26 events · 23 nations
1600s
12 records
Africa
- BEN
Benin · Formation · c. 1600
Founding of Porto-Novo
The prince Te-Agbanlin, of the Allada royal house, founded the lagoon settlement of Hogbonu (Ajashe), later named Porto-Novo, which grew into a coastal port-kingdom of mixed Aja and Yoruba population.
The Aja migrations and the kingdoms of Allada and Porto-Novo
Sources: Porto-Novo (Wikipedia) · Benin — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- TCD
Chad · Economy & Trade · 16th–19th c.
Baguirmi and the slave trade
The sultanate of Baguirmi, Islamic from the sixteenth century, supplied large numbers of captives to the trans-Saharan slave trade alongside skins, ivory and cotton.
Baguirmi, Wadai and the Saharan trade
Sources: Sultanate of Bagirmi (Wikipedia)
- GHA
Ghana · Peoples & Migration · 16th–early 19th centuries
The Atlantic slave trade
European demand for plantation labour turned the coastal castles into holding pens of the transatlantic slave trade; vast numbers of enslaved Africans were shipped through forts such as Elmina to the Americas in conditions of extreme violence.
European forts, gold, and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Elmina Castle, Ghana (International Coalition of Sites of Conscience) · Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Elmina Castle (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GNB
Guinea-Bissau · Peoples & Migration · 16th–18th centuries
The Atlantic slave trade via Cape Verde
Administered through Cape Verde, the Rivers of Guinea became a major source of enslaved people; tens of thousands were carried to the islands' plantations and onward to the Americas, especially during the Iberian Union (1580–1640).
The Rivers of Guinea and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Guinea-Bissau (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Guinea-Bissau (Wikipedia) · A Guide to the History of Recognition: Guinea-Bissau (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- ZMB
Zambia · Formation · from the 17th century
Rise of the Lozi kingdom
On the upper Zambezi floodplain the Luyana (Aluyi) people, of Lunda origin, built the Lozi (Barotse) kingdom ruled by a king titled the Litunga, with capitals that shifted with the annual flood.
Kingdoms of the Zambezi and Luapula: Lozi, Bemba, Chewa and Kazembe
Sources: Barotseland (the Lozi kingdom) (Wikipedia) · History of Zambia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- JPN
Japan · War & Rupture · 1600 CE
Battle of Sekigahara
Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats a rival coalition in the decisive battle that makes him master of Japan and clears the path to the shogunate.
Sengoku and Edo: Unification and the Long Peace
Sources: Battle of Sekigahara (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Tokugawa Ieyasu (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- SMR
San Marino · Politics & Power · 8 Oct 1600
Promulgation of the Leges Statutae
The republic enacted the Leges Statutae Republicae Sancti Marini, a six-book written constitution governing the Council, the Regents and the courts; it remains in force as the foundation of San Marino's law.
The Commune, the Statutes and the Captains Regent
Sources: The Institutions of the Republic of San Marino (Consulate of San Marino to the UK) · The World's Oldest Continuous Republic (WorldAtlas)
- GBR
United Kingdom · Economy & Trade · 31 December 1600
Founding of the East India Company
A royal charter created the East India Company for trade with Asia; over the following centuries it grew into an instrument of conquest that brought much of India under British control.
Tudors, the Reformation, and the first empire
Sources: East India Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- CHL
Chile · Politics & Power · 17th-18th century
The frontier Captaincy General
Chile is governed as a poor, militarised captaincy general of the Spanish empire, its southern frontier held against an independent Mapuche nation that the conquest never subdued.
Conquest, Santiago, and the Long Arauco War
Sources: History of Chile (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Araucanian wars (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ECU
Ecuador · Culture & Ideas · 17th-18th c.
The Quito school of art
Quito's convents produce the Escuela Quiteña, a mestizo Baroque tradition of painting and sculpture exported across colonial South America.
Conquest, Colony and the Quito School
Sources: Quito School of Art (Encyclopedia.com (Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture)) · City of Quito (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
- VEN
Venezuela · Economy & Trade · 17th-18th c.
A cacao-and-slave economy
Coastal plantations growing cacao, worked by enslaved Africans, enrich a creole planter elite, the mantuanos, and shape colonial society.
Colonial Venezuela and the Captaincy General
Sources: Venezuela: A Country Study (U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · Venezuela (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- VUT
Vanuatu · Politics & Power · early 1600s
Reign of the paramount chief Roi Mata
Oral tradition records Roi Mata as a great chief of central Vanuatu who ended inter-clan warfare and whose burial on Artok is honoured by lasting prohibitions on his sites.
Lapita Seafarers and Chief Roi Mata
Sources: Chief Roi Mata's Domain — World Heritage List (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · A Legendary Leader: Chief Roi Mata's Domain (UNESCO) · Chief Roimata's Domain — World Heritage Site (Vanuatu Tourism Office)
3 records
Asia
- IDN
Indonesia · Colonisation · 20 Mar 1602
Founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC)
The Dutch Republic charters the VOC with sweeping powers to trade, wage war and govern, launching nearly two centuries of company rule in the Indies.
Portuguese and Dutch Colonialism and the VOC
Sources: Dutch East India Company (Wikipedia)
Europe
- ISL
Iceland · Economy & Trade · 1602–1786
The Danish trade monopoly
The Danish crown confined all Icelandic trade to a small group of licensed Danish merchants, depressing prices and returns and impoverishing the island for nearly two centuries.
Under Norway and Denmark: Reformation, Monopoly and Famine
Sources: Iceland: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Iceland, 1840s to the Second World War (nordics.info (Aarhus University))
- NLD
Netherlands · Economy & Trade
Founding of the VOC
The Dutch East India Company is chartered as the world's first publicly traded joint-stock company, with a monopoly on Dutch trade in Asia and powers to wage war and govern.
The Golden Age: Trade, the VOC, Art and Empire
Sources: Dutch East India Company (VOC) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Asia
- JPN
Japan · Politics & Power · 1603 CE
Tokugawa shogunate founded
Ieyasu is appointed shogun and establishes his government at Edo, beginning the Tokugawa (Edo) period of long internal peace.
Sengoku and Edo: Unification and the Long Peace
Sources: Tokugawa Ieyasu (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Sakoku (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- GBR
United Kingdom · Politics & Power
Union of the Crowns
James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth I as James I of England, uniting the English and Scottish crowns under one monarch while the two kingdoms remained separate states.
Union, revolution, and the rise of Britain
Sources: The British Library: history and collections (The British Library)
1 record
Oceania
- VUT
Vanuatu · Colonisation · May 1606
Quirós reaches Espiritu Santo
Pedro Fernández de Quirós, leading a Spanish expedition, landed on the largest island, named it La Austrialia del Espíritu Santo and claimed it for Spain before his short-lived colony failed.
European Contact and Naming
Sources: Espiritu Santo — Vanuatu, Map, & Facts (Encyclopædia Britannica) · The Spanish quest for Terra Australis (State Library of New South Wales)
2 records
Europe
- AND
Andorra · Politics & Power
The French crown becomes co-prince
After the rights of Foix passed through Navarre to Henry IV, an edict confirmed the King of France and the Bishop of Urgell as Andorra's co-princes; the French role later passed to the head of state.
Two Princes, Neutrality and Endurance
Sources: Andorra: Countries (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian) · Andorra: History, Facts & Points of Interest (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- USA
United States · Colonisation
Founding of Jamestown
English settlers established Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America, financed by the Virginia Company of London.
European colonisation and the Thirteen Colonies
Sources: Jamestown Colony (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Europe
- LIE
Liechtenstein · Politics & Power
The House of Liechtenstein raised to princely rank
Karl von Liechtenstein received the hereditary dignity of an imperial prince in 1608, confirmed for his brothers soon after, raising the wealthy Austrian dynasty to the highest rank of the nobility.
The Lordships of the Rhine and the Distant House of Liechtenstein
Sources: The History of the Princely House of Liechtenstein (Fürstenhaus von Liechtenstein (official Princely House)) · The History of the Family and the Collections (LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna)
North America
- CAN
Canada · Formation
Champlain founds Quebec
Samuel de Champlain established Quebec as a fortified trading post on the St. Lawrence, founding the colony of New France and anchoring the French fur trade in alliance with Indigenous nations.
New France and the fur trade
Sources: Samuel de Champlain (The Canadian Encyclopedia) · Samuel de Champlain, Virtual Museum of New France (Canadian Museum of History)
4 records
Africa
- SYC
Seychelles · Colonisation · 19 January 1609
First recorded landing by the Ascension
Crew of the English East India Company ship Ascension landed and found the islands fertile and uninhabited, but the Company chose not to settle.
Empty Islands and Pirates
Sources: History of Seychelles (Wikipedia) · History of Seychelles (Holidify)
Europe
- IRL
Ireland · Colonisation · 1607–1609
Flight of the Earls and the Plantation of Ulster
After the Gaelic earls fled Ireland in 1607, King James I planted English and Scottish Protestant settlers across confiscated lands in Ulster from 1609, embedding a lasting religious and political division.
Anglo-Norman Invasion, Plantation and Conquest
Sources: Ireland Converts to Christianity (EBSCO Research Starters) · The Cromwellian Conquest and Land Settlement of Ireland (The Down Survey of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin)
South America
- ARG
Argentina · Religion · 1609-1767
Jesuit missions among the Guarani
The Jesuit Order founds mission towns among the Guarani that flourish until the order's expulsion from Spanish lands in 1767.
The Viceroyalty and the Colonial Era
Sources: Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Argentina (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PRY
Paraguay · Religion · 1609-1767
The Jesuit reducciones
The Jesuits gather up to 150,000 Guarani into some thirty mission towns in the Parana and Uruguay basins, blending Indigenous labour with Christian instruction and Baroque art.
The Jesuit Missions and the Colonial Province
Sources: Paraguay: The colonial period (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Jesuit Missions of La Santisima Trinidad de Parana and Jesus de Tavarangue (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
17 events · 17 nations
1610s
4 records
Africa
- MDG
Madagascar · Formation · early–mid 17th century
Rise of the Sakalava kingdom
The Maroseraña dynasty builds the island's largest realm on the west coast, later dividing into Menabe and Boina.
Coastal Kingdoms & the Pirate Coast
Sources: The Kingdoms of Madagascar (Lumen Learning / SUNY World Civilization) · Madagascar (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Asia
- BGD
Bangladesh · Economy & Trade
Dhaka becomes the Mughal capital of Bengal
The Mughal governor establishes Dhaka as the capital of the Bengal subah, and the city grows into a hub of administration, military power and the global muslin trade.
Mughal Bengal and the Wealth of the Delta
Sources: History of Bangladesh (Encyclopædia Britannica)
North America
- NIC
Nicaragua · Catastrophe · 1578 & 1610
León Viejo abandoned
The original León, struck by the Momotombo eruption of 1578 and the earthquake of 1610, is abandoned; its buried ruins later become Nicaragua's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Conquest, León, and the Mosquito Coast
Sources: Ruins of León Viejo (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
South America
- COL
Colombia · War & Rupture · 16th-18th c.
Cartagena fortified
Cartagena de Indias is built into the most complete fortified port in South America, guarding the empire's wealth against repeated pirate and naval assaults.
Conquest and the Viceroyalty of New Granada
Sources: Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
1 record
South America
- URY
Uruguay · Economy & Trade · early 1600s
Cattle turn the plains to wealth
Cattle and horses introduced by early expeditions multiply across the grasslands into vast feral herds, drawing gauchos, hide-hunters and contrabandists to the frontier.
The Charrua and the Banda Oriental
Sources: Uruguay (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Europe
- MCO
Monaco · Politics & Power
Honoré II takes the title of Prince
Honoré II became the first Grimaldi to call himself Prince and Lord of Monaco, marking the principality's emergence as a sovereign state out of the medieval lordship.
From Lordship to Principality: Spanish, then French Protection
Sources: Monaco: 1215 to 1662 (GlobalSecurity.org) · Monaco (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Europe
- LIE
Liechtenstein · Economy & Trade · 16th–17th c.
Hohenems debts open the way
The counts of Hohenems, who held Vaduz and Schellenberg, fell into heavy debt, leaving the small Rhine territories available for sale to a buyer rich enough to redeem them.
The Lordships of the Rhine and the Distant House of Liechtenstein
Sources: Liechtenstein: History (Alpine, Principality, Sovereignty) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · How the Principality of Liechtenstein came into being (Swiss National Museum (Blog))
- RUS
Russia · Politics & Power
Michael Romanov elected tsar
A national assembly (Zemsky Sobor) elects sixteen-year-old Michael Romanov as tsar, ending the Time of Troubles and founding the Romanov dynasty that will rule Russia for three centuries.
Muscovy and the Tsardom of Russia
Sources: Russia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
3 records
Africa
- MWI
Malawi · Culture & Ideas
Gaspar Bocarro crosses the region
The Portuguese traveller Gaspar Bocarro journeyed through the territory, leaving what is generally regarded as the first European account of the land and peoples of the future Malawi.
The Maravi Confederacy
Sources: History of Malawi (Wikipedia)
Asia
- BTN
Bhutan · Formation
Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal arrives in Bhutan
Fleeing a sectarian dispute in Tibet, the Drukpa Kagyu lama Ngawang Namgyal enters western Bhutan and is recognised as the Zhabdrung, beginning the unification of the country.
Unification under the Zhabdrung
Sources: Bhutan — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Nepal and Bhutan: Country Studies (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress)
South America
- GUY
Guyana · Colonisation · c. 1616
Founding of Essequibo
The Dutch establish the colony of Essequibo, the oldest of the three, followed by Berbice (1627) and Demerara (split from Essequibo in 1745).
The Dutch Colonies and the Engineered Coast
Sources: Guyana — History (Colonialism, Independence, Culture) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Guyana (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
1 record
Africa
- AGO
Angola · Colonisation
Founding of Benguela
The Portuguese established the port of Benguela to the south, which would become a second major outlet for the export of enslaved Africans to the Americas.
Luanda, Queen Njinga and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Portuguese Angola (Wikipedia) · Slavery in Angola (Wikipedia)
2 records
Europe
- CZE
Czechia · Religion · 23 May 1618
Defenestration of Prague
Protestant nobles threw two Catholic imperial regents and their secretary from a window of Prague Castle, sparking the Bohemian revolt against Ferdinand II and helping to launch the Thirty Years' War.
Habsburg Bohemia: White Mountain, Counter-Reformation and National Revival
Sources: Defenestration of Prague (1618) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- DEU
Germany · War & Rupture · 1618–1648
The Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia
A devastating European war fought largely in Germany ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which confirmed the autonomy of the empire's states and entrenched German fragmentation.
The Holy Roman Empire and the Reformation
Sources: Peace of Westphalia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
3 records
Asia
- IDN
Indonesia · Colonisation
Founding of Batavia
Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen storms Jayakarta and builds Batavia (modern Jakarta) as the VOC's Asian headquarters.
Portuguese and Dutch Colonialism and the VOC
Sources: Dutch East India Company (Wikipedia)
- UZB
Uzbekistan · Culture & Ideas · 17th–19th centuries
Islamic monuments of Bukhara and Khiva
The khanates raise the madrasas, minarets and palaces that survive in the historic centres of Bukhara and the walled Itchan Kala of Khiva, today UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The Uzbek Khanates
Sources: Historic Centre of Bukhara — World Heritage List (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Itchan Kala (Khiva) — World Heritage List (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
North America
- USA
United States · Peoples & Migration · August 1619
First Africans landed in Virginia
An English ship brought roughly twenty enslaved Africans to Point Comfort, Virginia, marking the beginning of African slavery in the English mainland colonies.
European colonisation and the Thirteen Colonies
Sources: Arrival of the First Africans in 1619 (U.S. National Park Service)
12 events · 10 nations
1620s
3 records
Africa
- BEN
Benin · Formation · early 17th century
Foundation of Dahomey at Abomey
Fon rulers established the Kingdom of Dahomey on the Abomey plateau; King Houegbadja is credited with beginning the Royal Palaces of Abomey and building a strongly centralised monarchy.
The Fon Kingdom of Dahomey and the palaces of Abomey
Sources: Dahomey — historical kingdom, Africa (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of the Kingdom of Dahomey (Wikipedia) · Royal Palaces of Abomey — World Heritage List, no. 323 (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
Europe
- CZE
Czechia · War & Rupture · 8 Nov 1620
Battle of White Mountain
Imperial and Catholic League armies crushed the Bohemian rebels at White Mountain near Prague, ending Czech estates' power and ushering in Habsburg absolutism and forced Counter-Reformation.
Habsburg Bohemia: White Mountain, Counter-Reformation and National Revival
Sources: Defenestration of Prague (1618) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Czechoslovak history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- USA
United States · Religion
Pilgrims found Plymouth
Separatist Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower established Plymouth Colony, the first enduring European settlement in New England.
European colonisation and the Thirteen Colonies
Sources: Plymouth, Massachusetts (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Mayflower (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
3 records
Asia
- IDN
Indonesia · War & Rupture
The Banda massacre
To enforce the nutmeg monopoly, Coen's forces kill, starve, enslave or deport almost the entire population of the Banda Islands, an atrocity that destroys Bandanese society.
Portuguese and Dutch Colonialism and the VOC
Sources: Banda Islands (Dutch conquest, 1621) (Wikipedia)
Europe
- LVA
Latvia · War & Rupture
Swedish conquest of Riga
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden captured Riga and most of Livonia from Poland-Lithuania, opening the period of Swedish rule remembered by Latvians as the 'good Swedish times'.
Poland, Sweden, Courland and the Russian Empire
Sources: Latvia: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of the Port of Riga (Freeport of Riga Authority (rop.lv))
- NLD
Netherlands · Colonisation
Founding of the Dutch West India Company
The WIC is chartered for trade and conquest in the Americas and West Africa, becoming central to Dutch participation in the transatlantic slave trade.
The Golden Age: Trade, the VOC, Art and Empire
Sources: Netherlands (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Slavery: the Rijksmuseum exhibition and Dutch colonial slavery (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
3 records
Africa
- AGO
Angola · Politics & Power
Njinga becomes queen of Ndongo
After leading a diplomatic mission to the Portuguese in 1621, Njinga Mbande took the throne of Ndongo, beginning a decades-long struggle against Portuguese expansion.
Luanda, Queen Njinga and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (Wikipedia) · Njinga a Mbande: Power and War in 17th-Century Angola (Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History) · Angola — Colonialism, Independence, Civil War (history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- OMN
Oman · Politics & Power · c. 1624
Rise of the Yarubid imamate
A member of the Yarub tribe was elected imam, founding the Yarubid dynasty that would unite Oman and lead the campaign to expel the Portuguese.
The Portuguese, Hormuz and the Yarubid Recovery
Sources: Yarubid dynasty (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Oman: The early period (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- TWN
Taiwan · Colonisation
Dutch found Fort Zeelandia
The Dutch East India Company establishes a fortified trading base, Fort Zeelandia, on the southwestern coast near present-day Tainan, beginning roughly four decades of Dutch commercial rule over parts of the island.
Austronesian Island and the European Outposts
Sources: Taiwan (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Library of Congress Country Studies (U.S. Library of Congress)
2 records
Africa
- BEN
Benin · Culture & Ideas · c. 1625–1900
The Royal Palaces of Abomey
A line of kings built earthen palaces decorated with polychrome bas-reliefs within a single great enclosure at Abomey; the complex was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
The Fon Kingdom of Dahomey and the palaces of Abomey
Sources: Royal Palaces of Abomey — World Heritage List, no. 323 (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · The Royal Palaces of Abomey: Palace of King Behanzin, Benin (UNESCO / Permanent Delegation of Japan)
- COD
DR Congo · Formation · c. 1625
Kuba kingdom unified by Shyaam
Shyaam a-Mbul a Ngoong founds the Bushong dynasty, uniting chiefdoms between the Sankuru and Kasai into the Kuba kingdom famed for its art.
Kongo & the Savanna Kingdoms
Sources: Kuba Kingdom (Wikipedia) · Kingdoms of the Savanna: the Luba and Lunda Empires (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
1 record
14 events · 14 nations
1630s
1 record
Europe
- SWE
Sweden · War & Rupture · Jul 1630
Sweden enters the Thirty Years' War
Gustavus Adolphus landed in Pomerania and intervened on the Protestant side, turning the tide of the Thirty Years' War with a series of victories before his death at Lützen in 1632.
Stormaktstiden: The Swedish Empire and Its Fall
Sources: Peace of Westphalia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Sweden: The early Vasa kings (1523–1611) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Africa
- AGO
Angola · War & Rupture · c. 1631
Njinga rules from Matamba
Driven from Ndongo by the Portuguese, Njinga rebuilt her power in the eastern kingdom of Matamba, from which she resisted, raided and negotiated with the colonisers until peace in 1656.
Luanda, Queen Njinga and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (Wikipedia) · Njinga a Mbande: Power and War in 17th-Century Angola (Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History)
Europe
- SMR
San Marino · Politics & Power · 17th century
An island within the Papal States
By the seventeenth century the lands of the Church surrounded San Marino on every side; the republic guarded its autonomy and secured papal acknowledgements of its rights, but its independence rested on the goodwill of a far greater neighbour.
The Alberoni Occupation and Restored Liberty
Sources: History of San Marino (Visit San Marino (official tourism site)) · San Marino (Napoleon, Congress of Vienna, 1862 treaty) (New World Encyclopedia)
1 record
Europe
- EST
Estonia · Culture & Ideas
Founding of the University of Tartu
King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden founded the university at Tartu (Dorpat), a lasting institution of learning and a hallmark of the era later recalled as the 'good old Swedish time'.
Hanseatic Reval, Danish and Swedish Estonia
Sources: Estonia: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Africa
- TCD
Chad · Religion · c. 1635
Founding of the Wadai Sultanate
Abd al-Karim led an Islamic revolt that overthrew the Tunjur and established the Wadai (Ouaddaï) sultanate east of Lake Chad, ruled from Abéché.
Baguirmi, Wadai and the Saharan trade
Sources: Wadai Sultanate (Wikipedia) · Wadai (sultanate) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- LBN
Lebanon · War & Rupture
Execution of Fakhr al-Din II
Defeated by Ottoman forces wary of his power, Fakhr al-Din is captured and executed in Constantinople, but the union of Druze and Maronite districts he created endures.
The Emirate of Mount Lebanon
Sources: Fakhr al-Din II (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Africa
- ETH
Ethiopia · Formation
Fasilides founds Gondar
Emperor Fasilides makes Gondar his permanent capital, beginning the Gondarine period and the building of the Fasil Ghebbi castle complex.
Gondar, the Era of the Princes and Reunification
Sources: Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region — World Heritage Centre (UNESCO) · Gondarine period (Wikipedia)
2 records
Africa
- GHA
Ghana · Colonisation
The Dutch seize Elmina
Dutch forces captured Elmina from Portugal and, by 1642, took over the Portuguese Gold Coast, joining a competition among European powers that lined the coast with slave-trading forts.
European forts, gold, and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Elmina Castle (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Elmina Castle (Wikipedia)
Asia
- BTN
Bhutan · Culture & Ideas
Punakha Dzong founded
The Zhabdrung begins building Punakha Dzong at the confluence of two rivers as his capital, one of a network of fortress-monasteries that became the seats of Bhutan's temporal and religious power.
Unification under the Zhabdrung
Sources: Bhutan — Tentative List (Dzongs: the centre of temporal and religious authorities) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Nepal and Bhutan: Country Studies (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress)
3 records
Africa
- MUS
Asia
- IRQ
Iraq · Politics & Power · 1638 CE
Ottoman conquest of Baghdad
The Ottoman Empire takes definitive control of Baghdad from Safavid Persia, ruling Mesopotamia for nearly three centuries as the provinces of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra.
Ottoman Rule, the British Mandate and the Kingdom
Sources: Iraq — History (Encyclopædia Britannica)
North America
- BLZ
Belize · Colonisation · c. 1638
British woodcutters settle the coast
English and Scottish buccaneers and logwood cutters began settling the coast of present-day Belize, beyond effective Spanish control; calling themselves the Baymen, they cut logwood for the European dye trade.
The Baymen, the forest and the slaves
Sources: History of Belize (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Guyana and Belize: Country Studies (Federal Research Division) (Library of Congress) · A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country: Belize (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
2 records
Asia
- JPN
Japan · Politics & Power · c. 1633-1639 CE
Sakoku: national seclusion
A series of edicts seals Japan from most foreign contact, banning Christianity and overseas travel and restricting trade to Nagasaki for over two centuries.
Sengoku and Edo: Unification and the Long Peace
Sources: Sakoku (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- RUS
Russia · Colonisation · by 1640s
Russian explorers reach the Pacific
Cossacks and fur traders crossing Siberia reach the Pacific coast, extending the Russian state across northern Asia and giving it a vast Eurasian dominion within a single century of expansion.
Muscovy and the Tsardom of Russia
Sources: Russia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
22 events · 20 nations
1640s
2 records
Asia
- MNG
Mongolia · Religion
Zanabazar enthroned as first Javzandamba
Zanabazar, recognized as a reincarnation in 1639, is enthroned with the title Javzandamba khutagt, becoming the first Bogd Gegeen and supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia.
Buddhism and the Manchu Overlordship
Sources: Zanabazar (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Mongolia: The ascendancy of the Manchu (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- PRT
Portugal · Independence · 1 Dec 1640
Restoration and the House of Braganza
A nationalist revolution proclaimed the duke of Braganza as King John IV, restoring Portuguese independence and founding the Braganza dynasty.
The Iberian Union and the Braganza Restoration
Sources: History of Portugal: Union of Spain and Portugal, 1580-1640 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
4 records
Africa
- AGO
Angola · Peoples & Migration
Atlantic slave trade at its height
Luanda became the leading slave-trading port of the entire Atlantic, funnelling vast numbers of captives seized in interior wars to the Americas, overwhelmingly to Brazil.
Luanda, Queen Njinga and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (Estimates) (SlaveVoyages.org) · Luanda, Angola (1576– ) (BlackPast.org) · Slavery in Angola (Wikipedia)
- STP
São Tomé and Príncipe · War & Rupture
Dutch sack of São Tomé
Dutch forces captured and occupied São Tomé for several years, razing sugar mills and accelerating the long decline of the island's plantation economy.
Sugar, the slave trade and the revolt of Rei Amador
Sources: History of São Tomé and Príncipe (Wikipedia) · São Tomé and Príncipe (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- MYS
Malaysia · Colonisation
Dutch conquest of Malacca
The Dutch East India Company, allied with the Sultanate of Johor, takes Malacca from the Portuguese, holding it as a lesser outpost while focusing power on Batavia.
European Powers and the Making of British Malaya
Sources: Portuguese Malacca (World History Encyclopedia)
Europe
- MCO
Monaco · Politics & Power · 14 September 1641
Treaty of Péronne
Honoré II and Louis XIII signed the Treaty of Péronne, shifting Monaco from Spanish to French protection while recognising the principality's independence and the prince's sovereignty.
From Lordship to Principality: Spanish, then French Protection
Sources: French protection (Treaty of Péronne, 1641) (Government of Monaco (gouv.mc)) · Monaco: 1215 to 1662 (GlobalSecurity.org) · Monaco (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
5 records
Asia
- TWN
Europe
- MCO
Monaco · Politics & Power · from 1642
French titles for the Grimaldi
Under the Péronne settlement the prince of Monaco received French titles and estates, including the duchy of Valentinois, binding the dynasty to the French crown.
From Lordship to Principality: Spanish, then French Protection
Sources: French protection (Treaty of Péronne, 1641) (Government of Monaco (gouv.mc))
- NLD
Netherlands · Culture & Ideas
Rembrandt paints The Night Watch
Rembrandt completes his monumental militia portrait, an emblem of the artistic achievement of the Dutch Golden Age, now in the Rijksmuseum.
The Golden Age: Trade, the VOC, Art and Empire
Sources: Rijksmuseum collection and the Dutch Golden Age (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
North America
- CAN
Oceania
- NZL
New Zealand · Colonisation · December 1642
Abel Tasman sights New Zealand
The Dutch navigator Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, charting a fragment of the west coast but leaving without landing after a deadly clash with Māori in Golden Bay.
European contact, missionaries, and the musket wars
Sources: European voyaging and discovery (NZ History (Manatū Taonga — Ministry for Culture and Heritage)) · European discovery of New Zealand (Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand) · New Zealand (country) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Europe
- FRA
Oceania
- FJI
Fiji · Colonisation
Abel Tasman sights Fiji
The Dutch navigator Abel Tasman becomes the first European to sight the Fijian islands, without landing among them.
European Contact & the Rise of Cakobau
Sources: Fiji — History (Melanesian, Colonialism, Independence) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
2 records
Africa
- MRT
Mauritania · War & Rupture · c. 1644–1674
The Char Bouba (Marabout) war
Sanhaja Berber religious leaders fight the Arab Beni Hassan tribes; the war's outcome confirms Arab warrior dominance and the social hierarchy of Moorish society.
Arab Migration, the Char Bouba War and the Caravan Ksour
Sources: Char Bouba war (Wikipedia) · Mauritania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- CHN
China · Politics & Power · 1644 CE
Manchus establish the Qing dynasty
The Manchus capture Beijing and found the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), China's last imperial dynasty, which expands the empire to its greatest extent under the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors.
Empires of Conquest and Restoration: Yuan, Ming, Qing
Sources: China (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Yuan Dynasty (World History Encyclopedia)
5 records
Europe
- NLD
Netherlands · Independence
Peace of Münster (Westphalia)
Spain formally recognises Dutch independence in the Peace of Münster, part of the Peace of Westphalia, ending the Eighty Years' War.
The Dutch Revolt and the Birth of the Republic
Sources: Peace of Westphalia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Eighty Years' War (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SWE
Sweden · Politics & Power
Peace of Westphalia
The settlement ending the Thirty Years' War granted Sweden Western Pomerania, Bremen and Verden and a vote in the imperial diet, confirming it as a dominant power on the Baltic and in northern Germany.
Stormaktstiden: The Swedish Empire and Its Fall
Sources: Peace of Westphalia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CHE
Switzerland · Independence · 24 Oct 1648
Peace of Westphalia: independence from the Empire
The settlement ending the Thirty Years' War formally recognised the Swiss Confederation's exemption from the Holy Roman Empire, confirming in law the independence the cantons had long held in fact.
Marignano, the Reformation and the Turn to Neutrality
Sources: Peace of Westphalia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The History of Switzerland (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch))
- UKR
Ukraine · War & Rupture
Khmelnytsky's uprising
Bohdan Khmelnytsky led the Zaporozhian Cossacks, allied with the Crimean Tatars, in a great rebellion against Polish rule, founding a self-governing Cossack Hetmanate in the Ukrainian lands.
The Cossack Hetmanate and the Partition of Ukrainian Lands
Sources: Bohdan Khmelnytsky (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Ukraine: The Cossacks (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- BHS
Bahamas · Formation
The Eleutheran Adventurers settle Eleuthera
English Puritans led by William Sayle left Bermuda seeking religious freedom and founded the first lasting English settlement in the Bahamas on the island they named Eleuthera ("freedom").
English settlers and the Republic of Pirates
Sources: Bahamas: Local History and Genealogy — Research Guide (Library of Congress) · The Bahamas — British colonization (History) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Europe
- IRL
Ireland · War & Rupture
Cromwellian conquest
Oliver Cromwell's parliamentary army stormed Drogheda and Wexford with notorious massacres; the conquest was followed by the 1652 Act for the Settlement of Ireland and the mass confiscation of Catholic land.
Anglo-Norman Invasion, Plantation and Conquest
Sources: The Cromwellian Conquest and Land Settlement of Ireland (The Down Survey of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin)
- GBR
United Kingdom · War & Rupture · 30 January 1649
Execution of Charles I
After defeat in the English Civil War, Charles I was tried and beheaded, and a republican Commonwealth was established — a singular assertion of Parliament's power over the crown.
Union, revolution, and the rise of Britain
Sources: English Civil Wars (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
20 events · 19 nations
1650s
5 records
Africa
- COG
Congo · Economy & Trade · 17th–18th centuries
Loango becomes a hub of the Atlantic trade
The Loango coast, with markets at Loango Bay, Malemba and Cabinda, grew into a major export point for ivory, copper and enslaved people; Vili middlemen linked interior caravan networks to European ships offshore.
Loango ports and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Kingdom of Loango (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Kingdom of Loango (Wikipedia) · Vili people (Wikipedia)
- MWI
Malawi · Economy & Trade · c. 17th century
The Maravi Empire at its peak
In the seventeenth century the confederacy administered a broad domain reaching across parts of modern Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, trading ivory and iron with Portuguese and Swahili merchants on the coast.
The Maravi Confederacy
Sources: Maravi Confederacy (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Maravi (Wikipedia) · The Kingdom of Maravi (Africa Defense Forum (ADF) Magazine)
- SDN
Sudan · Formation · mid-17th century
Sultanate of Darfur founded
Sulayman Solong founds the Keira dynasty in the west; under Ahmad Bukr Islam becomes the state religion.
Islam, Sennar and Darfur
Sources: Sultanate of Darfur (Wikipedia)
- UGA
Uganda · War & Rupture · c. 17th–18th century
Buganda expands at Bunyoro's expense
Under a line of aggressive kabakas, the compact kingdom of Buganda annexes territory from Bunyoro-Kitara, growing into the largest state in the interlacustrine region.
Peoples and the Great Lakes Kingdoms
Sources: Uganda: Bunyoro and Buganda (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Buganda (Wikipedia)
Asia
- OMN
Oman · War & Rupture
Expulsion of the Portuguese from Muscat
The Yarubid imams recaptured Muscat in 1650, ending Portuguese occupation of the Omani coast and launching Oman as an Indian Ocean naval power.
The Portuguese, Hormuz and the Yarubid Recovery
Sources: Yarubid dynasty (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Oman: The early period (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
3 records
Asia
- BTN
Bhutan · Politics & Power · c. 1651
Dual system of government established
The Zhabdrung institutes the chhoesi dual system, splitting power between a spiritual Je Khenpo and a secular Druk Desi; his death around this time is concealed to preserve the fledgling state.
Unification under the Zhabdrung
Sources: Bhutan — History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Nepal and Bhutan: Country Studies (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress)
Europe
- LVA
Latvia · Economy & Trade · c. 1651–1660
Courland's overseas colonies
Under Duke Jacob Kettler the Duchy of Courland founded short-lived colonies on the Gambia River and on Tobago, a striking commercial venture by a small Baltic state before its decline.
Poland, Sweden, Courland and the Russian Empire
Sources: The struggle for neutrality: an examination of the Duchy of Courland in the Baltic and Atlantic, 1642-1698 (Journal of Early Modern History (Taylor & Francis))
South America
- SUR
Suriname · Colonisation · c. 1650-1651
English settlement under Willoughby
Lord Francis Willoughby of Barbados plants an English sugar colony on the Suriname River, with the first enslaved Africans set to work.
Willoughbyland and the Treaty of Breda
Sources: Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Suriname: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Africa
- ZAF
South Africa · Colonisation · 6 April 1652
Van Riebeeck founds the Cape station
Jan van Riebeeck landed at Table Bay and established a Dutch East India Company refreshment station, the beginning of permanent European settlement in South Africa.
The Dutch Cape Colony and the frontier
Sources: Jan van Riebeeck (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Jan van Riebeeck (South African History Online) · South Africa (country, history and government) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Europe
- UKR
Ukraine · Politics & Power
Council of Pereiaslav
Khmelnytsky and the Cossack assembly swore allegiance to the tsar, placing the Hetmanate under Muscovite protection while seeking to retain its autonomy, and drawing Muscovy into war with Poland.
The Cossack Hetmanate and the Partition of Ukrainian Lands
Sources: Bohdan Khmelnytsky (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Ukraine (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
3 records
Europe
- POL
Poland · War & Rupture · 1655–1660
The Deluge
A devastating Swedish invasion during the Second Northern War ravaged the Commonwealth, causing enormous loss of life and population and accelerating the state's long decline.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Golden Age and Decline
Sources: The Deluge (Swedish invasion, 1655-1660) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Poland: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- JAM
Jamaica · War & Rupture · 1655 CE
English conquest
An English force under Penn and Venables seizes the island for Cromwell, launching the sugar-and-slavery plantation economy.
Spanish Colony and English Conquest
Sources: Jamaica: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Jamaica: British rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- NIC
Nicaragua · Colonisation · 17th c.
British protectorate over the Mosquito Coast
Great Britain allies with the Miskito kings and treats the Caribbean Mosquito Coast as a protectorate, leaving the region distinct from Hispanic Pacific Nicaragua.
Conquest, León, and the Mosquito Coast
Sources: Mosquito Coast (Encyclopædia Britannica)
1 record
Asia
- THA
Thailand · Culture & Ideas · 1656–1688
Reign of King Narai and the French embassies
Under Narai, Ayutthaya reaches a height of international contact, exchanging embassies with Louis XIV's France and welcoming traders from across Eurasia.
The Kingdom of Ayutthaya
Sources: Thailand (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Historic City of Ayutthaya (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
4 records
Africa
- ZAF
South Africa · Peoples & Migration · from 1658
Slavery at the Cape
The Company began importing enslaved people from Madagascar, East Africa, India and the Indonesian archipelago, founding a slave society whose labour underpinned the colony for nearly two centuries.
The Dutch Cape Colony and the frontier
Sources: History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa (South African History Online) · South Africa (country, history and government) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- LKA
Sri Lanka · Colonisation · 1640–1658
Dutch supplant the Portuguese
Allied with Kandy, the Dutch East India Company takes Galle (1640) and expels the Portuguese with the fall of Colombo (1656) and Jaffna (1658), ruling the maritime provinces for cinnamon.
European Coasts and the Kandyan Kingdom
Sources: Sri Lanka: History (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
Europe
- DNK
Denmark · War & Rupture · 26 Feb 1658
Treaty of Roskilde
After Sweden's invasion across the frozen belts, Denmark ceded Scania, Halland, Blekinge, Bornholm and Trondheim; the loss of the eastern provinces was the largest in Danish history.
Reformation, Denmark-Norway and the Wars with Sweden
Sources: Treaty of Roskilde (1658) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Treaty of Copenhagen (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SWE
Sweden · War & Rupture · 26 Feb 1658
Treaty of Roskilde
After Charles X Gustav's invasion of Denmark, the Treaty of Roskilde forced Denmark to cede Scania, Blekinge, Halland and Bohuslän to Sweden, fixing its southern border and marking the empire's territorial peak.
Stormaktstiden: The Swedish Empire and Its Fall
Sources: Treaty of Roskilde (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Africa
- SEN
Senegal · Colonisation
France founds Saint-Louis
French traders establish Saint-Louis at the mouth of the Senegal River, the first permanent French settlement and future colonial capital.
Atlantic Trade, Gorée and Saint-Louis
Sources: French conquest of Senegal (Wikipedia) · Saint-Louis, Senegal (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- LUX
Luxembourg · War & Rupture · 7 Nov 1659
Treaty of the Pyrenees: the First Partition
The peace between France and Spain ceded a southern band of the duchy, including Thionville, Montmedy and Stenay, to Louis XIV's France, the first partition of Luxembourg's territory.
The Gibraltar of the North and the First Partition
Sources: Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) (EBSCO Research Starters) · History of the city of Luxembourg (Luxembourg City Tourist Office)
13 events · 11 nations
1660s
1 record
Europe
- DNK
Denmark · Politics & Power · 1660–1661
The establishment of absolutism
In the crisis following defeat by Sweden, Frederick III secured a hereditary and absolute monarchy, a system later codified in the Royal Law (Kongeloven) of 1665.
Reformation, Denmark-Norway and the Wars with Sweden
Sources: Denmark: Reformation and war (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Africa
- GMB
Gambia · Colonisation
England takes James Island
English forces seized the midstream island, renaming it James Island and building Fort James; chartered companies ran the post, and its trade shifted from gold and ivory toward enslaved Africans.
The river, European trade and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Kunta Kinteh Island (Wikipedia) · Kunta Kinteh Island and Related Sites (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
2 records
Africa
- MUS
Mauritius · Catastrophe · 1660s
Extinction of the dodo
Hunting, deforestation and introduced animals wipe out the flightless dodo within decades of human arrival; last accepted sightings fall in the 1660s.
The Dutch & the Dodo
Sources: The dodo bird: the real facts about this icon of extinction (Natural History Museum, London) · Dodo (Wikipedia)
Asia
- TWN
Taiwan · War & Rupture · February 1662
Koxinga expels the Dutch
After a siege begun in 1661, the Ming-loyalist commander Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) forces the surrender of Fort Zeelandia, ending Dutch rule and founding the Zheng (Tungning) regime on Taiwan.
Austronesian Island and the European Outposts
Sources: Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Africa
- TGO
Togo · Peoples & Migration · late 17th century
Founding of Aného (Petit-Popo)
Ane settlers fleeing conflict around Elmina in present-day Ghana founded Aného on the Togolese coast; it grew into the region's chief commercial and slaving port and would later briefly serve as a colonial capital.
The coast, the Guin and the Slave Coast
Sources: Aného (Wikipedia) · Togo (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Africa
- COD
DR Congo · War & Rupture · 29 Oct 1665
Battle of Mbwila breaks Kongo
Portuguese forces defeat Kongo and kill King António I at Mbwila (Ambuila); the kingdom splinters into rival factions and a long civil war.
Kongo & the Savanna Kingdoms
Sources: Kingdom of Kongo (Wikipedia) · Kongo (historical kingdom, Africa) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
1 record
Africa
- MAR
Morocco · Formation
Alaouite dynasty unifies Morocco
Moulay al-Rashid reunites Morocco and establishes the rule of the Alaouite dynasty, which continues to reign today; his successor Moulay Ismail builds a strong centralised state from Meknes.
The Alaouite Dynasty and the Protectorates
Sources: Alaouite Dynasty (1660–present) (Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in the United States) · Moroccan Royal Family Tree: The Alaouite Dynasty (History Cooperative)
5 records
Europe
- HRV
Croatia · Catastrophe
The Great Dubrovnik earthquake
A devastating earthquake struck Dubrovnik in 1667, destroying much of the city, killing thousands and ending the long prosperity of the Ragusan republic.
Venetian Dalmatia, the Republic of Ragusa and the Ottoman Wars
Sources: Old City of Dubrovnik (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
- UKR
Ukraine · Politics & Power
Partition along the Dnieper
The Truce of Andrusovo and later settlements divided the Ukrainian lands between Russia and Poland, with the left bank and Kyiv under Russian control and the right bank remaining Polish.
The Cossack Hetmanate and the Partition of Ukrainian Lands
Sources: History of Ukraine (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bohdan Khmelnytsky (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- SUR
Suriname · War & Rupture
Dutch capture of the colony
A Dutch force from Zeeland seizes the English colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
Willoughbyland and the Treaty of Breda
Sources: Suriname: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Treaty of Breda (1667) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SUR
Suriname · Economy & Trade · late 17th-18th c.
The sugar-slavery economy
Dutch Suriname becomes a plantation colony worked by enslaved Africans under exceptionally harsh conditions, with Paramaribo as its capital and port.
Plantation Colony and the Maroons
Sources: Suriname: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Historic Inner City of Paramaribo (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
- SUR
Suriname · Politics & Power · 31 July 1667
Treaty of Breda
The peace confirms Suriname to the Dutch while England keeps New Netherland and New Amsterdam, the future New York.
Willoughbyland and the Treaty of Breda
Sources: Treaty of Breda (1667) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Treaty of Breda, 1667 (Historical Society of the New York Courts)
1 record
Europe
- PRT
Portugal · Independence
Spain recognises independence
By the Treaty of Lisbon, Spain at last acknowledged Portuguese sovereignty, ending the war of Restoration begun in 1640.
The Iberian Union and the Braganza Restoration
Sources: History of Portugal: Union of Spain and Portugal, 1580-1640 (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Portugal (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
8 events · 8 nations
1670s
3 records
Africa
- BEN
Benin · Peoples & Migration · c. 1670s–1860s
Ouidah and the Atlantic slave trade
The port of Ouidah served for nearly two centuries as a leading point of embarkation on the Slave Coast, through which more than a million enslaved Africans are estimated to have been deported across the Atlantic.
Ouidah, the slave trade, King Ghezo and the Agojie
Sources: Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving Port 1727–1892 (Robin Law) (Cambridge University Press) · Ouidah (Wikipedia) · Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (Bight of Benin / Ouidah) (SlaveVoyages)
- SLE
Sierra Leone · Colonisation · 1670s
Bunce Island slave fort established
The Royal African Company built a fortified post on Bunce Island in the Sierra Leone River, beginning the island's long and notorious role in the British slave trade.
The Atlantic slave trade and Bunce Island
Sources: Bunce Island, Sierra Leone River (Sierra Leone Heritage) · Bunce Island in Sierra Leone (Gilder Lehrman Center) (Yale University, Gilder Lehrman Center)
North America
- BHS
Bahamas · Politics & Power
Grant to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina
The Bahamas were granted to the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, though their rule proved weak and largely nominal, leaving the scattered islands poorly governed.
English settlers and the Republic of Pirates
Sources: Bahamas: Local History and Genealogy — Research Guide (Library of Congress) · The Bahamas — British colonization (History) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
3 records
Africa
- DZA
Algeria · Politics & Power
Rule of the deys
Power in the regency passes to elected military rulers titled dey, heading a janissary state financed by corsairing and ransom.
The Ottoman Regency of Algiers
Sources: Regency of Algiers (Wikipedia) · History of Algeria (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- PAK
Pakistan · Religion · 1671–1673
Badshahi Mosque built at Lahore
Emperor Aurangzeb commissions the monumental Badshahi Mosque opposite the Lahore Fort, for centuries the largest mosque in the world and a landmark of Mughal Lahore.
Islam, the Sultans and the Mughals
Sources: Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Mughal dynasty (Encyclopædia Britannica)
North America
- PAN
Panama · War & Rupture
Henry Morgan sacks Panama
The buccaneer Henry Morgan crosses the isthmus and takes Panama Viejo, which burns to the ground; the city is refounded on a new site in 1673.
Artery of the Spanish Empire
Sources: Sir Henry Morgan (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Archaeological Site of Panama Viejo and Historic District of Panama (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
1 record
Europe
- NLD
Netherlands · War & Rupture
The Rampjaar (Disaster Year)
France, England and allied bishops invade the Republic; the Dutch open the dikes to flood the land and halt the advance, and William III rises to power.
The Golden Age: Trade, the VOC, Art and Empire
Sources: Netherlands (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Africa
- SEN
Senegal · Colonisation
France takes Gorée
France captures Gorée island from the Dutch during the Franco-Dutch War, holding the slaving and trading post for nearly three centuries.
Atlantic Trade, Gorée and Saint-Louis
Sources: French conquest of Senegal (Wikipedia) · Island of Gorée (World Heritage List) (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
12 events · 12 nations
1680s
4 records
Africa
- BDI
Burundi · Formation · c. 1680
Foundation under Ntare Rushatsi
By tradition Ntare Rushatsi (Ntare I) founds the dynasty of the Kingdom of Burundi; oral histories credit him with ending a famine and unifying competing centres of power.
The Kingdom of the Mwami
Sources: Kingdom of Burundi (Wikipedia) · History of Burundi (Wikipedia) · Burundi: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MRT
Mauritania · Politics & Power · late 17th century
Rise of the Moorish emirates
Moorish society consolidates into the emirates of Trarza, Brakna, Tagant and Adrar, each governed by an emir of the Hassan warrior elite.
Arab Migration, the Char Bouba War and the Caravan Ksour
Sources: Mauritania (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Emirate of Brakna (Wikipedia)
- ZWE
Zimbabwe · Politics & Power · c. 1680
The Rozvi state under Changamire Dombo
Changamire Dombo founded the Rozvi state, absorbing the Torwa and expelling Portuguese fairs from the plateau around the 1690s; Rozvi power dominated the region until the Mfecane in the 1830s.
Mutapa, Torwa and Rozvi
Sources: Rozvi Empire (Wikipedia) · Torwa: historical state, Africa (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Zimbabwe: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- URY
Uruguay · Colonisation · 1680 CE
Portugal founds Colonia del Sacramento
Portuguese soldiers establish Colonia opposite Buenos Aires; it becomes a strategic outpost and smuggling centre, changing hands between the crowns for over a century.
The Contested Frontier: Colonia and Montevideo
Sources: Colonia del Sacramento (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
3 records
Asia
- TWN
Taiwan · War & Rupture
Qing conquest of the Zheng regime
A Qing fleet defeats the Zheng (Tungning) forces, ending the Ming-loyalist kingdom; Taiwan is annexed the following year and attached to Fujian province as a prefecture.
The Zheng Regime and Qing Rule
Sources: Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Battle of Nanjing (1659) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- AUT
Austria · War & Rupture · 12 Sep 1683
Second Ottoman siege and the relief of Vienna
An Ottoman army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa besieged Vienna until a relief force led by Charles V of Lorraine and King Jan III Sobieski of Poland routed it on 12 September 1683, a turning point against Ottoman expansion.
The Rise of the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Wars
Sources: The second Turkish siege of Vienna, 1683 (Die Welt der Habsburger (The World of the Habsburgs))
- POL
Poland · War & Rupture · 12 Sep 1683
Relief of Vienna
King John III Sobieski led the allied cavalry charge that broke the Ottoman siege of Vienna, marking the high point of the Commonwealth's military reputation in Europe.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Golden Age and Decline
Sources: John III Sobieski (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Europe
- LUX
Luxembourg · War & Rupture
Louis XIV takes the fortress; Vauban rebuilds it
French forces captured Luxembourg City in 1684, and the engineer Vauban remodelled its fortifications before the stronghold was later returned to Spanish rule.
The Gibraltar of the North and the First Partition
Sources: History of the city of Luxembourg (Luxembourg City Tourist Office) · History of the City of Luxembourg (Ville de Luxembourg (City of Luxembourg))
2 records
Africa
- MDG
Madagascar · Economy & Trade · late 17th century
Île Sainte-Marie pirate haven
The northeastern island becomes a major base on the pirate 'Round'; legend later names it the site of Libertalia.
Coastal Kingdoms & the Pirate Coast
Sources: Ile Sainte-Marie, Madagascar (Golden Age of Piracy)
Europe
- MCO
Monaco · Culture & Ideas · 17th century
The fortress becomes a palace
Honoré I and Honoré II employed leading architects to transform the Genoese fortress into a princely residence, creating one of the most remarkable palaces of the seventeenth century.
From Lordship to Principality: Spanish, then French Protection
Sources: Monaco - Prince's Palace (Government of Monaco (gouv.mc))
1 record
Europe
- HUN
Hungary · War & Rupture
Reconquest of Buda
A Habsburg-led Christian coalition retook Buda from the Ottomans, part of the campaign that drove the Turks from Hungary after more than a century.
Mohács and the Three-Part Kingdom
Sources: Battle of Mohács (1526) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Europe
- GBR
United Kingdom · Politics & Power
The Glorious Revolution
James II was deposed and William and Mary took the throne on Parliament's terms; the Bill of Rights of 1689 entrenched parliamentary authority and constitutional monarchy.
Union, revolution, and the rise of Britain
Sources: Glorious Revolution (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
19 events · 19 nations
1690s
5 records
Africa
- CIV
Ivory Coast · Peoples & Migration · c. 1690
Akan states form on the eastern frontier
As the Asante Empire rose in present-day Ghana, Akan groups such as the Abron founded states near the eastern edge of modern Côte d'Ivoire, beginning a long era of Akan migration into the region.
The Akan migrations: Baoulé and Agni kingdoms
Sources: History of Ivory Coast (Wikipedia) · History of Côte d'Ivoire (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- SDS
South Sudan · Politics & Power · c. 1690s
Fashoda made the Shilluk royal seat
King Tugo founds Fashoda as the permanent residence of the Shilluk kings, formalising the kingdom's investiture rituals and divine kingship.
Peoples of the Upper Nile
Sources: Shilluk Kingdom (Wikipedia)
- SDN
Sudan · Economy & Trade · late 17th century
Sennar at its height
The Funj capital flourishes as one of the major trading cities of the African interior, dealing in gold, ivory and enslaved people.
Islam, Sennar and Darfur
Sources: Funj Sultanate (Wikipedia)
Europe
- KOS
Kosovo · Peoples & Migration · 17th–18th c.
Migrations and a shifting population
Over the Ottoman centuries many Orthodox Serbs emigrated and parts of the population converted to Islam, while the Albanian-speaking share grew, probably forming a majority by the 18th century.
Ottoman Rule and the Albanian National Awakening
Sources: Kosovo: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ROU
Romania · Culture & Ideas
Horezu Monastery and Brancovan art
Prince Constantin Brancoveanu founded the monastery of Horezu in Wallachia, a masterpiece of the 'Brancovan' style whose school of mural and icon painting influenced religious art across the Balkans.
Wallachia, Moldavia and the Ottoman centuries
Sources: Monastery of Horezu (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
2 records
Asia
- MNG
Mongolia · Colonisation
Khalkha Mongols submit to the Qing
The Khalkha Mongols of the north accept Manchu overlordship, bringing Mongolia under the Qing dynasty; the Manchus govern through the Mongol nobility and impose religious controls to secure their rule.
Buddhism and the Manchu Overlordship
Sources: History of Mongolia: The ascendancy of the Manchu (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Mongolia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- IRL
Ireland · Politics & Power · 1690–1691
Williamite victory and the Penal era
The Protestant William III defeated the Catholic James II at the Boyne in 1690 and Limerick in 1691, after which the Protestant Ascendancy entrenched its rule through the anti-Catholic Penal Laws.
Anglo-Norman Invasion, Plantation and Conquest
Sources: The Cromwellian Conquest and Land Settlement of Ireland (The Down Survey of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin) · The Penal Laws in Ireland (John J. Burns Library, Boston College)
1 record
North America
- JAM
Jamaica · Catastrophe · 7 June 1692
Port Royal earthquake
A powerful earthquake and tsunami sink much of the buccaneer city of Port Royal, killing thousands and ending its golden age.
Spanish Colony and English Conquest
Sources: Jamaica: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
South America
- BRA
Brazil · Economy & Trade · 1690s
Gold rush in Minas Gerais
The discovery of gold in the interior sets off a vast rush, founding towns such as Ouro Preto and shifting the colony's centre southward.
Portuguese Colony: Sugar, Slavery, and Gold
Sources: Historic Town of Ouro Preto (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Brazil (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1 record
Europe
- MNE
Montenegro · Politics & Power
Petrovic-Njegos dynasty established
Metropolitan Danilo Petrovic-Njegos secured the right to name his successor, founding the hereditary Petrovic-Njegos line of prince-bishops that ruled Montenegro until 1918, the title passing from uncle to nephew.
The Prince-Bishopric and the Petrovic-Njegos Resistance
Sources: Danilo I, first prince-bishop of the Petrovic-Njegos dynasty (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Vladika: the Montenegrin prince-bishop (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
3 records
Europe
- LUX
Luxembourg · Politics & Power
Return to the Habsburgs
Luxembourg reverted to Habsburg rule, passing in the eighteenth century from the Spanish to the Austrian branch of the dynasty while remaining a frontier fortress.
The Gibraltar of the North and the First Partition
Sources: History of the city of Luxembourg (Luxembourg City Tourist Office)
North America
- DOM
Dominican Republic · Politics & Power · 1697 CE
Treaty of Ryswick
Spain formally recognises French control of the western third of Hispaniola, creating the colony of Saint-Domingue beside Spanish Santo Domingo.
A Divided Island and the French Era
Sources: Hispaniola (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- HTI
Haiti · Colonisation · 1697 CE
France gains Saint-Domingue
The Treaty of Rijswijk transfers the western third of Hispaniola from Spain to France, creating the colony of Saint-Domingue.
Saint-Domingue: The Richest Colony on Earth
Sources: Treaty of Rijswijk (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Saint-Domingue (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2 records
Africa
- KEN
Kenya · War & Rupture · December 1698
Omani Arabs capture Fort Jesus
After a siege of some thirty-three months, Omani forces take Fort Jesus, ending Portuguese dominance and bringing the Kenyan coast, Zanzibar and Pemba under Omani Arab control.
Portuguese and Omani Rule on the Coast
Sources: Siege of Mombasa (1696–1698) (Wikipedia) · Fort Jesus Museum (National Museums of Kenya)
- MOZ
Mozambique · War & Rupture
Omanis take Fort Jesus at Mombasa
Omani Arabs capture Fort Jesus in Mombasa, rolling back Portuguese power on the northern Swahili coast and confining it largely to the territory of modern Mozambique.
Da Gama and the Portuguese Seizure of the Coast
Sources: Mozambique (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Mozambique (Wikipedia)
4 records
Asia
- TUR
Türkiye · Politics & Power
Treaty of Karlowitz
After the failed 1683 siege of Vienna, the Treaty of Karlowitz ceded Hungary and other lands to the Habsburgs, the first major Ottoman territorial retreat in Europe.
The Ottoman Empire: Height and Decline
Sources: Ottoman Empire (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- AUT
Austria · War & Rupture · 1697–1718
Prince Eugene and the conquest of Hungary
After Vienna's deliverance, Prince Eugene of Savoy won victories such as Zenta (1697) and the capture of Belgrade (1717); the Peace of Karlowitz (1699) secured Habsburg control of Hungary and Transylvania.
The Rise of the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Wars
Sources: Prince Eugene, the 'noble knight' (Die Welt der Habsburger (The World of the Habsburgs))
- HUN
Hungary · Politics & Power
Treaty of Karlowitz
The Ottomans ceded almost all of Hungary to the Habsburgs, reuniting the country but binding it firmly within the Habsburg monarchy.
Mohács and the Three-Part Kingdom
Sources: Battle of Mohács (1526) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LIE
Liechtenstein · Economy & Trade
Purchase of the lordship of Schellenberg
Prince Johann Adam Andreas I bought the lordship of Schellenberg from the indebted Hohenems, the first of the two acquisitions that would form the principality; the prince did not attend the homage ceremony in person.
Bought and Founded: The Imperial Principality of 1719
Sources: The History of the Princely House of Liechtenstein (Fürstenhaus von Liechtenstein (official Princely House)) · How the Principality of Liechtenstein came into being (Swiss National Museum (Blog)) · Liechtenstein: History (Alpine, Principality, Sovereignty) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)