A thematic collection

Colonisation

Every event in the Terralore archive tagged colonisation — the establishment, administration and ending of colonial rule. 359 of them, drawn from 138 nations, running from 518 BCE to 1975. Indexed below by period; each period opens the full text, with the sources every entry was verified against and a link back to the chronicle it came from.

Events
359
Nations
138
Earliest
518 BCE
Latest
1975
Densest period
The 16th century51 events
Africa
181
Asia
76
North America
38
South America
24
Oceania
22
Europe
18

Each period below opens a page holding those events in full — summary, era and citations. Every entry is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.

1 event · 1 nation

The 6th century BCE

Every theme in the 6th century BCE →

  1. c. 518 BCE

    Achaemenid Persia annexes the Indus lands · Pakistan

All 1 events in the 6th century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 3rd century BCE

Every theme in the 3rd century BCE →

  1. 3rd century BCE

    A Seleucid Greek fortress rises on Ikaros · Kuwait

All 1 events in the 3rd century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 2nd century BCE

Every theme in the 2nd century BCE →

  1. 111 BCE

    Han conquest begins Chinese rule · Vietnam

All 1 events in the 2nd century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 1st century BCE

Every theme in the 1st century BCE →

  1. 30 BCE

    Rome annexes Egypt · Egypt

All 1 events in the 1st century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 1st century

Every theme in the 1st century →

  1. Roman annexation of Mauretania · Morocco

All 1 events in the 1st century →

1 event · 1 nation

The 10th century

Every theme in the 10th century →

  1. Erik the Red founds the Norse colony · Greenland

All 1 events in the 10th century →

26 events · 24 nations

The 15th century

Every theme in the 15th century →

  1. Ming China occupies Dai Viet · Vietnam

  2. Portuguese ships reach the Rivers of Guinea · Guinea-Bissau

  3. Portuguese reach the uninhabited islands · Cape Verde

  4. Fernão do Pó sights the island · Equatorial Guinea

  5. Portuguese reach the estuary and name it Gabão · Gabon

  6. Portugal builds Elmina Castle · Ghana

  7. Diogo Cão reaches the coast · Namibia

  8. Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope · Portugal

All 26 events in the 15th century →18 more not shown here

51 events · 42 nations

The 16th century

Every theme in the 16th century →

  1. Cabral claims Brazil for Portugal · Brazil

  2. The Wild Coast and El Dorado · Guyana

  3. Cabral reaches Brazil · Portugal

  4. Settlement of Príncipe · São Tomé and Príncipe

  5. Portuguese seize control of the coast · United Arab Emirates

  6. Spanish reach the isthmus · Panama

  7. Columbus reaches the Rich Coast · Costa Rica

  8. Columbus reaches Honduras · Honduras

All 51 events in the 16th century →43 more not shown here

32 events · 27 nations

The 17th century

Every theme in the 17th century →

  1. Fur and yasak pull the Russians across Siberia · Russia

  2. Founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) · Indonesia

  3. Quirós reaches Espiritu Santo · Vanuatu

  4. Founding of Jamestown · United States

  5. Flight of the Earls and the Plantation of Ulster · Ireland

  6. First recorded landing by the Ascension · Seychelles

  7. Founding of Essequibo · Guyana

  8. Founding of Benguela · Angola

All 32 events in the 17th century →24 more not shown here

26 events · 19 nations

The 18th century

Every theme in the 18th century →

  1. Prazo estates along the Zambezi · Mozambique

  2. The Dutch abandon Mauritius · Mauritius

  3. France claims the Isle de France · Mauritius

  4. Hans Egede reaches Greenland · Greenland

  5. The Little Horde accepts Russian protection · Kazakhstan

  6. France claims and names the islands · Seychelles

  7. Battle of Plassey · Bangladesh

  8. Battle of Plassey · India

All 26 events in the 18th century →18 more not shown here

4 events · 4 nations

The 1800s

Every theme in the 1800s →

  1. Russia annexes Kartli-Kakheti · Georgia

  2. Trinidad ceded to Britain by treaty · Trinidad and Tobago

  3. Britain seizes the Cape · South Africa

  4. Sierra Leone becomes a Crown Colony · Sierra Leone

All 4 events in the 1800s →

8 events · 8 nations

The 1810s

Every theme in the 1810s →

  1. All garrisons withdrawn · Falkland Islands

  2. Annexation of Bessarabia · Moldova

  3. British rule confirmed by the Treaty of Paris · Malta

  4. Treaty of Paris confirms British rule · Mauritius

  5. Cession to Britain by the Treaty of Paris · Seychelles

  6. Tobago ceded to Britain · Trinidad and Tobago

  7. Kandyan Convention unifies the island under Britain · Sri Lanka

  8. Bathurst founded on St Mary's Island · Gambia

All 8 events in the 1810s →

7 events · 5 nations

The 1820s

Every theme in the 1820s →

  1. Turco-Egyptian conquest; Khartoum founded · Sudan

  2. Acquisition of Cape Mesurado · Liberia

  3. Russia abolishes the Kazakh khanates · Kazakhstan

  4. First settlers land and found the colony · Liberia

  5. Independence of Brazil · Portugal

  6. Christopolis renamed Monrovia · Liberia

  7. Britain founds an anti-slavery base at Port Clarence · Equatorial Guinea

All 7 events in the 1820s →

5 events · 5 nations

The 1830s

Every theme in the 1830s →

  1. France captures Algiers · Algeria

  2. Creation of British Guiana · Guyana

  3. First Opium War and the 'unequal treaties' · China

  4. France treats with King Denis · Gabon

  5. Britain captures Aden · Yemen

All 5 events in the 1830s →

9 events · 8 nations

The 1840s

Every theme in the 1840s →

  1. Cession of Sarawak to James Brooke · Brunei

  2. Mayotte ceded to France · Comoros

  3. James Brooke becomes Raja of Sarawak · Malaysia

  4. Britain withdraws to Sierra Leone · Equatorial Guinea

  5. France signs treaties on the lagoon coast · Ivory Coast

  6. Labuan ceded to Britain · Brunei

  7. Treaty of Amritsar creates the Dogra state · India

  8. Algeria annexed to France · Algeria

All 9 events in the 1840s →1 more not shown here

6 events · 6 nations

The 1850s

Every theme in the 1850s →

  1. Denmark sells its Gold Coast forts to Britain · Ghana

  2. France annexes New Caledonia · New Caledonia

  3. Faidherbe begins the conquest · Senegal

  4. Spain installs effective rule under Carlos Chacón · Equatorial Guinea

  5. British Crown rule begins · India

  6. Partition of the island · Timor-Leste

All 6 events in the 1850s →

15 events · 15 nations

The 1860s

Every theme in the 1860s →

  1. Annexation to Spain · Dominican Republic

  2. Britain annexes Lagos · Nigeria

  3. The Colony of British Honduras · Belize

  4. France buys the anchorage of Obock · Djibouti

  5. France annexes Cochinchina · Vietnam

  6. French protectorate established · Cambodia

  7. Land confiscation legalised (raupatu) · New Zealand

  8. Penal colony established · New Caledonia

All 15 events in the 1860s →7 more not shown here

14 events · 13 nations

The 1870s

Every theme in the 1870s →

  1. Annexation to the Cape Colony · Lesotho

  2. Ottoman return to the highlands · Yemen

  3. Traders, missionaries, and labour recruiters arrive · Papua New Guinea

  4. Deed of Cession to Britain · Fiji

  5. The Gold Coast becomes a crown colony · Ghana

  6. Brazza explores the Ogooué · Gabon

  7. Russia annexes Kokand; Kyrgyzstan under imperial rule · Kyrgyzstan

  8. Khanates absorbed into Russian Turkestan · Uzbekistan

All 14 events in the 1870s →6 more not shown here

33 events · 30 nations

The 1880s

Every theme in the 1880s →

  1. Brazza's treaty with Makoko · Congo

  2. The concessions era · Eswatini

  3. Treaty of Bardo · Tunisia

  4. British occupation begins · Egypt

  5. Douala treaty and German protectorate · Cameroon

  6. Lagarde extends French control · Djibouti

  7. German colonial expansion · Germany

  8. Founding of Conakry · Guinea

All 33 events in the 1880s →25 more not shown here

44 events · 34 nations

The 1890s

Every theme in the 1890s →

  1. Conquest of the Ovimbundu kingdoms · Angola

  2. Burundi assigned to German East Africa · Burundi

  3. Colony of Eritrea proclaimed · Eritrea

  4. Britain accepts a French protectorate · Madagascar

  5. The Lochner Concession · Zambia

  6. Colony of French Guinea established · Guinea

  7. British Central Africa Protectorate proclaimed · Malawi

  8. Mozambique Company chartered · Mozambique

All 44 events in the 1890s →36 more not shown here

21 events · 19 nations

The 1900s

Every theme in the 1900s →

  1. Battle of Kousséri · Chad

  2. Treaty of Paris fixes Río Muni · Equatorial Guinea

  3. The Buganda Agreement · Uganda

  4. Administrative line drawn for nomadic tribes on the Sudan border · Egypt

  5. Colony and Protectorate established · Gambia

  6. Asante annexed and Northern Territories added · Ghana

  7. Coppolani's pacification campaign begins · Mauritania

  8. An administrative line departs from the 22nd parallel · Sudan

All 21 events in the 1900s →13 more not shown here

23 events · 21 nations

The 1910s

Every theme in the 1910s →

  1. Ubangi-Shari joins French Equatorial Africa · Central African Republic

  2. Chad joins French Equatorial Africa · Chad

  3. Middle Congo joins French Equatorial Africa · Congo

  4. Kept out of the Union of South Africa · Eswatini

  5. Gabon joins French Equatorial Africa · Gabon

  6. Kept out of the Union of South Africa · Lesotho

  7. Japanese annexation of Korea · North Korea

  8. Japanese annexation of Korea · South Korea

All 23 events in the 1910s →15 more not shown here

15 events · 15 nations

The 1920s

Every theme in the 1920s →

  1. Effective occupation completed · Angola

  2. British mandate and the Iraqi revolt · Iraq

  3. Kenya Colony created · Kenya

  4. Creation of Greater Lebanon · Lebanon

  5. Colony of French Soudan · Mali

  6. League of Nations mandate · Namibia

  7. Arab Kingdom of Syria and the French Mandate · Syria

  8. League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi · Burundi

All 15 events in the 1920s →7 more not shown here

8 events · 8 nations

The 1930s

Every theme in the 1930s →

  1. The Southern Policy formalised · South Sudan

  2. Upper Volta partitioned · Burkina Faso

  3. Ethnic identity cards introduced · Rwanda

  4. Creation of Italian Libya · Libya

  5. Completion of the conquest · Mauritania

  6. Italian Somaliland joins Italian East Africa · Somalia

  7. Aden becomes a Crown Colony · Yemen

  8. Forced labor and wartime mobilization · South Korea

All 8 events in the 1930s →

3 events · 3 nations

The 1940s

Every theme in the 1940s →

  1. Sétif massacre · Algeria

  2. Separate overseas territory · Comoros

  3. Upper Volta reconstituted · Burkina Faso

All 3 events in the 1940s →

2 events · 2 nations

The 1950s

Every theme in the 1950s →

  1. Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland created · Malawi

  2. Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland · Zambia

All 2 events in the 1950s →

1 event · 1 nation

The 1970s

Every theme in the 1970s →

  1. Decolonisation of the African empire · Portugal

All 1 events in the 1970s →