The 9th century

Africa

1. 🇰🇪KEN

   Kenya · Culture & Ideas · c. 8th–10th century CE

   Rise of the Swahili coast

   Coastal Bantu communities trading across the Indian Ocean develop the Swahili language and an Afro-Islamic urban culture, founding settlements that grow into city-states.

   Migrations and the Swahili Coast

   Sources: Swahili coast (Wikipedia) · Kenya: People and ethnic groups (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

2. 🇲🇷MRT

   Mauritania · Economy & Trade · c. 9th–11th century

   Koumbi Saleh as a Saharan emporium

   Koumbi Saleh, widely identified as Ghana's capital, grows into a major trading town with a Muslim merchants' quarter and, at its peak, tens of thousands of inhabitants.

   The Ghana Empire and the Sanhaja Sahara

   Sources: Koumbi Saleh (Wikipedia) · History of Mauritania (Wikipedia)

3. 🇳🇬NGA

   Nigeria · Formation · c. 9th century

   Rise of the Kanem empire

   Around Lake Chad the empire of Kanem emerged under the Sayfawa dynasty, growing wealthy as the southern terminus of the trans-Saharan trade and gradually adopting Islam.

   The great precolonial kingdoms: Kanem-Bornu, Hausa, Oyo and Benin

   Sources: The Bornu Empire (Lumen Learning, World Civilization) · Nigeria (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

4. 🇹🇿TZA

   Tanzania · Culture & Ideas · c. 8th–10th century CE

   Rise of the Swahili coast

   Coastal communities trading across the Indian Ocean develop the Swahili language and an Afro-Islamic urban culture, founding settlements that grow into trading city-states.

   Bantu Settlers and the Swahili Coast

   Sources: Swahili language (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Swahili language (Wikipedia)

5. 🇹🇳TUN

   Tunisia · Politics & Power · 800–909 CE

   Aghlabid dynasty

   The Aghlabids rule Ifriqiya from Kairouan, rebuild the Great Mosque in stone, and conquer Sicily.

   Islam, Kairouan & the Medieval Dynasties

   Sources: The Great Mosque of Kairouan (Smarthistory) · History of Tunisia (Wikipedia)

Asia

1. 🇧🇩BGD

   Bangladesh · Culture & Ideas · c. 800 CE

   Somapura Mahavihara built at Paharpur

   The Pala king Dharmapala builds the great monastery of Somapura at Paharpur, one of the largest Buddhist viharas south of the Himalayas and a centre of learning for centuries; today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

   Buddhist and Hindu Bengal: the Pala and Sena Dynasties

   Sources: Ruins of the Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Pala dynasty (Encyclopædia Britannica)

2. 🇮🇶IRQ

   Iraq · Culture & Ideas · 9th century CE

   The House of Wisdom and the Golden Age

   Under Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun, Baghdad's scholars — associated with the Bayt al-Hikmah, the 'House of Wisdom' — translate and advance Greek, Persian and Indian learning during the Islamic Golden Age.

   Abbasid Baghdad and the Islamic Golden Age

   Sources: Hārūn al-Rashīd — Abbasid caliph (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Bayt al-Ḥikmah — House of Wisdom (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇫🇷FRA

   France · Politics & Power

   Charlemagne crowned Emperor

   Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne in Rome, reviving the Western imperial title.

   The Franks & the Birth of France

   Sources: Charlemagne (Encyclopædia Britannica)

2. 🇩🇪DEU

   Germany · Politics & Power · 25 Dec 800

   Coronation of Charlemagne

   Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans in Rome, reviving the western imperial title and binding the German lands into a renewed Christian empire.

   Germania, Rome and the Frankish Inheritance

   Sources: Charlemagne (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

3. 🇮🇹ITA

   Italy · Politics & Power · Christmas, 800 CE

   Charlemagne crowned emperor in Rome

   Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne emperor in Rome, binding Italy to the Frankish and later Holy Roman imperial order and to the papacy.

   Medieval Italy: Papacy, Communes and Normans

   Sources: Italy (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

North America

1. 🇳🇮NIC

   Nicaragua · Peoples & Migration · c. 800 CE

   Nicarao and Chorotega settle the Pacific lowlands

   Nahua-speaking Nicarao and Oto-Manguean Chorotega establish chiefdoms in western Nicaragua, farming the volcanic lowlands around Lakes Managua and Nicaragua.

   Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus

   Sources: Nicarao (people) (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Nicaragua (Encyclopædia Britannica)

South America

1. 🇨🇴COL

   Colombia · Formation · c. 800-1500 CE

   Rise of the Muisca

   The Muisca chiefdoms flourish on the high plateau around Bogota and Tunja, celebrated for goldwork, salt, and trade across the Andes.

   Goldsmiths and Megalith Carvers

   Sources: History of Colombia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) (Banco de la Republica de Colombia)

Asia

1. 🇰🇭KHM

   Cambodia · Formation · 802 CE

   Jayavarman II founds the Khmer Empire

   Jayavarman II is consecrated as devaraja and universal ruler on Mahendraparvata, asserting Khmer independence and inaugurating the empire of Angkor.

   The Khmer Empire and Angkor

   Sources: Jayavarman II (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Khmer empire (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇦🇩AND

   Andorra · Religion · 9th century

   Christianity and Carolingian order

   As part of the Carolingian frontier, the valleys were integrated into Latin Christendom, with the church of Urgell emerging as the dominant local authority over the centuries that followed.

   Charlemagne, the Marca Hispanica and the Bishops of Urgell

   Sources: Andorra: History, Facts & Points of Interest (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Africa

1. 🇲🇦MAR

   Morocco · Formation

   Idris II founds Fez

   Idris II establishes Fez as his capital; it becomes a leading political and religious centre of the western Islamic world.

   Islam and the Idrisid Dynasty

   Sources: Idrisid dynasty (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇺🇿UZB

   Uzbekistan · Religion · 810–870 CE

   Imam al-Bukhari and the Sahih

   Muhammad al-Bukhari, born in Bukhara, compiles the Sahih, accepted by Sunni Muslims as the most authoritative collection of the Prophet's sayings after the Qur'an.

   The Arab Conquest and the Samanid Golden Age

   Sources: al-Bukhārī — hadith scholar (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇹🇯TJK

   Tajikistan · Formation · 819 CE

   The Samanid Empire centred on Bukhara

   The Persian Samanid dynasty rules eastern Iran and Central Asia from Bukhara, making the city a focal point of Islamic civilisation and a hub of Persianate culture.

   The Samanid Golden Age

   Sources: Samanid dynasty (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Sogdiana — Central Asia, Silk Road, Persian Empire (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇸🇪SWE

   Sweden · Religion · c. 829–831

   Ansgar's mission and the first Christian congregation

   The Frankish missionary Ansgar founded at Birka the earliest known Christian congregation in Sweden, the first organised Christian presence among a still largely pagan people.

   Vikings, Birka and the Coming of Christianity

   Sources: Birka and Hovgården (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Sweden: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇲🇲MMR

   Myanmar · Peoples & Migration · 9th century CE

   Decline of the Pyu

   Raids from the Nanzhao kingdom and the southward migration of the Burman people erode Pyu power, clearing the way for the rise of Bagan.

   The Pyu City-States and the Coming of Buddhism

   Sources: History of Myanmar (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Pagan kingdom (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇸🇰SVK

   Slovakia · Formation · c. 833

   Founding of Great Moravia

   Prince Mojmír I expelled Pribina of Nitra and united the principalities of Moravia and Nitra into Great Moravia, the first powerful Slavic state of central Europe, with the Slovak lands at its core.

   Great Moravia and the Mission of Cyril and Methodius

   Sources: History of Slovakia (Slovakia.travel (official tourism portal)) · Moravia (and Great Moravia) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇮🇶IRQ

   Iraq · Culture & Ideas · 836 CE

   Samarra becomes the Abbasid capital

   The caliphs move their capital upriver to Samarra, building immense palaces and the Great Mosque with its spiral Malwiya minaret, today a UNESCO World Heritage site.

   Abbasid Baghdad and the Islamic Golden Age

   Sources: Samarra Archaeological City — UNESCO World Heritage List (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

Asia

1. 🇰🇬KGZ

   Kyrgyzstan · War & Rupture

   The Yenisei Kyrgyz destroy the Uyghur Khaganate

   The Yenisei Kyrgyz overthrew the Uyghur Khaganate and sacked its capital Ordu-Baliq, briefly making the Kyrgyz the dominant power of the eastern steppe and driving the Uyghurs out of Mongolia.

   The Yenisei Kyrgyz and the Epic of Manas

   Sources: Kyrgyz (people) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Kyrgyzstan: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇮🇪IRL

   Ireland · Formation

   Founding of Dublin as a longphort

   The Vikings built a fortified ship-camp (longphort) at Dublin in 841 and overwintered there, founding what would become Ireland's most important town and a hub of Norse trade.

   Vikings, Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf

   Sources: The Vikings in Ireland (World History Encyclopedia) · How the Vikings Shaped Ireland (TheCollector)

Europe

1. 🇫🇷FRA

   France · Formation

   Treaty of Verdun

   Charlemagne's empire is split; West Francia becomes the seed of France.

   The Franks & the Birth of France

   Sources: Treaty of Verdun (Encyclopædia Britannica)

2. 🇩🇪DEU

   Germany · Politics & Power · 843 CE

   Treaty of Verdun

   Charlemagne's grandsons divided the Carolingian empire into three kingdoms. East Francia, the German-speaking eastern share, became the foundation of the future Kingdom of Germany.

   Germania, Rome and the Frankish Inheritance

   Sources: Treaty of Verdun (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇲🇲MMR

   Myanmar · Formation · 849 CE (traditional)

   Founding of Bagan

   The city of Bagan is traditionally established on a bend of the Irrawaddy, later to become the seat of the first Burmese kingdom.

   The Kingdom of Pagan (Bagan)

   Sources: Pagan kingdom (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bagan (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

Africa

1. 🇳🇬NGA

   Nigeria · Culture & Ideas · 9th century CE

   The bronzes of Igbo-Ukwu

   An Igbo community at Igbo-Ukwu produced sophisticated cast-bronze ritual objects and vast quantities of trade beads, evidence of advanced metalworking and long-distance trade in the southeastern forests.

   The Nok culture and Nigeria's early societies

   Sources: Nigeria (country overview and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Hausa City-States (ca. 1000–1815) (BlackPast.org)

2. 🇸🇳SEN

   Senegal · Religion · 9th–11th c.

   Islam reaches the Senegal River

   North African Muslim traders introduce Islam to the peoples of the Senegal valley well before any ruler adopts it officially.

   Takrur and the Coming of Islam

   Sources: Islam Is Introduced into West Africa (750 CE) (BlackPast.org) · Takrur (Wikipedia) · Islam in Senegal (Wikipedia)

Europe

1. 🇧🇾BLR

   Belarus · Formation · 8th-9th c.

   Rise of the Principality of Polotsk

   The Krivichi formed a principality around Polotsk on the Western Dvina, the oldest centre of statehood on Belarusian soil and an early constituent of Kievan Rus with a strong tradition of autonomy.

   Polotsk and the Early East Slavs

   Sources: Belarus (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Belarus (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

2. 🇽🇰KOS

   Kosovo · Politics & Power · c. 850–1180

   Byzantine and Bulgarian borderland

   The region passed between the Byzantine Empire, the First Bulgarian Empire and rising Serbian principalities, a contested frontier of the medieval Balkans before the Nemanjic ascendancy.

   Ancient Dardania, Rome and Byzantium

   Sources: History of Kosovo (ancient Dardania to the medieval period) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Kosovo: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Africa

1. 🇲🇦MAR

   Morocco · Religion · c. 859

   Foundation of the Qarawiyyin

   The mosque and centre of learning of al-Qarawiyyin is established in Fez, later regarded as one of the oldest continuously operating institutions of higher education in the world.

   Islam and the Idrisid Dynasty

   Sources: Idrisid dynasty (New World Encyclopedia) · Idrisid dynasty (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇸🇪SWE

   Sweden · Peoples & Migration · 9th–11th c.

   The Rus and the eastern river routes

   Swedish Norsemen, called Varangians or Rus, opened and dominated the river trade routes east through Ladoga and Novgorod toward Constantinople and Baghdad, exchanging furs, silver and slaves.

   Vikings, Birka and the Coming of Christianity

   Sources: Birka and Hovgården (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · Sweden: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇨🇿CZE

   Czechia · Religion · c. 863

   Mission of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia

   At the request of Prince Rostislav, the Byzantine brothers Cyril and Methodius came to Great Moravia, translated the liturgy into Old Church Slavonic and devised the Glagolitic alphabet, bringing Christianity to the Slavs.

   Great Moravia, Saint Wenceslas and the Premyslid Dukes

   Sources: Saints Cyril and Methodius (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Great Moravia (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

2. 🇸🇰SVK

   Slovakia · Religion

   Mission of Cyril and Methodius

   At Prince Rostislav's request the Byzantine brothers Cyril and Methodius arrived in Great Moravia, devised the Glagolitic script and translated the liturgy into Old Church Slavonic, founding a written Slavic culture.

   Great Moravia and the Mission of Cyril and Methodius

   Sources: Saints Cyril and Methodius (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Slovakia (Slovakia.travel (official tourism portal))

Europe

1. 🇧🇬BGR

   Bulgaria · Religion

   Christianization under Boris I

   Boris I adopted Eastern Orthodox Christianity for his court and people, anchoring Bulgaria to Constantinople and providing his Slav and Bulgar subjects with a unifying faith and church.

   Thracians, Asparukh's Khanate and the First Bulgarian Empire

   Sources: Boris I (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Bulgaria (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria)

Europe

1. 🇮🇸ISL

   Iceland · Peoples & Migration · c. 870–930

   The Landnám (Age of Settlement)

   Within roughly sixty years hundreds of Norse settlers, many by way of the Norse colonies in the British Isles, claimed Iceland's habitable land, as recorded in Íslendingabók and Landnámabók.

   The Settlement and the Icelandic Commonwealth

   Sources: The Discovery and Settlement of Iceland (Encyclopedia.com) · Iceland: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

2. 🇲🇹MLT

   Malta · War & Rupture

   Arab conquest of Malta

   An Arab force seized Malta from the Byzantine Empire, beginning a period of more than two centuries that would shape the islands' language and culture.

   Arabs, Normans and Medieval Malta

   Sources: Malta: History, Language, Map, People (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Maltese (people) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

3. 🇸🇰SVK

   Slovakia · Politics & Power · c. 870–894

   Reign of Svatopluk I

   Under Svatopluk I Great Moravia reached its greatest extent and won recognition from the papacy, becoming the dominant power of the middle Danube before the state fragmented after his death.

   Great Moravia and the Mission of Cyril and Methodius

   Sources: Svatopluk, prince of Moravia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Moravia (and Great Moravia) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇳🇴NOR

   Norway · Formation · c. 872

   Battle of Hafrsfjord

   Harald Fairhair defeated a coalition of petty kings from the south-west at Hafrsfjord, the decisive victory by which tradition holds he became the first king over all of Norway.

   The Viking Age and the Unification of Norway

   Sources: Harald 1 Hårfagre (Store norske leksikon)

Europe

1. 🇮🇸ISL

   Iceland · Peoples & Migration · c. 874

   Ingólfr Arnarson settles Reykjavík

   By tradition the first permanent settler, Ingólfr Arnarson, came from Norway around 874 and established his homestead at the site he named Reykjavík, opening the age of settlement, the Landnám.

   The Settlement and the Icelandic Commonwealth

   Sources: Ingólfur Arnarson (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The Discovery and Settlement of Iceland (Encyclopedia.com) · Iceland: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇺🇿UZB

   Uzbekistan · Culture & Ideas · 9th–10th centuries CE

   Samanid Bukhara, a centre of the Islamic Golden Age

   The Persian Samanid dynasty makes Bukhara its capital, a rival to Baghdad whose court fosters Persian literature, science and the refined art and architecture of the Islamic Golden Age.

   The Arab Conquest and the Samanid Golden Age

   Sources: Samanid dynasty (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bukhara — Uzbekistan, Map, History & Facts (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇬🇧GBR

   United Kingdom · War & Rupture

   Alfred defeats the Vikings at Edington

   Alfred the Great of Wessex won a decisive victory over the Viking 'Great Heathen Army' at Edington, securing the survival of Anglo-Saxon rule in southern England and beginning the path to unification.

   Roman Britain and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms

   Sources: Alfred the Great (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · The British Library: history and collections (The British Library)

Europe

1. 🇭🇷HRV

   Croatia · Formation

   Papal recognition of Duke Branimir

   Pope John VIII acknowledged the rule of Duke Branimir over the Croatian realm, aligning the Croats with the Latin Church of Rome and marking the emergence of Croatia as a recognised state.

   Roman Dalmatia, Pannonia and the Coming of the Croats

   Sources: Croatia in Europe through the Ages: Development of the State (Croatia.eu (Miroslav Krleza Institute of Lexicography)) · Croatia: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇷🇺RUS

   Russia · Formation · 882 CE

   Oleg seizes Kiev and founds Kievan Rus'

   The Varangian prince Oleg, successor to Rurik of Novgorod, captures Kiev and makes it his capital, uniting the river towns of the Dnieper-Volkhov route into the first East Slavic state.

   Kievan Rus' and the Mongol Yoke

   Sources: Russia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Kyivan Rus (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇦🇲ARM

   Armenia · Formation

   Bagratid kingdom restored

   Ashot I of the Bagratuni dynasty was recognised as king of Armenia by both the caliph and the Byzantine emperor, reviving an independent Armenian monarchy.

   Bagratid Ani and Cilician Armenia

   Sources: Bagratid dynasty (Armenian dynasty) (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Ani, historical city, Armenia (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Europe

1. 🇸🇲SMR

   San Marino · Politics & Power

   The Placito Feretrano

   The earliest surviving document to name the community of San Marino records a legal dispute over its liberties, the first firm attestation that a self-governing community existed on Mount Titano.

   Saint Marinus and the Mountain Commune

   Sources: Origins of San Marino - the world's oldest Republic (SanMarinoSite)

Europe

1. 🇧🇬BGR

   Bulgaria · Culture & Ideas · c. 886–900

   Cyrillic and the Preslav and Ohrid schools

   Boris I gave refuge to the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who in the literary schools of Preslav and Ohrid developed the Cyrillic script and a Slavonic Christian literature that spread across the Orthodox Slavic world.

   Thracians, Asparukh's Khanate and the First Bulgarian Empire

   Sources: Boris I (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Bulgaria (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria)

2. 🇲🇰MKD

   North Macedonia · Culture & Ideas · c. 886

   The Ohrid literary school of Clement and Naum

   Saint Clement of Ohrid, with Saint Naum, founded a Slavonic literary school at Ohrid, spreading the Slavic script and Christian learning and making the city a cradle of medieval Slavic culture.

   Slavic Settlement, Tsar Samuel and the Ohrid Archbishopric

   Sources: Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) · North Macedonia: History (Ancient, Ottoman, Yugoslav) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇹🇯TJK

   Tajikistan · Politics & Power · 892–907 CE

   The reign of Ismail Samani

   Ismail I ibn Ahmad unifies the Samanid realm and rules from Bukhara as one of the dynasty's most famous sovereigns; he is revered today as a founding symbol of the Tajik nation.

   The Samanid Golden Age

   Sources: Ismāʿīl I ibn Aḥmad (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress)

Europe

1. 🇧🇬BGR

   Bulgaria · Politics & Power · 893–927

   The golden age of Simeon the Great

   Tsar Simeon I expanded Bulgaria toward three seas, took the title of tsar and raised the church to a patriarchate, presiding over a cultural golden age centred on his capital, Great Preslav.

   Thracians, Asparukh's Khanate and the First Bulgarian Empire

   Sources: Simeon I (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Bulgaria (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria)

Europe

1. 🇭🇺HUN

   Hungary · Peoples & Migration · c. 895–896

   The Magyar conquest (Honfoglalás)

   Seven Magyar tribes under the chieftain Árpád crossed the Carpathians and seized the Carpathian Basin, founding the Árpád dynasty and the settlement that gave rise to the Hungarian state.

   The Magyar Conquest and the Christian Kingdom

   Sources: Árpád, ruler of Hungary (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Árpád dynasty (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Asia

1. 🇾🇪YEM

   Yemen · Religion · 897 CE

   Founding of the Zaidi imamate

   The scholar Yahya ibn al-Husayn, invited from Medina to arbitrate tribal disputes around Saada, founded the Zaidi imamate, binding the northern highlands to Zaidi Shia Islam for over a thousand years.

   Islam and the Long Zaidi Imamate

   Sources: Yemen: History (ancient kingdoms, Islam, the imamate, unification and war) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)