Exploration & Expansion in the 8th century

58 sourced entries, 700 CE to 795 CE, oldest first. Also see Exploration & Expansion across every century or everything else in the 8th century.

• 700Avar and Slavic tribes conquer Byzantine territories in the Balkans, occupying lands as far south as the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece (approximate date).source
• 700Hamwic emerges as a major Wessex trading town (approximate date).source
• 700Diquis culture (modern Costa Rica) starts in Central America (approximate date).source
• 700Willibrord, Anglo-Saxon missionary, founds a mission post at Emmerich am Rhein (Germany), in the Utrecht Diocese.source
• 700The African slave trade through the Sahara is so extensive that the town of Zawila (Tunisia) is established.source
• 701Arab merchants introduce Oriental spices into Mediterranean markets. Muslim merchant vessels visit the Maluku Islands (South East Asia) for the first time (approximate date).source
• 702Hedan II, duke of Thuringia, completes the circular Marienkirche, in Fortress Marienberg near Würzburg (Germany).source
• 703Musa ibn Nusayr, governor of Ifriqiya (western Libya), builds a Muslim fleet to harass the Byzantine navy and conquer the islands of Ibiza, Mallorca, and Menorca (approximate date).source
• 704After spending nearly a decade with the Khazars (a Turkic tribe which controls a Steppe empire), the deposed emperor Justinian II flees from his exile at Cherson (Crimea). He escapes with help from Busir, ruler (khagan) of the Khazars, who marries him to his sister Theodora.source
• 705Arab forces gain power in Central Asia, as Qutayba ibn Muslim becomes governor of Khorasan. The region has grown rich from trade with China and Eastern Europe, its merchants dealing in silk, furs, amber, honey, and walrus ivory. During his rule, Qutayba subjugates the mercantile cities of Bukhara and Samarkand (modern Uzbekistan), as well as the Oxus delta area of Khwarezm, south of the Aral Sea.source
• 707The Muslim-Arabs conquer the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea (approximate date).source
• 708Arab–Byzantine War: The Umayyads under Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik capture and sack the Byzantine city of Tyana (Cappadocia) after a prolonged siege, and following a victory over a Byzantine relief army. Maslamah also leads another expedition in the summer, raiding and conquering Amorium (modern Turkey).source
• 710Roderick becomes king of the Visigoths, but the Visigothic nobles in Septimania rebel, and proclaim the previous ruler's son Akhila king. The Visigothic Kingdom is divided into two sub-kingdoms, suffering the first Muslim raid expedition against the southern Iberian Peninsula.source
• 710The Madara Rider, an early medieval rock relief, is carved on the Madara Plateau east of Shumen in Bulgaria (approximate date).source
• 711After pirates plunder an Arab ship near the mouth of the Indus River (Pakistan), Umayyad Arabs under Muhammad ibn Qasim invade India with 10,000 men and 6,000 horses, establishing a sultanate in Sindh. Qasim sends expeditions to Surashtra, where he makes peaceful treaty settlements with the Rashtrakuta.source
• 715Winning, an Irish monk, lands at the mouth of the River Garnock in Scotland, and establishes a community or cell of monks (termed cella or "Kil" in Gaelic).source
• 717A Muslim expedition under Al-Hurr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Thaqafi cross the Pyrenees into Aquitanian territory, leading a small raiding party into Septimania (Southern France).source
• 720Contact between the Welsh Church and Yvi of Brittany is the last known link between two Celtic countries. After this, each nation goes its own separate way (approximate date).source
• 720The Egyptians wage the Bashmurian revolts against the foreign Arab rulers. Egyptians establish a semi-independent region in the Nile Delta with Bashmur as the capital.source
• 723Gunakamadeva, Lichhavi ruler (rajah), founds the city of Kathmandu (modern Nepal). During his reign, he transforms the agrarian society to an industrial city trading between India and Tibet.source
• 724A Muslim fleet raids the Byzantine-ruled Balearic Islands, as well as Byzantine Sardinia and Lombard Corsica.source
• 726Arab–Byzantine War: Muslim forces under Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik resume their expedition against Anatolia (modern Turkey). In a large-scale raid they plunder the fortress city of Caesarea.source
• 730In this decade hops are first cultivated in Germany, in the Hallertau region.source
• 733Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Muslim forces under Abd al-Malik ibn Katan al-Fihri, governor (wali) of Al-Andalus, cross the Pyrenees and ravage both sides of the mountains. He establishes colonies along the Ebro Valley, and within Basque territory. The Moorish main military efforts are in Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre and Septimania (Southern France), strengthening the towns already in their hands.source
• 740Sicily, Sardinia, Provence, and Greece are raided by a fleet of Arab Muslim ships sent by the governor of Ifriqya, the ones raiding South Western Europe are led by Habīb Ibn Abi ‘Ubayda Al-Fihrī, while the fleet raiding Greece is led by Mu’awiya ibn Hishām. All of them are successful, submitting the Islands and returning with much wealth from the spoils of war.source
• 744Salih ibn Tarif proclaims himself a prophet among the Barghawata, a confederation of Berber tribes in modern-day western Morocco.source
• 744Autumn – Li Bai (also Li Po), Chinese poet and skilled calligrapher, meets Du Fu for the first time.source
• 746Guru Rinpoche, Indian Buddhist, travels to Bhutan (eastern end of the Himalayas), to cure the king of Bumthang (approximate date).source
• 746Jayshikhari Chavda establishes the Chavda dynasty in Gujarat (India).source
• 747Chinese forces under Gao Xianzhi (a Korean in Tang employ) defeat the Arabs and Tibetans, by rapid military expeditions over the Pamir Mountains and Hindu Kush. About 72 local Indian and Sogdian kingdoms become Tang vassals. Over the next two years he establishes complete control in East Asia.source
• 750The town Slaný in the Central Bohemian Region (Czech Republic) is founded at the site of a salt spring, according to one chronicle written in the sixteenth century (approximate date).source
• 752King Pepin III ("the Short") begins a Frankish military expedition down the Rhône Valley, and receives the submission of eastern Septimania (i.e. Nîmes, Melguelh, Agde and Béziers), after securing Count Ansemund's allegiance.source
• 753The town of Staraja Ladoga (Northern Russia) is founded by Scandinavians. The settlement becomes a prosperous trading outpost for jewelry, casual items, craft tools and dress adornments (approximate date).source
• 755September – Abd al-Rahman I, a member of the Umayyad Dynasty, lands at Almuñécar in al-Andalus (modern Spain), where over the next years he will establish the Emirate of Córdoba.source
• 757The city of Sijilmasa (modern Morocco) is founded by the Miknasa, a Zenata Berber tribe. They adopt Kharijism-Islam, and establish the Emirate of Sijilmasa in the northern Sahara. It becomes a wealthy trading center as the western end-point of the Trans-Saharan trade.source
• 759December 24 – Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di.source
• 760The Kingdom of Nanzhao (Nanchao) in modern-day southern China expands into the Irrawaddy River region, first into Burma, then down into northern Laos and Thailand (approximate date).source
• 760Offa's Dyke is constructed around this time, according to the traditional history of this defensive earthwork. This 150 mi km earthwork marks the current border with the Welsh kingdoms, between England and Wales (approximate date). However, modern analysis of Offa's Dyke suggests that it was built in the 5th century, well before the reign of King Offa.source
• 764According to the historian Theophanes the Confessor, icebergs float past Constantinople from the Black Sea (approximate date).source
• 770King Alhred of Northumbria takes an interest in continental missionary activities, and sends Willehad to Frisia in modern-day Netherlands (approximate date).source
• 770Hedeby, an important trading settlement, in the Danish-northern German borderland is founded (approximate date).source
• 772Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne leads a Frankish expedition from the Middle Rhine into disputed territory lost by the Franks in 695. He starts a campaign against the Saxons and seizes Eresburg, destroying the Irminsul (Saxon sacred tree) near Paderborn. Charlemagne devastates several major Saxon strongholds, and forces them to retreat beyond the Weser River. After negotiating with some Saxon nobles and obtaining hostages, he installs a number of garrisons.source
• 773The 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).source
• 775Autumn – Charlemagne retakes the Hellweg (main corridor) along the Lippe Valley, establishing communications between Austrasia, Hesse and Thuringia. It is used as a trade route under Frankish supervision.source
• 775Andalusian merchants set up an emporium (trade settlement) on the Maghreb coast at Ténès (modern Algeria). It is early evidence of the revival of the maritime trade in the Western Mediterranean, after the chaos of the early 8th century.source
• 782Summer – Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne sends a punitive expedition (an elite force of Eastern Frankish troops) under the command of Adalgis the Chamberlain, Gallo, and Worad, supported by Saxon forces, to deal with the Saxons and Sorb raiders in Thuringia.source
• 782Autumn – Charlemagne returns from his campaign in Italy, and musters a Frankish army of available troops in Bavaria. He then marches to Saxony, probably to Eresburg. Charlemagne marches north, down the Weser to the Aller River, making camp near Verden.source
• 783A Byzantine expeditionary force under Staurakios, chief minister (logothete), begins a campaign against the communities (Sclaviniae) of Greece. Setting out from Constantinople, the imperial army follows the Thracian coast into Macedonia, and then south into Thessaly, Central Greece and the Peloponnese. Staurakios restores a measure of Byzantine authority over these areas, and collects booty and tribute from the locals.source
• 784February 4 – Itzamnaaj K'awiil, brother of Bat K'awiil (who reigned between 780 and 784) and the son of K'ahk' Ukalaw Chan Chaak (who ruled 755 to 780) becomes the new ruler of the Mayan city state of Naranjo in Guatemala and reigns until his death in 810.source
• 785Ludger, Frisian missionary, visits Heligoland (Fossitesland), and destroys the remains of paganism. On his return he meets the blind bard Bernlef, last of the Frisian skalds, and cures his blindness (approximate date).source
• 788Idris ibn Abdallah, known as the "founder of Morocco", settles in Volubilis, beginning the reign of the Idrisid Dynasty (Morocco had effectively been independent from the Arab caliphates since the Great Berber Revolt).source
• 789Charlemagne founds the town of Herford (modern Germany), in order to guard a ford crossing the narrow Werre River.source
• 789King Pepin of Italy conquers Istria on the Adriatic, ignoring Byzantine protests. He establishes a tributary march, and sends missionaries.source
• 790Irish monks (known as the Papar), possibly members of a Hiberno-Scottish mission, supposedly reach Iceland in hide-covered coracles, and begin settlements (approximate date). However, the evidence for this is scant.source
• 791September 14 – Alfonso II, the son of former king Fruela I, becomes ruler of Asturias (Northern Spain). He moves the capital to Oviedo, the commercial centre of the region.source
• 792Offa arranges coastal defences to fend off Viking attacks. He forms an alliance with Essex, Kent and Sussex, in an attempt to unify England (approximate date).source
• 793King Charlemagne orders a 3 kilometre long channel dug from Treuchtlingen to Weißenburg (the Rhine and Danube river basins), to improve the transportation of goods between the Rhineland and Bavaria. Charlemagne's son, Pepin of Italy, campaigns against the Lombards in Benevento (Southern Italy).source
• 795Charlemagne creates the Hispanic Marches, a buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania. A group of Iberian lordships form a defensive barrier between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and the Frankish Kingdom.source