Geopolitics & Diplomacy in the 10th century

92 sourced entries, 900 CE to 998 CE, oldest first. Also see Geopolitics & Diplomacy across every century or everything else in the 10th century.

• 900April 21 – Namwaran and his children, Lady Angkatan and Bukah, are granted pardon by the Lakan (ruler) of Tondo, as represented by Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pila, which released them of all their debts as inscribed in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (Philippines).source
• 900December 1 – Emperor Zhao Zong is deposed and forced by a group of Tang eunuchs led by Liu Jishu to abdicate the throne to his son, Crown Prince Li Yu (until 901).source
• 901January 25 – Sugawara no Michizane, a Japanese poet, is demoted from his aristocratic rank and is exiled to a minor official post at Dazaifu (Chikuzen Province).source
• 901The Toltecs establish themselves at Tula. The city becomes the capital and rises to prominence after the fall of Teotihuacan (approximate date).source
• 901The Kingdom of Hu Goguryeo is established by the rebel leader Gung Ye. He subjugates the local lords in the Korean Peninsula and proclaims himself king.source
• 902Winter – The Balearic Islands are conquered by the Emirate of Córdoba. The Moors improve agriculture with irrigation on the islands.source
• 902Spring – Adalbert II, margrave of Tuscany, revolts against Emperor Louis III ("the Blind"). He helps the deposed King Berengar I to recover the Kingdom of Italy. Louis III is forced to abdicate the Lombard throne and flees to Provence, compelled to promise never to return to Italy.source
• 905Sancho I succeeds Fortún I as King of Pamplona, and creates a Basque kingdom centered in Navarre (modern-day Spain).source
• 907February 27 – Abaoji, ruler (khagan) of the confederation of Khitans, proclaims himself emperor and establishes the Liao dynasty, killing most of the other Khitan chieftains. He occupies territories along China's northern border including parts of Hebei and Shanxi provinces.source
• 907June 1 – Zhu Quanzhong (Zhu Wen) usurps the throne and proclaims himself the first emperor of Later Liang. China is controlled by successive short-lived kingdoms (until 960).source
• 907June 8 – The Chu Kingdom is founded by the warlord Ma Yin (Prince of Chu) in Changsha. Present-day Hunan and Guangxi provinces (Southern China) are under his control.source
• 907November 3 – The Former Shu Kingdom is founded by the warlord Wang Jian (Prince of Shu) in Chengdu. His power is centered in Sichuan province, in Southwest China.source
• 907December 1 – The Wuyue Kingdom is founded by the warlord Qian Liu in Hangzhou. His proclaims himself king, his power is centered in Jiangsu province (Eastern China).source
• 907The short-lived Qi Kingdom is founded by the warlord Li Maozhen (Prince of Qi). His power is centered in Shaanxi province, in Northwest China. The Tang dynasty comes to an end after 289 years as Emperor Ai is forced to abdicate by chancellor Zhu Quanzhong.source
• 907The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period begins in China.source
• 910Summer – King Alfonso III of Asturias is forced to abdicate the throne and partitions the kingdom among his three sons. The eldest son, García I, becomes king of León. The second son, Ordoño II, reigns in Galicia, while the third, Fruela II, receives Asturias with Oviedo as his capital.source
• 911Autumn – King Charles III (the Simple) and Rollo, leader of the Vikings, sign a peace agreement (Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte). In return for his homage and conversion to Christianity, Rollo becomes a vassal and is made Count of Rouen; this is the beginning of the duchy of Normandy. He divides the lands between the rivers Epte and Risle among his chieftains, and prevents any other Vikings sailing up the Seine to attack the West Frankish Kingdom.source
• 912Lady Æthelflæd expands her policy by building defensive burghs at Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. The fortifications are needed to protect Mercia against plundering Vikings from the Danelaw (Danish territory in England).source
• 914Hasan al-Utrush re-establishes Zaydid rule over the province Tabaristan (Northern Iran), after 14 years of Samanid occupation. He becomes the new ruler (emir) and Zaydid noblemen accept his authority.source
• 916Abaoji, Khitan ruler and founder of the Liao Dynasty, adopts Chinese court formalities in which he declares himself emperor in the Chinese style and adopts an era name, Taizu of Liao. He names his eldest son Yelü Bei as heir apparent, a first in the history of the Khitan. Abaoji leads a campaign in the west, conquering much of the Mongolian Plains.source
• 917September 5 – The Great Yue Kingdom, later renamed Southern Han, is founded by Liu Yan, former governor and military advisor, in Panyu (modern Guangdong) and Guangxi. Liu Yan declares himself emperor, and gives his niece Liu Hua in marriage to Wang Yanjun, a son of his rival Wang Shenzhi (Prince of Min), to cement a relationship between the two states.source
• 918July 25 – Wang Kon, a Korean general, overthrows the government of the short-lived state Ho Goguryeo and ascends the throne at Cheorwon. He founds the Goryeo dynasty and makes Song'ak his capital.source
• 918Emperor Taizu of the Khitan Empire occupies a newly walled city called Shangjing (modern-day Inner Mongolia), meaning Supreme Capital. It becomes the residence of the Chinese Liao dynasty.source
• 919May 24 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He recognizes the stem duchies (uniting them in a German confederation) and all their sovereign privileges. Two of the four most influential duchies, Bavaria and Swabia, do not accept his rule. Henry fortifies Magdeburg against the Magyars.source
• 919Lady Ælfwynn of the Mercians is brought to the court of her uncle, King Edward the Elder, and deprived of her authority in Mercia. Edward formally annexes the kingdom, ending independent Mercian rule.source
• 919Ragnall ua Ímair, a Viking chief from Ireland, takes control of the Norse Kingdom of York (also referred to as Jórvik) and the English-ruled Earldom of Northumbria. He establishes himself as king at York.source
• 920The Welsh ruler Hywel Dda ("the Good") merges Dyfed and Seisyllwg, establishing a new kingdom known as Deheubarth.source
• 920The Golden Age of the Ghana Empire begins in Africa (approximate date).source
• 921November 7 – Treaty of Bonn: King Charles III (the Simple) and Henry I sign a peace treaty or 'pact of friendship' (amicitia) at a ceremony aboard a ship in the middle of the Rhine, recognising the border between their two Frankish kingdoms.source
• 921The Later Liang Dynasty reports that all "barbarian" tribes have been pacified by the Khitan Empire.source
• 923May 13 – The Later Liang, one of the Five Dynasties in China, falls to Later Tang (founded by Li Cunxu). Li proclaims himself emperor and moves his residence back to the old Tang capital of Luoyang.source
• 924July 17 – Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons, is killed in battle at Farndon-Upon-Dee while leading an army against a revolt by some of the Cambrians and Mercians. During his 25-year reign, he gained direct control over Mercia, including some of the Danelaw, the Danish-occupied areas. Edward's oldest son, Æthelstan, is proclaimed the new King of England, while some supporters among the West Saxons support Ælfweard, to be Edward's successor as King of Wessex.source
• 924November 9 – Byzantine co-Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos concludes a treaty with the Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria and provides the Bulgarian monarch with "gold and silver shields and lances."source
• 924December 25 – Stephen Lekapenos and Constantine Lekapenos are promoted to the position of co-Emperors of Byzantium, joining Constantine VII, Romanos I and Christopher, creating a pentarchy with five monarchs.source
• 924Emperor Zhuang Zong of Later Tang bestows the chancellor title on Gao Jixing (Prince of Nanping) and creates the Nanping State (Central China). The Qi State falls to Later Tang.source
• 925Tomislav, duke of the Croatian duchies of Pannonia and Dalmatia, is crowned as king of Croatia. He forges an alliance with the Byzantines during the struggle with the Bulgarian Empire (approximate date).source
• 926King Æthelstan of Wessex and Mercia annexes Northumbria, and forces Wales and Strathclyde to accept his sovereignty along with the Picts and the Scots (approximate date).source
• 927October/November - Treaty of Constantinople. The Bulgarian Empire solidifies its status as a great power.source
• 930The independent Korean island state of Usan-guk becomes a protectorate of Goryeo.source
• 930The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is established at þingvellir ("Thing Fields"). Chieftains from various tribes gather for 2 weeks at a thing (assembly) to settle disputes, arrange marriages, etc.; it continues in existence into the 21st century, as the world's oldest parliament of the Icelandic Commonwealth.source
• 931Ramiro II forces the abdication of his brother Alfonso IV and becomes king of León (Northern Spain). He has Alfonso and Fruela's three sons blinded in order to make them incapable of ruling.source
• 931Spring – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, cedes Lower Burgundy to Rudolph II, in return for Rudolf's renunciation of all claims to the Italian crown. He receives the imperial crown, and induces the Italian nobility to recognize his son Lothair II as the co-ruler of Lombardia (Regnum Italiae).source
• 931King Morgan Hen of Glywysing and Gwent (Wales) submits to the overlordship of King Æthelstan, and attends his court with Kings Hywel Dda of Deheubarth and Idwal Foel of Gwynedd.source
• 931Ramiro II expands the border eastwards (nearly to the Pyrenees) and captures Burgos and the surrounding land. This land would soon be known as the County of Castile (approximate date).source
• 933William I ("Longsword"), duke of Normandy, recognises King Rudolph as his overlord. In turn he gives William the Cotentin Peninsula and the Channel Islands.source
• 934King Tewdwr of Brycheiniog attends the court of King Æthelstan and signs the English Land Charters. Kings Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Idwal Foel of Gwynedd and Morgan Mwynfawr ("the Old") of Morgannwg are compelled to accompany Æthelstan on his campaign against King Constantine II of Scotland.source
• 934Haakon I ("the Good"), a son of the late King Harald Fairhair, once again reunites the kingdom after he has deposed his half-brother Eric Bloodaxe. Haakon is installed as king of Norway.source
• 936King Æthelstan sets the border between the Kingdom of England and Cornwall as the east bank of the River Tamar.source
• 937November 10 – Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Yang Pu. The Wu State is replaced and Li (called "Xu Zhigao") becomes the first emperor of Southern Tang, one of the Ten Kingdoms in southern China.source
• 937Magdeburg becomes the capital of the East Frankish Kingdom, after a Diet held by King Otto I (approximate date).source
• 942Hywel Dda, king of Deheubarth, annexes Gwynedd and Powys, to become the sole ruler of most of Wales.source
• 942Mularaja, founder of the Chaulukya Dynasty, supplants the last Chavda ruler, Samanta-Simha, in Gujarat (modern India). He founds an independent kingdom with his capital in Anahilapataka (approximate date).source
• 943King Edmund I ravages Strathclyde and defeats the Scottish king Constantine II, who has reigned as king of Alba since 900. Constantine, ruler of the 'Picts and Scots', abdicates to enter a monastery and yields control of his realm to his cousin Malcolm I.source
• 944King Hugh of Provence dispatches an embassy to King Otto I of the East Frankish Kingdom, offering a large sum of cash if he promises not to provide assistance to Berengar of Ivrea. Otto refuses this offer.source
• 944In Tĩnh Hải quân, after the demise of Ngô Quyền, Dương Tam Kha forced Ngô Xương Ngập, Kha's nephew-in-law, to abdicate and installed himself as king, calling himself Dương Bình Vương (King Ping of Yang).source
• 944King Edmund I regains (with the help of Danish settlers) the territory he ceded to Olaf Guthfrithson. He conquers Northumbria and cedes Cumberland to Malcolm I, king of the 'Picts and Scots'.source
• 945April 13 – Hugh of Provence abdicates the throne in favor of his son Lothair II (who has been co-ruler since 931) and is acclaimed as sole king of Lombardia. Hugh is allowed to retire in Pavia.source
• 945Constantine VII concludes a Rus'–Byzantine treaty in which Rus' merchants are to conduct their trade in Constantinople. While many Rus' make their fortunes in trade with the Arab Muslims, the Rurik Dynasty of Kiev grows rich from Byzantine commerce.source
• 945King Edmund I conquers Strathclyde, forms an alliance with Malcolm I (king of the 'Picts and Scots') and cedes Cumberland and Westmorland to him.source
• 946May 16 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne after a 16-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother Murakami, who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.source
• 947March 10 – The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan, the military governor (jiedushi) of Bingzhou. He declares himself emperor (formally called Gaozu) and establishes the capital in Bian, present-day Kaifeng.source
• 948King Otto I appoints his son Liudolf as duke of Swabia, consolidating Ottonian dominance in Southern Germany.source
• 950Boleslav I, duke of Bohemia, signs a peace treaty with King Otto I of the East Frankish Kingdom. He becomes his ally, but he probably wasn't forced to resume the payment of tribute.source
• 951February 9 – The Northern Han Kingdom is founded by Liu Chong (called Shizu) in modern-day Shanxi who restores the diplomatic relations with the Khitans. Northern Han becomes a protectorate of the Liao dynasty.source
• 951February 13 – Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou. The 19-year-old Emperor Liu Chengyou is killed after a 3-year reign, ending the short-lived Later Han.source
• 951Abd ar-Rahman III signs a peace in 951 with the new king of León, Ordoño III, in order to have a free hand against the Fatimids, whose ships are harassing the caliphal fleet in the Mediterranean and had even launched an assault against Almeria. Abd ar-Rahman's force, led by prime minister Ahmad ibn Said, besieges the Fatimid port of Tunis, which purchases its safety through a huge sum.source
• 951Abd ar-Rahman III consolidated his grip on North Africa by occupying Tangier in 951.source
• 956Summer – Emperor Constantine VII appoints Nikephoros Phokas to commander of the Byzantine field army (Domestic of the Schools) in the East. He gives him order to prepare a campaign against the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla. Constantine makes treaties with neighbouring rulers, to seek military aid.source
• 957Mercia and Northumbria rebel against King Eadwig and switch their allegiance to his brother Edgar. The English nobles (in support of the church) agree to divide the kingdom along the Thames River, with Eadwig keeping Wessex and Kent in the south and Edgar ruling in the north. Edgar's advisers recall Dunstan from Flanders (see 956).source
• 960February 4 – The Song Dynasty is established at Kaifeng by the 33-year-old military leader Zhao Kuangyin. He begins to unify the empire by conquering other lands and becomes the first emperor, called as Taizu of Song. The Song Dynasty will rule northern China for over 300 years (until 1279).source
• 961The Lombard army under Adalbert II refuses to fight Otto I unless Berengar II abdicates in favor of Adalbert. Berengar refuses, and the armies retreat to their strongholds. Berengar and his family take whatever loyal soldiers remain and disperse themselves – Berengar retreats to the fortress at Montefeltro (in the Pentapolis).source
• 963Gero I, margrave of Merseburg, campaigns against the Slavs. He forces Prince Mieszko I of the Polans in Poland to pay tribute to Emperor Otto I ( the Great). He expands his territory, the Marca Geronis (March of Gero), to the mouth of the Oder River.source
• 967Otto I dispatches an imperial delegation (led by a Venetian named Domenico) to Constantinople with assurances of his friendship and a request for Princess Theophano (a daughter of the late Emperor Romanos II) for his 12-year-old son Otto II. As dowry Otto demands the Byzantine holdings in southern Italy.source
• 968In Vietnam, after ending the anarchy of the 12 warlords, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh declared himself emperor, marking the beginning of the Đinh dynasty.source
• 969September 27 – Emperor Reizei abdicates the throne of Japan (due to a mental illness) after a 2-year reign. He is succeeded by his 10-year-old brother En'yū, who becomes the 64th emperor.source
• 969Peter I, emperor (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire, suffers a stroke and abdicates the throne in favour of his eldest son Boris II. He arrives (after being an honorary hostage at Constantinople) in Preslav and is proclaimed as the new ruler. Boris regains lost territory from the Kievan Rus' and recaptures Pereyaslavets, an important trade city at the mouth of the Danube.source
• 970Eric the Victorious becomes the first (documented) king of Sweden in Uppland.source
• 971John I returns in triumph to Constantinople. He brings along Boris II, ruler (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire, and his family, together with the contents of the Bulgarian imperial treasury. Boris is given the Byzantine 'court title' of magistros as compensation. The Bulgarian lands in Thrace and Lower Moesia become part of the Byzantine Empire.source
• 978Pandulf I (Ironhead), a Lombard prince, annexes the Principality of Salerno into his domains. For the first time, the Lombard duchies of Benevento, Capua, Salerno and Spoleto-Camerino are united under one ruler.source
• 979Tynwald (or Tynwald Court), the parliament of the Isle of Man, is founded. It remains active as the longest continuous parliament in the world.source
• 980June 11 – Vladimir I (the Great), grand prince of Kiev, consolidates the Kievan realm from modern Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. Vladimir is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus'.source
• 980Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-German war of 978–980. Lothair renounces his claim on Lower Lorraine, while Otto promises to recognize Lothair's son Louis V as the rightful heir of the West Frankish Kingdom.source
• 980The Dari dialect (which will become the major language of Persia) is developed in the royal courts of the Samanid Empire in Central Asia.source
• 984Fall – Emperor En'yū abdicates the throne in favor of his 16-year-old son Kazan after a 15-year reign. En'yū retires and becomes a Buddhist priest.source
• 985Raja Raja Chola I (considered by many as the greatest emperor of the Chola Empire) becomes ruler of the Chola Dynasty. During his reign he expands his domains beyond South India.source
• 986Emperor Kazan abdicates the throne after a political struggle from the Fujiwara family. He is succeeded by his 6-year-old cousin Ichijō as the 66th emperor (tennō) of Japan.source
• 988Borrell II, count of Barcelona, does not renew his allegiance to Hugh Capet. He becomes a de facto independent ruler, and starts minting its own currency – this will be confirmed legally by the Treaty of Corbeil (1258).source
• 990Al-Mansur, Chancellor and effective ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (modern Portugal), expanding the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba.source
• 994Egyptian politician Isa ibn Nasturus ibn Surus appointed Vizier of Egypt.source
• 9953 June: Fujiwara no Michikane gains power and becomes Regent.source
• 996Emperor Lê Đại Hành personally led a campaign to conquer four tribes Đại, Phát, Đan and Ba in Ma Hoàng. The tribes were defeated and their lands then belonged to the Early Lê dynasty.source
• 998Fall – Otto III makes Rome the administrative capital of the Holy Roman Empire and begins the construction of his imperial palace on the Palatine Hill. He restores the ancient Roman Senate to its position of prominence and adopts the title of "Emperor of the Romans". To this Otto adds the apostolic devotion formula servus Jesu Christi ('Servant of Jesus Christ').source