The 8th century is the period from

701 __NOTOC__ Year 701 ( DCCI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 701st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 701st year of the 1st millennium, the 1st year of the 8th century, and the ...

(represented by the

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

DCCI) through

800 __NOTOC__ Year 800 ( DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 800th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 800th year of the 1st millennium, the 100th and last year of the 8th century, a ...

(DCCC) in accordance with the

Julian Calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

. In the

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

of Europe the phrase the long 8th century is sometimes used to refer to the period of circa AD 660–820. The coast of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

quickly came under

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

domination. The westward expansion of the

Umayyad Empire The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member ...

was famously halted at the siege of Constantinople by the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and the

Battle of Tours The Battle of Tours, also called the Battle of Poitiers and the Battle of the Highway of the Martyrs (), was fought on 10 October 732, and was an important battle during the Umayyad invasion of Gaul. It resulted in victory for the Frankish an ...

by the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

. The tide of Arab conquest came to an end in the middle of the 8th century.Roberts, J., '' History of the World'', Penguin, 1994. In Europe, late in the century, the

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

, seafaring peoples from

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, begin raiding the coasts of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, and go on to found several important kingdoms. In Asia, the

Pala Empire The Pāla Empire was the empire ruled by the Pala dynasty, ("protector" in Sanskrit) a medieval Indian dynasty which ruled the kingdom of Gauda Kingdom, Gauda. The empire was founded with the election of Gopala, Gopāla by the chiefs of Kingdo ...

is founded in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. The

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

reaches its pinnacle under Chinese Emperor Xuanzong. The

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

begins in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Events

* Estimated century in which the poem

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

is composed. * Classical

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

begins to decline. * The Kombumerri burial grounds are founded. * The first Serbian state is formed at the beginning of the century. * Buddhist

Jataka The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...

stories are translated into Syriac and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

as Kalilag and Damnag. * An account of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

's life is translated into

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

by Saint

John of Damascus John of Damascus or John Damascene, born Yūḥana ibn Manṣūr ibn Sarjūn, was an Arab Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and apologist. He was born and raised in Damascus or AD 676; the precise date and place of his death is not know ...

, and widely circulated to

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

as the story of

Barlaam and Josaphat Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, are Christian saints. Their story tells of the conversion of Josaphat to Christianity. According to tradition, an Indian king persecuted the Christian Church in his realm. After ast ...

. * Height of the Classic period in

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

history. * Śāntideva, a Buddhist monk at Nalanda Monastery in India, composes the famous Bodhicharyāvatāra, or ''Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life''. * The height of the

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda (, ), is a monumental Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It was built in during the Tang dynasty and originally had five stories. It was rebuilt in 704 during the reign o ...

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

, China is extended by 5 stories. *

: The

Taihō Code The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis- ...

is enacted in late

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

Japan. * 705: Death of Arab caliph Abd al-Malik, his succession by his nominated heir and elder son al-Walid. * 705: Overthrow of Empress

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was List of rulers of China#Tang dynasty, Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as queen consort , empress consort th ...

, the reign of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

's first and only sole-ruling empress ends. * 705:

Justinian II Justinian II (; ; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" (), was the last Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711. Like his namesake, Justinian I, Justinian II was an ambitio ...

is forced to give the title Caesar of Byzantium to the Bulgarian Emperor Tervel. The Byzantine Empire begins to pay annual tributes to Bulgaria. * 708–

711 711 may refer to: * 711 (number), a natural number * AD 711, a year of the 8th century AD * 711 BC, a year of the 8th century BC * 7-1-1, the telephone number of the Telecommunications Relay Service in the United States and Canada * 7-Eleven, a c ...

: The Bulgarians defeat Justinian II at the Battle of Anchialus. An Arab Umayyad army under Muhammad ibn al-Qasim invades

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

in northern India.Roberts, J., ''History of the World'', Penguin, 1994. * 710:

Empress Genmei , also known as Empress Genmyō, was the 43rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 元明天皇 (43) retrieved August 22, 2013. according to the traditional order of succession. Genmei's reign spanned the years 707 through ...

moves the capital to Heijō-kyū (present day

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

), initiating the Nara period of Japan. *

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("big water" or "big waters"), was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD ...

is conquered by

Toniná Tonina (or Toniná in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo. The sit ...

. *

Tariq ibn Ziyad Tariq ibn Ziyad ( ; ), also known simply as Tarik in English, was an Umayyad commander who initiated the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain and Portugal) against the Visigothic Kingdom in 711–718 AD. He led an army and ...

crosses the Straits of Gibraltar. With the creation of

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

, most of the

is conquered by

and

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, thus ending the

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

rule, and beginning almost eight centuries of Muslim rule. *

712 __NOTOC__ Year 712 ( DCCXII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 712th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 712th year of the 1st millennium, the 12th year of the 8th century, and the 3r ...

Liutprand, King of the Lombards Liutprand was the List of kings of the Lombards, king of the Lombards from 712 to 744 and is chiefly remembered for his multiple phases of law-giving, in fifteen separate sessions from 713 to 735 inclusive, and his long reign, which brought him i ...

begins his reign (until 744). * c.

: Metropolitan episcopal see is established by the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...

in Chinese capital of

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

. *

– 756: Emperor Xuanzong reigned, the time was considered one of

's high points. *

– 776:

Caliphate campaigns in India During the first half of the 8th century, a series of battles took place in the Indian subcontinent between the Umayyad Caliphate and Indian kingdoms situated to the east of the Indus River, subsequent to the Arab conquest of Sindh (present ...

Arab Expansions Halted. *

713 __NOTOC__ Year 713 ( DCCXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 713th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 713th year of the 1st millennium, the 13th year of the 8th century, and the ...

: Death of Dajian Huineng, sixth and last Patriarch of Chán Buddhism. *

: Treaty of Tudmir, signed between Abd al-'Aziz, the commander of Muslim troops invaiding Spain and Theodemir, the Christian king of a southern region is Spain. * 715: Death of

al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...

and he was succeeded by his brother

Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (, 24 September 717) was the seventh Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliph, ruling from 715 until his death. He was the son of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705) and Wallada bint al-Abbas. He began his ...

. *

716 __NOTOC__ Year 716 ( DCCXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 716th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 716th year of the 1st millennium, the 16th year of the 8th century, and ...

Sanjaya Sanjaya (Sanskrit: सञ्जय, meaning "victory") or Sanjaya Gavalgana is a figure from the ancient Indian Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata''. Sanjaya is the advisor of the blind king Dhritarashtra, the ruler of the Kuru kingdom and the fathe ...

ascends the throne to be the first king of the Mataram Kingdom. *

717 __NOTOC__ Year 717 ( DCCXVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 717 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europ ...

: Death of caliph

and his succession by his cousin and nominated heir

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (; February 720) was the eighth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 717 until his death in 720. He is credited to have instituted significant reforms to the Umayyad central government, by making it much more efficient and ...

. *

–

718 __NOTOC__ Year 718 ( DCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 718th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 718th year of the 1st millennium, the 18th year of the 8th century, and ...

: Siege of Constantinople. The

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

and the Byzantines decisively defeat the invading Arabs, thus halting the Arab advance toward Europe. *

: Sri Indravarman King of

Srivijaya Srivijaya (), also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia) that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important ...

send a letter to the Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, signing early ancient Indonesian official contact with Islamic world in the Middle East. * 720: Death of caliph

and succession of his cousin

Yazid II Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; — 26 January 724), commonly known as Yazid II, was the ninth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 720 until his death in 724. Although he lacked administrative or military experience, he derived prestige from his ...

on 4 February 720. * 724: Death of caliph

and he was succeeded by his brother and nominated heir

Hisham Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...

. * 726:

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian (; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was the first List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor of the Isaurian dynasty from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy, a period o ...

destroys the icon of Christ above the

Chalke Gate The Chalke Gate (), was the main ceremonial entrance ( vestibule) to the Great Palace of Constantinople in the Byzantine period. The name, which means "the Bronze Gate", was given to it either because of the bronze portals or from the gilded bro ...

in the capital city of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, beginning the first phase of the

Byzantine Iconoclasm The Byzantine Iconoclasm () are two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Ecumenical Patriarchate (at the time still comprising the ...

. * 731: Bede completes his (''Ecclesiastical History of the English People''). * 732:

. Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks Charles Martel and his men defeat a large army of Moors under the governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, who is killed during the battle. The Battle of Tours halts the advance of Islam into Western Europe and establishes a balance of power between Western Europe, Islam and the Byzantine Empire. * 732: The

Sanjaya dynasty The Sanjaya dynasty () was a Javanese people, Javanese dynasty which ruled the Mataram Kingdom in Java during the first millennium CE. The dynasty promoted Hinduism on the island. Origin According to the Canggal inscription, the dynasty was foun ...

is founded around this time according to the Canggal inscription. Miksic (1997) * 738:

Quiriguá Quiriguá () is an ancient Maya civilization, Maya archaeological site in the Departments of Guatemala, department of Izabal Department, Izabal in south-eastern Guatemala. It is a medium-sized site covering approximately along the lower Motagua ...

declares independence from Copan * 740: Battle of Akroinon. Byzantines win their first large-scale victory in a pitched battle against the Arabs. * 742: For the

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of the Tang-dynasty Chinese capital city

and its

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

of Jingzhou Fu (including small towns in the vicinity), the

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

records that in this year there were 362,921 registered families with 1,960,188 persons. * 743: Death of Arab caliph

and succession of his nephew and heir

Al-Walid II Al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik (; 70917 April 744), commonly known as al-Walid II, was the eleventh Umayyad caliph, ruling from 743 until his assassination in 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. Birth and background Al-W ...

. * 744: Assassination of Al-Walid II, Succession of

Yazid III Yazid ibn al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (; 701 – 3/4 October 744), commonly known as Yazid III, was the twelfth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 744 until his death months later. Birth and background Yazid was the member of the influential Umayyad d ...

to the Caliphal throne on 17 April 744. * 744 Death of Yazid III and his succession by his brother and nominated heir

Ibrahim ibn al-Walid Ibrahim ibn al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (; died 25 January 750) was an Umayyad caliph, and a son of Caliph al-Walid I (r. 743–744). He ruled from 4 October 744 to 4 December 744. He was the penultimate Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. Backgroun ...

. On 4 December Ibrahim was forced to Abdicate in favour

Marwan II Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan (; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 744 until his death. His reign was dominated by a Third Fitna, civil war, and he was the l ...

. * 748: The Chinese

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monk Jian Zhen writes in his ''Yue Jue Shu'' of the international sea traffic coming to

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, ships from Borneo, Persia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and others bringing tons of goods. *

750 __NOTOC__ Year 750 ( DCCL) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 750th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 750th year of the 1st millennium, the 50th year of the 8th century, and the ...

: The last

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

( 744–750) is overthrown and executed by the first

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

Caliph, Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah. The

Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

is moved to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

which would later develop into a centre of trade and culture. The

Ghana Empire The Ghana Empire (), also known as simply Ghana, Ghanata, or Wagadu, was an ancient western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali. It is uncertain among historians when Ghana's ruling dynasty began. T ...

begins in western Africa. * mid-8th century -

Great Wild Goose Pagoda Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda (, ), is a monumental Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It was built in during the Tang dynasty and originally had five stories. It was rebuilt in 704 during the reign o ...

at Ci'en Temple,

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

, is rebuilt. * c. mid-8th century - Camel Carrying a Group of Musicians, from a tomb near

, is made.

. It is now kept at Museum of Chinese History,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. * 751: Arabian armies defeat Chinese

troops in the

Battle of Talas The Battle of Talas (; ) was an armed confrontation between the Abbasid Caliphate along with the Tibetan Empire against the Tang dynasty in 751. In July of that year, the Tang and Abbasid armies clashed at the Talas River over control of the r ...

, in the high

Pamirs The Pamir Mountains are a range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among ...

near

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

, and conquer

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

completely. * 752: The Hindu Mataram kingdom flourishes and declines. (to 1045) *

754 __NOTOC__ Year 754 ( DCCLIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 754th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 754th year of the 1st millennium, the 54th year of the 8th century, and the ...

: Death of

caliph

al-Saffah Abu al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās (‎; 721/722 – 8 June 754), known by his laqab, ''laqab'' al-Saffah (), was the first caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, one of the longest and most impor ...

and ascension of caliph

al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ‎; 714 – 6 October 775) usually known simply as by his laqab al-Manṣūr () was the second Abbasid caliph, reigning from 754 to 775 succeeding his brother al-Saffah (). He is known ...

to Arab

. * 755–

763 Year 763 ( DCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 763 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for nam ...

: The

An Shi Rebellion The An Lushan rebellion was a civil war in China that lasted from 755 to 763, at the approximate midpoint of the Tang dynasty (618–907). It began as a fu (administrative division), commandery rebellion attempting to overthrow and replace the Ta ...

devastates China during the mid

. * 757: King

Offa of Mercia Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...

becomes dominant ruler in England. *

758 __NOTOC__ Year 758 (Roman numerals, DCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 758 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

s and travelers burn and loot the Chinese city of

, while the Tang Dynasty authorities shut the port down for the next five decades. * 760: The construction of the famous

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

structure

Borobudur Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur (, ), is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, near the city of Magelang and the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia. Constructed of gray andesite-like stone, the temple consi ...

began, probably as a non-Buddhist

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

.Taylor (2003), p. 37. * 761: Marriage of Abbasid princess Raytah and Muhammad (future

al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr (; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 775 to his death in 785. He succeeded his ...

). *

768 __NOTOC__ Year 768 ( DCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 768 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...

: Pepin dies; Charles becomes king at Noyan and his brother Carloman becomes king at Soissons. * 770's–

780 __NOTOC__ Year 780 (Roman numerals, DCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 780th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 780th year of the 1st millennium, the 80th year of the 8th c ...

's: Java launched series of naval raids on ports of Dai Viet, Champa and Cambodia; Sontay in Tonkin (767); Nha Trang (774); captured Indrapura in Cambodia (770); Phan Rang (787). The naval raids was probably launched by

Sailendra The Shailendra dynasty (, derived from Sanskrit combined words ''Śaila'' and ''Indra'', meaning "King of the Mountain", also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) was the name of a notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century ...

n Maharaja

Dharmasetu Dharmasetu was an 8th-century Maharaja of Srivijaya. Under his reign, he successfully incorporated Pan Pan, a kingdom located in the north of the Malay Peninsula, into the Srivijayan sphere of influence before 775 CE. At an old monastery of Nakho ...

or Dharanindra. *

772 __NOTOC__ Year 772 (Roman numerals, DCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 772 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent ...

–

804 __NOTOC__ Year 804 ( DCCCIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Caliphate * Battle of Krasos: Emperor Nikephoros I refuses to pay the tribute imposed by Caliph Harun al-Rashid of the A ...

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

invades what is now northwestern Germany, battling the

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

for more than thirty years and finally crushing their

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

, incorporating

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

into the

Frankish Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lomba ...

and the Christian world. * 775: Death of caliph

and he was succeeded by

. * 778: Kalasan temple constructed, according to the

Kalasan inscription The Kalasan inscription is an inscription dated 700 Saka (778 CE), discovered in Kalasan village, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The inscription was written in Sanskrit with Nāgarī script, Pranagari script (Northern India). This is the ...

. * 781: Marriage of

princess Zubaidah and

Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...

. The

Xi'an Stele The Xi'an Stele or the Stele ( zh, c=景教碑, p= Jǐngjiào bēi), sometimes translated as the "Nestorian Stele," is a Tang Chinese stele erected in 781 that documents 150 years of early Christianity in China. It is a limestone block high wit ...

is erected in China. * 782: Buddhist monk Prajna reaches Chang'an and translates the sutras into Chinese. * 785: Death of

caliph

and succession of

al-Hadi Abū Muḥammad Mūsā ibn al-Mahdī al-Hādī (; 26 April 764 CE 14 September 786 CE) better known by his laqab al-Hādī () was the fourth Arab Abbasid caliph who succeeded his father al-Mahdi and ruled from 169 AH (785 CE) until his death in 1 ...

on 24 July 785. The

begins landing regular maritime missions on the coast of

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

, cutting out middlemen Arab sea merchants. * 785– 805: Chinese geographer Jia Dan describes large

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

pillars built in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, which is confirmed a century later by

al-Mas'udi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

and

al-Muqaddasi Shams al-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr, commonly known by the '' nisba'' al-Maqdisi or al-Muqaddasī, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of ''The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Regions'' and ''Description of Syri ...

. * 787: The Empress

Irene of Athens Irene of Athens (, ; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaena (, ), was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler from 792 unti ...

convenes the Seventh Ecumenical Council, ending the first phase of Byzantine Iconoclasm. * 786: Death of

caliph

and ascension of caliph

. *

792 __NOTOC__ Year 792 ( DCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 792nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 792nd year of the 1st millennium, the 92nd year of the 8th century, and the 3r ...

: Battle of Marcelae. The Bulgarian victory over the Byzantines marks the end of the half-century political instability in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. *

: The Manjusrigrha (

Sewu Sewu (, ) is an eighth-century Mahayana Buddhist or Hindu located 800 metres north of Prambanan in Central Java, Indonesia. The word for a Hindu or Buddist temple in Javanese is "candi" (), hence, the common name is "Candi Sewu". Candi Sewu is ...

) temple is completed according to

Manjusrigrha inscription The Manjusrigrha inscription is an inscription dated 714 Saka (792 CE), written in Old Malay with Old Javanese script. The inscription was discovered in 1960 on the right side of the stairs entrance of Sewu ''pervara'' (guardian or complementary ...

. * 793: The first written account of a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

raid carried out on the abbey of

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...

in northern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. * 793: The

Frisian–Frankish wars The Frisian–Frankish wars were a series of conflicts between the Frankish Empire and the Frisian kingdom in the 7th and 8th centuries. The wars were mainly about control of the Rhine delta. After the death of the Frisian king Redbad, the Fr ...

come to an end with the last uprising of the

Frisians The Frisians () are an ethnic group indigenous to the German Bight, coastal regions of the Netherlands, north-western Germany and southern Denmark. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland an ...

. * 794:

Emperor Kanmu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kammu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the scop ...

moves the capital to

Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, mo ...

(present day

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

), initiating the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

of Japan. *

: An Arab fleet sails up the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

. *

–

909 __NOTOC__ Year 909 ( CMIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Britain * King Edward the Elder and his sister, Princess Æthelflæd of Mercia, raid Danish East Anglia and bring back the relics o ...

: Rule of

Aghlabids The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...

as an autonomous province of Caliphate in North Africa, with their capital at

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

. *

: Beginning of the ancient West African state of

Takrur Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour ( 500 – c. 1456) was a state based in the Senegal River in modern day Senegal which was at its height in the 11th and 12th centuries, roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire. It lasted in some form into the 18th ...

or Tekrour, which flourished roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire. *

: On Christmas Day, Charlemagne is crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III. *

: The agriculturally based Buddhist

kingdom flourishes and declines. (to 832)

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Heavy plow A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, ...

in use in the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

valley. *

Horse collar A horse collar is a part of a horse harness that is used to distribute the load around a horse's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plough. The collar often supports and pads a pair of curved metal or wooden pieces, called hames, to wh ...

in use in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

in 8th or 9th century — perhaps introduced from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. * Mid 8th century –

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

making introduced from

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

. *

Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

s came into common use around 770. *

Pattadakal Pattadakal (Pattadakallu), also called Raktapura, is a complex of 7th and 8th century CE Hindu and Jain temples in northern Karnataka, India. Located on the west bank of the Malaprabha River in Bagalkot district, this UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

, Chalukya

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. * The Chinese

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

Yi Xing Yixing (, 683–727) was a Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty, recognized for his accomplishments as an astronomer, a reformer of the calendar system, a specialist in the ''I Ching, Yijing'' (易經), and a distinguished Buddhist figure with exp ...

applies a clockwork

escapement An escapement is a mechanical linkage in mechanical watches and clocks that gives impulses to the timekeeping element and periodically releases the gear train to move forward, advancing the clock's hands. The impulse action transfers energy to t ...

mechanism to operate and rotate his astronomical

celestial globe Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated. ...

. * The first European triangular

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:8th Century 1st millennium 08th century