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1502
Ismail Becomes Shah
Ismail proclaims himself as Shah of Iran and, for reasons unknown, declares that from then on that Iran would be devoted to Shi'ite Islam. The effect of of this act completed a long growing chasm between Iran and its neighbors, Iran becoming a separate country. -
1511
Southeast Asia Spice Trade
The Portuguese had tried to dominate the trade in spices by seizing a town at the end of the Malay Peninsula called Malacca, however it was taken away from them in 1641 by the Dutch. -
Period: 1516 to 1517
SelimⅠConquers Egypt & Syria
SelimⅠconquered Egypt and Syria, making the Red Sea the Ottomans' southern frontier. -
1517
Portuguese Embassy to China
A formal Portuguese embassy in 1517 got bogged down in Chinese protocol and procrastination, and China expelled the Portuguese in 1522. -
Period: 1520 to 1566
Reign of Suleiman the Magnificent; Peak of Ottoman Empire
Suleiman, sultan of the Ottoman empire from 1520 to 1566, oversaw the development of what came to be the most characteristic achievements of Ottoman civilization in the field of law, art and architecture. -
1526
Babur Defeats Last Sultan of Delhi
Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, was a Muslim descendant of both Timur and Chinggis Khan. Invading from Central Asia, Babur defeated the last Muslim sultan of Delhi in 1526. -
1529
First Ottoman Siege of Vienna
Suleiman laid siege to Vienna in 1529. Vienna was saved by the need to retreat before the onset of winter more that by military action. -
Period: 1533 to
Prince Ivan IV
Prince Ivan IV, otherwise known as Ivan the Terrible, was the brother of Princess Sophia and Peter the Great. During his rule he pushed Mascovy's conquests south and east at the expense of the Tatar Khanates of Kazan and Astrakham. -
1543
First Portuguese Contacts With Japan
In late 1513 a Portuguese ship reached China but was not permitted to trade. A formal Portuguese embassy in 1517 got bogged down in Chinese protocol and procrastination, and China expelled the Portuguese in 1522. -
1547
Ivan IV Adopts the Title of Tsar
In 1547 Ivan IV, grand prince of Moscow, was officially crowned "tsar of all Russia", therefore the religious and political ideology of the Russian tsardom took final form. -
Period: 1552 to
Matteo Ricci Allowed to Reside in Bejing
Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit missionary who introduced Christian teaching to the Chinese empire in the 16th century. -
Period: 1556 to
Akbar rules in Agra; Peak of Mughal Empire
Akbar was the greatest of the Mughal emperors of India. He extended Mughal power over most of the Indian subcontinent. He preserved the unity of his empire by adopting programs that won the loyalty of the non-Muslim populations of his realm. -
1571
Crimean Tatars Take Over Moscow
The Crimean Tatars, composed of mainly Islamic Turkish tribes, were powerful enough at the time to take over Moscow, while Cossacks from a nearby region threatened to do the same thing later in time. -
1571
Ottoman Naval Defeat at Lepanto
This battle marked the first significant victory for a Christian naval force over a Turkish fleet and the climax of the age of galley warfare in the Mediterranean. -
1578
Seizure by Portugal and Spain
In Northwest Africa, the seizure by Portugal and Spain of coastal strongholds in Morocco elicited a militant response. The Sa'adi family led a resistance against the Portuguese aggression that peaked in victory at the battle of al-Qasr al-Kabir, The Moroccan sultan, Ahmed al-Mansur, restored his country's strenghth and independence. -
1582
Strogonovs Destroy the Khanate of Sibir
The Strogonovs, who were known as a wealthy Russian trading family, led early exploration into Siberia. The reindeer herders and small bands of foragers could not defend themselves against the armed adventurers hired by the Strogonovs, who used rifles to take over the only political power, the Khanate of Siberia. -
Period: to
Reign of Shah Abbas the Great; Peak of Safavid Empire
Abbas the Great strengthened the Safavid Empire by expelling Ottoman troops from Persian soil by creating a standing army. He also made Esfahan the capital of Persia. -
Period: to
Anatolian Revolts
As the size of the Janissary armies grew, so did the cost to pay them. However, the sultan’s attempts at payment, Inflation, bankruptcy, and loss of land caused much unhappiness among the cavalrymen. The situation was worsened by the climatic deterioration of the Little Ice Age, which resulted in revolts, the worst of which occurred at Anatolia, causing it to suffer from emigration, loss of agricultural production, and an increase in banditry. -
Japanese Invasion of Korea
As a result of this invasion, Korea experienced a tremendous cultural, economic and infrastructural damage, as well as a large reduction in the amount of arable land and the destruction of many other things. -
Hideyoshi Invades Again
After 1593 when the Chinese negotiated for peace with the Japanese, Hideyoshi brutally invades Korea again in 1597 through the Korean Peninsula. -
AbbasⅠMakes Isfahan Iran's Capital
Shah Abbas I, the fifth ruler of the Safavid dynasty, decrees that Isfahan become the new capital of Iran. -
Mongolia Restored as a Military Power
In the early 1500s, mass amounts of Mongols became unified under their devotion to Dalai Lama, the universal teacher of Buddhism. A buddhist leader, Galdan, used Buddhism's spiritual unity in order to restore Mongolia as a regional military power. -
Labor Protest at Jingdezhen
Because the Ming government passed policies that hindered economic growth, corruption ensued and led to strikes in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. During the labor protest at Jingdezhen, workers through themselves into kilns to protest working conditions. -
Tokugawa Shogunate Formed
After Hideyoshi's demise, the last of the three unifiers , Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), asserted his domination over other daiymo and in 1603 established a new military regime, Tokugawa Shongunate. -
Period: to
Rule of Mikhail, the First Romanov Tsar
Mikhail was the founder of the Romanov dynasty. The military drive that finally expelled the Poled from Moscow led to the election of Mikhail, son of Fyodor Romanov. -
Japan and Christianity
A decree in 1614 issued a ban over Christianity in Japan and charged its followers with seeking to overthrow true doctrine, change the government, and seize of the country. Some missionaries left Japan while others stayed to work underground. -
Dutch Against Acheh and Other KIngdoms
The Dutch fought a series of wars against Acheh and other kingdoms on Sumatra and Java. The Dutch's new capital, Batavia was besieged by a fleet of ships belonging to the sultan of Mataram, a Javanese kingdom. The Dutch held out with difficulty and eventually won out in the end because the sultan was unable to get help from the English. -
Japanese Edicts Close Down Trade With Europe
To keep Christianity from resurfacing, a series of decrees issued between 1633 and 1639 sharply curtailed trade with Europe. Europeans who entered the country illegally faced the death penalty. -
Period: to
Women Rulers
In Acheh- a Muslim kingdom in northern Sumatra- women ruled for some time, however this practice ended when local Muslim scholars acquired a ruling from scholars in Mecca and Medina that Islam disapproved of female rulers. -
Ming General Join Forces With the Machu Leaders
The Imjin War caused the Ming to seek assistance from Manchu troops. The Ming general then joined forces with Manchu leaders, eventually letting China to be conquered by the Manchu. -
Qing Conquest of Bejing
In 1644 Beijing fell to a rebel army that was led by Li Zecheng, a former Ming official. China was securely united under Qing rule. -
Period: to
Temperatures Reach Low Point
In 1645, temperatures hit a low point due to the Little Ice Age, resulting in agricultural distress and famine that led to revolts and uprisings that caused the end of the Ming Empire. The low temperatures continued until the 1700s. -
Peasants Into Serfs
In 1649, a law change transformed peasants into serfs, who were legally bound to a lord's property and performed a certain set of services for the lord. -
Rise in Demand for Tea
Tea from China spread overland to Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East then became a prized import. In much of Europe, tea competed with chocolate and coffee as a fashionable drink by the mid-1600s. -
Period: to
Aurangzeb Imposes Conservative Islamic Regime
Akbar's religious views did not survive him, but the court culture he fostered, reflecting a mixture of Muslim and Hindu traditions, flourished until his zealous great-grandson Aurangzeb reinstituted many restrictions on Hindus. -
Period: to
Rule of Emperor Kangxi
Kangxi was the second emperor of the Quing dynasty. Kangxi opened multiple ports to foreign trade and encouraged the introduction of Western education and arts and of Roman Catholicism. -
Qing Forces Attack Russia
In 1669, Qing forces attacked Russian scouts along the Amur Rivers north bank. Since neither empires sent more forces into Amur territories, the rivalry was based on conquest of local territories and groups of people. -
Peter the Great Takes Russia
Peter's half sister, Princess Sophia, attempted to take full control of the government in 1689, however Peter rallied enough support to send her to a monastery, where monks lived under religious vows, made sure Sophia's brother Ivan could not secure the throne, and took control of Russia all while in his teens. -
Treaty of Nerchinsk
Because of the Russian and Qing empires long struggle for territory, the two empires decided to come to a decision and create a treaty using Jesuir missionaries as interpreters. The Treaty of Nerchinsk regulated trade and enforced borders along the Amur River. -
Period: to
Rule of Peter the Great
Peter the Great was one of his country's greatest statesman, organizers and reformers. He established the social, institutional, and intellectual trends that were dominant in Russia for the next two centuries. -
Kangxi and the Missionaries
Due to controversy over the Jesuits religious teachings, Kangxi wrote to Rome supporting the Jesuit position. After further disagreement, he ordered for the removal of all missionaries who refused to sign a certificate accepting his position as emperor. -
Mongolia Under Qing Control
Kangxi personally led troops in the campaigns that defeated Caldan, By 1691, Kangxi brought Inner Mongolia under Qing control. -
Peter Seizes the Port of Azov
To maintain the port on the Black Sea, Peter the Great formed a small but efficient navy to protect their port. With his small intimidating navy, he seized the port of Azov in 1696. -
Peter the Great Travels Across Europe
In the winter of 1697-1698, Peter the Great traveled across Europe in disguise to discover how western European societies were becoming powerful and wealthy. Peter paid attention to ships and weapons, and once he returned to Russia he planned to expand his empire. -
Period: to
Great Northern War
The long Great Northern War allowed Peter the Great's modernized armies to take control of the Baltic Sea, conquering Swedish control. This allowed for there to be more direct contacts straight to Russia, and also allowed Peter to create St.Petersburg. -
Trial of the Forty-Seven Ronin
The "Forty-Seven Ronin" incident exemplified the ideological and social crisis of Japan's transformation from a military to a civil society. -
Population High
Population growth, growing in size ever since the 1500s, reached a high in China with around 350 million around the late 1700s. The population high demanded an increase in food and goods, which led to issues such as deforestation and increased flooding. -
British Trade Moves Eastward
Once Britain became worried about its massive trade deficit with China, British traders moved east an dominated European trade with Canton, displacing the Dutch. -
St. Petersburg Becomes Russia's Capital
Peter the Great captured land on the east side of the Baltic Sea, allowing him to build St.Petersburg in 1712. -
Peter's Navy Loses the Port of Azov
Peter the Great loses the port of Azov, which his small intimidating army conquered in 1696, but lost the port in 1713. This put a halt to southward expansion for Peter the Great and his formidable navy. -
Peter's Decree
A decree issued in 1716 proclaimed that the tsar- basically- isn't obliged to answer to anyone for what he does, but has power and authority over his kingdom and land, and is able to rule over his people however he wishes to as a Christian ruler. With this decree, Peter the Great executes many changes in Russia such as: bringing the Russian Orthodox Church more firmly under state control, formation of factories and foundries, increased taxes, etc.. -
Period: to
Tulip Period
The Tulip Period was during the last years of the reign of the Ottoman sultan Ahmed Ⅲ, during which European styles and attitudes became briefly popular in Istanbul. It was named in reference to the craze for expensive tulip bulbs that swept through the Ottoman elite. -
Fall of the Safavid Empire
High military costs, inflation of silver, and decline of overland trade contributed to the downfall of the Safavids, however by 1722, the government had become so weak and held so little support from the nomadic groups, that an army of marauding Afghans who captured the city of Isfahan, was what finally brought about the end of the Safavid Empire. -
Afghan Invaders Topple Last Safavid Shah
By 1722, the government had become so weak and commanded so little support from the nomadic groups that an army of marauding Afghans was able to capture Isfahan and effectively end Safavid rule. -
Kangxi Dies
Kangxi, the Qing emperor, put effort towards renewed economic, military, and cultural achievement in China. Kangxi led imperial expansion and maintained stability until he passed. Kangxi oversaw the greatest expansion of the Qing Empire. -
Rise of Regional Powers
Nizam al-Mulk, the sultan’s vizier, gave up on the central government and established his own nearly independent state at Hyderabad in the eastern Deccan. Other officials, the Hindu Marathas, and the Afghans followed in his lead afterwards, also becoming similarly independent, the rising of regional powers. -
Janissary Revolt
Sultan Ahmed Ⅲ abdicated his throne and was replaced by the leader of the Janissary revolt, Patrona Halil, who was later seized and executed just months after he took over. -
Period: to
Rule of Emperor Quianlong
Qianlong was born in China and the 4th emperor of the Qing dynasty. His six-decade reign was one of the longest in Chinese history. His military campaigns eliminated the Turk and Mongol threats and he reinforced Chinese authority in the south and the east. -
Period: to
Nadir Shah Temporarily Reunites Iran; Invades India
Nadir Shah, an Iranian ruler and conqueror, created an Iranian empire that stretched from the Indus River to the Caucus Mountains. -
Nadir Shah Invades
Nadir Shah, a warlord who'd seized power in Iran after the Safavids fell, invaded the Mughal capital of Delhi, and steals from Iran the "peacock throne," a bejeweled symbol of Mughal grandeur. -
Start of European Encroachment
Joseph François Dupleix assumes presidency of Pondicherry-a French stronghold, seizes Madras-an English trading center, and with the help of his troops, becomes a power broker in southern India with much influence, his actions opening up the way for a new period of European influence in India. -
Domestic Revenues Decline
Due to domestic revenues declining in the later 1700s, the Qing government needed silver. Also, the East India Company managed its worldwide holdings poorly and was near bankruptcy. -
The Great Pagoda
Designed by Sir William Chambers, the Great Pagoda at Kew, in the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, was completed. It was a tribute to the Europeans' interest with Chinese culture. -
Macartney and Entourage Get Escorted Home
Chinese forces escorted Macartney and his entourage back to the British Empire, showing them all the productive farmland and prosperous cities. However, the Chinese forces purposely avoided areas that showcased the economic and environmental decline that set in the early 1700s. -
Russian Ships First Spotted Off the Coast of Japan
After the exclusion of most European from Japan, the Russians were spotted off the coast of Japan. -
British Government Dispatches Lord George Macartney
In 1792, the British government dispatched Lord George Macartney, a well-connected peer with experience in Russia and India. The British government sent Macartney in order to attempt to establish diplomatic relations with the Qing Empire. -
The Qing Empire Rejects Macartney
Despite the British Empires efforts in the Macartney mission, the Qinglong emperor refused to alter the Canton trading system, open new ports of trade, or allow the British to establish a permanent mission in Beijing. The emperor then sent a letter to King George explaining that China did not want to increase its foreign trade and had no use for Britain's ingenious devices and manufacturers. -
Russian Census of 1795
The Russian Census of 1795 showed that serfs made up over half the population in Russia, while landowners showed to make up only two percent of the population. Serfdom was hereditary, and serfs were tied to specific land properties instead of a particular owner. Strict laws narrowed the difference between serfs and slaves, however there proved to be a high increase in the amount of serfs.