Elbistan: A Mamluk army (some 14,000 men) under Sultan Baibars marches from Syria into the Mongol-dominated Sultanate of Rum and attacks the Mongol occupation force at Elbistan. Baibars, with at least 10,000 horsemen, defeats and overwhelms the Mongol forces. After the battle, he marches unopposed to Kayseri in the heart of Anatolia in triumph and enters the city on April 23.

title: 1277

text: Spring – Mamluk forces led by the 19-year-old Sultan Al-Said Barakah and Qalawun ("the Thousander") invade Cilician Armenia; a revolt in Egypt while they are away force Barakah to abdicate. In August, Qalawun takes over the government in Cairo and proclaims himself sultan. He sends Solamish, youngest son of former Sultan Baibars, into exile. Meanwhile, Sunqur al-Ashqar, Mamluk viceroy of Damascus, refuses to accept Qalawun's authority and begins a rebellion in Syria.

title: 1279


slug: balaj-chan-kawiil

label: Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil

description: ajaw of Dos Pilas

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Maya military outpost of Dos Pilas (Guatemala) is founded, in order to control trade routes in the Petexbatún region. Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil is installed as its leader by his father, K'inich Muwaan Jol II, the ruler of Tikal.

title: 629

section: Events › By place › Americas

text: In an early skirmish in the run up to the Second Tikal–Calakmul War, Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil scores a military victory, apparently over his half-brother, who had galled him by using the same royal emblem (or emblem glyph) as he did.

title: 648

text: Yuknoom Chʼeen II, ruler of Calakmul, attacks Dos Pilas and forces its leader, Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil, and a likely heir to the throne of Tikal, to take refuge at Aguateca, beginning the Second Tikal–Calakmul War.

title: 650

text: In the course of the Second Tikal–Calakmul War, the Snake Lord (Yuknoom Ch'een II) makes a direct attack against Tikal itself, driving out its new ruler Nuun Ujol Chaak, and establishing Calakmul as the regional superpower. Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil, the one time heir apparent to rule Tikal, swears his allegiance to the new overlord.

title: 657

text: As part of the Second Tikal–Calakmul War, Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil is again forced to abandon Dos Pilas, after it is attacked by an insurgency led by Nuun Ujol Chaak against Calakmul.

title: 672

text: At Pulil, the army of Calakmul vanquishes the insurgency led by Nuun Ujol Chaak, meaning Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil is able to return to rule Dos Pilas, from his exile in the kingdom of Hix Witz.

title: 677

text: Nuun Ujol Chaak, an ajaw of the Maya city of Tikal, is by this year deceased, after his final defeat at the hands of Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil, during the Second Tikal–Calakmul War.

title: AD 679

text: Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil begins a program to inscribe monuments recording his travails and ultimate victory, during the Second Tikal–Calakmul War.

title: 682

section: Events › By place › Mesoamerica

text: Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil, a Maya ruler of Dos Pilas (b. 625)

title: 692


slug: baldwin-i-of-jerusalem

label: Baldwin I of Jerusalem

description: King of Jerusalem from 1100 to 1118

date: August

text: August – Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine, accompanied by his younger brother Baldwin, sets off to join the First Crusade (called by Pope Urban II) at the head of an army of some 40,000 men. He pledges his allegiance to Emperor Henry IV who issues an order not to harm Jewish communities.

title: 1096

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

date: March 10

text: March 10 – Baldwin of Boulogne enters Edessa, and is welcomed as liberator by the Armenian clergy. The local population massacres the Seljuk garrison and officials – or forces them to flee. Baldwin is acknowledged as their ruler (or doux). He assumes the title of count and establishes the first crusader state. Baldwin marries Arda of Armenia, daughter of Lord Thoros of Marash, and consolidates his conquered territory.

title: 1098

date: November

text: November – A Crusader army under Bohemond I travels south to begin a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They are accompanied by Baldwin of Boulogne, brother of Godfrey of Bouillon.

title: 1099

date: December 25

text: December 25 – French Crusader Baldwin I is crowned first King of Jerusalem at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, by Daimbert, the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, following the death of the previous ruler, Baldwin's brother Godfrey of Bouillon, on July 18.

title: 1100

text: Spring – King Baldwin I concludes an alliance with the Genoese fleet, offering them commercial privileges and booty. He captures the towns of Arsuf and Caesarea. Baldwin's crusaders pillage Caesarea and massacre the majority of the local population.

title: 1101

date: May 17

text: May 17 – Battle of Ramla: The Crusaders (500 knights) under King Baldwin I are defeated by the Fatimid army at Ramla (modern Israel). Baldwin and his companions escape through the enemy lines to Arsuf.

title: 1102

date: May 26

text: May 26 – King Baldwin I captures Acre, the port is besieged from April, and blockaded by the Genoese and Pisan fleet. Baldwin promises a free passage to those who want to move to Ascalon, but the Italian sailors plunder the wealthy Muslim emigrants and kill many of them.

title: 1104

date: August 27

text: August 27 – Battle of Ramla: The Crusaders under King Baldwin I defeat a Fatimid expeditionary force (some 15,000 men) at Ramla. Baldwin pillages the enemy camp – but does not further pursue the Fatimids. The battle ends in the last large-scale attempt of the Fatimids to reconquer Palestine.

title: 1105

text: Baldwin I marches out against Sidon, with the support of a squadron of sailor-adventurers from various Italian cities. A Fatimid fleet from Egypt defeats the Italians in a sea-battle outside the harbour.

title: 1108

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

text: Spring – Seljuk forces under Toghtekin, Turkic governor of Damascus, intervene at Tyre, and force King Baldwin I of Jerusalem to raise the siege.

title: 1112

section: Culture & Society

date: September

text: September – King Baldwin I of Jerusalem marries Adelaide del Vasto, the wealthy widow of Count Roger I of Sicily ('Bosso') in Acre. She lands in Palestine accompanied by Arab soldiers (her personal bodyguard) and travels to Jerusalem. Their marriage is bigamous, because Baldwin is legally still married to his second wife Arda of Armenia.

title: 1113

text: The Crusader castle of Montreal (located in Jordan) is commissioned by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, during an expedition against the Seljuk Turks.

title: 1115

text: Summer – Crusaders under King Baldwin I of Jerusalem undertake an expedition to Egypt and march as far as Akaba on the Red Sea. After the local inhabitants flee from the town, Baldwin constructs castles in Akaba and on a nearby island. He leaves a garrison in both fortresses. The three Crusader strongholds – Montréal, Eilat, and Graye – secure the control of the caravan routes between Syria and Egypt.

title: 1116

text: The Crusaders led by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem raid Pelusium in Egypt and burn the city to the ground. Baldwin marches back to Palestine and strengthens the fortifications of the southern frontier.

title: 1117

text: Baldwin of Le Bourg succeeds his cousin Baldwin I, as King of Jerusalem.

title: 1118

section: Events › By place › Western Asia


slug: baldwin-ii-of-jerusalem

label: Baldwin II of Jerusalem

description: Count of Edessa (r. 1100-1118) and King of Jerusalem (r. 1118–1131)

section: Conflict & Security

date: May 20

text: May 20 – The Fatimid governor of Sidon refuses to cooperate and his garrison attacks the Crusader host while they are looting local villages. The Fatimids are repulsed, the towns further south generally follow the example of Beirut. The Crusaders move on to Tyre – Raymond IV decides to wait for two days to allow a force under Baldwin of Le Bourg (supported by knights from Antioch) to catch up with him.

title: 1099

text: After a success over the Armenians of Cilicia and the Emirate of Aleppo, Baldwin of Bourcq becomes Count of Edessa, with the support of Daimbert.

title: 1100

date: May 7

text: May 7 – Battle of Harran: The Crusaders under Baldwin II are defeated by the Seljuk Turks. Baldwin and Joscelin of Courtenay are taken prisoner. Tancred (nephew of Bohemond I) becomes regent of Edessa. The defeat at Harran marks a key turning point of Crusader expansion.

title: 1104

section: Crime & Justice

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

title: 1118

date: August 14

text: August 14 – Battle of Hab: The Crusaders under King Baldwin II of Jerusalem (supported by forces of Pons, Count of Tripoli) defeat Ilghazi's army at Ariha in Syria. Baldwin manages to re-capture all of the Crusader castles and returns to Antioch in triumph. He stabilizes the frontiers and prevents Ilghazi from marching on Antioch.

title: 1119

section: Births

text: Ioveta of Bethany, princess and daughter of Baldwin II

title: 1120

date: January 16

text: January 16 – Council of Nablus: King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Patriarch Warmund convenes an assembly at Nablus, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. The prelates and noblemen who attend the meeting confirm the clergy's right to collect the tithe and to bear arms "in the cause of defense".

title: 1120

text: Summer – Seljuk forces under Toghtekin make extensive raids into Galilee. King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, in reprisal, crosses the Jordan River with a Crusader army and ravages the countryside. He occupies and destroys a fortress that Toghtekin has built at Jerash.

title: 1121

date: April 18

text: April 18 – King Baldwin II of Jerusalem is captured by Turkish forces under Belek Ghazi – while preparing to practice falconry near Gargar on the Euphrates. Most of the Crusader army is massacred, and Baldwin is taken to the castle at Kharput. To save the situation the Venetians are asked to help. Doge Domenico Michiel lifts the siege of Corfu (see 1122) and takes his fleet to Acre, arriving at the port in the end of May.

title: 1123

section: Events › By date › April–June

date: June 2

text: June 2 – Fulk V, count of Anjou, marries Melisende (daughter of King Baldwin II) the heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Fulk gives up his title which passes to his 15-year-old son, Geoffrey V (the Fair).

title: 1129

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: August 21

text: August 21 – King Baldwin II falls seriously ill, after his return from Antioch. He is moved to the patriarch's residence near the Holy Sepulchre, where he bequeaths the kingdom to his daughter Melisende, her husband Fulk and their infant son, Baldwin. He takes monastic vows, and dies soon after. Baldwin is buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at Jerusalem.

title: 1131

text: August 21 – Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem

title: 1131


slug: baldwin-iii-of-jerusalem

label: Baldwin III of Jerusalem

description: King of Jerusalem (1130-1163) (r. 1143-1163)

text: Baldwin III of Jerusalem (d. 1162)

title: 1130

section: Deaths

title: 1131

section: Events › By place › Levant

date: November 13

text: November 13 – King Fulk of Jerusalem dies after a hunting accident in Acre. He is succeeded by his 13-year-old son Baldwin III – who is crowned as co-ruler alongside his mother, Queen Melisende on Christmas Day. Due to the political situation the Crusader States of Tripoli, Antioch and Edessa assert their independence. Raymond of Antioch demands the return of Cilicia to his principality and invades the province.

title: 1143

text: 14-year old Baldwin III of Jerusalem quells a rebellion in Wadi Musa.

title: 1144

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: April

text: April–May – Louis VII and the French crusaders remain in Antioch, but there are rumours of an incestuous affair between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Raymond of Poitiers. Louis, alarmed for his honour, departs with his army to Jerusalem in late May. Meanwhile, Conrad III with his chief nobleman are welcomed by Queen Melisende and her 18-year-old son, co-ruler Baldwin III at Jerusalem.

title: 1148

section: Events › By place › Second Crusade

date: July

text: July – King Baldwin III receives an urgent request for help from Antioch to break the incomplete Zangid blockade of the city. Meanwhile, the Crusaders fail to retake Harim. Nur al-Din strengthens his siege of Antioch, but it is too large to surround. A truce is agreed under which Harim and farther east territory remains under Seljuk dominance.

title: 1149

text: Battle of Aintab: A Crusader army led by King Baldwin III repels the attacks of Nur al-Din near Aintab. Baldwin safely evacuates the Christian residents of the County of Edessa, which is captured by the Zangids.

title: 1150

text: Spring – King Baldwin III and his mother, Queen Melisende, are called to intervene in a dispute between Baldwin's aunt Hodierna and her husband Raymond II, count of Tripoli. Hodierna decides to take a long holiday, and travels to Jerusalem, while Raymond escorts her out on the road southwards. On the way back to Tripoli, a group of Assassins stabs him to death at the southern gate of the city. The garrison rushes to arms and pours into the streets, slaying every Muslim in their way, but the Assassins manage to escape; the motive of their act is never known.

title: 1152

date: August 19

text: August 19 – Siege of Ascalon: King Baldwin III of Jerusalem captures Ascalon, the last Fatimid fortress in Palestine. The citizens are allowed to leave in peace and return to Egypt.

title: 1153

text: Nur al-Din Zengi besieges the Knights Hospitaller in the crusader fortress of Banyas, routs a relief army led by King Baldwin III of Jerusalem, and takes Grand Master Bertrand de Blanquefort prisoner.

title: 1157

section: Events

date: February 10

text: February 10 – King Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)

title: 1163


slug: baldwin-iv-of-jerusalem

label: Baldwin IV of Jerusalem

description: King of Jerusalem (1161-1185) (r. 1174-1185)

date: July 11

text: July 11 – King Amalric I dies of dysentery after an 11-year reign. He is succeeded by his 13-year-old son Baldwin IV (the Leper), who becomes ruler of Jerusalem. Count Raymond III of Tripoli is appointed as his regent.

title: 1174

text: Autumn – William of Montferrat (Longsword) marries the 16-year-old Princess Sibylla, sister of King Baldwin IV (the Leper).

title: 1176

date: November 25

text: November 25 – Battle of Montgisard: Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin.

title: 1177

section: Events › January–December

date: April 10

text: April 10 – A Crusader army, led by King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem ("the Leper"), is ambushed by Muslim forces in a narrow valley in the forest of Banyas. Baldwin is only able to extricate his forces owing to the heroism of Humphrey II, lord of Toron, who holds up the Muslims with his bodyguard till Baldwin and his army escape. Humphrey suffers mortal wounds and dies on April 22. He is succeeded by his 13-year-old grandson Humphrey IV.

title: 1179

section: Climate & Environment

text: Summer – King Baldwin IV (known as "the Leper") sends envoys to Saladin proposing a peace treaty. Due to a severe drought, much of Syria is afflicted by famine, prompting Saladin to agree to a two-year truce. Although Raymond III of Tripoli initially denounces the agreement, he is forced to accept it following an Ayyubid naval raid on the port city of Tartus.

title: 1180

text: Summer – Raynald of Châtillon, lord of Oultrejordain, raids Saladin's territory, reaching as far as Tabuk (modern Saudi Arabia) on the route between Damascus and Mecca. In November, Saladin sends an expedition under his nephew, Farrukh Shah, who invades Oultrejordain. Raynald of Châtillon is forced to withdraw home. Saladin complains to King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (the Leper) for breaking the treaty (see 1180) and demands compensation.

title: 1181

section: Events › Europe › Levant

text: July – August – Battle of Belvoir Castle: Saladin crosses into Palestine round the south of the Sea of Galilee. King Baldwin IV (the Leper) of Jerusalem marches with his army back from Oultrejordain and attacks Saladin's forces near Belvoir Castle (modern Israel). In a fierce battle, the Crusaders successfully repel Saladin's invasion. At the end of the day, each side retires, claiming the victory.

title: 1182

date: March 16

text: March 16 – The 23-year-old Baldwin IV of Jerusalem ("the Leper King") dies of leprosy after a 10-year reign. He is succeeded by his 8-year-old nephew, Baldwin V, as the sole ruler of Jerusalem under the regency of Count Raymond of Tripoli. The child-king becomes a pawn in the politics of the kingdom, between his mother Sibylla of Jerusalem (sister of Baldwin IV) and her younger half-sister Isabella I.

title: 1185


slug: balearic-islands

label: Balearic Islands

description: archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea

year_label: 206 BCE

text: In the Battle of Ilipa (Alcalá del Río, near Seville) in Spain, the Carthaginian generals, Mago Barca and Hasdrubal Gisco, are defeated by the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio. Mago retreats to Gades (modern Cádiz) and then sails for the Balearic Islands.

title: 206 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 123 BCE

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Quintus Caecilius Metellus conquers the Balearic Islands for Rome, for which he earns the agnomen "Balearicus." He settles 3,000 Roman and Iberian colonists on the islands and founds the cities of Palma and Pollentia.

title: 123 BC

text: Winter – Zeno recognizes the full extent of the Vandal Kingdom, including all of western Africa, the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. King Gaiseric gives Sicily, with the exception of the city of Lilybaeum, to Odoacer in return for tribute.

title: 476

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The Visigoths under King Suintila recapture the Byzantine territories of Spania (Andalusia), after 70 years of occupation. Only the Balearic Islands stay a part of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 624

text: The Muslim-Arabs conquer the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea (approximate date).

title: AD 707

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: A Muslim fleet raids the Byzantine-ruled Balearic Islands, as well as Byzantine Sardinia and Lombard Corsica.

title: 724

text: Charlemagne conquers Catalonia, as far south as the River Ebro and the Balearic Islands. The counties come under the rule of Bera, count of Barcelona. He signs a three-year peace treaty with the Emirate of Córdoba.

title: 812

text: Winter – The Balearic Islands are conquered by the Emirate of Córdoba. The Moors improve agriculture with irrigation on the islands.

title: 902

text: Saracen pirates under the Balearic emir Mugahid sack Pisa, destroying nearly one-quarter of the city.

title: 1004

date: September 7

text: September 7 – The Republic of Pisa signs a treaty with Ramon Berenguer III ('the Great'), count of Barcelona. The Pisan fleet embarks on a campaign against the Moors in the Balearic Islands.

title: 1113

text: Almoravid troops conquer the Balearic Islands, whose Moorish rulers have been severely weakened by Pisan and Catalan raiders.

title: 1116

text: The Republic of Genoa raids the Muslim-held Balearic Islands. The Republic of Pisa protests officially – seeing the islands as rightfully theirs. The Genoese then proceed to lay siege to Almería, in vain.

title: 1146

section: Religion & Belief

date: July 17

text: July 17 – Saracen pirates, from the Balearic Islands, raid the Cistercian monastery of Saint Honorat on the Lérins Islands, and the city of Toulon, killing an estimated 300 and taking captives. The surviving captives are freed from the Balearic Islands in 1185.

title: 1178

text: Saracen pirates, from the Balearic Islands, raid the city of Toulon in Provence, and the Benedictine monastery of Saint Honorat, on the Lérins Islands.

title: 1197

text: The Almohad fleet expels the Banu Ghaniya from the Balearic Islands.

title: 1202

date: May 29

text: May 29 – Sancho the Peaceful of Barcelona becomes the new King of Majorca, a set of islands in the Mediterranean Sea (now Spain's Balearic Islands) after the death of his father, King Jaume II

title: 1311

section: Events › April – June

text: King Peter IV of Aragon defeats and deposes his cousin, James III of Majorca, thereby absorbing the Balearic Kingdom of Majorca into the Crown of Aragon.

title: 1344

section: Events › Date unknown

date: June 17

text: June 17 – Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659); A squadron of Spanish galleys under John Joseph of Austria capture the French galleon Lion Couronné off Formentera, Balearic Islands, Spain.

title: 1651

section: Events › April–June

date: November 28

text: November 28 – The application of the Nueva Planta decrees, in Mallorca and the other Balearic Islands (formerly under the Crown of Aragon), bring them under the laws of the Crown of Castile.

title: 1715

section: Events › October–December

date: March 1

text: March 1 – The Balearic Islands and Madrid become Autonomous communities of Spain.

title: 1983

section: Events › March


slug: balkan-mountains

label: Balkan Mountains

description: mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula

section: Conflict & Security

text: Valens sends Saturninus to the Balkan Mountains to block the passes. These efforts are possibly supported by units of limitanei (light infantry) withdrawn from areas under Goth control. Split into small bands and unable to join the Tervingi in sufficient strength to overcome the Roman cordon, the Goths grow increasingly desperate.

title: 377

text: Fritigern concentrates his army at Cabyle (Bulgaria). The Goths are mainly centred in the river valleys south of the Balkan Mountains, around the towns of Beroea, Cabyle and Dibaltum.

title: 378

date: March 30

text: March 30 – Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege of the fortress city of Tomis (modern Romania). A Byzantine army under Comentiolus crosses the Balkan Mountains, and marches along the Danube River to Zikidiba.

title: 598

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: The Bulgars under Asparukh subjugate the country of current-day Bulgaria, north of the Balkan Mountains. Emperor Constantine IV leads a combined land and sea operation against the invaders and besieges their fortified camp in Dobruja.

title: 680

text: Battle of the Rishki Pass: Emperor Constantine V invades Bulgaria again, but his forces are ambushed and defeated while crossing the Rishki Pass, near Stara Planina (modern Bulgaria). The Bulgarian ruler (khagan) Vinekh does not exploit his success, and begins peace negotiations.

title: 759

date: June

text: June – Battle of Anchialus: Emperor Constantine V sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (800 ships and 9,600 cavalry) to Thrace, to defend the fortress city of Anchialus on the Black Sea Coast. Meanwhile, Telets, ruler (khagan) of the Bulgarian Empire, blocks the mountain passes and takes positions on the heights near Anchialus. During a desperate cavalry charge, the Bulgars are defeated and many are captured; Telets manages to escape. Constantine enters Constantinople in triumph, and kills all the prisoners.

title: 763

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Constantine V invades Bulgaria across the Balkan Mountains, setting afire some settlements around the Bulgarian capital of Pliska. Constantine accepts a peace agreement with Pagan, the Bulgar ruler (khagan), whose land is in anarchy.

title: AD 767

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Nikephoros I organises a new campaign against the Bulgarian Empire, gathering an expeditionary force (most of the Roman army) from all parts of the empire. He is accompanied by high-ranking officials and aristocrats, including his son Stauracius and brother-in-law Michael I Rangabe (both later emperors temporarily). Krum, ruler (khan) of Bulgaria, sends envoys to sue for peace. Nikephoros refuses to accept the terms and marches through the Balkan passes towards Pliska, the Bulgarian capital.

title: 811

text: Emperor John I delegates the war in the Balkans to his brother-in-law, the Domestic of the Schools Bardas Skleros, and to the eunuch general Peter Phokas, who begin to gather a Byzantine army in Thrace. At the news of this, a powerful Kievan expeditionary force (30,000 men), along with many Bulgarians and a Pecheneg contingent, is sent south over the Balkan Mountains. After sacking the Bulgarian stronghold of Philippolis (modern-day Plovdiv), they bypass the heavily defended city of Adrianople, and turn towards Constantinople.

title: 970

text: Summer – The nomadic Cumans cross the River Danube and invade Thrace, to support the pretender Constantine Diogenes (son of the late Emperor Romanos IV). The Cumans occupy the province of Paristrion (located in the Lower Danube). Emperor Alexios I places Byzantine detachments to guard the passes over the Balkan Mountains, but they are bypassed.

title: 1095

text: Isaac II starts a campaign against the Bulgarians, who claim their independence. After passing the Balkan Mountains, Isaac marches westward to besiege Tarnovo, the new Bulgarian capital. Meanwhile, the Byzantine fleet reaches the Danube River in order to block the way of Cuman reinforcements from the North. The defense of Tarnovo is led by Ivan Asen I, emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria. After spreading rumors of the arrival of a Cuman army to relieve the city, Isaac orders to retreat to Stara Zagora.

title: 1190


slug: balkans

label: Balkans

description: geopolitical and cultural region of Southeast Europe

year_label: 231 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Agron, king of the Ardiaean Kingdom (Western Balkans)

title: 231 BC

year_label: 55 BCE

text: Spring – Julius Caesar starts the season campaigning in Illyricum (in the Balkan region) against the Pirustae, who have been raiding Roman territory.

title: 55 BC

year_label: 29 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: Marcus Licinius Crassus campaigns successfully in the Balkans, killing the king of the Bastarnae by his own hand, but is denied the right to dedicate the spolia opima by Octavian.

title: 29 BC

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: The Germans devastate the Balkans and ransack the sanctuary of Eleusis, near Athens.

title: AD 167

text: The Costoboci cross the Danube (Dacia) and ravage Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula. They reach Eleusina, near Athens, and destroy the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

title: AD 170

text: The Costoboci cross the Danube (Dacia) and ravage Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula. They reach Eleusis, near Athens, and destroy the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

title: AD 171

date: April 14

text: April 14 – Lucius Septimius Severus is proclaimed Emperor by his troops at Carnuntum, in Pannonia Superior (Balkans). He marches with his army to Rome.

title: AD 193

text: The Goths invade Asia Minor and the Balkans.

title: 220

text: Emperor Maximinus Thrax campaigns against the Carpians on the Danube in Moesia (Balkans). In spite of the payment of a tribute, the Romans fail to persuade the Goths and the Germanic tribes.

title: 238

text: Gallienus repels the invasion of the Goths in the Balkans.

title: 265

text: First Gothic invasion: The Goths, originally from Scandinavia, with the Sarmatians (from modern Iran), invade the Balkans and Greece. They ravage Moesia and Thrace.

title: 267

date: October 8

text: October 8 – Battle of Cibalae: Constantine the Great defeats his rival Licinius near the town of Colonia Aurelia Cibalae (modern-day Vinkovci, Croatia). Licinius is forced to flee to Sirmium and loses all of the Balkans except for Thrace. Peace negotiations are initiated between the two Augusti, but they are unsuccessful.

title: 316

date: January 19

text: January 19 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium, giving him the title Augustus with power over all the eastern provinces. Theodosius comes to terms with the Visigoths and settles them in the Balkans as military allies (foederati).

title: 379

text: The Visigothic chieftain Fritigern dies after ravaging the Balkans; his rival Athanaric becomes king of the entire Gothic nation.

title: 380

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Revolt of Alaric I: The Visigoths, led by Alaric I, rampage through Greece and plunder Corinth, Argos and Sparta. They destroy the Temple of Eleusis, and harry the Peloponnese. Stilicho makes peace with the Goths, and allows them to settle in Epirus (Balkans).

title: 396

text: Rugila, chieftain of the Huns, attacks the dioceses of Dacia and Thrace (Balkans). Theodosius II allows Pannonian Ostrogoths to settle in Thrace, to defend the Danube frontier.

title: 421

text: Attila the Hun establishes his residence along the Tisza River (modern Hungary), and plans the coming campaign in the Balkans.

title: 444

text: The Huns, led by Attila, cross the Danube, and invade the Balkans as far as Thermopylae (Greece). During the invasion, Serdica (modern Sofia) is destroyed. For disobeying the terms of the treaty made in 442, Attila triples his demand for tribute to 2,100 pounds (ca. 700 kg) of gold per year; and the ransom for each Roman prisoner to 12 solidi.

title: 447

section: Events › By place › Byzantium

text: Emperor Leo I repels the Hun invasion of Dacia (modern Romania). They ravage the Balkans but are unable to take Constantinople thanks to the city walls, which are rebuilt and reinforced.

title: 466

text: Theodoric the Great, age 17, succeeds his father Theodemir as king of the Ostrogoths, settling his people in lower Moesia (Balkans).

title: 471

section: Health & Medicine

text: The Ostrogoths leave Pannonia, and migrate to Macedonia and Moesia, from whence they ravage the Balkans.

title: 473

section: Events › By place › Balkans

text: Glycerius is exiled to Dalmatia (Balkans) and becomes bishop of Salona. Neither the Senate nor the Gallo-Roman aristocracy decide to resist, and Nepos accepts the imperial purple.

title: 474

text: Julius Nepos, de jure ruler, becomes legally the last "Western Roman Emperor". He governs Dalmatia (Balkans), Morocco, and Northwest Gaul until his death in 480, but has no effective power on the Italian Peninsula.

title: 476

text: The Ostrogoths are given status as foederati; they control a large part of Macedonia and Thrace (Balkans).

title: 483

text: The Byzantine city of Justiniana Prima is founded, and later becomes a bishop's seat of the Central Balkans.

title: 535

text: The Avars and the Slavs occupy the Hungarian Plain on the Balkans. The threat of Avar domination prompts the Lombards to migrate to Italy.

title: 558

text: Winter – The Kutrigurs and Huns under Zabergan cross the frozen Danube River, and invade the Balkans. They raid Thracia and Macedonia, but are driven back near Constantinople by a Byzantine force under Belisarius.

title: 559

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Justin II succeeds his uncle Justinian I as emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He begins his reign by refusing subsidies to the Avars, who conduct several large-scale raids through the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 565

text: The Slavs begin to migrate into the Balkan Peninsula. The Avars, under King (khagan) Bayan I, invade the Lower Danube (modern Bulgaria).

title: 580

text: Siege of Sirmium: The Avars, under their ruler (khagan) Bayan I, aided by Slavic auxiliary troops, capture the city of Sirmium after almost a 3-year siege. Bayan establishes a new base of operations within the Byzantine Empire, from which he plunders the Balkan Peninsula, including Athens.

title: 582

text: Emperor Maurice decides to end the annual tribute to the Avars, a mounted people who have swept across Russia and threatened the Balkan Peninsula. They capture the cities of Singidunum (modern Belgrade) and Viminacium (Moesia).

title: 583

text: Summer – Maurice begins a series of military expeditions, to defend the Balkan provinces from the Avars and Slavs. He establishes the Danube frontier (Limes Moesiae) from the Delta to the fortress city of Singidunum (Belgrade), and permits the Byzantines to reassert their authority in the interior.

title: 591

text: Emperor Maurice regains the Byzantine stronghold Singidunum (modern Belgrade) from the Avars. By counter-invading their homelands on the Balkans, Byzantine troops increase their pay by pillaging in hostile territory.

title: 592

text: Emperor Maurice uses the city of Marcianopolis (modern Bulgaria) as a military base of operations on the lower Danube River, against the Slavs on the Balkans.

title: 596

text: The Avars rout the Byzantine forces of Comentiolus (south of Haemus Mons), and capture Drizipera (Thrace). A large part of their troops are killed by the plague, after many cities are devastated in the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 598

text: Emperor Maurice refuses to pay ransom for 12,000 Byzantine soldiers taken prisoner by the Avars. Their leader Bayan I orders the execution of the prisoners, and slaughters them all. His failure to buy back the captives destroys Maurice's popularity with the Byzantine troops in the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 599

text: The Avars regroup after they are almost destroyed; together with the Slavs they start pillaging through the Byzantine provinces, west and south of the Danube. Due to the new Persian war, Emperor Phocas has few imperial troops available to defend the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 604

text: Emperor Phocas recognizes Agilulf as king of the Lombards, and signs a peace treaty. He pays a tribute and cedes Orvieto (Central Italy), among other towns. The Byzantine army is withdrawn from the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 605

text: The Balkans are freely overrun by the Slavs, who settle in large numbers in what is now Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia and parts of Greece. The western territories of modern-day Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia and Dalmatia) suffer raids from the Avars, who settle in this region.

title: 615

text: The Slavs invade the area around Thessaloniki, which is unsuccessfully besieged. The city becomes a Byzantine enclave surrounded by Slavic territory. Urban life disappears and many towns in the Balkan Peninsula become villages.

title: 620

text: Emperor Heraclius concludes a peace agreement (in exchange for an annual tribute) with the Avars on the Balkan Peninsula, giving him a free hand to assemble Byzantine forces in Asia Minor, for non-military expenditure against the Persian Empire.

title: 621

text: Battle of Issus: Heraclius defeats the Persian forces under Shahrbaraz in Cappadocia. He recaptures Anatolia, but returns to Constantinople to deal with the threat posed to his Balkan domains by the Avars, and puts the Byzantine army into winter quarters in Pontus.

title: 622

date: August 7

text: August 7 – In the waters of the Golden Horn, the Persian fleet is destroyed while ferrying reinforcements. The Avars, having suffered terrible losses, running short of food and supplies, burn their siege engines. They abandon the siege and retreat to the Balkan Peninsula. The Byzantines achieve a decisive victory at Blachernae, under the protection of the Church of the Virgin Mary.

title: 626

text: Emperor Heraclius makes an alliance with Kubrat, ruler (khagan) of Great Bulgaria, to break the power of the Avars on the Balkan Peninsula.

title: 635

text: Emperor Constans II undertakes an expedition to the Balkan Peninsula, and defeats the Avars in Macedonia. He temporarily reasserts Byzantine rule, and resettles some of them in Anatolia to fight against the Rashidun Caliphate (approximate date).

title: 658

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Constantine IV is forced to acknowledge the Bulgar state in Moesia, and to pay protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine Thrace. Consequently, Constantine creates the Theme of Thrace of the Byzantine Empire (located in the south-eastern Balkans).

title: 681

text: Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Justinian II carries out a Balkan campaign and marches through Thrace, where he restores Byzantine rule. He establishes a theme administration, and migrates many Bulgars and Slavs to the Opsician Theme (Asia Minor).

title: 688

text: Avar and Slavic tribes conquer Byzantine territories in the Balkans, occupying lands as far south as the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece (approximate date).

title: 700

text: Bubonic plague in Asia Minor kills 1/3 of the population, and subsequently sweeps through the Peloponnese (Balkan Peninsula) (approximate date).

title: 745

text: The Magyars, an Ugric tribe from the steppe of Central Asia, move west under the leadership of Árpád. They are pushed by their rivals, the Pechenegs, into the Balkan Peninsula, and become entangled in a war between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. The Magyars head north and settle in Great Moravia.

title: 889

text: Summer – Battle of Boulgarophygon: Simeon I invades the Theme of Thrace (in the southeastern Balkans). The Byzantines transfer a new army to Europe, to deal with the Bulgarian threat. The armies clash at Boulgarophygon (modern Turkey); the Byzantines are completely destroyed in battle.

title: 896

text: August 20 – Battle of Achelous: A Byzantine expeditionary force (62,000 men) under General Leo Phokas (the Elder) is routed by the Bulgarians at the Achelous River near the fortress of Anchialos (modern Pomorie) on the Black Sea coast. Phokas flees to Mesembria (modern Nesebar) and escapes by boarding a ship. Tsar Simeon I (the Great) becomes de facto ruler of the whole Balkan Peninsula, except the well-protected Byzantine capital of Constantinople and the Peloponnese.

title: 917

text: Battle of the Bosnian Highlands: Bulgarian forces under Duke Alogobotur are ambushed and defeated by a Croatian army of King Tomislav, in the mountainous area of Eastern Bosnia. Tsar Simeon I meets his first defeat against Croatia, but overruns the Western Balkans several times.

title: 926

text: Spring – Allied with the Rus', a Hungarian army raids Moesia and Thrace. Emperor Romanos I buys peace, and accepts to pay a yearly tribute (protection money) to the Hungarians. His frontiers now 'protected' on the Balkan Peninsula, Romanos sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (80,000 men) led by general John Kourkouas (his commander-in-chief) to invade northern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).

title: 943

text: Summer – Sviatoslav I, Grand Prince of Kiev, defeats Bulgar forces in the Balkans at the behest of Emperor Nikephoros II (who pays him 1,500 pounds of gold to invade the Bulgarian Empire).

title: 967

title: 970

text: Spring – Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos sends a Byzantine expeditionary force to the Balkans against the rebellious George Maniakes, governor of the Catepanate of Italy. The two armies meet near Thessaloniki in northern Greece. The rebel army – better organized, seasoned and with superior leadership – is initially successful, but Maniakes is killed by an arrow at the moment of his triumph. After this, his army is routed.

title: 1043

text: Spring – Pecheneg Revolt: Emperor Constantine IX decides to transfer 15,000 Pecheneg warriors from their positions in the Balkans to the eastern front. Upon approaching the Bosporus, the Pechenegs decide to turn back, and march through Bulgaria, until they reach the Byzantine city of Serdia. Later, joined by followers, the Pecheneg tribes raise the banner of revolt in Thrace.

title: 1049

text: Byzantine–Hungarian War (1071–1072): the Hungarians plunders the Balkans on their route to Niš. The war ends with the emerging internal conflict between Solomon, King of Hungary and his cousin, Duke Géza.

title: 1072

text: Fall – Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder, governor (doux) of the Theme of Dyrrhachium in the western Balkans, and Nikephoros Botaneiates, a general (strategos) of the Theme of Anatolics (modern Turkey), are proclaimed emperors by their troops. Emperor Michael VII Doukas offers Bryennios the title of caesar (co-emperor) if he submits to his rule, but Bryennios refuses. He sets out from Dyrrhachium, and marches towards Constantinople.

title: 1077

text: May – A Norman fleet of 150 ships (including 60 horse transports), led by Duke Robert Guiscard, sets off towards the Dalmatian coast. An army of 15,000 men (including about 1,300 Norman knights) sails to the city of Avalona (modern Albania); they are joined by several ships from Ragusa, a republic in the Balkans who are enemies of the Byzantines.

title: 1081

text: October – Raymond IV ("Saint-Gilles"), count of Toulouse, sets off to join the First Crusade. He travels with his army, accompanied by his wife Elvira and Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy, via Provence through the Balkan route (along the coast of Croatia). He arrives at Dyrrachium to march to Thessaloniki.

title: 1096

text: August 15 – Emperor Alexios I Komnenos dies after a 37-year reign, in which he has regained control over western Anatolia (modern Turkey). He stabilizes his frontiers against the wars with the Normans in the western Balkans, and the Seljuk Turks in the East. Alexios is succeeded by his 30-year-old son, John II Komnenos (the Good), as ruler of the Byzantine Empire.

title: 1118

text: Emperor John II Komnenos recovers southwestern Anatolia (modern Turkey) from the Seljuk Turks and then hastens to the Balkans, where the Pechenegs are continuing their incursions. He transfers Byzantine troops to the Danube frontier at Paristrion.

title: 1121

text: Battle of Beroia: Emperor John II Komnenos transfers the Byzantine field army from Asia Minor (where it has been engaged against the Seljuk Turks) to the Balkans. The Pechenegs who have set up their camp (defended by a circular formation of wagons) near Beroia (modern Bulgaria) are defeated. John orders the Varangian Guard (some 480 men), the elite Palace Guard to hack their way through the Pecheneg circle of wagons, causing a general rout in their camp. Pecheneg survivors are taken captive and enlisted into the Byzantine army.

title: 1122

text: July 8 – Battle of Sirmium: Byzantine forces (15,000 men) under General Andronikos Kontostephanos defeat the Hungarians at Sirmium. Emperor Manuel I (Komnenos) consolidates his control over the western Balkans.

title: 1167

text: March - Within a month after the devastating earthquake the Ottomans besieged and captured the town of Gallipoli, making it the first Ottoman stronghold in Europe and the staging area for Ottoman expansion across the Balkans.

title: 1354