The 'Four Class System' was a legal caste system in the Yuan Dynasty. Kublai Khan, the first emperor set up this system to consolidate the ruling status of Mongolian Ethnic ...
El Shaddai
Seek him and get to know him as the One who is all sufficient (Gen 17:1)
Up until this time, all that Abraham had was knowledge of God Jehovah (YWHW – one who makes covenants) and as El Elyon (Lord most high).
The Chinese Lao-Tien-Yeh glyph (above left) and the Egyptian Aten symbol ...
http://www.grahamphillips.net/eden/eden_4.htm ,Similarity between the language, songs, stories and ceremonies used in the Chinese Border Sacrifice songs and in the Bible, provide evidence that Shang Di in Chinese history is the same as El Shaddai as revealed to those who were scattered from Mesopotamia's Plains of Shinar
El Shaddai the word comes from the Hebrew root Shad. This is the word for a woman’s breast. In this context, the name of God speaks of his all-sufficiency. A New baby finds a safe and secure place at his mother’s breast.
The second meaning people see in this work is the meaning of God being the Almighty One. People who hold to this view see the word as coming from the Hebrew root Shadad which means to be powerful. In a similar way to the meaning “All-Sufficient” one, the “almighty one” gives confidence to Abram that God is all powerful and is able to bring about even those things which we would see are impossible.
1. Abraham was burdened (Genesis 17:1). This name for God is used 48 times in the Old Testament. The first instance of El Shaddai is found in Genesis 17:1: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty [El Shaddai]; walk before me and be blameless.’
He must have been carrying a pretty heavy burden. God had made several promises to him – of land, descendants, and blessings – and yet, he waited a long time before they came to pass. When it appeared that God wasn’t going to come through, Abraham even tried to take things into his own hands. Thirteen years later, God speaks to him again, and this time reveals himself as El Shaddai.
Abraham had given up all hope of having a son with his wife Sarah, but it was at the point of his insufficiency that he discovered the sufficiency of Almighty God. God is able to do much more than is humanly possible. Genesis 18:14 when God declares: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” Jeremiah captures the unlimited power of the Almighty when he writes in Jeremiah 32:17: “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.
Nothing is too hard for you.” Do you feel burdened today? Have you been relying upon your own efforts only to sink to your knees or fall on your face? Have you been struggling with patience? If so, get to know El Shaddai, and as Abraham was instructed, “Walk before Him” wholeheartedly. When Abraham realized his emptiness He rejoiced that God was enough, and that literally changed the trajectory of his life.
2. Naomi was bitter (Ruth 1:20-21). Abraham was burdened and Naomi was bitter. We read in Ruth 1:1 that because there was a bad famine in Bethlehem (house of Bread), an Israelite named Elimelech took his wife Naomi and their two sons to live in the country of Moab. Their two sons married Moabite women, one who was named Orpah, and the other Ruth.
The name “Naomi” means pleasant; and “Mara” means bitter. Naomi recognizes that her problems come from the Lord. Four times in these two verses she attributes her affliction to the Almighty:
Situation: The Almighty has made my life very bitter
The Lord has brought me back empty
The Lord has afflicted me
The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me
Ecclesiastes 7:14: “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.”
As painful as what you are experiencing is, don’t lose sight of the fact that Naomi’s emptiness eventually allowed her to adore the Almighty. She was bitter but got better because when she was empty she came to the place of knowing that God is enough! Naomi was willing to entrust her pain and bitterness to El Shaddai, believing that He would come through for her, even if all her questions remained unanswered.
In the midst of her bitterness, she continued to walk with God, even when her two sons married Moabites. She worshiped the true God when the entire culture bowed to Baal. She made the most of her situation by teaching Ruth about God. She had the courage to return to her land and later boldly told Ruth to make a marriage proposal to Boaz. She launched her matchmaking arrangement but she also knew how to be patient and wait on the Lord as she said in 3:18, “Be patient, my daughter, until we see what happens.”
Imagine that scene from Ruth 3:16: “Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap, and cared for him.” That’s a picture of how El Shaddai can meet us at our point of bitterness and make us better. He is the powerful God who nourishes and satisfies His children, but not until they admit their emptiness. It’s when we are empty that we can see that God is enough!
When the Lord shall raise up coloured historians in succeeding generations, to present the crimes of this nation, to the then gazing world, the Holy Ghost will make them do justice to the name of Bishop Allen, of Philadelphia. Suffice it for me to say, that the name of this very man (Richard Allen) though now in obscurity and degradation, will notwithstanding, stand on the pages of history among the greatest divines who have lived since the apostolic age, and among the Africans, Bishop Allen's will be entirely preeminent. My brethren, search after the character and exploits of this godly man among his ignorant and miserable brethren, to bring them to a knowledge of the truth as it is in our Master. Consider upon the tyrants and false Christians against whom he had to contend in order to get access to his brethren. See him and his ministers in the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, carrying the gladsome tidings of free and full salvation to the coloured people. Tyrants and false Christians however, would not allow him to penetrate far into the South, for fear that he would awaken some of his ignorant brethren, whom they held in wretchedness and misery—for fear, I say it, that he would awaken and bring them to a knowledge of their Maker. O My Master! my Master! I cannot but think upon Christian Americans!!!—What kind of people can they be? Will not those who were burnt up in Sodom and Gomorrah rise up in judgment against Christian Americans with the Bible in their hands, and condemn them? Will not the Scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem, who had nothing but the laws of Moses and the Prophets to go by, rise up in judgment against Christian Americans, and condemn them, * who, in addition to these have a revelation from Jesus Christ the Son of the living God? In fine, will not the Antideluvians, together with the whole heathen world of antiquity, rise up in judgment against Christian Americans and condemn them? The Christians of Europe and America go to Africa, bring us away, and throw us into the seas, and in other ways murder us, as they would wild beast. The Antideluvians and heathens never dreamed of such barbarities.—Now the Christians believe, because they have a name to live, while they are dead, that God will overlook such things. But if he does not deceive them, it will be because he has overlooked it sure enough. But to return to this godly man, Bishop Allen. I do hereby openly affirm it to the world, that he has done more in a spiritual sense for his ignorant and wretched brethren than any other man of colour has, since the world began. And as for the greater part of the whites, it has hitherto been their greatest object and glory to keep us ignorant of our Maker, so as to make us believe that we were made to be slaves to them and their children, to dig up gold and silver for them. It is notorious that not a few professing Christians among the whites, who profess to love our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, have assailed this man and laid all the obstacles in his way they possibly could, consistent with their profession—and what for? Why, their course of proceeding and his, clashed exactly together—they trying their best to keep us ignorant, that we might be the better and more obedient slaves—while he, on the other hand, doing his very best to enlighten us and teach us a knowledge of the Lord. And I am sorry that I have it to say, that many of our brethren have joined in with our oppressors, whose dearest objects are only to keep us ignorant and miserable against this man to stay his hand.—However, they have kept us in so much ignorance, that many of us know no better than to fight against ourselves, and by that means strengthen the hands of our natural enemies, to rivet their infernal chains of slavery upon us and our children. I have several times called the white Americans our natural enemies—I shall here define my meaning of the phrase. Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with their father Noah and wives, I believe were not natural enemies to each other. When the ark rested after the flood upon Mount Arrarat, in Asia, they (eight) were all the people which could be found alive in all the earth—In fact if Scriptures be true, (which I believe are) there were no other living men in all the earth, notwithstanding some ignorant creatures hesitate not to tell us that we, (the blacks) are the seed of Cain the murderer of his brother Abel. But where or of whom those ignorant and avaricious wretches could have got their information, I am unable to declare. Did they receive it from the Bible? I have searched the Bible as well as they, if I am not as well learned as they are, and have never seen a verse which testifies whether we are the seed of Cain or of Abel. Yet those men tell us that we are the seed of Cain, and that God put a dark stain upon us, that we might be known as their slaves!!! Now, I ask those avaricious and ignorant wretches, who act more like the seed of Cain, by murdering—the whites or the blacks? How many vessel loads of human beings, have the blacks thrown into the seas? How many thousand souls have the blacks murdered in cold blood, to make them work in wretchedness and ignorance, to support them and their families? *—However, let us be the seed of Cain, Harry, Dick, or Tom!!! God will show the whites what we are, yet. I say, from the beginning, I do not think that we were natural enemies to each other. But the whites having made us so wretched, by subjecting us to slavery, and having murdered so many millions of us, in order to make us work for them, and out of devilishness—and they taking our wives, whom we love as we do ourselves—our mothers, who bore the pains of death to give us birth—our fathers and dear little children, and ourselves, and strip and beat us one before the other—chain, hand-cuff, and drag us about like rattlesnakes—shoot us down like wild bears, before each other's faces, to make us submissive to, and work to support them and their families. They (the whites) know well, if we are men—and there is a secret monitor in their hearts which tells them we are—they know, I say, if we are men, and see them treating us in the manner they do, that there can be nothing in our hearts but death alone, for them, notwithstanding we may appear cheerful, when we see them murdering our dear mothers and wives, because we cannot help ourselves. Man, in all ages and all nations of the earth, is the same. Man is a peculiar creature—he is the image of his God, though he may be subjected to the most wretched condition upon earth, yet the spirit and feeling which constitute the creature, man, can never be entirely erased from his breast, because the God who made him after his own image, planted it in his heart; he cannot get rid of it. The whites knowing this, they do not know what to do; they know that they have done us so much injury, they are afraid that we, being men, and not brutes, will retaliate, and woe will be to them; therefore, that dreadful fear, together with an avaricious spirit, and the natural love in them, to be called masters, (which term will yet honour them with to their sorrow) bring them to the resolve that they will keep us in ignorance and wretchedness, as long as they possibly can, * and make the best of their time, while it lasts. Consequently they, themselves, (and not us) render themselves our natural enemies, by treating us so cruel. They keep us miserable now, and call us their property, but some of them will have enough of us by and by—their stomachs shall run over with us; they want us for their slaves, and shall have us to their fill. We are all in the world together!!—I said above, because we cannot help ourselves, (viz. we cannot help the whites murdering our mothers and our wives) but this statement is incorrect—for we can help ourselves; for, if we lay aside abject servility, and be determined to act like men, and not brutes—the murderers among the whites would be afraid to show their cruel heads. But O, my God!—in sorrow I must say it, that my colour, all over the world, have a mean, servile spirit. They yield in a moment to the whites, let them be right or wrong—the reason they are able to keep their feet on our throats. Oh! my coloured brethren, all over the world, when shall we arise from this death-like apathy?—And be men!! You will notice, if ever we become men, (I mean respectable men, such as other people are,) we must exert ourselves to the full. For remember, that it is the greatest desire and object of the greater part of the whites, to keep us ignorant, and make us work to support them and their families.—Here now, in the Southern and Western sections of this country, there are at least three coloured persons for one white, why is it, that those few weak, good-for-nothing whites, are able to keep so many able men, one of whom, can put to flight a dozen whites, in wretchedness and misery? It shows at once, what the blacks are, we are ignorant, abject, servile and mean—and the whites know it—they know that we are too servile to assert our rights as men or they would not fool with us as they do. Would they fool with any other peoples as they do with us? No, they know too well, that they would get themselves ruined. Why do they not bring the inhabitants of Asia to be body servants to them? They know they would get their bodies rent and torn from head to foot. Why do they not get the Aborigines of this country to be slaves to them and their children, to work their farms and dig their mines? They know well that the Aborigines of this country, or (Indians) would tear them from the earth. The Indians would not rest day or night, they would be up all times of night, cutting their cruel throats. But my colour, (some, not all,) are willing to stand still and be murdered by the cruel whites. In some of the West-Indies Islands, and over a large part of South America, there are six or eight coloured persons for one white. * Why do they not take possession of those places? Who hinders them? It is not the avaricious whites—for they are too busily engaged in laying up money—derived from the blood and tears of the blacks. The fact is, they are too servile, they love to have Masters too well!! Some of our brethren, too, who seeking more after self aggrandisement, than the glory of God, and the welfare of their brethren, join in with our oppressors, to ridicule and say all manner of evils falsely against our Bishop. They think, that they are doing great things, when they can get in company with the whites, to ridicule and make sport of those who are labouring for their good. Poor ignorant creatures, they do not know that the sole aim and object of the whites, are only to make fools and slaves of them, and put the whip to them, and make them work to support them and their families. But I do say, that no man, can well be a despiser of Bishop Allen, for his public labours among us, unless he is a despiser of God and of Righteousness. Thus, we see, my brethren, the two very opposite positions of those great men, who have written respecting this "Colonizing Plan." (Mr. Clay and his slave-holding party,) men who are resolved to keep us in eternal wretchedness, are also bent upon sending us to Liberia. While the Reverend Bishop Allen, and his party, men who have the fear of God, and the welfare of their brethren at heart. The Bishop, in particular, whose labours for the salvation of his brethren, are well known to a large part of those who dwell in the United States, are completely opposed to the plan—and advise us to stay where we are. Now we have to determine whose advice we will take respecting this all important matter, whether we will adhere to Mr. Clay and his slave holding party, who have always been our oppressors and murderers, and who are for colonizing us, more through apprehension than humanity, or to this godly man who has done so much for our benefit, together with the advice of all the good and wise among us and the whites. Will any of us leave our homes and go to Africa? I hope not. * Let them commence their attack upon us as they did on our brethren in Ohio, driving and beating us from our country, and my soul for theirs, they will have enough of it. Let no man of us budge one step, and let slave-holders come to beat us from our country. America is more our country, than it is the whites—we have enriched it with our blood and tears. The greatest riches in all America have arisen from our blood and tears:—and will they drive us from our property and homes, which we have earned with our blood? They must look sharp or this very thing will bring swift destruction upon them. The Americans have got so fat on our blood and groans, that they have almost forgotten the God of armies. But let them go on.
ADDITION.—I will give here a very imperfect list of the cruelties inflicted on us by the enlightened Christians of America.—First, no trifling portion of them will beat us nearly to death, if they find us on our knees praying to God,—They hinder us from going to hear the word of God—they keep us sunk in ignorance, and will not let us learn to read the word of God, nor write—If they find us with a book of any description in our hand, they will beat us nearly to death—they are so afraid we will learn to read, and enlighten our dark and benighted minds—They will not suffer us to meet together to worship the God who made us—they brand us with hot iron—they cram bolts of fire down our throats—they cut us as they do horses, bulls, or hogs—they crop our ears and sometimes cut off bits of our tongues—they chain and hand-cuff us, and while in that miserable and wretched condition, beat us with cow-hides and clubs—they keep us half naked and starve us sometimes nearly to death under their infernal whips or lashes (which some of them shall have enough of yet)—They put on us fifty-sixes and chains, and make us work in that cruel situation, and in sickness, under lashes to support them and their families.—They keep us three or four hundred feet under ground working in their mines, night and day to dig up gold and silver to enrich them and their children.—They keep us in the most death-like ignorance by keeping us from all source of information, and call us, who are free men and next to the Angels of God, their property!!!!!! They make us fight and murder each other, many of us being ignorant, not knowing any better.—They take us, (being ignorant,) and put us as drivers one over the other, and make us afflict each other as bad as they themselves afflict us—and to crown the whole of this catalogue of cruelties, they tell us that we the (blacks) are an inferior race of beings! incapable of self government!!—We would be injurious to society and ourselves, if tyrants should loose their unjust hold on us!!! That if we were free we would not work, but would live on plunder or theft!!!! that we are the meanest and laziest set of beings in the world!!!!! That they are obliged to keep us in bondage to do us good!!!!!!—That we are satisfied to rest in slavery to them and their children!!!!!!—That we ought not to be set free in America, but ought to be sent away to Africa!!!!!!!!—That if we were set free in America, we would involve the country in a civil war, which assertion is altogether at variance with our feeling or design, for we ask them for nothing but the rights of man, viz. for them to set us free, and treat us like men, and there will be no danger, for we will love and respect them, and protect our country—but cannot conscientiously do these things until they treat us like men. Are we MEN! ! -- I ask you, 0 my brethren I are we MEN? Did our Creator make us to be slaves to dust and ashes like ourselves? Are they not dying worms as well as we? Have they not to make their appearance before the tribunal of Heaven, to answer for the deeds done in the body, as well as we? Have we any other Master but Jesus Christ alone? Is he not their Master as well as ours? -- What right then, have we to obey and call any other Master, but Himself? How we could be so submissive to a gang of men, whom we cannot tell whether they are as good as ourselves or not, I never could conceive. However, this is shut up with the Lord, and we cannot precisely tell -- but I declare, we judge men by their works.If any of us see fit to go away, go to those who have been for many years, and are now our greatest earthly friends and benefactors -- the English. If not so, go to our brethren, the Haytians, who, according to their word, are bound to protect and comfort us. The Americans say, that we are ungrateful-but I ask them for heaven's sake, what should we be grateful to them for -- for murdering our fathers and mothers ? -- Or do they wish us to return thanks to them for chaining and handcuffing us, branding us, cramming fire down our throats, or for keeping us in slavery, and beating us nearly or quite to death to make us work in ignorance and miseries, to support them and their families. They certainly think that we are a gang of fools. Those among them, who have volunteered their services for our redemption, though we are unable to compensate them for their labours, we nevertheless thank them from the bottom of our hearts, and have our eyes steadfastly fixed upon them, and their labours of love for God and man. -- But do slave-holders think that we thank them for keeping us in miseries, and taking our lives by the inches?
Let no man of us budge one step, and let slave-holders come to beat us from our country. America is more our country, than it is the whites-we have enriched it with our blood and tears. The greatest riches in all America have arisen from our blood and tears: -- and will they drive us from our property and homes, which we have earned with our blood? They must look sharp or this very thing will bring swift destruction upon them. The Americans have got so fat on our blood and groans, that they have almost forgotten the God of armies. But let the go on
What nation under heaven, will be able to do any thing with us, unless God gives us up into its hand? But Americans. I declare to you, while you keep us and our children in bondage, and treat us like brutes, to make us support you and your families, we cannot be your friends. You do not look for it do you? Treat us then like men, and we will be your friends. And there is not a doubt in my mind, but that the whole of the past will be sunk into oblivion, and we yet, under God, will become a united and happy people. The whites may say it is impossible, but remember that nothing is impossible with God.
I count my life not dear unto me, but I am ready to be offered at any moment, For what is the use of living, when in fact I am dead. But remember, Americans, that as miserable, wretched, degraded and abject as you have made us in preceding, and in this generation, to support you and your families, that some of you, (whites) on the continent of America, will yet curse the day that you ever were born. You want slaves, and want us for your slaves ! ! ! My colour will yet, root some of you out of the very face of the earth ! ! ! ! ! ! You may doubt it if you please. I know that thousands will doubt-they think they have us so well secured in wretchedness, to them and their children, that it is impossible for such things to occur.
See your Declaration Americans! ! ! Do you understand your won language? Hear your languages, proclaimed to the world, July 4th, 1776 -- "We hold these truths to be self evident -- that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL! ! that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! !" Compare your own language above, extracted from your Declaration of Independence, with your cruelties and murders inflicted by your cruel and unmerciful fathers and yourselves on our fathers and on us -- men who have never given your fathers or you the least provocation! ! ! ! ! !
“There is great work for you to do… You have to prove to the Americans and the world that we are MEN, and not brutes, as we have been represented, and by millions treated. Remember, to let the aim of your labours among your brethren, and particularly the youths, be the dissemination of education and religion.”Oh Americans! let me tell you, in the name of the Lord, it will be good for you, if you listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost, but if you do not, you are ruined!!! Some of you are good men; but the will of my God must be done. Those avaricious and ungodly tyrants among you, I am awfully afraid will drag down the vengeance of God upon you. When God Almighty commences his battle on the continent of America, for the oppression of his people, tyrants will wish they never were born.
The Americans of North and of South America, including the West India Islands no trifling portion of whom were, for stealing, murdering, &c. compelled to flee from Europe, to save their necks or banishment, have effected their escape to this continent, where God blessed them with all the comforts of life—He gave them a plenty of every thing calculated to do them good—not satisfied with this, however, they wanted slaves, and wanted us for their slaves, who belong to the Holy Ghost, and no other, who we shall have to serve instead of tyrants.—I say, the Americans want us, the property of the Holy Ghost, to serve them. But there is a day fast approaching, when (unless there is a universal repentance on the part of the whites, which will scarcely take place, they have got to be so hardened in consequence of our blood, and so wise in their own conceit.) To be plain and candid with you, Americans! I say that the day is fast approaching, when there will be a greater time on the continent of America, than ever was witnessed upon this earth, since it came from the hand of its Creator. Some of you have done us so much injury, that you will never be able to repent.—Your cup must be filled.—You want us for your slaves, and shall have enough of us—God is just, who will give you your fill of us
The story of the African presence in early Asia is as fascinating as it is obscure. We now know, based on recent scientific studies of DNA, that modern humanity originated in Africa, that African people are the world's original people, and that all modern humans can ultimately trace their ancestral roots back to Africa. Were it not for the primordial migrations of early African people, humanity would have remained physically Africoid, and the rest of the world outside of the African continent absent of human life. Since the first modern humans in Asia were of African birth, the African presence in ancient Asia can therefore be demonstrated through the history of the Black populations that have inhabited the Asian land mass within the span of modern humanity. But not only were African people the first inhabitants of Asia. There is abundant evidence to show that Black people within documented historical periods created, nurtured or influenced some of ancient Asia's most important and enduring classical civilizations. This includes the Sumerian civilization of early Iraq, the Indus Valley civilization and the civilizations of Angkor and Champa in Southeast Asia.
For well over a century, Western historians, ethnologists, anthropologists, archaeologists and other such specialists have generally and often arbitrarily used such terms as Negroid, Proto-Negroid, Proto-Australoid, Negritic and Negrito in labeling populations in Asia with Africoid phenotypes and African cultural traits and historical traditions. The has especially been the case with Black populations in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Far East Asia. In Southwest Asia, on the other hand, terms like Hamites, Eurafricans, Mediterraneans and the Brown Race have commonly been employed in denoting clearly discernible Black populations. In this work, we have chosen to reject such deliberately confusing nomenclature as obsolete and invalid, unscientific and racially motivated, and it is our intention to comprehensively explore the full impact and extent of the African presence in the human cultures and classical civilizations of early Asia.
In summation, in brief, we contend that the history of the African presence in Asia, including the African presence in classical Asian civilization, is one of the most significant, challenging and least written about aspects of the global African experience, and that even today, after an entire series of holocausts and calamities, the African presence in Asia may exceed three hundred million people. The works of historians and scholars like W.E.B. DuBois, Drusilla Dunjee Houston, Joel A. Rogers, John G. Jackson, Cheikh Anta Diop, Chancellor James Williams and others have stressed this for years. We intend to continue to energetically carry this work forward.
United Nations, New York, January 26 2011.
The Indian caste system describes the system of the social stratification and social restrictions in India in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups. The Indian caste system involves four castes and outcasted social groups. Although generally identified with Hinduism, the caste system was also observed among the ancient Persians and followers of other religions in the Indian subcontinent, including some groups of Muslims and Christians, [1] most likely through cultural assimilation over centuries. Caste barriers have mostly broken down in large cities, [2], where 71% of India's population resides.
While the Hindu scriptures do endorse the caste system, [3][4] none of them endorse caste-based discrimination. [5][6][7][8] Furthermore, the Indian Constitution has outlawed caste-based discrimination, in keeping with the secular, democratic principles that founded the nation. [9] Nevertheless, the caste system, in various forms, continues to survive in modern India because of a combination of political factors and social beliefs and behavior. [10][11]
Countries in Africa who have societies with caste systems within their borders include Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Algeria, Nigeria, Chad, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
World History Timeline 9500 BCE: Göbekli Tepe, first temple
8000 BCE: First evidence of pre-Mayan area settlements
6150 BCE: Çatalhoyük
,
The major Sanskrit epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE. They contain mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas recount tales about devas and devis, their interactions with humans and their battles against demons.
5000 BCE: Chile - Chincorro- first evidence of mummification? .7500BC- Ancient bricks dated at the Gulf of Cambay. Remains of what may have been a pre-Harappan city.
7000BC- Earliest Pre-Harappan settlement of Mehrgarh.
6150BC Çatalhoyük is a major Neolithic center in Turkey.
5000-3400BC- first signs of maize, bean and cotton domestication in Mesoamerica.
5000 BC The practice of ritual burial and artificial mummification is begun by the Chincorro people of north coastal Chile, attesting to the Andean concern for the veneration and preservation of the dead.
5000BC - Yang Shao Culture. Farming villages in the Yellow River valleys.
4000 BCE: Sumeria (Kish, Susa)
3372 BCE: First date in Mayan calendar
3100 BCE: First Egyptian dynasty
3000 BCE?: China - White Pyramid of Xian/Xi'an
3000 BCE: China - Hongshan culture - Small pyramid, 7 tombs and altar
3000 BCE: Stonehenge
2700 BCE: Great Pyramid Age begins - the Great Pyramid of Giza
2586 BCE: India - temple of Sri Rangam
2578 BCE: Egypt - Giza - smallest of the Great Pyramids is built
2500 BCE: Egypt - Giza - the Great Sphinx
2500 BCE: Peru - Aspero, ceremonial mounds etc.
2200 BCE: Iran - Kashan - first ziggurat, named Sialk (stepped pyramid)
1800 BCE: First evidence of Mayan culture?
1700 BCE: Peru - Pyramid at Cerro Sechin
1500 BCE: Zapotec? .[22] Modern Hinduism grew out of the Vedas, the oldest of which is the Rigveda, dated to 1700–1100 BCE.[23] The Vedas center on worship of deities such as Indra, Varuna and Agni, and on the Soma ritual. Fire-sacrifices, called yajña were performed, and Vedic mantras chanted but no temples or icons were built.[24] The oldest Vedic traditions exhibit strong similarities to Zoroastrianism and other Indo-European religions.. [22] The beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era (1500–500 BCE) are called the "historical Vedic religion". [origins of Olmec/Zapotec/Mixtec are disputed?]
1500 BCE: Egypt - Valley of the Kings
1000 BCE: Olmec
4000BC- Excavations from this period at Sumerian sites of
The major Sanskrit epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE. They contain mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas recount tales about devas and devis, their interactions with humans and their battles against demons. Three major movements underpinned the naissance of a new epoch of Hindu thought: the advent and spread of Upanishadic, Jaina, and Buddhist philosophico-religious thought throughout the broader Indian landmass. [26] Mahavira (24th Tirthankar of Jains) and Buddha (founder of Buddhism) taught that to achieve moksha or nirvana, one did not have to accept the authority of the Vedas or the caste system. Buddha went a step further and claimed that the existence of a Self/soul or God was unnecessary. [27] Buddhism peaked during the reign of Asoka the Great of the Mauryan Empire, who unified the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. After 200 CE several schools of thought were formally codified in Indian philosophy, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-Mimamsa and Vedanta. [28] Charvaka, the founder of an atheistic materialist school, came to the fore in North India in the sixth century BCE. [29] Between 400 BCE and 1000 CE Hinduism expanded at the expense of Buddhism. [30]Kish and Susa reveal existence of Indian trade products.
3372BC- First date in Mayan Calendar.
3700-3100BC- The Uruk Period of Sumeria, people moved from villages to cities, writing developed, and the creation of monumental temples. Uruk become one of the most important centers in Mesopotamia.About 3500 BC, the Indo-European Yamnaya culture that had emerged between the Danube and the Don began to expand dynamically to the east, reaching the Caucasian foreland by about 3300 BC. This expansion is likely to have triggered the Sumerian migration to Mesopotamia. It would have proceeded through the Caucasus and the Diyala Valley, and since wheeled transport was available, could easily have been completed before the end of the Late Uruk period (c. 3100 BC). The arrival of the Sumerians would thus coincide with the destruction of the Eanna temple precinct at the end of the Uruk IVa period.
3100BC – First Egyptian Dynasty founded by Menes.
3100BCFirst Mycenaean Culture begins.
3000BC Stonehenge in England built
3000BC Egyptian Hieroglyphs developed
3000-2500BCE
2952BC- Fu-Xi, first of the Three Noble Emperors rules. He develops the Chinese alphabet and culture.
2870BC – Troy founded.
2800BC- Foundation of the ‘Old Kingdom’ in Egypt, covering 3rd Dynasty to the 7th.
2780BC- Zoser becomes ruler of Egypt. His physician Imhotep designs the first pyramid at Saqqara.
2700BC – Great Pyramid age begins in Egypt with Khufu building the Great Pyramid of Giza.
2697BC- Huang-ti, the “Yellow Emperor” comes to power in China.
2613BC – Death of king Khufu, succeeded by his son Redjedef who introduces the worship of Ra into the royal tutelary and religion.
2603BC –Khafre rules and builds his tomb at Giza.
2600-1800BC Indus Civilization at its height.The Harappan cities have sophisticated water and sewer systems, the like which would not be seen until Roman times.
2586BC – The temple of Sri Rangam in south India completed.
2578BC –Menkaure rules Egypt, builds the smallest of the 3 pyramids at Giza.
2500BC- Sphinx built at Giza
2500BC -Long Shan Culture .East China and Central River valleys. Wheel-made pottery, divination and ancestral worship
2500BC – Papyrus used for writing in Egypt.
2500BC -Residential communities on the north Pacific coast of Peru grow large. The extensive Aspero, covered over thirty acres , with ceremonial mounds, plazas, and terraces.
GREEKS were from the lineage of japheth and dark skinned
The Greeks were a darkskinned people who ruled Europe from 2500 BC - 338 BC. In 338 BC The EDOMITE Macedonian King Philip ll conquered and took Greek identity. The ancient Greeks were a ancient Japhethic tribe called the Mycenaeans they were darkskinned and hated the peasant goat herders called Macedonian Edomites that migrated to the Greek isles from lower palestine from EDOM or Idumea sometime in 1000 BC - 700 BC
2500-1600BCE
2371BC- Sargon of Agade founds the Akkadian Empire and unites Sumer and Akkad.
2350BC Sargon of Akkad destroys Babylon (which rises again)
2350BC- Yao Dynasty in China.
2205-1766BC – Xia Dynasty begins in China. Ritual bronze vessels and "oracle bones" calligraphy. Evidence of a relatively sophisticated medical system using acupuncture needles and medical observations
2150BC- Civil War in Egypt
2100BC- The Kingdom of Ur 2100-2000. Abraham leads his people from Ur to Canaan (Palestine).
Around 2000 BC, the region centered in Hattusa, that would later become the core of the Hittite kingdom, was inhabited by people with a distinct culture who spoke a non-Indo-European language. The name " Hattic" is used by Anatolianists to distinguish this language from the Indo-European Hittite language that appeared on the scene at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC and became the administrative language of the Hittite kingdom over the next six or seven centuries. As noted above, "Hittite" is a modern convention for referring to this language. The native term was Nesili, i.e. "In the language of Neša". The early Hittites, whose prior whereabouts are unknown, borrowed heavily from the pre-existing Hattian culture, and also from that of the Assyrian traders — in particular, the cuneiform writing and the use of cylindrical seals. Since Hattic continued to be used in the Hittite kingdom for religious purposes, and there is substantial continuity between the two cultures, it is not known whether the Hattic speakers — the Hattians— were displaced by the speakers of Hittite, were absorbed by them, or just adopted their language. The truth buried between Christianity, Judaism and Islam
2000BC- The so-called Temple of the Crossed Hands, a large square building with mud reliefs of crossed human arms in an interior chamber, is built at Kotosh in the north central Andean highlands
1925BC- Hittites conquer Babylon.
Hittites is the conventional English-language term for an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa (Hittite URUḪattuša) in northern Anatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite Kingdom was at its height, encompassing central Anatolia, south-western Syria as far as Ugarit, and upper Mesopotamia. After 1180 BC, amid general turmoil in the Levant associated with the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples, the kingdom disintegrated into several independent " Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived until as late as the 8th century BC. The history of the Hittite civilization is known mostly from cuneiform texts found in the area of their kingdom, and from diplomatic and commercial correspondence found in various archives in Egypt and the Middle East.
Hittite chariot, from an Egyptian relief
Hattians and Hittites
Result of Hittites migration sometime around 1900 BC.
It is generally assumed that the Hittites came into Anatolia some time before 2000 BC. While their earlier location is disputed, there has been strong evidence for more than a century that the home of the Indo-Europeans in the fourth and third millennia was in the Pontic Steppe, present day Ukraine around the Sea of Azov. The Hittites and other members of the Anatolian family then came from the north, possibly along the Caspian Sea. Their movement into the region set off a Near East mass migration sometime around 1900 BC The dominant inhabitants in central Anatolia at the time were Hattians. There were also Assyrian colonies in the country; it was from these that the Hittites adopted the cuneiform script. It took some time before the Hittites established themselves, as is clear from some of the texts included here. For several centuries there were separate Hittite groups, usually centered around various cities. But then strong rulers with their center in Boğazköy succeeded in bringing these together and conquering large parts of central Anatolia to establish the Hittite kingdom. [1]Origins of the Hittite Kingdom
The early history of the Hittite kingdom is known through tablets that may first have been written in the 17th century BC but survived only as copies made in the 14th and 13th centuries BC. These tablets, known collectively as the Anitta text, [2] begin by telling how Pithana the king of Kussara or Kussar (a small city-state yet to be identified by archaeologists) conquered the neighbouring city of Neša ( Kanesh). However, the real subject of these tablets is Pithana's son Anitta, who continued where his father left off and conquered several neighbouring cities, including Hattusa and Zalpuwa ( Zalpa). The Old KingdomThe founding of the Hittite Kingdom is attributed to either Labarna I or Hattusili I (it is debated whether this is the same person), who conquered the area south and north of Hattusa. Hattusili campaigned as far as the kingdom of Yamkhad in Syria, where he attacked, but did not capture, its capital of Aleppo. His heir, Mursili I, conquered that city in a campaign conducted in 1595 BC. [3] Also in 1595 BC, Mursili I (or Murshilish I) conducted a great raid down the Euphrates River and captured Mari and Babylon. [4] However, the Hittite campaigns caused internal dissension which forced a withdrawal of troops to the Hittite homelands. Throughout the remainder of the sixteenth century BC, the Hittite kings were held to their homelnads by dynastic quarrels and warfare with the Hurrian's--their neighbors to the east. [5] Although the campaigns into Syria and Mesopotamia may be responsible for the reintroduction of cuneiform writing into Anatolia, since the Hittite script is quite different from the script of the preceding Assyrian Colony period. Mursili continued the conquests of Hattusili. Mursili's conquests reached Mesopotamia and even ransacked Babylon itself in 1531 BC. [6] Rather than incorporate Babylonia into Hittite domains, Mursili seems to have instead turned control Babylonia over to his Kassite allies, who were to rule it for the next four centuries. This lengthy campaign, however, strained the resources of Hatti, and left the capital in a state of near-anarchy. Mursili was assassinated shortly after his return home, and the Hittite Kingdom was plunged into chaos. The Hurrians, a people living in the mountainous region along the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers took advantage of the situation to seize Aleppo and the surrounding areas for themselves, as well as the coastal region of Adaniya, renaming it Kizzuwatna (later Cilicia).
Following this, the Hittites entered a weak phase of obscure records, insignificant rulers, and reduced area of control. This pattern of expansion under strong kings followed by contraction under weaker ones, was to be repeated over and over again throughout the Hittite Kingdom's 500-year history, making events during the waning periods difficult to reconstruct with much precision. The political instability of these years of the Old Hittite Kingdom, can be explained in part by the nature of the Hittite kingship at that time. During the Old Hittite Kingdom period prior to 1400 BC, the king of the Hittites was not viewed by the Hittite citizenry as a "living god," like the Pharaohs of Egypt. Rather the Hittite king was viewed as a first among equals. [7] Only in the later period of the Hittite Empire from 1400 BC until 1200 BC, did the kingship of the Hittites become more centralized and powerful. The next monarch of any note following Mursili I was Telepinu (ca. 1500 BC), who won a few victories to the southwest, apparently by allying himself with one Hurrian state ( Kizzuwatna) against another ( Mitanni). The Middle KingdomTelepinu's reign marked the end of the "Old Kingdom" and the beginning of the lengthy weak phase known as the "Middle Kingdom." [8] The period of the 15th century BC is largely unknown with very sparse surviving records. [9] The Middle Kingdom is not so much an independent phase of Hittite history as a period of transition between the Old and New Kingdoms. Almost nothing is known about the History of the Hittites in this period. [10] The last monarch of the Old kingdom, Telepinu, reigned until about 1500 BC. The "Middle Kingdom" is the following period of obscurity, lasting for about 70 years, until the emergence of the New Kingdom. This period is called the " Hittite Empire period," proper, and dates from the reign of Tudhaliya I from ca. 1430 BC. One innovation that can be credited to these early Hittite rulers is the practice of conducting treaties and alliances with neighboring states; the Hittites were thus among the earliest known pioneers in the art of international politics and diplomacy.The New Kingdom
 \
The Hittite Kingdom at the height of its power (red), bordering on the Egyptian Empire (green).
With the reign of Tudhaliya I (who may actually not have been the first of that name; see also Tudhaliya), the Hittite Kingdom re-emerges from the fog of obscurity. Hittite civilization entered the perioid of time called the "Hittite Empire period." Many changes were afoot during this time, not the least of which was a strengthening of the kingship. Settlement of the Hittites progressed in the Empire period. [11] However, the Hittite people tended to settle in the older lands of south Anatolia rather than the lands of the Aegean. As this settlement progressed, treaties were signed with neighboring peoples. [12] During the Hittite Empire period the kingship became heriditary and the king took on a "superhuman aura" and began to be referred to by the Hittite citizens as "My Sun." The kings of the Empire period began acting as a high priest for the whole kingdom—making an annual tour of the Hittite holy cities, conducting festivals and supervising the upkeep of the sanctuaries. [13]During his reign (c. 1400 BC), King Tudhaliya I, again allied with Kizzuwatna, the vanquished the Hurrian states of Aleppo and Mitanni, and expanded to the west at the expense of Arzawa (a Luwian state). Another weak phase followed Tudhaliya I, and the Hittites' enemies from all directions were able to advance even to Hattusa and raze it. However, the Kingdom recovered its former glory under Suppiluliuma I (c. 1350 BC), who again conquered Aleppo, reduced Mitanni to tribute under his son-in-law, and defeated Carchemish, another Syrian city-state. With his own sons placed over of all of these new conquests, Babylonia still in the hands of the Kassites, and Assyria only newly independent with the crushing of Mitanni, this left Suppiluliuma the supreme power broker outside of Egypt, and it was not long before even that country was seeking an alliance by marriage of another of his sons with the widow of Tutankhamen. Unfortunately, that son was evidently murdered before reaching his destination, and this alliance was never consummated. After Suppiluliuma I, and a very brief reign by his eldest son, another son, Mursili II became king (c. 1330). Having inherited a position of strength in the east, Mursili was able to turn his attention to the west, where he attacked Arzawa and a city known as Millawanda in the coastal land of Ahhiyawa. Many recent scholars have surmised that Millawanda in Ahhiyawa is likely a reference to Miletus and Achaea known to Greek history, though there are a small number who have disputed this connection. Battle of KadeshHittite prosperity was mostly dependent on control of the trade routes and metal sources. Because of the importance of Northern Syria to the vital routes linking the Cilician gates with Mesopotamia, defense of this area was crucial, and was soon put to the test by Egyptian expansion under Pharaoh Rameses II. The outcome of the battle is uncertain, though it seems that the timely arrival of Egyptian reinforcements prevented total Hittite victory. [14] The Egyptians forced the Hittites to take refuge in the fortress of Kadesh, but their own losses prevented them from sustaining a siege. This battle took place in the 5th year of Rameses (c. 1274 BC by the most commonly used chronology). Downfall and Demise of the KingdomAfter this date, the power of the Hittites began to decline yet again because of the rising power of the Assyrians. [15] The Assyrians had seized the opportunity to vanquish Mitanni and expand to the Euphrates while Muwatalli was preoccupied with the Egyptians. Assyria now posed just as great a threat to Hittite trade routes as Egypt ever had. Muwatalli's son, Urhi-Teshub, took the throne and ruled as king for 7 years as Mursili III before being ousted by his uncle, Hattusili III after a brief civil war. In response to increasing Assyrian encroachments along the frontier, he concluded a peace and alliance with Rameses II, presenting his daughter's hand in marriage to the Pharaoh. [16] The "Treaty of Kadesh", one of the oldest completely surviving treaties in history, fixed their mutual boundaries in Canaan, and was signed in the 21st year of Rameses (c. 1258 BC).Terms of this treaty included the marriage of one of the Hittite princesses to the Pharaoh Rameses. [17] [1]Hattusili's son, Tudhaliya IV, was the last strong Hittite king able to keep the Assyrians out of Syria and even temporarily annex the island of Cyprus. The very last king, Suppiluliuma II also managed to win some victories, including a naval battle against the Sea Peoples off the coast of Cyprus. But it was too little and too late. The Sea Peoples had already begun their push down the Mediterranean coastline, starting from the Aegean, and continuing all the way to Philistia—taking Cilicia and Cyprus away from the Hittites en route and cutting off their coveted trade routes. This left the Hittite homelands vulnerable to attack from all directions, and Hattusa was burnt to the ground sometime around 1180 BC following a combined onslaught from Kaskas and Bryges. The Hittite Kingdom thus vanished from historical records. [18]The Neo-Hittite KingdomsMain article: Neo-HittiteA large and powerful state known as Tabal occupied much of southern Anatolia. Known as Gk. Τιβαρηνοί Tibarenoi, Lat. Tibareni, Thobeles in Josephus, their language may have been Luwian, [19] testified to by monuments written using Luwian hieroglyphics. [20]Ultimately, both Luwian hieroglyphs and cuneiform were rendered obsolete by a new innovation, the alphabet, which seems to have entered Anatolia simultaneously from the Aegean (with the Bryges, who changed their name to Phrygians), and from the Phoenicians and neighboring peoples in Syria.
1800-900BC Early Formative Period of Mesoamerica. Neolithic farming villages;looms, ground stone figurines; rule by groups of elders, shamans, or chiefs; rain & fertility cults
1878BC – Sesostris II dies and is succeeded by his son Sesostris III who builds a canal at the first cataract of the Nile, forms a standing army and erects forts at the Southern border.
1700BC- The Minoan civilization on Crete is at its height
1700 BC Construction begins on the pyramid at the site of Cerro Sechin in the north-central valley of Casma, Peru.
1728BC- Accession of Hammurabi the Great of Babylon, author of the great Code of Laws.
1650-rise of Mycenaean civilization.
1600-1500BCE
1600BC – Hebrews enter Egypt.
1600BC-Linear A (writing) in common use over Crete.
1595BC – First Babylonian Empire destroyed by the Hittites.
1570BC- Beginning of the New Kingdom in Egypt: Hyksos driven out by Ahmose I and the Temple of Amun at Karnak begun. Reunification of Egypt begins.
1551BC – Ahmose I dies and is succeeded by Amenhotep I. He begins the custom of hiding his burial place.
1504BC- Thutmose II dies and is succeeded by his young son Thutmose III. His mother Hatshepsut governs as regent and within a year is crowned pharaoh. Mother and son then rule jointly.
1500BC – Cinnamon is exported from Kerala to Middle East.
1500BC- First tomb in the Valley of the Kings Egypt.
1500BC-Polynesians migrate throughout Pacific islands.
1500BC-Mittani Kingdom begins in Asia Minor.
1500BC The Huaca de los Reyes, a grand building complex of plazas, sunken courts, colonnades, towers, and adobe sculptures, is built of stone and clay mortar at the site of Caballo Muerto in Peru's Moche Valley.
1500BC Gold is hammered into thin foil and placed in the hands and mouth of a youth upon burial at the central highland site of Waywaka in Peru. The gold foil is the first evidence for the working of metals in South America
1500-1000BCE
1483BC –Thutmose III of Egypt reconquers Syria and Palestine and expands his empire.
The ancient Egyptian account gives the date of the battle as the 21st day of the first month of the third season, of Year 23 of the reign of Thutmose III. It has been claimed that this was April 16, 1457 BC according to the Middle Chronology, although other publications place the battle in 1482 BC or 1479 BC. The Battle of Megiddo was an Egyptian victory and resulted in a rout of the Canaanite forces, which fled to safety in the city of Megiddo. Their action resulted in the subsequent lengthy Siege of Megiddo. By reestablishing Egyptian dominance in the Levant, Pharaoh Thutmose III began a reign in which the Egyptian Empire reached its greatest expanse
1400BC- Cretan Culture ends: Knossos burnt..
1379BC – Amenhotep introduces monotheistic Sun-worship and abolishes all old gods.
1375BC- Suppiluliumas becomes king of the Hittites in Asia Minor and begins building Hittite Empire.
1361BC- The boy-pharaoh Tutankhamen succeeds Akhenaton: his advisors restore the worship of the old gods of Egypt.
1350BC-The Lion Gate of Mycenae built.
1304BC- Rameses II the Great, becomes pharaoh of Egypt
1300BC-Phoenician settlements founded in Helias and Cadiz.
1276BC – Lifetime of Tiglath Pileser I of Assyria. He conquers the Armenians, Hittites, Babylonians and forces Egypt to pay tribute to him
1250BC - Moses leads 600,000 Jews out of Egypt.
1200BC-Agamemnon, king of Mycenae
1193BC- Probable time of the legendary Greek Trojan War celebrated in Homer's epic poems, Iliad and Odyssey (ca -750).
1175BC- Invasion of Egypt by confederation of Greeks, Philistines, Sardinians, and Sicilians: all defeated by Ramses III.
By 1160 BC, the political situation in Asia Minor looked vastly different from how it had only 25 years earlier. In that year, the Assyrians were dealing with the Mushku pressing into northernmost Mesopotamia from the Anatolian highlands, and the Gasga people, the Hittites' old enemies from the northern hill-country between Hatti and the Black Sea, seem to have joined them soon after. The Mushku or Mushki had apparently overrun Cappadocia from the West, with recently discovered epigraphic evidence confirming their origins as the Balkan "Bryges" tribe, forced out by the Macedonians. Although the Hittites disappeared from Anatolia at this point, there emerged a number of so-called Neo-Hittite kingdoms in Anatolia and northern Syria. They were the successors of the Hittite Kingdom. The most notable Syrian Neo-Hittite kingdoms were those at Carchemish and Milid (near the later Melitene). These Neo-Hittite Kingdoms gradually fell under the control of the Assyrians, who conquered Carchemish during the reign of Sargon II in the late 8th century BC, and Milid several decades later.
1124BC - Elamite Dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar I moves capital to Babylon, world's largest city, covering 10,000 hectares, slightly larger than present-day San Francisco.
1122BC- Emperor Wu Wang founds the Western Chou Dynasty in China
1000-400BC Height of the Olmec civilization. Famous for the sculptures of giant stone heads with Negroid features.Incipient forms of writing appear as early as 500BC.
1000-700 BCE
975BC - King Hiram of Phoenicia, for the sake of King Solomon of Israel, trades with the port of Ophir (Sanskrit- Supara) near modern Bombay, showing the trade between Israel and India. Same trade goes back to Harappan era.
953BC- Solomon builds the Great Temple.
950BC - Jewish people arrive in India in King Solomon's merchant fleet. Later Jewish colonies find India a tolerant home.
ETRUSCANS Lost Isralites Who Ruled Rome 900 BC - 300 BC
The Etruscans were Isralites that migrated to Italy from Israel under King Soloman in 900 BC and Ruled the then peasant goat herders who also migrated ( like the pilgrims ) from the land of EDOM or Idumea in lower palestine who became the Romans in 753 BC. The Etuscans ruled Italy from 900 BC to 300 BC when the Roman Edomites conquered them and took their culture in 343 BC
850BC - The Chinese use the 28-nakshatra zodiac called Shiu, adapted from the Vedic jyotisa system.
814BC- Carthage founded by Phoenicians.
800BC – Traditional date of the composition of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
776BC - First Olympic Games are held in Greece.
770BC – Eastern Chou Dynasty in China (till 256BC).
753BC – Traditional date of the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus.
722BC- Capture of Samaria by Sargon II.From the Assyria Empire conquered the Kingdom of Israel: 722B.C.+1335x2=A.D.1948 Open... more
710BC – Assyrians destroy the kingdom of Chaldea.
705BC – Sennacherib becomes king of Assyria till 682BC.
701BC – Sennacherib establishes his capital at Nineveh.
700-600 BCE
689BC – Assyrians destroy Babylon and flood the area.
650-600BC Zarathustra, founder of Persian Zoroastrianism
The Akkadian name, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, means "Oh god Nabu, preserve/defend my firstborn son". Nabu is the Babylonian deity of wisdom, and son of the god Marduk. In an inscription, Nebuchadnezzar styles himself as Nabu's “beloved” and “ favourite”. [2][3]The name is often mistakenly interpreted as "O Nabu, defend my kudurru", [4] in which sense a kudurru is an inscribed stone deed of property. However, when contained in a ruler's title, kudurru approximates to "firstborn son" or "oldest son". [5]The Hebrew form is נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר ( Nəḇūḵaḏneṣṣar or Nevuchadnetsar), but is also found as נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר and נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר ( Nəḇuḵaḏreṣṣar). The Greek form was Ναβουχοδονόσωρ ( Naboukhodonósôr). He is also known as Bakhat Nasar, which means "winner of the fate", or literally, "fate winner
647BC – Assurbanipal sacks the Persian city of Susa, enslaves the Elamites and sows salt on the ground so that nothing will grow there.
621BC – Dracon introduces Athens first written laws, which are noted for their severity.
608BC – Necho of Egypt defeats and kills Josiah, king of Judah, at the Battle of Megiddo.
This Battle of Megiddo is recorded as having taken place in 609 BC with Necho II of Egypt leading his army to Carchemish to fight with his allies the Assyrians against the Babylonians at Carchemish in northern Syria. This required passing through territory controlled by the Kingdom of Judah and Necho requested permission from its king, Josiah. For unknown reasons this permission was not granted and a battle took place in which Josiah was killed. The battle is recorded in the Bible, 1 Esdras, and the writings of Josephus.
The major Sanskrit epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE. They contain mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas recount tales about devas and devis, their interactions with humans and their battles against demons. Three major movements underpinned the naissance of a new epoch of Hindu thought: the advent and spread of Upanishadic, Jaina, and Buddhist philosophico-religious thought throughout the broader Indian landmass. [26] Mahavira (24th Tirthankar of Jains) and Buddha (founder of Buddhism) taught that to achieve moksha or nirvana, one did not have to accept the authority of the Vedas or the caste system. Buddha went a step further and claimed that the existence of a Self/soul or God was unnecessary. [27] Buddhism peaked during the reign of Asoka the Great of the Mauryan Empire, who unified the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. After 200 CE several schools of thought were formally codified in Indian philosophy, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-Mimamsa and Vedanta. [28] Charvaka, the founder of an atheistic materialist school, came to the fore in North India in the sixth century BCE. [29] Between 400 BCE and 1000 CE Hinduism expanded at the expense of Buddhism. [30]Biblical accounts
In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him; and Pharaoh Neco slew him at Megiddo, when he saw him. 30 And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb.
After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him. But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you.” However, Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to make war with him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to make war on the plain of Megiddo. The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” 24 So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their lamentations to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations.Other accounts
The account in Esdras adds some minor details, with the basic difference between it and the earlier account in Chronicles being that Josiah is described only as being 'weak' at Meggido and asks to be taken back to Jerusalem, where he dies. Cline points out that this brings the story more in line with and earlier prophecy made by the prophetess Huldah (II Kings 22:15-20). Seven centuries after Josiah's death, Josephus also wrote an account of the events. This contains more details about Josiah's movements on the battlefield which have been suggested come from documents now lost, but Cline suggests it is based on the biblical accounts and perhaps Joephus's own views.(Cline 2000:97)
Finally there is the suggestion that Herodotus records this battle and Egyptian campaign in his writings about the pharaoh Necho, that are included in his famous Histories: [4]| “ | Necos, then, stopped work on the canal and turned to war; some of his triremes were constructed by the northern sea, and some in the Arabian Gulf, by the coast of the Sea of Erythrias. The windlasses for beaching the ships can still be seen. He deployed these ships as needed, while he also engaged in a pitched battle at Magdolos with the Syrians, and conquered them; and after this he took Cadytis, which is a great city of Syria. He sent the clothes he had worn in these battles to Branchidae of Miletus and dedicated them to Apollo. | ” |
Location of the battlefield
A view at the topography of the place around the city, will reveal that Megiddo is a small rise among others on a small elevated plateau close to a large level coastal plain large enough to accommodate many thousands of troops. Being that it doesn't dominate the surrounding area, it is not an obvious target, yet it is useful as a garrison and it has a water source from the river Kishon. This explains why Josiah used the terrain to mask his approach as he attempted to ambush the Egyptian army that was on its way to attack the Babylonians in Mesopotamia. AftermathJudah fell under Egyptian control and influence. On his return from Syria and Mesopotamia, Necho II captured and deposed Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah who had just succeeded his father on the throne. The pharaoh enforced a tribute of 100 talents of silver and one talent of gold upon the kingdom, and appointed his older brother Eliakim as king. Necho also changed the name of this new king into Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz was taken captive to Egypt, where he became the first king of Judah to die in exile. Debate over the account in II ChroniclesEric H. Cline explains that there is a division of opinion as to the accuracy of the above account. On the one side are the scholars who believe that it is an accurate report of a surprise attack by Josiah. On the other are those who point out that this would not be the only time the Chronicler 'improved' a story. From being wounded by an arrow to his burial in Jerusalem, the story resembles perhaps too closely stories from I and II Kings about Kings Ahab of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah, events which occurred at least two centuries before Josiah's death. Cline suggests that the Chronicler used details from these stories in Josiah's story. (Cline 2000:95)
604BC – Era of Hebrew prophet Daniel.
600BC - Life of Susruta, of Varanasi, the father of surgery. His ayurvedic treatises cover pulse diagnosis, hernia, cataract, cosmetic surgery, medical ethics, 121 surgical implements, antiseptics, use of drugs to control bleeding, toxicology, psychiatry, classification of burns, midwifery, surgical anesthesia and therapeutics of garlic.
600BC Lifetime of Lao-tzu, founder of Taoism in China, author of Tao-te Ching. Its esoteric teachings of simplicity and selflessness shape Chinese life for 2,000 years and permeate the religions of Vietnam, Japan and Korea.
600-500BCE
594BC – Solon becomes sole Archon of Athens. He introduces milder laws to replace Dracon’s. Creates courts of citizens and reforms elections of magistrates.
586BC- Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon captures Jerusalem: People of Judah deported to Babylon.
580BC - Nebuchadnezzar II begins building ‘The Hanging Gardens of Babylon’.
559BC – Cyrus the Great founds the Persian Empire.
551-497BC - Lifetime of Confucius, founder of Confucianism faith.
546BC –Battle of Sardis: Croesus, last king of Lydia defeated by Cyrus; Persians overrun Asia Minor.
539BC- Babylon captured by Persians: Judah and Phoenicia become Persian provinces.
539BC Greeks defeat the Carthaginians in battle.
538BC – Cyrus allows some Jewish exiles to return to Judah.
520BC – Work is resumed on the Temple of Jerusalem (completed 515BC).
517-509BC – Darius I conquers the Indus region and makes it part of the Persian Empire.
509BC – Foundation of Roman Republic.
508BC- Democratic constitution proclaimed in Athens.
500-200 BC-precocious ceremonial centers emerged in the Maya lowlands at sites like El Mirador, Nakbé, Cerros, and Uaxactún.
500BC- China- Agriculture begins to make more advances including the use of an iron plow.
500-300BCE
500BC – Iron Age begins in Britain.500 BCE: Maya - El Mirador, Nakbé, Cerros, Uaxactún 432 BCE: Greece - Parthenon ,
499BC – Revolt of Ionian Greek cities against Persian King Darius.
486BC – Xerxes, son of Darius, becomes king of Persia.
480BC – Battle of Thermopylae: Spartans wiped out by Persians. Persian invasion of Greece halted.
461BC – Pericles comes to power in Athens.
460BC – Birth of Demetrius (460-370BC), Greek philosopher who constructs a working mechanical model of the universe.
450BC - Athenian philosopher Socrates flourishes (ca -470-400).
432BC The Parthenon is completed
428-348BC - Lifetime of Plato, Athenian disciple of Socrates. This great philosopher founds Athens Academy in 387BC.
403BC-Warring States Period of Chinese History (403-221BC)
400BC- Lifetime of Hippocrates, Greek physician and "father of medicine," formulates Hippocratic oath, code of medical ethics still pledged by present-Between 400 BCE and 1000 CE Hinduism expanded at the expense of Buddhism. [332BC – Alexander invades Egypt and ends Persian rule, appointing his generals Cleomenes and Ptolemy to govern.
330 BC – Alexander conquers Persia and sets fire to Persepolis.
326BC -Alexander invades, but fails to conquer, Northern India. His soldiers mutiny. He leaves India the same year. Greek sculpture impacts Hindu styles. Bactria kingdoms later enhance Greek influence.
300BC Nak'be becomes a major center in central America. Enormous stucco-surfaced limestone masks embellish a major temple, the first occurrence of a longlived Maya religious pattern. 30] 300 BCE: Maya - Nakbé, first major temple embellishments Sanskritic culture went into decline after the end of the Gupta period. The early medieval Puranas helped establish a religious mainstream among the pre-literate tribal societies undergoing acculturation. The tenets of Brahmanic Hinduism and of the Dharmashastras underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of a mainstream "Hinduism" that overshadowed all earlier traditions. [31]
300BCE-8AD
282BC- The Colossus of Rhodes is constructed.
221BC-Great Wall of China is built, ultimately 2,600 miles long, the only man-made object visible from the moon.
220BC-standardization of weights, measures, calligraphy in China. Emperor Qin Shi Huang creates burial pit city including thousands of Terracotta warriors.
150BC - Ajanta Buddhist Caves are begun near present-day Hyderabad. Construction of the 29 monasteries and galleries continues until approximately 650AD. The famous murals are painted between 600AD and 650AD
150 BC The site of Tiwanaku on Bolivia's Lake Titicaca is laid out in a grid pattern with civic-ceremonial structures and elite residences forming the center. Stone sculptures with low-relief carvings of human, animal, and undulating snake figures are erected.150 BCE: Buddhist caves
100 BCE: Peru - Nazca, Cahuachi
100BC the Nazca peoples living in the Ica Valley and in the Río Grande de Nazca drainage are impressive weavers, producing complex works.
113BC- Heliodorus column is erected
100BC – Scythians invade North India and take over.
50BC - Kushana Empire begins (50BC-220AD). This Mongolian Buddhist dynasty rules most of the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia.
44BC – Julius Caesar assassinated in Senate house.
30BC – As her forces are routed by Octavian (Augustus Caesar), Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt commits suicide.
5BC – Birth of Jesus Christ.
8AD – China ruled by Wang Mang, a commoner who had served the Han Dynasty who was appointed emperor after a power struggle.
100-300AD
10AD – Indian embassy to Emperor Trajan in Rome.
30AD – Christ crucified.
60AD - Buddhism is introduced in China by Emperor Ming-di after he converts to the faith.
79AD – Mount Vesuvius erupts and destroys Pompeii.
100AD - Zhang Qian of China establishes trade routes to India and as far west as Rome, later known as the "Silk Roads."
100AD- The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon are constructed in Mexico at Teotihuacan
117AD - The Roman Empire reaches its greatest extent.
180AD -Mexican city of Teotihuacan has a population of more than 125,000 and covered at least 8 square miles. It is one of the largest cities in the world betwen200-700 AD.
205-270AD - Lifetime of Plotinus, Egyptian-born monistic Greek philosopher and religious genius who transforms a revival of Platonism in the Roman Empire into what present-day scholars call Neo-Platonism.
225AD – Later Han Dynasty of China collapses. China is plunged into 350 years of chaos among 3 feuding kingdoms.
250AD- Nazca lines in Peru
250-600AD- The Mayan have long-count calendar, writing, sculpture, mathematics, ceramics, and large-scale urban planning widespread in many areas.
300-500AD
300AD- Mayan Empire at its height (300-800AD)
313AD- Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire.
358AD -Huns, excellent archers and horsemen, invade Europe from the East.
391AD- Roman Emperor Theodosius destroys Greek Hellenistic temples in favor of Christianity.
400AD – Polynesians sailing in open outrigger canoes reach as far as Hawaii and Easter Island.
405AD – Chinese pilgrim Fa Hein begins his travels through the Gupta Kingdom.
419AD - Moche people of Peru build a Sun temple 150 feet high using 50 million bricks.
430AD – Attila the Hun ravages Europe.
440AD – Pope Leo I proclaims papal supremacy over the teachings of Christianity.
450AD– Hunas invade India
452AD- Pope Leo I persuades Attila the Hun not to sack Rome.
476AD – Birth of the astrologer Aryabhatta. who by using Vedic numerals accurately calculates pi () to 3.1416, and the solar year to 365.3586805 days. A thousand years before Copernicus.
500-1000AD
570AD – Birth of Mohammed.
618-907AD -Tang Dynasty. the silk road trade to Europe thrives
641AD-Arab Muslims conquer Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia in 4 years.
686AD- Reign of Pallava King Rajasinha who begins the extensive sculptural art in the thriving sea-port of Mahabalipuram.
691AD – The Dome of the Rock is built in Jerusalem.
750AD-Kailasa temple is carved out of a hill of rock at Ellora, India.
875AD - Muslim conquests extend from Spain to Indus Valley.
1000AD- A few Hindu communities from Rajasthan, Sindh and other areas, gradually move to Persia and on to Europe becoming the ancestors of present-day Romani, or gypsies.
1000AD-Vikings reach North America, landing in Nova Scotia.
1000AD-Polynesians arrive in New Zealand, last stage in the greatest migration and navigational feat in history, making them the most widely-spread race on Earth.
1000-1500AD Inca Empire at its height.
1000-1300AD
1000-1250AD- Chichen Itza flourishes as the economic and political center of the Mayas
1100-1200AD-Rise of Toltec Empire centered at Tula. They dominate Mexico
1001AD- Turkish Muslims sweep through the Northwest under Mahmud of Ghazni, in the first major Muslim conquest of India.
1040AD –Chinese invent the compass and moveable type and perfect the use of gunpowder, first invented and used in India as an explosive mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal to power guns, cannons and artillery.
1150AD – Building of the present Jagannatha Temple in Puri.
1096-1099AD- First Crusade
1167AD – Birth of Genghis Khan.
1175AD- Toltec Empire of Mexico crumbles.
1199AD – Genghis Khan becomes supreme leader of the Mongol tribes.
1200-1400AD-Rise of the Aztec Empire; disintegration of Maya civilization
1227AD- Mongolian Emperor Genghis Khan, conqueror of a vast area from Beijing, China, to Iran and north of Tibet, the largest empire the world has yet seen, dies.
1238AD – T’ai Kingdom established at Sukhot’ai, capital of the Angkor Empire, after two T’ai chiefs defeat the Khmer. This area later becomes Siam / Thailand. 1276AD - Kublai Khan completes conquest of China.
Kublai (or Khubilai) Khan ( Mongolian: Хубилай хаан; Chinese: 忽必烈; pinyin: Hūbìliè) (September 23, 1215 [1] – February 18, 1294 [2]) was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in East Asia. As the second son of Tolui and Sorghaghtani Beki and a grandson of Genghis Khan, he claimed the title of Khagan of the Ikh Mongol Uls (Mongol Empire) in 1260 after the death of his older brother Möngke in the previous year, though his younger brother Ariq Böke was also given this title in the Mongolian capital at Karakorum. He eventually won the battle against Ariq Böke in 1264, and the succession war essentially marked the beginning of disunity in the empire. [3] Kublai's real power was limited to China and Mongolia after the victory over Ariq Böke, though his influence still remained in the Ilkhanate, and to a lesser degree, in the Golden Horde, in the western parts of the Mongol Empire. [4][5][6] His realm reached from the Pacific to the Urals, from Siberia to modern day Afghanistan – one fifth of the world's inhabited land area. [7]
Early years
On his way back home after the conquest of Khwarizmian Empire, Genghis Khan performed the ceremony on his grandsons Mongke and Kublai after their first hunting in 1224 near the Ili River. [9] Kublai was nine years old and with his eldest brother killed a rabbit and an antelope. His grandfather smeared fat from killed animals onto Kublai's middle finger following the Mongol tradition. After the Mongol-Jin War, in 1236, Ogedei gave Hebei Province (attached with 80,000 households) to the family of Tolui who died in 1232. Kublai received an estate of his own and 10,000 households there. Because he was inexperienced, Kublai allowed local officials free rein. Corruption amongst his officials and aggressive taxation caused the flight of large numbers of Chinese peasants, which in turn led to a decline in tax revenues. Kublai quickly came to his appanage in Hebei and ordered reforms. Sorghaghtani sent new officials to help him and tax laws were revised. Thanks to those efforts, people returned to their old towers. The most prominent, and arguably influential component of Kublai Khan's early life was his study and strong attraction to contemporary Chinese culture. Kublai invited Haiyun, the leading Buddhist monk in North China, to his ordo in Mongolia. When he met Haiyun in Karakorum in 1242, Kublai asked him about the philosophy of Buddhism. Haiyun named Kublai's son, Zhenjin (True Gold in Chinese language), who was born in 1243. [10] Haiyun also introduced Kublai the former Taoist and now Buddhist monk, Liu Bingzhong. Liu was a painter, calligrapher, poet and mathematician, and became Kublai's advisor when Haiyun returned to run his temple in modern Beijing. [11] Kublai soon added the Shanxi scholar Zhao Bi to his entourage. Kublai employed other nationalities as well, for he was keen to balance local and imperial interests, Mongol and Turk. Khagan's viceroy in North ChinaIn 1251, his eldest brother Möngke became Khan of the Mongol Empire, and Khwarizmian Mahmud Yalavach and Kublai were sent to China. Kublai received the viceroyalty over North China and moved his ordo to central Inner Mongolia. During his years as viceroy, Kublai managed his territory well, boosting the agricultural output of Henan and increasing social welfare spendings after receiving Xi'an. These acts received great acclaim from the Chinese warlords and were essential to the building of the Yuan Dynasty. In 1252 Kublai criticized Mahmud Yalavach, who never stood high in the valuation of his Chinese associates, over his cavalier execution of suspects during a judicial view and Zhao Bi attacked him for his presumptuous attitude toward the throne. With Chinese Confucian-trained officials' resistance, Mongke dismissed Mahmud Yalavach. [12]In 1253, Kublai was ordered to attack Yunnan, and he asked the Kingdom of Dali to submit. The ruling faimly, Gao, resisted and murdered Mongol envoys. The Mongols divided their forces into three. One wing rode eastward into the Sichuan basin. The second column under Subotai's son Uryankhadai took a difficult way into the mountains of western Sichuan. [13] Kublai himself headed south over the grasslands, meeting up with the first column. While Uryankhadai galloping in along the lakeside from the north, Kublai took the capital city of Dali and spared the residents despite the slaying of his ambassadors. The Mongols appointed King Duan Xingzhi as local ruler and stationed a pacification commissioner there. [14] After Kublai's departure, unrest broke out among the Black jang. By 1256, Uryankhadai had completely pacified Yunnan. Kublai was attracted by the abilities of Tibetan monks as healers. In 1253 he made Drogön Chögyal Phagpa of the Sakya order member of his entourage. Phagpa bestowed on Kublai and his wife, Chabi (Chabui), a Tantric Buddhist initiation. Kublai appointed Uyghur Lian Xixian (1231–1280) to head his Pacification Commission in 1254. Some officials who were jealous of Kublai's success muttered that he was getting above himself, dreaming of his own empire by rivalling Mongke's capital Karakorum (Хархорум). The Great Khan Mongke sent 2 tax inspectors, Alamdar (Ariq Böke's close friend and governor in North China) and Liu Taiping, to audit Kublai's officials in 1257. They found fault, listed 142 breaches of regulations, accused Chinese officials, even had some executed and Kublai's new Pacification Commission was abolished. [15] Kublai sent a two-man embassy with his wives and then in person appealed to Mongke as brother to brother. Mongke publicly forgave his younger brother and reconciled with him. The Taoists had exploited their wealth and status by seizing Buddhist temples. Mongke demanded that the Taoists cease their denigration of Buddhism repeatedly and ordered Kublai to end the clerical strife between the Taoists and Buddhists in his territory. [16] Kublai called a conference of Taoist and Buddhist leaders in early 1258. At the conference, the Taoist claim was officially declared refuted and Kublai forcibly converted their 237 temples to Buddhism and destroyed all copies of the fraudulent texts. [17][18][19][20]In 1258, Möngke put Kublai in command of the Eastern Army and summoned him to assist with attack on Sichuan. Already suffering from gout, Kublai was allowed to stay, however, he moved to assist his brother, Mongke. Before Kublai could arrive in 1259, word reached him that Möngke had died. Kublai decided to keep the death of his brother a secret and continued to attack Wuhan, near Yangtze. While his force was besieging Wuchang, Subotai's son Uryankhadai joined him. Enthronement and civil warThe Song minister Jia Sidao made a secret approach to Kublai to propose terms and asked whether the Song paid an annual tribute of 200,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk, in exchange for the Mongols agreeing that the Yangtze should be the frontier between the states. [21] Kublai first declined but reached a peace agreement with Jia Sidao and returned north to the Mongolian plains because he learned in a message from his wife that Ariq Böke had been raising troops. [22]He soon received news that his younger brother Ariq Böke had held a kurultai at the Mongolian imperial capital of Karakorum and was pronounced Great Khan by Mongke's old officials. Most of Genghis Khan's descendants favored Ariq Böke as Great Khan; however, his two brothers Kublai and Hulegu opposed this. Kublai's Chinese staff encouraged him to ascend the throne, and virtually all the senior princes in North China and Manchuria supported his candidacy. [23] Upon returning to his own territories, Kublai summoned his own kurultai. Few members of the royal family supported Kublai's claims to the title, though the small number of attendees included representatives of all the Borjigin lines except that of Jochi. This kurultai proclaimed him Great Khan, on April 15, 1260, despite his younger brother Ariq Böke's apparently legal claim.
Kublai was chosen by his supporters except the Golden Horde at the kurultai in 1260
This subsequently led to warfare between Kublai and his younger brother Ariq Böke, resulting in the eventual destruction of the Mongolian capital at Karakorum. In Shaanxi and Sichuan, Mongke's army supported Ariq Böke. Kublai dispatched Lian Xixian to Shaanxi and Sichuan where they executed Ariq Böke's civil administrator Liu Taiping and won over several wavering generals. [24] To secure the southern front, Kublai did attempt a diplomatic resolution by sending envoys to Hangzhou, but Jia broke his promise and arrested them. [25] Kublai sent Abishqa as new khan to the Chagatai Khanate. Ariq Böke captured Abishqa, two other princes and 100 men and had his own man, Alghu, crowned khan of Chagatai's territory. In the first armed clash between Ariq Böke and Kublai Ariq Böke lost and his commander Alamdar was killed at the battle. In revenge, Ariq Böke had Abishqa executed. Kublai cut off the food supply to Karakorum with the support of his cousin Khadan, son of Ogedei Khan. Karakorum fell quickly at the hands of Kublai's large army, but following Kublai's departure it was temporarily re-taken by Ariq Böke in 1261. During the war with Ariq Böke, Yizhou governor Li Tan revolted against Mongol rule in February 1262. Hearing this, Kublai ordered his Chancellor Shi Tianze and Shi Shu to attack Li Tan. The two armies crushed Li Tan's revolt in just a few months and Li Tan was executed. These armies also executed Wang Wentong, the father-in-law of Li Tan who had been appointed the Chief Administrator of the Zhongshusheng, "Department of Central Governing") early in Kublai's reign and became one of the most trusted Han Chinese officials of Kublai. The incident instilled in Kublai a distrust of ethnic Hans. After becoming emperor, Kublai banned the titles of and tithes to Han Chinese warlords. The Chagatayid Khan Alghu declared his allegiance to Kublai Khan and defeated a punitive expedition sent by Ariq Böke against him in 1262. Ilkhan Hulegu also sided with Kublai and criticized Ariq Böke. Ariq Böke surrendered to Kublai at Xanadu on August 21, 1264. The rulers of western khanates acknowledged the reality of Kublai's victory and rule in Mongolia. [26] When Kublai summoned them to organize another kurultai, Alghu Khan demanded security for his illegal position from Kublai in return. Despite tensions between them, both Hulegu and Berke, khan of the Ulus of Jochi (Golden Horde), accepted Kublai's invitation at first. [27][28] However, they soon declined to attend the new kurultai. Although, Kublai pardoned his younger brother, he executed Ariq Böke's chief supporters. Reign
Great Khan of the Mongols
Suspicious deaths of 3 Jochid princes in Hulegu's service, the sack of Baghdad, and unequal distribution of war booties strained the Ilkhanate's relations with the Golden Horde. In 1262, Hulegu's complete purge of the Jochid troops, and support for Kublai in his conflict with Ariq Böke brought open war with the Golden Horde. Khagan Kublai reinforced Hulegu with 30,000 young Mongols in order to stabilize the political crises in western regions of the Mongol Empire. [29] As soon as Hulegu died on 8 February 1264, Berke marched to cross near Tiflis to conquer the Ilkhanate, but died on the way. Within a few months of these deaths, Alghu Khan of the Chagatai Khanate also died. In the new official version of the family history, Kublai Khan refused to write Berke's name as the khan of the Golden Horde because of his support for Ariq Böke and wars with Hulegu, however, Jochi's family was fully recognized as legitimate family members. [30]Kublai Khan named Abagha as the new Ilkhan and nominated Batu's grandson Mongke Temur for the throne of Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde. [31][32] The Kublaids in the east retained suzerainty over the Ilkhans (obedient khans) until the end of its regime. [33][34] Kublai also sent his protege Baraq to overthrow the court of Oirat Orghana, the empress of the Chagatai Khanate, who put her young son Mubarak Shah on the throne in 1265, without Kublai's permission after her husband's death. Ogedeid prince Kaidu declined to personally come to the court of Kublai. Kublai instigated Baraq to attack him. Baraq began to expand his realm northward, fighting Kaidu and the Jochids after he seized power in 1266. He also pushed out Great Khan's overseer from the Tarim basin. When Kaidu and Mongke Timur defeated him together, Baraq joined an alliance with the House of Ogedei and the Golden Horde against Kublai in the east and Abagha in the west. Meanwhile, Mongke Temur stayed out of any direct military expedition against the Empire of the Great Khan. The armies of Mongol Persia defeated Baraq's invading forces in 1269. When Baraq died the next year, Kaidu took control of the Chagatai Khanate. Meanwhile, Kublai tried to stabilize the control over Korea by mobilizing another Mongol invasion after he appointed Wonjong (r. 1260-1274) as the new Goryeo king in 1259 in Kanghwa. He forced two rulers of the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate to call a truce with each other in 1270 despite the Golden Horde's interests in the Middle East and Caucasia. [35] He called 2 Iraqi siege engineers from the Ilkhanate in order to destroy the fortresses of the Song China. After the fall of Xiangyang in 1273, Kublai's commanders, Aju and Liu Zheng, proposed to him a final campaign of annihilation against the Song Dynasty, and Kublai made Bayan the supreme commander. [36] Therefore, Kublai ordered Mongke Temur to revise the second census of the Golden Horde to provide sources and men for his conquest of China. [37] The census took place in all parts of the Golden Horde, including Smolensk and Vitebsk in 1274-75. The Khans also sent Nogai to Balkan to strengthen Mongol influence there. [38]As Kublai Khan renamed the Mongol regime in China Dai Yuan in 1271, he sought to sinicize his image as Emperor of China in order to win the control of millions Chinese people. When he moved his headquarters to Khanbalic or Dadu at modern Beijing, there was an uprising in the old capital Karakorum that he barely staunched. His actions were condemned by traditionalists and his critics still accused him of being too closely tied to Chinese culture. They sent a message to him: "The old customs of our Empire are not those of the Chinese laws… What will happen to the old customs?". [39][40] Even Kaidu attracted the other elites of Mongol Khanates, declaring himself to be a legitimate heir to the throne instead of Kublai who had turned away from the ways of Genghis Khan. [41][42] Defections from Kublai's Dynasty swelled the Ogedeids' forces.
Painting of Kublai Khan on a hunting expedition, by Chinese court artist Liu Guandao, c. 1280.
The Song imperial family surrendered to the Yuan in 1276, making the Mongols the first non-Chinese people to conquer all of China. Three years later, Yuan marines crushed the last of the Song loyalists. The Song Empress Dowager and her grandson, Zhao Xian, were then settled in Khanbalic where they were given tax-free property. Kublai's wife Chabi took a personal interest in their well-being. However, Kublai had Zhao sent away to become a monk to Zhangye later. Kublai succeeded in building powerful Empire, creating an academy, offices, trade ports and canals and sponsoring arts and science. The record of the Mongols lists 20,166 public schools created during his reign. [43] Achieving actual or nominal dominion over much of Eurasia, and having seen his successful conquest of China, Kublai was in a position to look beyond China. [44] However, Kublai's costly invasions of Burma, Annam, Sakhalin and Champa secured only the vassal status of those countries. Mongol invasions of Japan (1274 and 1280) and Java (1293) failed. At the same time his nephew Ilkhan Abagha tried to form a grand alliance of the Mongols and the Western Europeans to defeat the Mamluks in Syria and North Africa that constantly invaded the Mongol dominions. Abagha and his uncle Kublai focused mostly on foreign alliances, and opened trade routes. Khagan Kublai dined with a large court every day, and met with many ambassadors, foreign merchants. Kublai's son Nomukhan and generals occupied Almaliq from 1266-76. In 1277, a group of Genghisid princes under Mongke's son Shiregi rebelled, kidnapping Kublai's two sons and his general Antong. The rebels handed them over to Kaidu and Mongke Temur. The latter was still allied with Kaidu who fashioned an alliance with him in 1269, although, he promised Kublai Khan his military support to protect him from the Ogedeids. [45] Great Khan's armies suppressed the rebellion and strengthened the Yuan garrisons in Mongolia and Uighurstan. However, Kaidu took control over Almaliq. In 1279-80, Kublai decreed death for those who performed Islamic- Jewish slaughtering of cattles, which offended Mongolian custom. [46] When the Ahmad Teguder seized the throne of the Ilkhanate in 1282, attempting to make peace with the Mamluks, Abagha's old Mongols under prince Arghun appealed to the Great Khan. After the execution of Ahmad, Kublai confirmed Arghun's coronation and awarded his commander in chief Buqa who helped his master the title of chingsang. Kublai's niece Kelmish, who was married a Khunggirat general of the Golden Horde, was powerful enough to have Kublai's sons Nomuqan and Kokhchu returned. The court of the Golden Horde sent them back as a peace overture to the Yuan Dynasty in 1282 and induced Kaidu to release the general of Kublai. Konchi, khan of White Horde, established friendly relations with the Yuan and the Ilkhanate, receiving luxury gifts and grain from Kublai as reward. [47] Despite political disagreement between contending branches of the family over the office of Khagan, the economic and commercial system which trumped their squabbles continued. [48][49][50][51] Warfare and foreign relationsDespite Kublai restricted the functions of kheshig (khan's bodyguard), he created a new imperial bodyguard, at first entirely Chinese in composition but later strengthened with Kipchak, Alan ( Asud), and Russian units. [52][53][54] Once his own kheshig was organized in 1263, Kublai put three of the four shifts of the kheshig under descendants of Genghis Khan's four steeds, Borokhula, Boorchu and Muqali. Kublai Khan began the practice of having the four great aristocrats in his kheshig sign all jarliqs (decree), a practice that spread to all other Mongol khanates. [55] Both Mongol and Chinese units were organized according to the same decimal organization that Genghis Khan used. The Mongols eagerly adopted new artillery and technologies. While Kublai's younger brother Hulegu used 1,000 Chinese mangonel operators under Barga Mongol Ambaghai, he brought siege engineers, Ismail and Al al-Din, from Iraq and Iran. The world's earliest known cannon, dated 1282, was found in Mongol-held Manchuria. [56] Kublai and his generals avoided total destruction of South China for economic benefits. Effective assimilation of Chinese naval techniques allowed the Yuan army to quickly conquer the Song and advance beyond the seas. Diplomatically and militarily, Kublai's foreign policy, as the previous Mongolian Khagans, was imperialistic. Kublai Khan made Goryeo ( Korea) a tributary vassal in 1260. The Yuan helped Wonjong stabilize his control over Korea in 1271. After the Mongol invasion in 1273, the Goryeo was fully integrated in the Yuan realm. [57][58][59][60][61] The Goryeo in Korea became a Mongol military base and several myriarchy commands were established there. The court of the Goryeo supplied Korean troops and ocean naval force for the Mongol campaigns. Despite the opposition of his Confucian-trained Chinese advisers, Kublai decided to invade Japan, Burma, Vietnam and Java, following his Mongol officials. These costly conquests along with the introduction of paper currency, caused inflation. From 1273 to 1276 war against the Song Dynasty and Japan made emissions of paper currency explode from 110,000 ding to 1,420,000 ding. [62]Invasions of Japan
Kublai Khan twice attempted to invade Japan; however, both times, it is believed that bad weather, or a flaw in the design of ships that were based on river boats without keels nevertheless destroyed his fleets. The first attempt took place in 1274, with a fleet of 900 ships. The second invasion occurred in 1281.The Mongols sent two separate forces this time; an impressive force of 900 ships containing 40,000 Korean, Chinese, and Mongol troops set out from Masan, while an even larger force of 100,000 sailed from southern China in 3,500 ships, each close to 240 feet (73 m) long. The fleet was hastily assembled and ill-equipped to handle the sea.
In November, they sailed out into the treacherous waters that separated Korea and Japan by 110 miles. The Mongols easily took over Tsushima Island about halfway across the strait and then Ika Island closer to Kyushu. The Korean fleet reached Hakata Bay on June 23, 1281 landing its forces and animals, but the ships from China were nowhere to be seen.
The samurai warriors rode out against the Mongol forces for individual combat, but the Mongols held their formation. As usual, the Mongols fought as a united force, not as individuals. Instead of coming out for duels, the Mongols bombarded the samurai with exploding missiles and showered them in arrows. Eventually, the remaining Japanese withdrew from the coastal zone inland to a fortress. The Mongol forces did not chase the fleeting Japanese into an area about which they lacked reliable intelligence at that time. Dr. Kenzo Hayashida, a marine archaeologist, headed the investigation that discovered the wreckage of the second invasion fleet off the western coast of Takashima. His team's findings strongly indicate that Kublai Khan rushed to invade Japan and attempted to construct his enormous fleet in only one year (a task that should have taken up to 5 years). This forced the Chinese to use any available ships, including river boats, in order to achieve readiness. Most importantly, the Chinese, then under Kublai's control, were forced to build many ships quickly in order to contribute to the fleet in both of the invasions. Hayashida theorizes that, had Kublai used standard, well-constructed ocean-going ships, which have a curved keel to prevent capsizing, his navy might have survived the journey to and from Japan and might have conquered it as intended. David Nicolle writes in The Mongol Warlords that "Huge losses had also been suffered in terms of casualties and sheer expense, while the myth of Mongol invincibility had been shattered throughout eastern Asia." He also wrote that Kublai Khan was determined to mount a third invasion, despite the horrendous cost to the economy and to his and Mongol prestige of the first two defeats, and only his death and the unanimous agreement of his advisers not to invade prevented such a third attempt.
After his first invasion of Japan, in response, the Japanese pirates, known as Wokou, raided Korea. But the Mongol-Korean forces pushed them back, and the Wokou pirates experienced a low point of their activity due to the higher degree of military preparedness in the Goryeo and the Kamakura. In 1293, the Yuan navy captured 100 Japanese from Okinawa. [63]Invasions of VietnamKublai Khan also twice invaded Đại Việt. When Kublai became the Great Khan in 1260, the Trần Dynasty sent tribute every 3 years and received a darugachi. [64][65] But their king soon declined to attend the court in person. The first incursion (the second Mongol invasion of Đại Việt) began in December 1284 when Mongols under the command of Toghan, the prince of Kublai Khan, crossed the border and quickly occupied Thăng Long (now Hanoi) in January 1285 after the victorious battle of Omar in Vạn Kiếp (north east of Hanoi). At the same time Sogetu from Champa moved northward and rapidly marched to Nghe An (in the north central region of Vietnam now) where the army of the Tran under general Tran Kien surrendered to him. However, the Trần kings and the commander-in-chief Trần Hưng Đạo changed tactics from defence to attack and struck against the Mongols. In April, General Trần Quang Khải defeated Sogetu in Chuong Duong (now part of Hanoi) and then the Trần kings won a big battle in Tây Kết where Sogetu died. Soon after, general Trần Nhật Duật also won a battle in Hàm Tử (now part of Hưng Yên) while Toghan was defeated by General Trần Hưng Đạo and Kublai Khan failed in his first attempt to invade Đại Việt. Toghan had to hide himself inside a bronze pipe to avoid being killed by the Đại Việt archers; this shameful act became a disastrous humiliation for the Mongol Empire and for Toghan himself. After his first failure, Kublai wanted to install Nhan Tong's brother Tran Ich Tac, who had defected to the Mongols, as king of Annam, but hardship in the Yuan's supply base in Hunan, and Kaidu's invasion aborted his planned invasion. In 1285 the Brigung sect rebelled, attacking monasteries of Paghspa's sect in Tibet. The Chagatayid Khan, Duwa, came in to aid the rebels, and laid siege to Kara-Kocho while defeating Kublai's garrisons in the Tarim basin. [66] Kaidu destroyed an army at Beshbalik and occupied the city the next year. Many Uyghurs abandoned Kashgar for safer bases back east in the Yuan. Only after Kublai's grandson Buqa-Temur crushed the resistance of the Brigung sect, killing 10,000 Tibetans in 1291, Tibet was fully pacified. The second invasion of Đại Việt by Kublai Khan began in 1287 and was better organized than the previous effort, utilizing a large fleet and plentiful stocks of food. The Mongols, under the command of Toghan, moved to Vạn Kiếp (from the north west) and met the infantry and cavalry of Omar (coming by another way along the Red River) and there they quickly won the battle. The naval fleet rapidly attained victory in Vân Đồn (near Ha Long Bay) but they left the heavy cargo ships stocked with food behind which General Trần Khánh Dư quickly captured. As foreseen, the Mongolians in Thăng Long (now Hanoi) suffered an acute shortage of sustenance. Without any news about the supply fleet Toghan found himself in a tight corner and had to order his army to retreat to Vạn Kiếp. This was when Đại Việt's Army began the general offensive by recapturing a number of locations occupied by the Mongol invaders. Groups of infantry were given orders to attack the Mongols in Vạn Kiếp. Toghan had to split his army into two and retreat. In early April the naval fleet led by Kublai's Kipchak commander Omar and escorted by infantry fled home along the Bạch Đằng river. As bridges and roads were destroyed and attacks were launched by Đại Việt's troops, the Mongols reached Bạch Đằng without an infantry escort. Đại Việt's small flotilla engaged in battle and pretended to retreat. The Mongols eagerly pursued Đại Việt troops and fell into their prearranged battlefield. "Thousands" of Đại Việt's small boats from both banks quickly appeared, fiercely launched the attack and broke the combat formation of the enemy. Meeting a sudden and strong attack, the Mongols tried to withdraw to the sea in panic. Hitting the stakes, their boats were halted, many of which were broken and sank. At that time, a number of fire rafts quickly rushed toward them. Frightened, the Mongolian troops jumped down to get to the banks where they were dealt a heavy blow by an army led by the Trần king and Trần Hưng Đạo. The Mongolian naval fleet was totally destroyed and Omar was captured. At the same time, Đại Việt's Army made continuous attacks and smashed to pieces Toghan's army on its route of withdrawal through Lạng Sơn. Toghan risked his life making a shortcut through thick forest to flee home. Nevertheless, the Đại Việt and the Kingdom of Champa had recognized Kublai's supremacy in order to avoid more conflicts. [65][67]Southeast Asia and South seasThree expeditions against Burma (1277, 1283, 1287) brought the Mongol forces to the Irrawaddy delta, and the Mongols captured Bagan, the capital of Pagan Kingdom in Burma, and established their puppet government. [68] Kublai had to be content with the acknowledgment of a formal suzerainty again but the Burmese finally became tributary state and sent tributes until the expulsion of the Mongols from China. [69] The Khmer kingdom of Cambodia and small states in Malay and South India submitted to Kublai's rule between 1278-1294. Mongol interests in these parts had always been purely commercial and tributary relationship. During the last years of his reign Kublai launched a naval punitive expedition of 20-30,000 men against the Javanese kingdom of Singhasari (1293), but the Mongol forces were compelled to withdraw, by the Majapahit Dynasty, after considerable losses of more than 3,000 troops. In 1294, two Thai kingdoms of Sukhotai and Chiangmai became vassal states of Kublai's empire. [68]Conquest of SakhalinThe Mongol forces made several attacks on Sakhalin, beginning in 1264 and continuing until 1308. [70] Economically, the conquest of new peoples provided further wealth for the tribute-based Mongol Dynasty. The Nivkhs and the Oroks were subjugated by the Mongols. However, the Ainu people raided Mongol posts and fought with the indigenous people of Sakhalin, who submitted to the Great Khan. [71] Finally, the Ainu tribes accepted Mongol supremacy in 1308. Europe
Kublai gives financial support to the Polo family.
Under Kublai, the opening of direct contact between East Asia and the West, made possible by the Mongol control of the central Asian trade routes and facilitated by the presence of efficient postal services, was another spectacular phenomenon in the Mongol Empire. In the beginning of the 13th century, large numbers of Europeans and Central Asians - merchants, travelers, and missionaries of different orders - made their way to China. The presence of the Mongol power also enabled throngs of Chinese, bent on warfare or trade, to make their appearance everywhere in the Mongol Empire, all the way to Russia, Persia, and Mesopotamia.
Rabban Bar Sauma, the ambassador of Great Khan Kublai and Ilkhan Arghun, travelled from Dadu in the East, to Rome, Paris and Bordeaux in the West, meeting with the major rulers of the period in 1287-1288
Marco Polo, Niccolo's son, who accompanied his father on this trip, was probably the best-known foreign visitor ever to set foot in China and Mongolia. It is said that he spent the next 17 years (1275–1292) under Kublai Khan, including official service in the salt administration and trips through the provinces of Yunnan and Fukien. Although the numerous flaws in his description of China have tempted modern historians to dispute his sojourn in the Middle Kingdom, the popularity of his journal, Description of the World, was such that it subsequently generated unprecedented enthusiasm in Europe for going east. Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty, c. 1294 and its client state Goryeo in modern Korea
Kublai used traditional decimal organization of the Mongol Empire and set up special gerfalcon posts exclusively for the highest officials in 1261. He adopted Chinese political and cultural models, and also worked to minimize the influences of regional lords who had held immense power before and during the Song Dynasty. Kublai heavily relied on his Chinese advisers until 1276. He had many Han Chinese advisers such as Liu Bingzhong and Xu Heng. He employed 66 Uyghur Turks, 21of whom were resident commissioner running Chinese districts. [72]Kublai also appointed Phagspa Lama his state preceptor, giving him power over all the empire's Buddhist monks. In 1270, after Phagspa created the Square script, he was promoted to imperial preceptor. Kublai established the Supreme Control Commission under Phagspa to administer affairs of both Tibetan and Chinese monks. During Phagspa's absence in Tibet, the Tibetan monk Sangha rose to high office and had the office renamed the Commission for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs. [73][74] In 1286, Tibetan Sangha became the dynasty's chief fiscal officer. However, their corruption later embittered Kublai. Thenceforwards, Kublai came to rely wholly on younger Mongol aristocrats. While Antong of the Jalayir, and Bayan of the Baarin served as grand councillors from 1265, Oz-temur of the Arulad headed the censorate. Borokhula's descendant, Ochicher, headed a kheshig and the palace provision commission. In the 8th Year of Zhiyuan (1271), Kublai Khan officially declared the creation of the Yuan Dynasty, and proclaimed the capital to be at Dadu ( Chinese: 大都; Wade–Giles: Ta-tu, lit. "Great Capital", known as Daidu to the Mongols, at today's Beijing) in the following year. His summer capital was in Shangdu ( Chinese: 上都, "Upper Capital", a.k.a. Xanadu, near what today is Dolonnur). To unify China [75], Kublai Khan began a massive offensive against the remnants of the Southern Song Dynasty in the 11th year of Zhiyuan (1274), and finally destroyed the Song Dynasty in the 16th year of Zhiyuan (1279), unifying the country at last. China proper, Korea [76] and Mongolia itself were administered in 11 provinces during his reign with a governor and vice-governor each. [77][78] Aside from the 11 provinces was the Central Region ( Chinese: 腹裏), consisting of much of present-day North China, was considered the most important region of the dynasty and directly governed by the Zhongshusheng ( Chinese: 中書省, "Department of Central Governing") at Dadu. In addition, Tibet was governed by another top-level administrative department called the Xuanzheng Institute ( Chinese: 宣政院).
He ruled well, promoting economic growth with the rebuilding of the Grand Canal, repairing public buildings, and extending highways. However, Kublai Khan's domestic policy also included some aspects of the old Mongol living traditions, and as Kublai Khan continued his reign, these traditions would clash more and more frequently with traditional Chinese economic and social culture. Kublai decreed that partner merchants of the Mongols should be subject to taxes in 1263 and set up the Office of Market Taxes to supervise them in 1268. With the Mongol conquest of the Song, the merchants expanded their sphere of operations to the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. In 1286 maritime trade was put under the Office of Market Taxes. The main source of revenue of the government was the salt monopoly. [79]The Mongol administration issued paper currencies from 1227 on. [80][81] In August 1260, Kublai created the first unified paper currency with bills that circulated throughout the Yuan with no expiration date. To guard against devaluation, the currency was convertible with silver and gold, and the government accepted tax payments in paper currency. In 1273, He issued a new series of state sponsored bills to finance his conquest of the Song, although eventually a lack of fiscal discipline and inflation turned this move into an economic disaster in the later course of the dynasty. It was required to pay only in the form of paper money called Chao. To ensure its use in circles, Kublai's government confiscated gold and silver from private citizens as well as foreign merchants. But traders received government-issued notes in exchange. That is why Kublai Khan is considered to be the first of fiat money makers. The paper bills made collecting taxes and administering the huge empire much easier while reducing cost of transporting coins. [82] In 1287 Kublai's minister Sangha created a new currency, Zhiyuan, to deal with the budget shortfall. [83] It was non-convertible and denominated in copper cash. Later Gaykhatu of the Ilkhanate attempted to adopt the system in Persia and Middle east, which was however a complete failure, and he was assassinated shortly after that. He encouraged Asian arts and demonstrated religious tolerance. Despite his anti-Taoist edicts, Kublai respected the Taoist master and appointed Zhang Liushan the patriarch of Taoist Xuanjiao order. [84] Under Zhang's advice, Taoist temples were put under the Academy of Scholarly Worthies. The empire was visited by several Europeans, notably Marco Polo in the 1270s who may have seen the summer capital Shangdu. The capital city of the Emperor
The White Stupa in Tadu (or Khanbalic)
After Kublai was proclaimed Khagan at his residence in Shangdu on 5 May 1260, he began to organize the country. Zhang Wenqian, who was a friend of Guo and like him was a central government official, was sent by Kublai Khan in 1260 to Daming where unrest had been reported in the local population. Guo accompanied Zhang on his mission. Guo was not only interested in engineering, but he was also an expert astronomer. In particular he was a skilled instrument maker and understood that good astronomical observations depended on expertly made instruments. He now began to construct astronomical instruments, including water clocks for accurate timing and armillary spheres which represent the celestial globe. Turkestani architect Ikhtiyar al-Din (also known as Igder) designed the buildings of the city of Khagan or Khanbalic. [85] The Great Khan also employed many foreign artists to build his new capital. One of them named Arniko from Nepal built the White Stupa which was the largest structure in Khanbalic/Dadu. [86]Zhang advised Kublai Khan that his friend Guo was a leading expert in hydraulic engineering. Kublai knew the importance of water management, for irrigation, transport of grain, and flood control, and he asked Guo to look at these aspects in the area between Dadu (now Beijing or Peking) and the Yellow River. To provide Dadu with a new supply of water, Guo found the Baifu spring in the Shenshan Mountain and had a 30 km channel built to bring the water to Dadu. He proposed connecting the water supply across different river basins, built new canals with many sluices to control the water level, and achieved great success with the improvements which he was able to make. This pleased Kublai Khan and led to Guo being asked to undertake similar projects in other parts of the country. In 1264 he was asked to go to Gansu province to repair the damage that had been caused to the irrigation systems by the years of war during the Mongol advance through the region. Guo travelled extensively along with his friend Zhang taking notes of the work which needed to be done to unblock damaged parts of the system and to make improvements to its efficiency. He sent his report directly to Kublai Khan. Nayan's rebellion
During the conquest of the Jin, Genghis Khan's younger brothers received large appanages in Manchuria. [87] Descendants of them strongly supported Kublai's coronation in 1260, but the younger generation desired more independence. Kublai enforced Ogedei Khan's regulations that the Mongol noblemen could appoint overseers, along with the Great Khan's special officials, in their appanages, but otherwise respected appanage rights. His son Manggala established direct control over Singan and Shansi in 1272. In 1274 Kublai Khan appointed Lian Xixian to investigate abuses of power by Mongol appanage holders in Manchuria. [88] Lia-tung region was brought immediately under the Khagan's control, in 1284, eliminating autonomy of the Mongol nobles there. [89]
The 19th century romantic view of Kublai's four elephants.
Threatened by the advance of the Great Khan's bureaucratization, Belgutei's fourth generation descendant, Nayan (not confused with Temuge's descendant Nayan), instigated revolt in 1287. Nayan attempted to link up with Kublai's competitor Kaidu in Central Asia. [90] Manchuria's native Jurchens and Water Tatars, who had suffered famine, supported Nayan. Virtually all the fraternal lines under Qadaan, a descendant of Khachiun, and Shikqtur, a grandson of Qasar, joined his rebellion. [91] Because Nayan was popular prince, Ebugen, a grandson of Genghis Khan's son Khulgen, and the family of Khuden, a younger brother of Guyuk Khan, contributed troops for his rebellion. [92]The rebellion was crippled by early detection and timid leadership. Kublai sent Bayan to keep Nayan and Kaidu apart by occupying Karakorum, while he himself led another army against the rebels in Manchuria. Kublai's commander Oz Temur's Mongol force attacked Nayan's 60,000 green soldiers on June 14, while Chinese and Alan guards under Li Ting protected Kublai. The army of Chungnyeol of Goryeo assisted Kublai in battle. After the hard fight, Nayan's troops withdrew behind their carts, and Li Ting began bombardment and attacked Nayan's camp that night. Kublai's force pursued Nayan, who was eventually captured and executed in the traditional way for princes, without shedding of blood. [92] Meanwhile, the rebel prince Shikqtur invaded the Chinese districts in Liaoning but was defeated within a month. Kaidu pulled back westward to avoid a battle. However, Kaidu defeated a major Yuan army in Khangai and briefly occupied Karakorum in 1289. Kaidu had ridden away before Kublai himself mobilized a larger army. [93]Widespread but uncoordinated risings of Nayan's supporters continued until 1289 but were ruthlessly repressed. The rebel princes' troops were taken from them and redistributed among the imperial family. [94] Kublai harshly punished the darugachis appointed by the rebels in Mongolia and Manchuria. [95] This rebellion forced Kublai to approve the creation of the Liaoyang Branch Secretariat on December 4, 1287, while rewarding loyal fraternal princes. Later years
Statue of Khubilai Khagan in Mongolia
Kublai dispatched his grandson Gammala to Burkhan Khaldun in 1291. Because Kublai wanted to make sure that he laid claims to the sacred place ( Ikh Khorig), Burkhan Khaldun, where Genghis was buried, Mongolia was strongly protected by the Kublaids. With Bayan in control of Karakorum and reestablishing control over surrounding areas in 1293, Kublai's rival relative Kaidu did not attempt anything large-scale for the next three years. From 1293 on Kublai's army cleared Kaidu's forces out of Central Siberian Plateau. Kublai Khan originally designated his son Chingen-Temur ( Zhenjin) as his successor. Chingen-Temur became the head of Zhongshusheng ("Department of Central Governing"), and actively administrated the dynasty in the Confucian fashion. After Nomukhan returned from the captivity in the Golden Horde, he expressed his resentment that Chingen-Temur had been made heir apparent. However, he was banished north. An official proposed that Kublai's abdicate in favor Chingen Temur in 1285. This action angered the Khagan, and Kublai refused to see his son. Unfortunately, Chingen-Temur died in 1285, 9 years before his father. Kublai regretted and remained very close to his wife, Bairam (also known as Kokejin). With the death of Chabi, he began to withdraw from direct contact with his advisers, issuing instructions through one of his other queens Nambui. Kublai Khan, on the other hand, developed severe gout in the later part of his life. He also gained weight due to a fondness for eating animal organs and other delicacies. This also more than likely increased the amount of purines in his blood, leading to his problems with gout. His illness may have been related to the deaths of not only his favorite wife, but also his chosen heir Zhenjin. Before his death, Kublai made Chingen-Temur's son Temür the new Crown Prince, who in turn became the sixth Khagan of the Mongol Empire and the second ruler of the Yuan Dynasty after the death of Kublai Khan. Seeking an old companion to comfort him in his final illness, the palace staff could choose only Bayan, more than 30 years his junior. Kublai weakened steadily, and on 18 February 1294 he died. Two days later, the funeral cortege was ready and set out for the burial place of the khans in Mongolia
1297AD – Marco Polo visits South India.
The exact time and place of Marco Polo's birth are unknown, and current theories are mostly conjectural. One possible place of birth is Venice's former contrada of San Giovanni Crisostomo, which is normally presented by historians as the birthplace, and it is generally accepted that Marco Polo was born in the Venetian Republic with most biographers pointing towards Venice itself as Marco Polo's home town. [2] Another birthplace, unsupported by historians, is the island of Korčula, a birthplace popularised by the Croatian National Tourist Board. [3] The most quoted specific date of Polo's birth is somewhere "around 1254". [Note 2] His father Niccolò was a merchant who traded with the Middle East, becoming wealthy and achieving great prestige. [4][5] Niccolò and his brother Maffeo set off on a trading voyage, before Marco was born. [5] In 1260, Niccolò and Maffeo were residing in Constantinople when they foresaw a political change; they liquidated their assets into jewels and moved away. [4] According to The Travels of Marco Polo, they passed through much of Asia, and met with the Kublai Khan. [6] Meanwhile, Marco Polo's mother died, and he was raised by an aunt and uncle. [5] Polo was well educated, and learned merchant subjects including foreign currency, appraising, and the handling of cargo ships, [5] although he learned little or no Latin. [4]In 1269, Niccolò and Maffeo returned to Venice, meeting Marco for the first time. In 1271, Marco Polo (at seventeen years of age), his father, and his uncle set off for Asia on the series of adventures that were later documented in Marco's book. They returned to Venice in 1295, 24 years later, with many riches and treasures. They had travelled almost 15,000 miles (24,140 km). [5]Upon their return, Venice was at war with Genoa, and Marco Polo was taken prisoner. He spent the few months of his imprisonment dictating a detailed account of his travels to fellow inmate, Rustichello da Pisa, [5] who incorporated tales of his own as well as other collected anecdotes and current affairs from China. The book became known as The Travels of Marco Polo, and depicts the Polos' journeys throughout Asia, giving Europeans their first comprehensive look into the inner workings of the Far East, including China, India, and Japan. [7] While the book describes paper money and the burning of coal, it fails to mention the Great Wall, chopsticks, and footbinding raising a veracity issue. [8] Marco Polo was finally released from captivity in August 1299, [5] and returned home to Venice, where his father and uncle had purchased a large house in the central quarter named contrada San Giovanni Crisostomo. The company continued its activities and Marco soon became a wealthy merchant. Polo financed other expeditions, but never left Venice again. In 1300, he married Donata Badoer, the daughter of Vitale Badoer, a merchant. [9] They had three daughters, called Fantina, Bellela and Moreta. [10] In 1323, Polo was confined to bed, due to illness. On January 8, 1324, despite physicians' efforts to treat him, Polo was on his deathbed. To write and certify the will, his family requested Giovanni Giustiniani, a priest of San Procolo. His wife, Donata, and his three daughters were appointed by him as co-executrices. The church was entitled by law to a portion of his estate; he approved of this and ordered that a further sum be paid to the convent of San Lorenzo, the place where he wished to be buried. [11] He also set free a " Tartar slave" who may have accompanied him from Asia. [12]He divided up the rest of his assets, including several properties, between individuals, religious institutions, and every guild and fraternity to which he belonged. He also wrote-off multiple debts including 300 lire that his sister-in-law owed him, and others for the convent of San Giovanni, San Paolo of the Order of Preachers, and a cleric named Friar Benvenuto. He ordered 220 soldi be paid to Giovanni Giustiniani for his work as a notary and his prayers. [11] The will, which was not signed by Polo, but was validated by then relevant "signum manus" rule, by which the testator only had to touch the document to make it abide to the rule of law, [13] was dated January 9, 1324. Due to the Venetian law stating that the day ends at sunset, the exact date of Marco Polo's death cannot be determined, but it was between the sunsets of January 8 and 9, 1324. [11]
1300-1600AD
1325AD- Southern Aztecs under Tènoc found Tenochtìtlan while northern Aztecs found Tlatelòlco just north of it
1336AD– Kingdom of Vijayanagara, last Hindu empire in India, extends as far as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines
The empire's legacy includes many monuments spread over South India, the best known being the group at Hampi. The previous temple building traditions in South India came together in the Vijayanagara Architecture style. The mingling of all faiths and vernaculars inspired architectural innovation of Hindu temple construction, first in the Deccan and later in the Dravidian idioms using the local granite. Secular royal structures show the influence of the Northern Deccan Sultanate architecture. Efficient administration and vigorous overseas trade brought new technologies like water management systems for irrigation. The empire's patronage enabled fine arts and literature to reach new heights in the languages of Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved into its current form. The Vijayanagara Empire created an epoch in South Indian history that transcended regionalism by promoting Hinduism as a unifying factor. (till 1565).
1300-1600AD- Renaissance in Europe.
1400-1500AD – Aztec Empire at it’s height
1433AD - China cloisters itself from outside world by banning further voyages to the West. (First bamboo curtain.) 1492AD- Looking for India, Christopher Columbus lands on San Salvador island in the Caribbean, thus "discovering" the Americas and proving that the earth is round, not flat. Christopher Columbus And The Afrikan Holocaust - Part 1 - Dr. John Henri... http://t.co/4I6Y8s4 via @youtube 1519AD-Tenochtìtlan/ Tlatelòlco probably has 200,000 to 300,000 people
1520AD-Montezuma II, last Aztec emperor of Mexico is murdered by the Spaniards.
1533AD -Pizarro captures the Inca capital of Cuzco and conquers Peru. |
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