1000 Chinese perfect gunpowder and begin to use it in warfare
1008-1020 Japanese court lady Murasaki Shikibu writes the famous novel, Tale of Genji
1014 Rajendra I becomes ruler of the Cholas, who dominate much of India
1044 Anawrata takes power in Burma; he builds a large empire, strengthens his army, and founds a dynasty of able rulers
1065 Muslim Seljuk Turks invade Asia Minor
1071 Seljuks defeat Byzantine army at Battle of Manzikert; they capture Jerusalem in 1076
1090 Mechanical clock, driven by water, built in Kaifeng (China¹s capital city)
1096 Christian rulers from Europe go on First Crusade to retake Palestine from Seljuks
1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem, in Palestine
1113-1150 Reign of Suryavarman II of Cambodia; he starts building temple complex of Angkor Wat
1120 Chinese play with painted playing cards
1147-1149 Christian armies of Second Crusade defeated by Turks in Asia Minor and abandon siege of Damascus
1163 Birth of Genghis Khan, creator of Mongol empire
1173-1193 Saladin overcomes Palestine and Syria, taking Damascus
1180 Decline of Chola kingdom
1186-1187 Last Ghaznavid ruler deposed by Mohammed of Ghur, Muslim founder of an empire in North India
1187 Saladin defeats Christians at Hattin and takes Jerusalem
1192 Truce between Christian Richard I of England and Muslim Saladin ends Third Crusade
1192 In Japan, Minamoto Yoritomo becomes shogun after long civil war ends with his victory
1203 Hojo family rules Japan after Minamoto Yoritomo¹s death
1206 Former Turkestan slave Aibak founds new sultanate of Delhi in north India
1206 Mongol empire founded by Genghis Khan
1229 Christians regain Jerusalem, but lose it in 1244
1256 Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Khan, founds Mongol kingdom of Persia
1260 Khubilai, grandson of Genghis, becomes Great Khan
1260 Battle of Ain Jalut - Mongols, under Hulagu, halted by Mamluks in Palestine
1271 Venetian explorer Marco Polo sets out for China
1281 Mongols driven away from Japan by kamikaze, the divine wind
1300 Osman I founds Ottoman dynasty in Turkey
1321 Tughluq dynasty founded in Delhi
1335-1338 Ashikaga Takauji, Japanese general, rebels against emperor and becomes first of the Ashikaga shoguns
1336 Hindu empire of Vijayanagar in India founded by Harihara I becomes centre of resistance to Islam
1350 Last Hindu Javanese kingdom of Majapahit begins to spread in southeast Asia
1368 Mongols driven out of China; Zhu Yuanzhang founds Ming dynasty
1390 Ottoman Turks complete conquest of Asia Minor
1398 Tamerlane sacks Delhi
1402 Tamerlane, Mongol conqueror from central Asia, defeats Ottomans at battle of Ankyra in Turkey
1403-1409 Encyclopaedia of over 20,000 chapters, the Yongle dadian, compiled in China
1405-1433 Chinese Muslim, Zheng He, makes seven voyages westwards to collect tribute for Ming emperors
1411-1442 Reign of Indian sultan Ahmad Shah of Gujarat, who builds splendid capital city of Ahmadabad
1419-1450 Korea prospers under King Sejong; he introduces official Korean script
1420-1421 Chinese Ming capital moves from Nanjing to Beijing
1430 Collapse of Khmer empire in southeast Asia; Angkor Wat abandoned after being sacked by Thai army in 1431
1431-1433 Zheng He makes his seventh and final voyage; he sails as far as the east coast of Africa
1448-1488 Thailand expands under King Trailok; he brings about major administrative and legal reforms
1449-1474 Rule of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa in Japan
1460 Imperial porcelain works at Jingdezhen in China successfully import Ming pottery abroad
1463-1479 War between Ottoman Turks and Venetians; Turks eventually triumphant
1467-1477 Onin War in Japan, a civil war beginning as a conflict over shogunal succession, ends Ashikaga shogunate¹s authority
1483 Ashikaga Yoshimasa completes building of the Silver Pavilion Temple, or Ginkakuji, at Kyoto in Japan
1488 First major Ikko-ikki, or Uprising of Ikko Buddhists, in Japan
1488 Ming emperors order rebuilding of Great Wall to defend China from northern invaders
1492 Sikander Lodi, sultan of Delhi (1489-1517), annexes Bihar and moves his capital to Agra to facilitate conquest of Rajasthan
1501-1524 Reign of Ismail, first Safavid shah of Persia
1520-1566 Reign of Sulayman the Magnificent; Ottoman empire at its peak
1526 Babur (descendant of Mongol ruler Genghis Khan and of Tamerlane), first Moghul emperor, invades India
1546 Tabinshwehti conquers Pegu from the Mons and assumes title of king of all Burma
1549-1551 Mission of Jesuit St. Francis Xavier to Japan
1551 Bayinnaung inherits the Burmese throne and overruns Thailand
1556-1605 Reign of Moghul emperor Akbar in India
1568-1599 Period of national unification in Japan begins when feudal lord, Oda Nobunaga, captures capital, Kyoto
1573-1620 Reign of emperor Wan Li in China: period of great paintings and porcelain-making; imperial kilns at Jingde zhen produce vast quantities of china
1587-1629 Reign of Shah Abbas I (the Great) of Persia; he consolidates and expands territories
1592-1598 Korea succeeds in beating of Japanese invasions
1590-1605 Burma breaks up into small states
1600 Abbas I (reigns from 1587 to 1629) introduces reforms in Persia and expands territory
1600 Battle of Sekigahara, Japan; Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats rivals; takes power and the Tokugawa or Edo period begins
1600-1614 English, Dutch, Danish, and French East India Companies founded
1607 Confucianism begins to be main force in Tokugawa politics and society
1612-1639 Japanese persecute Christians
1619-1624 Dutch establish virtual monopoly of spice trade in Moluccas and other Indonesian islands
1620 Beginning of Japanese national policy of restriction of contact with the outside world
1627 Manchus overrun Korea, which later becomes vassal state
1628 Kingdom of Burma breaks up into small states
1632-1648 Shah Jahan builds Taj Mahal at Agra in India
1641 Dutch capture Malacca on the Malay peninsula
1644 Quing (Manchu) dynasty takes over in China
1657 Tokugawa Mitsukuni begins compilation of History of Japan
1658-1707 Emperor Aurangzeb is the last great Moghul emperor; after 1707 empire begins to break up
1661-1722 Reign of the Kangxi emperor in China; Chinese territory extended and books and scholarship developed
1664 Dutch force king of Thailand to give them monopoly of deerskin exports and seaborne trade with China
1683 Formosa (Taiwan) becomes Chinese territory
1690 English East India Company official Job Charnock founds the city of Calcutta, on a swamp by the Hooghly river in Bengal, northeastern India
1703 In Japan, 47 ronin commit suicide
1707 Death of Moghul emperor Aurangzeb followed by break-up of empire
1709 Ghilzai people under Mir Vais defeat Persian army; Afghanistan no longer obedient province of Persian empire
1709 Death of shogun Tsunayoshi of Japan
1716-1745 Reforming shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune rules Japan
1716 Manchu emperor Kangxi sends troops to expel Junkar people from Tibet; in 1720 Kangxi enthrones seventh Dalai Lama as tributary ruler of Tibet
1722 Death of Kangxi, enlightened Manchu emperor
1722-1735 Rule of Manchu emperor Yongzheng; Treaty of Kiakhta signed with Russia; Siberian-Mongolian border defined
1724 Asaf Jah, a minister of the Moghul emperor, retires to the Deccan; he becomes an independent ruler and is declared first Nizam of Hyderabad
1725 Gujin tushu jicheng, the largest encyclopaedia ever printed, in 10,000 chapters, commissioned by Qing emperor Yongzheng
1729 Yongzheng sets up Grand Council, an informal and flexible body of military advisers
1735 Nadir Shah, chief adviser and general to last Safavid ruler in Persia, defeats Turks in great battle at Baghavand and captures Tiflis
1736-1747 Nadir Shah reigns as shah of Persia
1736-1796 Rule of Qianlong, as Qing emperor; boundaries of empire reach farthest limits; population increases greatly; frequent rebellions crushed ruthlessly
1739 Nadir Shah invades India and sacks Delhi, taking away Peacock Throne of the Moghul emperors, and vast wealth
1740 Power of Hindu Marathas of central India expands into northern India
1750 Chinese capture Lhasa and take over state of Tibet
1750-1779 Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747-73), who united Afghanistan, invades India, takes Lahore; plunders Delhi in 1755
1753 Alaungaya reunites Burma; founds last Burmese dynasty, the Kombaung (to 1885)
1756 Black Hole of Calcutta
1757 Robert Clive defeats Siraj ud daula, Nawab of Bengal, at Battle of Plassey
1758 Aoki Konyo, Japanese scholar who introduced the sweet potato into Japan, completes Dutch/Japanese dictionary
1761 Battle of Panipat between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Durrani of Afghanistan; great Afghan victory
1762 British fleet captures Manila in Philippine Islands from Spain
1763 Britain becomes dominant power in India as a result of the Treaty of Paris
1767 Burmese invade Thailand, destroying its capital, Ayudhya, and forcing Thais to accept Burmese overlordship, but have to withdraw to repulse Chinese invasion of Burma
1774-1785 Warren Hastings is governor-general of British India
1777 Christianity introduced to Korea by Chinese Jesuits
1782-1819 Rama I reigns in Thailand; founds Chakri dynasty
1783-1788 Severe famine in Japan
1784 United States begins to trade with China
1792 Chinese army marches into neighbouring Nepal
1792 Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Abdul Wahhab, founder of Saudi Arabia, dies
1794 Aga Mohammed founds Kajar dynasty and unites all Persia
1796 Emperor Qianlong of China relinquishes power, but still directs government (to 1799)
1799 Ranjit Singh founds Sikh kingdom in Punjab, India
1802-1820 Emperor Gia-Long unites Vietnam
1803-1805 Second Maratha War disrupts central India
1804 Russian envoy visits Nagasaki in Japan and tries to get commercial treaty, but fails
1811-1818 Mohammed Ali overruns much of Arabian peninsula; ends first Saudi empire
1815 Java restored to Dutch by British
1817-1819 Last Maratha War; Maratha defeat; British rule India except Punjab, Sind, Kashmir
1819 Singapore founded by Stamford Raffles
1820 Peace treaty ends piracy and leads to 150 years of British supremacy in the Persian Gulf
1820-1841 Minh Mang, emperor of Vietnam, reverses Gia-Long¹s policies and expels Christians
1820 Development of North Pacific whaling industry; Japanese authorities clash with ships¹ crews
1824-1826 First Burmese War with Britain
1825-1828 Persian-Russian War; Russia captures Tabriz
1825-1830 Javanese revolt against Dutch
1828 Indian Hindu Raja Ram Mohan Roy founds reforming Hindu society, Brahmo Samaj
1829 Practice of suttee (widow burning) made illegal in India
1831 Mohammed Ali of Egypt seizes Syria; he rules it until 1840
1835-1863 Dost Mohammed rules in Afghanistan
1837-1853 Shogunate of Tokugawa Ieyoshi in Japan
1838 Nakayama Miki founds faith-healing Tenri sect in Japan
1839 Ottoman sultan Abdul Majid starts the ³Tanzimat², a programme of modernisation
1839-1842 First Afghan War with British; a British army annihilated
1839-1842 Opium War in China
1844 Cambodia becomes a Thai protectorate
1845-1929 Sikh Wars with Britain; Britain annexes Punjab
1848 Accession of Nasir ud-din, ablest of the Kajar dynasty of Persia
1850-1864 Taiping rebellion in China; Nanking falls, 1853
1851-1868 King Rama IV rules Thailand; opens the country to foreign trade
1852 Nasir-ud-Din (1848-96) takes personal power in Persia; major reforms of administration by Vizier Mirza Taki
1853-1878 Able king Mindon Min reigns in Burma
1854 Treaty of Kanagawa; United States and Japan agree their first modern trade treaty
1857-1858 Indian Mutiny shakes British rule in India; East India Company abolished in 1858
1860 In China, British and French forces loot and burn down the emperor¹s summer palace on the outskirts of Beijing
1862 French begin to occupy Indo-China (southeast Asia)
1865-1870 King Kojong persecutes Christians in Korea; reform of traditional institutions
1868-1910 Reign of Rama V, founder of modern Thailand
1868-1912 Meiji period in Japan: great leap forwards in industrialization; 1868, capital moves to Edo (renamed Tokyo), shogunate abolished; 1875-88, civil legal code drawn up
1872 First Japanese railway opens (Tokyo to Yokohama)
1876 Queen Victoria of Britain is proclaimed empress of India
1876 Japanese pressure forces Korea to open ports to trade
1876-1878 Famine in the Deccan, southern India; over five million die
1877 Satsuma rebellion in Japan; last stand of traditional samurai class is defeated
1878-1879 Second Afghan War: British invade Afghanistan to counter Russian influence
1884 Dowager Empress Cixi sacks grand council of China
1885 Foundation of Indian National Congress; campaign for home rule
1885-1886 Third Burmese War; Britain annexes Burma
1889 New Meiji constitution for Japan; first general election in 1890`
1894-1895 War between Japan and China; Japanese win, occupy Korea
1896 British persuade Malay states to form federation
1898 In China Dowager Empress Cixi crushes attempts at reform
1899 France proclaims protectorate in Laos, southeast Asia
1900 Boxer rebellion in China
1900 Russia annexes Manchuria
1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance agreed
1902 Series of commercial treaties between China and Britain, United States, and Japan
1902 Ibn Saud captures Riyadh, beginning the creation of Saudi Arabia
1903 British viceroy of India (Lord Curzon) sends an expedition into Tibet
1905 Japan presses Korea to sign a treaty whereby Japan ³protects² Korea
1905 Japanese navy fights and defeats Russian fleet in Tsushima strait
1907 Emperor Kojong of Korea abdicates; he is succeeded by his son Sujong
1908 Death of Chinese empress dowager Cixi and of the Guangxu emperor
1911-1912 Chinese rebellion against Manchus; republic is established, Sun Yat-sen first president, but warlords gain power
1912-1926 Taisho period in Japan
1912 Japan constructs its first dreadnought battleship
1913 China recognizes Outer Mongolia as independent
1913 Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, awarded Nobel Prize for Literature
1916 Beginning of Arab revolt against Ottoman Turks in Hijaz
1916 Hussein proclaims himself King of the Arabs
1917 Balfour Declaration promises homeland for Jews in Palestine
1917 British troops capture Baghdad and Jerusalem
1917-1925 Sun Yat-sen struggles for leadership of Chinese republic
1918 Emir Faisal proclaims Syrian state; becomes king in 1920
1919 British troops massacre over 300 Indian civilians at Amritsar
1920 Palestine becomes British mandate
1920 Indian leader Gandhi launches peaceful non-cooperation movement against British rule
1923 Mustafa Kemal becomes president of new republic, Turkey
1924 Chinese nationalist party, Kuomintang, holds first national congress
1927 Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek establishes government at Nanking; Communists challenge his rule
1928 Japanese troops murder military ruler of Manchuria
1930 First Round Table Conference between British government and Indian parties
1931 Japanese occupy Chinese province of Manchuria
1932 Absolute rule of Thai king ends; he agrees to new constitution
1934 Communists go on Long March through China, led by Mao Zedong and Zhu De
1934 Opening of British oil pipeline from Kirkuk (Iraq) to Tripoli (Syria)
1935 Government of India Act passed; provinces of British India granted autonomy and self-government from 1937
1936 General strike in Syria; French grant Syria home rule
1937-1938 Conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine
1937-1945 Undeclared war breaks out between China and Japan
1941-1942 Japanese overrun much of southeast Asia
1945 World Zionist Conference calls for Jewish state in Palestine
1945 United States drops atomic bombs on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1947 India gains independence
1947 Japan¹s new democratic constitution comes into effect
1948 Israeli independence leads to the first Arab-Israeli war
1949 Mao Zedong proclaims People¹s Republic of China
1950-1953 Korean War
1951 United States and 48 other countries sign peace treaty with Japan in San Francisco
1953 Mao Zedong introduces first five-year plan in China
1954 Vietminh defeat French troops at Dien Bien Phu
1955 Start of period of fast economic growth in Japan
1961 Troops from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states take over defence of Kuwait from British in face of Iraqi threat
1964 Tokyo Olympic Games; first Olympic Games in Asia
1964 Arab leaders set up Palestine Liberation Organization to unite Palestinian refugees
1965-1973 Vietnam War
1966 Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister of India
1967 Six Day War between Israel and neighbouring Arab states
1970 Communist Khmer Rouge forces take over Cambodia
1971 After a brief Indo-Pakistani war, East Pakistan declared independent as Bangladesh
1973 Yom Kippur War between Arabs and Israelis begins
1973 Cut in Arab oil production and increased prices cause oil crisis in United States and Europe
1976 Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong die; fall of ³Gang of Four²
1978 Vietnam invades Cambodia and forces out Khmer Rouge
1979 Ayatollah Khomeini adopts Islamic constitution for Iran
1980 Iran-Iraq War breaks out
1982 Israeli forces invade Lebanon
1984 Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikhs
1988 Ceasefire in Iran-Iraq War
1989 Mass demonstrations for democracy in Tian¹anmen Square, Beijing, China, end in massacre
1989 Vietnamese troops withdraw from Cambodia
1990 Iraq invades Kuwait; United States and allies send forces to the Gulf region; Gulf War begins
1991 Allied forces liberate Kuwait
1995 Itzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel, assassinated 